Vegetarian's delight - Beered tofu taco + kimchee

WTH is that you say? While reading the recipe found from alittlebitcrunchyalittlebitrock (holy crap that domain is long...), I had all the ingredients already in the fridge and thought I'd give it a try.

When I arrived home I realized that I didn't have any BBQ sauce, but there's some A1 sauce so I improvised. Beer wise I had an imperial pumpkin ale, russian imperial stout, fat tire and a few 750ml bottles of really good beer which I wasn't going to pop open as marinate.

I picked the russian imperial stout because the flavor is intense and the malt should caramelize nicely (higher the ABV, more the sugar).



I had firm (not extra firm as called for in the original recipe) tofu. I didn't have time to let it dry for an hour and half so instead I used (at least) 10 sheets of paper towels to hand dry this block. Then I used half a bottle of beer and about 4 tablespoons of the A1 sauce to make the marinate.

Let it sit for about an hour and it's grill time. Ok, I didn't have a grill as the original recipe intended, up to this point a lot has been improvised, why not the grill. I do, however, have a stove top, so I pan seared it. Added some cherry tomatoes. Make sure to drip/brush in more marinate as it's being seared, that will help brown and caramelize the tofu even more.

The tofu caramelized nicely. I did a quick stir fry with some chopped green onions and diced garlic, toasted the corn tortillas and topped it with kimchee.

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Beer: Ice Cream

You knew this was going to happen someday, some brewery out there will set up long term strategic plans and invest in beer + ice cream research. The day has come, but it was all an accident. Someone poured beer by an ice cream maker by accident and they veered the beer into exactly where it was destined to go - the ice cream maker.

Now a company based in Georgia, Frozen Pints can be found in local beerfests. Hopefully they will make their rounds before the next summer!

Via OC weekly

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Beer Vinegar - Recipe Experiment

Photo credit: MDA2008

 Beer Vinegar Recipe

• 1/2 gallon good, wheaty or malty beer
• vinegar mother (optional)

1. Put your beer in your container.  Give it a good whisk to aerate it and release some of the gas. Let it sit out and open for six hours or so.
2. Add the mother if you’re using one. Or do as Jonathon does and let the natural bacteria and flora of your kitchen or basement settle in for a good time.
3. Cover the opening with a handkerchief, cheesecloth, anything that will let air in and keep bugs and debris out.  Date the jar. Give it a taste in three months and see how you did.

Choose a good beer and make sure that the alcohol can breathe.  You need a big jar with a big open lid to let the air flow, covered it with light cloth to let air in and keep fruit flies out.  Best to keep it in the dark and cool is good, though Jonathan keeps his everyday vinegars at home right near the heat of the stove.  Bacteria thrive at 100˚ to 110˚F. Jonathon says you could probably make vinegar using Bud Lite, but that it wouldn’t be worth the effort. Use a good beer with lots of complexity, especially wheaty and malty beers. Bacteria, simple themselves, thrive on complexity.

Recipe via Ruhlman

More details about making vinegar at home.
I'm not sure if the 'look' of vinegar mother is scarier or the idea of natural bacteria in your basement settle in...I think I will go with the mother. Check back in a few weeks!

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Beer vs. Bugs Round 1

I for one, cannot stand the sight of creepy crawlers of any kind. There's no need to see close-up photos of them on the monitor, right?

Beer vs. Slugs
Slugs are amongst the messiest of pests, and they also tend to feast on garden plants. So a swift solution to dispense with these slimy creatures can be most welcome.

Simply place a shallow dish of beer in a strategic place to divert the slugs from their normal route or burry a jar of beer into the ground. They will be naturally attracted to this giant pool of ale overnight, and sparing you the gory details – they will no longer be a problem in the morning.

Beer vs. Cockroaches
Cockroaches are another breed of unwelcome house guest that will happily turn up and drink your beer or breed and multiply in your kitchen.

