Tag Archives: Coronado Brewing

Ladies at Ladyface: 4

Monday night was yet another Ladies at Ladyface meeting. Are they getting old? Um, no. Never. Not possible. Never ever ever. Never. No.
My mumsie (an eager-to-learn founding member of Ladies at Ladyface) and I arrived early to have a nice, leisurely dinner. I started with the Ladyface Rye. A beautiful red, delicate lacing, and full of wonderful Centennial aroma and bitters. Since we were having lots a few sips of summer beers later, I opted for a taster.
Ever since I had these with Brie, I’ve been dreaming about them. Popcorn chickpeas aka DEEP FRIED chickpeas. Personally, I don’t think you can go wrong with anything that’s been deep fried.
Little crispy paprika and lemon-scented pebbles of deliciousness. I’m salivating looking at my own picture. They’re that good.
We balanced it out with some green – spinach sauteed in garlic. See? My blog isn’t ALL about unhealthy foods!
Just MOSTLY about unhealthy foods. The sausage plate contained brats, jalapeno chicken sausage and basque. I wasn’t a fan of the basque (I Googled – it’s chorizo), but the brats were wonderful! This plate was demolished.
After our meal, we headed out to the patio to join the rest of the ladies and enjoy the warm evening.
It was nice and quiet for the first half hour, then people started filing in as the work day came to a close. Will someone explain to me what a work day is? I just can’t seem to remember what it’s like to work during the week… I’m kidding. Please don’t hate me.
Ladyface had just released their Palo Comado XPA (one reason why our meeting was pushed back a week), and Cyrena passed around a pitcher of the organic, pale, rose-scented sessionable beer. I loved the aroma and drinkability of this, but every summer I’ll always reminisce about their Derailleur.
There was a wide variety of summer ales on the table. A hint – don’t drink the Leinenkugel Summer Shandy. Weiss beer with “natural lemonade flavor” is nasty. Perhaps with REAL lemonade it would taste better, but I’m not a fan of drinking lemon Pledge. To each his/her own.
J. J., a local homebrewer, brought in her latest brew – Mango-Apricot Pale Ale. Heavy mango aroma, wonderful, slightly sweet apricot flavor with high carbonation and a smooth finish. I was surprised how much I liked it, seeing that I’m not the biggest fan of fruit in beer. J.J. then had us pour a small splash of cream soda into the beer and try it again. Mango-Apricot Creamsicle beer. Awesomeness in a glass.
My mom’s contribution was the La Folie sour brown by New Belgium. This was the first beer she tried that she actually ENJOYED! The first time I had it, I absolutely hated it. This time – LOVE. It’s strange how your taste buds evolve.
Brie brought Captain’s Summer Session as well as a bottle of the Valkyrie California Alt from Enegren. Yes, I’ve tried both before. Yes, I still had a taster (or two) of both. The finished Summer Session is lovely! I tried it from the fermenter before and loved it, so add a nice chill and carb and it’s awesome.
Janelle “doesn’t do” sessionable beers. Another reason I love her. She brought Avery’s Eighteen back from her trip to Colorado. Nothing like an 8.1%ABV Saison face-punch to spice up the night! Good choice, but boy, did things get crazy after that…
Someone brought out Horny Devil by AleSmith. It’s that gorgeous red-wrapped bottle there. ALSO a face-punch at 11%. DEFINITELY not a summer ale, but at this point, no one was caring! We were far too busy socializing, talking brew techniques, new breweries and beer.
Of course I couldn’t end the night without dessert. A center cut of the bread pudding. I think this was the best cut I’ve had to date! I’m sure they NEVER get tired of hearing me ask for the center cut. In fact, I’m sure they look forward to it… Maybe not… At least I tip well!

The next morning, I was up bright and early to help out a family member who had surgery. Took her to the surgical center, suffered through hospital food…
and now am waiting on her hand and foot.
Hahaha, FOOT! Get it? It’s a PUN!

Since I had to stay around to care for her, I decided I should do some studying for class. Instead, I did this:
Me as Taylor Swift.
Me as Zooey Deschanel.
Me as Taylor Momsen.
And me with my MAD AWESOME Photoshop Paint skills, trying on some new hair. If you follow me on Facebook, you already got a preview of this. And for that, I am so very sorry.

Now I should really go study, but the bottle of Coronado’s Red Devil Imperial Red is calling my name.

1 Comment

Filed under brewery, Uncategorized

Filet Mignon Chili

I am now a teacher. I tutor what I like to call “How to Impress Your Man with Food”. One of my pupils can attest to the fact that this tutoring does, indeed, have successful results.
Enter Sofia.

Filet Mignon Chili – Printable recipe available HERE.
Ingredients
12 ounces filet mignon
2 large onions, chopped
1 large can kidney beans (25-30 ounces depending where you buy)
2-28 ounce cans quality, unsalted diced tomatoes
1-4 ounce can hot diced green chilies (go spicy or go home!)
1/4 cup dark red chili powder
2 tablespoons olive oil

1. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium, then add chopped onions.
2. Meanwhile, sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper, then chop the filet mignon into bite-size pieces.
3. When the onions are softened and translucent, add the filet mignon and cook until browned.
4. Take your kidney beans, drain and rinse them in a colander. You can skip the rinsing, but I prefer a lower salt content – that way I can add it as necessary when seasoning.
5. Once the meat is browned, add the 1/4 cup of dark red chili powder. This will create a paste of the lovely meat drippings. Cook the mixture for about two minutes.
6. Add the rinsed and drained kidney beans, diced tomatoes and green chilies and stir well.
7. Bring the chili up to a boil, then set to low and let it simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.
8. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
9. Watch your significant other fall in love right before your very eyes. With the chili. And then with you.

This chili is AMAZING and ADDICTING! However, if you REALLY want to impress someone, make it a day before then set it in the fridge to let the flavors marry, then blow their mind the next day!

This chili absolutely MUST be served with some kind of cheesy bread. My personal favorites are Cheddar and Jalapeno, and Cheddar and Garlic from Great Harvest.

It also helps to serve the chili and bread with delicious beer. This is my educated recommendation.
For those who are just beginning to appreciate IPAs, but want something a little easier on the senses, Sweetgrass APA by Grand Teton Brewing is a good one.
This baby is one of the most surprising I’ve encountered – a beautiful amber that tastes like a stout! High drinkability factor. Freakin’ delicious.
Coronado Brewing Mermaid’s Red Ale.
Chocolate lovers will adore Eight-Ball Stout from Lost Coast. Rich with heavy notes of coffee and chocolate = heavenly!
I recommend “In Mem’ry of Bacon” if you’re looking for a nut brown, however, since that isn’t in stores another good stand-by is Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale.
And finally, if you want to enjoy the burn that is somehow enhanced by sweet carbonation, try this gem: Sam’l Smith’s Organic Strawberry Handcrafted Fruit Ale.

Your night is now complete.

1 Comment

Filed under recipe