Tag Archives: Breckenridge Brewery

Grilled Portabella Mushroom Sammich

I didn’t spend ten minutes trying to find out the true spelling of Portabella… Okay, maybe I did, but it’s all in the name of journalistic honesty! The Mushroom Council has officially designated the spelling for those gigantic, steak-like shrooms. Portobello/Portabella no more! Portabella is the way to go. I’m a research junkie.

ANYWAY. I’ve been wanting to recreate a portabella sammich ever since my first one EVER at Breckenridge Brewery. Yes, I did spell it portobello then, when I was uneducated. ANYWAY AGAIN. I made one tonight!
Ingredients assembled! You can get a print-out version of the recipe HERE.

Grilled Portabella and Roasted Red Pepper Sammich
1 portabella mushroom
1 red pepper
2 slices of bread (ciabatta or foccacia recommended)
3 tbsp goat cheese
3.4 basil leaves, chopped
2-3 sundried tomatoes, diced
A handful of spinach
Olive oil
Salt + pepper

1. Take the portabella mushroom and clean it with a damp towel/mushroom brush.
2. After washing, scrape out the gills of the mushroom with a spoon.
3. Try not to mutilate the mushroom like I did…
Oops…. I’m pretty sure that’s a portabella mushroom there… I think…
4. Brush what’s left of the portabella with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and set aside.
5. Take the red pepper and a pair of tongs and blister the pepper over medium-high heat on the stovetop. (A grill works as well if you don’t want your smoke alarms going off. Oops again…)
I’d also recommend hot pads for your hands. Metal tends to conduct heat. Oops times three…
Deliciously burned!
6. Place the blistered pepper in a Ziploc, seal and let it rest for 15-20 minutes, or until cool enough to handle.
7. Once the pepper is cool enough to handle, remove it from the Ziploc and peel of the skin. It’ll come off very easily thanks to the steaming effect of the Ziploc. This is not an ad for Ziploc. I swear.
8. In a mixing bowl, combine the goat cheese, basil and sundried tomatoes.
I prefer the sundried tomatoes that are soaked in olive oil. They have much more flavor than the boring, chewy dry ones.
9. Place the portabella mushroom on a preheated grill/grill pan and grill for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until grill marks appear.
GRILL MARKS! Ignore the fact that these are on chicken. My camera failed to successfully document the marks on the mushroom, thanks to a little irritating smoke that came out of the grill press almost immediately after I placed the mushrooms in it. TOO MANY OOPS! Learn from my mistakes! I’ve adjusted all the times/temperatures so that your recipe won’t burst into flames, no worries!
10.  Slice the grilled mushrooms and red bell pepper into bite sized pieces.
11. Slather the slices of bread with the goat cheese mixture and layer with the mushrooms, bell pepper and spinach.
12. Place the sandwich in the grill press and cook until warmed through – about five minutes.
13. This sammich is ridiculously hot, so enjoy it with a chilly brew that has enough flavor to bring out the tang of the goat cheese, the rich herbs of the sun dried tomatoes and basil, and the rich, savory umami of the mushrooms.
Old Chub Scotch Ale by Oskar Blues Brewery. Malty, boozy and smooth. A wonderful combo!

For no reason at all – some wonderful pictures that my lovely new camera has taken.
My most eager model.
OOPS! That’s not a picture from my camera, that’s my new business card!

I’m legit.

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Breckenridge Foods!

Breckenridge foods that are worth mentioning! (Besides the obvious and amazing grilled veggie sandwich I had yesterday at Breckenridge Brewery)
Dragon Roll at Mountain Flying Fish! Adorable!
And filling! I tried my hardest, but I couldn’t finish it. Stupid petite stomach of mine – I can only eat a small amount at a time, but I’m hungry every half hour. I need to keep a portable fridge on me at all times, filled with fried delicacies and chocolate. And bacon, that would be good too…
No other food was worthy of notice until we went back to Breckenridge Brewery tonight! Sweet Grilled Corn Bruschetta. If you don’t like regular bruschetta (I’m not a big fan myself), then drive all the way to Breckenridge to try this! Seriously, it’s that good. Charred corn with silky avocado and cilantro atop warm ciabatta that’s been smothered in a spicy mayo. Corn is a vegetable, so this appetizer is healthy.
It just wouldn’t be complete without a 471 Double Hopped IPA. Holy mothers, I LOVE this IPA! Extremely aromatic, great head retention and just the right amount of bitters to make your tongue tingle. They serve this in a 12oz glass, seeing that it’s 9.2% ABV. Le sigh de happiness.
Oooooh, yeah! I’m thinking of getting this permanently tattooed on my wrist or the back of my neck. Any thoughts?
I fully believe that when you appreciate a brewery, you should buy a shirt. After you’ve purchased said shirt, you should most definitely go down to the hotel bar, grab a 90 Shilling from Odell Brewing and practice some billiards. If a guy does happen to challenge you whilst you are wearing said shirt and drinking that 90 Shilling, practicing billiards, you should most definitely whoop his ass.

Three times in a row.

Then let him win so he doesn’t feel completely emasculated.

You should most definitely do that.

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Breckenridge Brewery

Today I got to check out Breckenridge Brewery in Breckenridge, Colorado, and got a personal tour from the brewmaster himself, Matt Darling. His first words when he saw me: “Chive on!” Awesome. Just plain awesome.
You can tell the brewers by their epic beards. It’s just a fact.