You will need an empty jam jar with a rounded inside lip. Place a small piece of bread soaked in beer at the bottom of the jar. Then coat the inner lip with Vaseline or whatever sticky lip gloss you happen to have to hand, vaseline works best though apparently. The idea is that the cockroaches get attracted to the beer, feast on it, and then the combination of the Vaseline and rounded lip makes it impossible for them to escape.

Beer vs. Flies
Make a fly trap. Pour beer into a glass or plastic jar so it is 1 inch deep. Place a plastic bag over the jar and push the center down so that it goes inside the jar, akin to a funnel. Poke a pencil tip-sized hole into the center of the bag and secure the plastic to the outside of the jar with a rubber band. Fruit flies will smell the beer and enter the trap but won't be able to get out. Place the trap in an area away from children.

Beer vs. Moths
This is possibly one of the more unusual baits. It’s certainly inventive, and apparently even used by moth hunters, who don’t intend to kill the moths but to use them for their studies.

Mix stale beer with sugar, molasses, black treacle and rum. Rum? Yes, rum! I never said this was a cheap solution to a pest problem. Some variations include adding black kiwis or black bananas. When using fruit, you can leave it in a jar until it ferments (begins to smell) and turns sticky. Without the fruit, you simply boil down the mixture until it gets sticky. Either method then suggests you paint the sticky mixture on some wood (like a tree or a fencepost) and wait to see how many moths you attract.

Via Rentokil and eHow

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Beer face wash

Yes, drinking beer and all that alcohol can dehydrate you. But what about washing your face with it? The word on the street says that beer has nourishing effect on skin.

According to an article on TruthInAging.com, women have used beer for cosmetic and therapeutic purposes since ancient Egypt. Now, studies have confirmed that beer sediment (brewer’s yeast) can help improve the symptoms of acne by slowing down sebum production and killing off the bacteria that triggers acne.

Brewer’s yeast is made up of micro-organisms called saccaromyces cereviseae, which thrive on the skin’s surface. Because they are asexual, these tiny organisms can proliferate up to 24 new cells at a time, thus leaving no opportunity for acne-friendly bacteria to take hold on the skin’s surface. A trial conducted in 2006 at Munich University found that a skin preparation containing young brewer’s yeast cells dramatically improved the skin of acne sufferers within three weeks. -- End article.

Apparently, applying beer topically can clear up your complexion, treat dry flakes, and smooth texture. It's important to note that Brewer's yeast is a good source of B-complex vitamins but, contrary to some claims, it contains little or no vitamin B12.
I didn't find any recommendations for what type of beer to use or whether I can use it straight out of the bottle, but I will start trying to wash ONE side of a dry patch of skin with wheat beer. Let's see how that goes?

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Fancy residence for octopus and other invertebrates

New home for the octopus.
Lived in home for another octopus.

The craft pet owners can sure put this into good use. Baby snakes? A hideout for newborn baby fish so they don't become dinner?

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In the name of Harry Potter, out goes eggnog, in comes butterbeer

Butterbeer is the drink of choice for younger wizards, though it exists way before Rowling wrote the Harry Potter series. There are many variations of the recipe, this one traces back over 300 years.

Original Buttered Beer Recipe 1664 from historicalfoods.com:
From Robert May, ‘The Accomplisht Cook’, first published 1664 Buttered Beer.

Take beer or ale and boil it, then scum it, and put to it some liquorish and anniseeds, boil them well together; then have in a clean flaggon or quart pot some yolks of eggs well beaten with some of the foresaid beer, and some good butter; strain your butter’d beer, put it in the flaggon, and brew it with the butter and eggs

Buttered Beer or Ale otherways.

Boil beer or ale and scum it, then have six eggs, whites and all, and beat them in a flaggon or quart pot with the shells, some butter, sugar, and nutmeg, put them together, and being well brewed, drink it when you go to bed.

Otherways.

Take three pints of beer or ale, put five yolks of eggs to it, strain them together, and set it in a pewter pot to the fire, put to it half a pound of sugar, a penniworth of beaten nutmeg, as much beaten cloves, half an ounce of beaten ginger, and bread it.
More on butterbeer:

• A video tutorial by Working Class Foodies
• You can also make some butterbeer cupcake to go with the drink!

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Beer Pedicure

According to an article on Health.com the yeast in beer softens weary, callused feet and the alcohol is antibacterial and a natural antiseptic. Try this treatment from Milk + Honey Spa in Austin, Texas:

• Pour 1 bottle of lager (such as Heineken, Yuengling, or the cheaper Bud, Miller, Coors etc.) into a tub of warm water, and soak 10 minutes.
• Massage 1 cup Epsom salt and the juice of 1 lime onto feet and legs.
• Rinse and relax.

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Lye Free Beer Soap

I was looking for beer soap recipe, and came across this tutorial. In the tutorial, it mentioned the use of lye and to wear protective gloves while pouring it into the beer. What is lye and is it toxic? If one has to wear gloves to make soap, why am I rubbing it all over my skin? The mini Sherlock Holmes in me kicks in.

Lye is a corrosive alkaline substance, commonly know as sodium hydroxide. It is used to cure many types of foods and lower grades of lye are commonly used as drain openers and oven cleaners. So basically what soap is doing is lightly corrode away the dirty or oily film layer on the skin, 'leaving your skin clean and smooth' but over time causes dryness. It's also what the average shampoo does to your hair but that's for another post.

There are many makers selling beer soaps but I have found only one that is lye free on etsy - Cardamom & Beer.

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Like a beer boy loves cake

These are pairings created by Andy Sparhawk on Craftbeer.com

Riding the Wave of Love - Coconut & Currieux
Coconut helps cool hot, spicy foods like Southeast Asian cuisines; Indian or Indonesian. It also quells American heat, like bourbon. Currieux is Allagash Brewing Company’s (Portland, ME) original barrel-aged beer, a Belgian-style Triple that is aged in bourbon barrels for eight weeks. While resting, the beer takes on some of the previous resident’s character; vanilla, coconut and residual whiskey flavors, that blend perfectly with the Triple's fruitiness. Candy sweetness matches the cake to magnify a long wave of vanilla and warm sugar.

Tee & Cakes comments: This pairing brought out the sweetness and cakeyness of the cake. It made the cake taste like the comfort food we know it to be. This is a simple and traditional cake, but one of the harder ones to pair. It seems like a heartier beer brings out the lightness in this cake.


Finding Balance - Chocolate Bacon & Scotch Ale
I’m sure any expert will tell you, though I didn't bother to look it up, that a key to a happy marriage is balance. Well, a key to enjoying great craft beer with food is the same. We accomplish that by finding complementing characteristics or playing off of opposing flavors and textures—similar to introducing the future in-laws.

The crunchy bacon atop this cake's creamy milk chocolate icing offers a contrast to the rich malt character in Moylan's Brewery & Restaurant’s (Novato, CA) Kilt Lifter. The carmelization in the Scotch Ale complements the milk chocolate sweetness, only to be countered by the bacon’s saltiness.

Tee & Cakes comments: This pairing brought out the toasty and maple flavors in the cake; it also made the beer pop. The cake elevated the beer this time and I think that was nice. Bacon on a wedding cake is certainly unconventional, but really fun and easy to pair.


Spicing Things Up - Carrot Cake & Maricaibo Especial
People get married because they are much better and stronger together than if they were apart—also, for the tax break. The same is true with carrot cake and Jolly Pumpkin’s (Dexter, MI) Maricaibo Especial, a sour Brown Ale brewed with cacao, cinnamon and sweet orange peel. Both are amazing alone, but together, they really spice it up. The sugary sweetness of the cake is balanced by it's more earthy ingredients of carrot and cinnamon, which helps cut the tart acidity of the beer. Meanwhile, the spices in the beer intensify the flavors of the cake. And, if the wild Maricaibo gets out of hand, the carrot cake's cream cheese frosting and cooling carrot calms things down before the police get called.