Matt Darling has been homebrewing since he was 15 years old, starting with vodka and wine before moving to beer. He’s been the head brewer at Breckenridge Brewery for five years after working as the assistant to Drake Schmid for three. He considers John Jordan, the brewer at Flying Monkey who is also a microbiologist, his mentor. I had a mini-interview with Matt to follow:

Becki: What was your “gateway” beer that made you really appreciate good craft beer?
Matt: Probably Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout. (Very classy “gateway”, Matt!)
Becki: Of all of the beers at Breckenridge, what’s your personal favorite.
Matt: Our ESB (Extra Special Bitter).
Becki: Ooooh, can I try that one? Is it year round?
Matt: No, it’s seasonal. We make it in autumn.
Becki: *Sniffle* *sad face*

So my quotes aren’t quite exact, but all the information in them is! (At least I think it is. Correct me if anything’s wrong, Matt!)
The brewery is located just south of the busy part of Main Street, nestled in between dozens of aspen trees.
When you walk in, you’re greeted by the entire brew system. It’s laid out behind the bar in all its glory. On brew days, you can actually sit at the bar and watch them go through the entire process. You’d be pretty trashed by the end though – on brewing days Matt is there from 9am to 6pm with only his assistant, Jimmy Walker, to help. That mash tun has to be filled twice in order to fill one fermenter. That’s a crapload of brewing!
The entire brewpub is bigger than it appears from the outside. The second floor that’s not filled with fermenters is used for seating, with lovely views of the brewery.
Oh, and the mountains. Those are lovely too…
Excuse the following blurry images – macro in dim lighting. Upstairs they have the specialty grains in the mill room. All the regular grains are located in a silo behind the brewpub.
Once all the ales are fermented, they’re transferred down to the refrigerated basement into gigantic kegs where they’re siphoned up to the brewery until they’re empty. It doesn’t take too long. They brew about four days a week during summer to keep up with demand here. In winter, it’s up to six times a week! Them snowboarders get thirsty!
Delicious Cascade hops! They use pellets instead of whole leaf hops to avoid clogging their brew system.
Back up at the bar I got to try the beer from the “brewer’s handle”. It was a Belgian pale ale with Trappist ale yeast pitched in – beautiful golden color with slightly fruity esters. I was too busy drinking it to get a picture. The beer above is their seasonal brown ale that had been run through the brand new lines in order to allow the hoppy aroma to really come out. They have a barrel that they got from Breckenridge Distillery filled with this brown downstairs, absorbing all the intense bourbon flavors. I wish I could be in town when they open that one!
Here’s the wonderful, big board full of all of their brews, excluding the few fresh seasonals they have out now: Lucky “U” IPA, Oatmeal Stout, 471 Double Hopped IPA and Baldy Mountain Brown (I think that’s what I tried above).
Of course, since it is a brewPUB, I had to try their food! I got the grilled vegetable sandwich – portobello mushrooms, peppers, onions and cheese topped with fresh spinach, piled onto fresh ciabatta bread and covered with pesto sauce. Holy frick, this was amazing. Even better was the beer they suggested I pair with it:
Vanilla Porter. Out of this freakin’ world! Seriously, I can’t fully describe the awesomeness of this beer. There are no aroma hops used in this, so the vanilla and malt smell comes through cleanly. The first sip is slightly sweet with a warm vanilla flavor rounded out with a full mouthfeel and faint touch of hop bite that lingers on your tongue after you swallow. Only 4.7% ABV, but since I just came from sea level, that was enough to make me feel it!
Thanks again to Matt for letting me barge in and giving me all the info! I’ll be back tomorrow to try a few more beers – gotta try them while I can since they don’t distribute to California. *Sniffle* *sad face*

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Filed under beer, brewery, Drinks

Podunkville, USA

TWELVE HOURS on the road today! In case you’re unaware, I’m on the way to Breckenridge, Colorado to work an art festival. The art festival just so happens to be directly across the street from Breckenridge Brewery. I just may happen to be eating every single meal there in addition to touring the brewery and getting some insight into the brewing process and history from the brewers themselves. In order to prepare myself for the amazing foods and brews I’ll be experiencing over the weekend, I needed to visit some crappy little podunk restaurant so I could fully appreciate it. Enter Green River, Utah (aka Podunk-bloodthirsty-mosquito-ville, USA).
Tamarisk Restaurant. On the corner of this:
And this:
You won’t miss it. It’s one of three restaurants in the entire town.
It’s a classy little place. Can’t you tell from the mood lighting?
And the wide variety of wilted greens in the salad bar…
I’m being cruel. It really wasn’t that bad. They at least had three choices of craft beer from a brewery I just recently tried.
Uinta Golden Spike Hefeweizen. I realized after I’d poured it into the glass that there was sediment on the bottom I’d forgotten to agitate. I like a healthy amount of yeast in my hefs.
I poured a little in to give it more depth. Whether or not you want to pour that extra layer of sediment on the bottom in is a personal preference. It doesn’t make it any less “Hef-y” if you don’t. I wasn’t a fan of this beer – there were absolutely no hops aromas and zero bitterness.

I drank it anyway – I’m self sacrificing like that…

I ordered the special of the day: Coconut Crusted Tilapia with steamed broccoli.
Obviously frozen and pan seared, but except for the excessive amount of sodium, it wasn’t half bad. The best part though? Wait for it…
Packets of tartar sauce. Nothing says “gourmet” like processed tartar sauce encased in plastic!

I’ll be heading into Breckenridge tomorrow morning and will get a post of the brewery up as soon as I’m done setting up tomorrey night! Any Breckenridge Brew recommendations? It’s my first time trying any beer brewed by them!
Ohhhh, yeaaah!

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Filed under Travel