Tee & Cakes comments: This pairing made the spiciness of the cake come out. We never would have imagined a sour beer could pair so well with something rich and creamy like a carrot cake and cream cheese icing. This was one of our faves.

Passion - Red Velvet & Legendary Red
If your zeal for your bride or groom is as fiery as the fans of this cake then you’re set. Red velvet aficionados seem to argue over the perfect recipe more than beer geeks grapple with Black IPAs. Tee & Cake's red velvet has a pleasant corn bread character; likely from the buttermilk, which is a generally accepted ingredient in red velvet camps. We think that makes the bready flavors of Golden City Brewery’s (Golden, CO) Legendary Red Ale a match made in heaven… with or without coconut and pecans.

Tee & Cakes: This pairing gave new meaning to the word comfort food. The beer made the whole cake taste like butter. Totally rich and decadent. Red velvet cake is the ultimate in comfort food desserts, and is a staple in the south.



Affinities - Grey Lady & Lemon Curd
Some flavors just go together; lemon goes with a lot. Maybe that is because it enhances the flavors it’s paired with. In Grey Lady, a Witbier brewed by Cisco Brewers Inc. (Nantucket, MA), the piquant esters (fruitiness) liven the tangy wheat flavors and sharpen the spice. When paired with lemon curd (a smooth lemon filling or topping) you flip the switch on a laser light show in your mouth!

Tee & Cakes comments: This pairing really brought out the lemonyness of the lemon curd. It was bright and fresh.

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Polish and antique wood with beer

Turns out, all those spilled beer is exactly where they should be! Some ways you can use beer to polish wood funitures and floors:

Basic polish: pour some flat beer onto a microfiber rag and rub it into wooden furniture to add some shine and deepen the color.

 

Polish Recipe #1: This one is good for oak furniture. (credit)

Boil together

one quart of beer

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons beeswax

Cool, then wipe onto your furniture. Let this dry. Polish with a soft cloth.

Antique wood with beer: Traditional dark beers will create an antique wood effect far quicker.

Highlights

• Chestnut dark mild beer has the strength to stain the wood, premium lager would do nothing.
• Sand off the layers of polish or varnish. 
• Must use CLEAN CLOTH for staining. Dip cloth into a dish of dark beer and rub onto the surface of the wood. 
• Let a corner of the clean cloth soak into the dark beer and sit the beer soaked cloth on top of the wood for an uneven finish look that antique wood have. 
• Add a light coat of varnish to seal the color in when you have the color you want.

 Detailed instruction here.

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Beer Chicken

Recipe from the Food Network

Ingredients

• 1 (4-pound) whole chicken
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 tablespoons of your favorite dry spice rub
• 1 can beer

Directions

Remove neck and giblets from chicken and discard. Rinse chicken inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels. Rub chicken lightly with oil then rub inside and out with salt, pepper and dry rub. Set aside.

Open beer can and take several gulps (make them big gulps so that the can is half full). Place beer can on a solid surface. Grabbing a chicken leg in each hand, plunk the bird cavity over the beer can. Transfer the bird-on-a-can to your grill and place in the center of the grate, balancing the bird on its 2 legs and the can like a tripod.

Cook the chicken over medium-high, indirect heat (i.e. no coals or burners on directly under the bird), with the grill cover on, for approximately 1 1/4 hours or until the internal temperature registers 165 degrees F in the breast area and 180 degrees F in the thigh, or until the thigh juice runs clear when stabbed with a sharp knife. Remove from grill and let rest for 10 minutes before carving.

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Cocktail Recipe: SNAKEBITE

Had this concoction at a beerfest in 2011.

• 1/2 pint Lager (Had it with Left Hand Milk Stout)
• 1/2 pint sweet or dry Cider (and Crispin Cider)

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