Beer Fruit Cocktail Sangria inspired by Warm Bodies

Let's talk zombie fiction in the form of the movie Warm Bodies today. There are two types of zombies in Warm Bodies, and neither are your typical brain-dead roamers. First we have what seem like the typical slow-moving, grunt-to-communicate zombies, but via the magic of the voice-over, we find out that there really are thoughts going on inside their heads (or at least in the head of our main character, "R"). However, they've sort of accepted their station and rove around in packs looking for food (aka humans) outside of the airport where they've taken up residence.

When these zombies consume the brains of their victims, they absorb their memories. "R" enjoys eating brains because through these memories, he actually feels more alive. One day his group runs into a group of humans and actually feels the human emotion of attraction for the first time since the zombie apocalypse began. During the fight between R's hoard and the group of humans, he unknowingly kills the boyfriend of Julie (the one that caught his clouded eye), and as he's eating his brain, gets glimpses with her in them.

Beer & Brats Stuffing (Dressing) | Planes, Trains and Automobiles #FoodnFlix

Welcome to the November edition of the Food 'n Flix club! This month we're watching Planes, Trains and Automobiles, a 1987 road trip/odd-couple/roadtrip flick starring Steve Martin and John Candy. Oddly enough, I haven't found a whole lot of movies with a Thanksgiving theme, but this is one of the few that does.

Simple Beer Shandy Slushies | #GuinnessBBQChallenge

I am working in partnership with Guinness for this this campaign. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. Please Drink Responsibly!

I'm happy to working with Guinness again this summer to share another Guinness BBQ Challenge idea! Last year I shared a grilled pizza recipe that was topped with grilled onions, peppers, corn, and brats to pair with Guinness's crisp, hoppy Blonde American Lager. This year I accepted their challenge  to put my own personal twist on a shandy.

If you're not familiar with shandies, they are basically a beer cocktail that is made using half beer and half lemonade (or gingerale, ginger beer, or another citrus juice). They're a refreshing adult beverage option for summertime, and usually have fairly low alcohol content—if you use the half and half ratio.

Mahi Mahi Burgers Glazed with IPA-Hoisin Barbecue Sauce | #BeerMonth

Although I don't limit cooking with beer to once a year, I always look forward to April when Sophia from NY Foodgasm holds her annual #BeerMonth event! There are so many varieties and producers of beer, from big box to the small artisan, that I love seeing which one everybody cooking along will choose to use and what flavors they will be paired with.

I chose a hoppy Lagunitas IPA to cook with today. For anytime drinking, I normally gravitate towards stouts, porters, or dark ales, but when I'm in the mood, I can drink the heck out of something really hoppy and "bitter". This particular IPA, made with 43 different hops and 65 various malts, is a bit carmely and very easy to drink. It cuts fatty or heavy components of a meal easily, making it a nice accompaniment to a meal.

"Borrow Your Man" Beef and Beer Pie inspired by Waitress #FoodnFlix

This month marks the 5-year anniversary of the Food 'n Flix Club! Normally we all watch the same movie during a month, but I thought a fun way to celebrate would be to invite participants to choose their flick from any of the 60 movies we've already watched over the years. This could be a tough choice if you let it because your mind can go in so many different directions. But to be honest, I pretty much knew what movie I was going to pick from the get-go. I wavered a couple of times, but wound up watching Waitress again, as originally planned.

We originally watched Waitress back in December of 2010, and the first time around I made this "The Holidays are Making me NUTS" Pie. If you're not familiar with Waitress, it's the story of Jenna, a waitress in a small town who's stuck in a bad marriage to the handsome but mental and mean Earl. When she finds out she's pregnant, she only sees that as another thing holding her down. She's pretty miserable and unlikeable, but somehow, I still find myself rooting for her.

Not only is she a waitress at Joe's Pie Diner, she's also a masterful maker of pie. So, being the pie whore that I am, you can probably guess why I chose this one. Jenna expresses her feelings through her pies, combining fitting ingredients to her current situation or state of mind. Some examples are "Falling in Love Chocoalte Mousse" Pie, "I Hate My Husband" Pie, "Baby Screaming its Head Off in the Middle of the Night and Ruinin' My Life" Pie, and "Pregnant Miserable Self-Pitying Loser" Pie.

Malted Guinness Beer Bread

The smell of this bread baking envelopes the kitchen in a warm, heady smell that, for me, conjured up memories of touring breweries and distilleries in Ireland. In two words, it smelled magical and comforting. My daughter said it smelled like bittersweet chocolate. I'm sure it was the combination of thick, rich Guinness and malt in the form of barley malt syrup and malted wheat flakes. This is definitely not your granny's beer bread.

With pleasantly chewy texture and notes of rich, malty chocolate, it's not for those with wimpy tastebuds. If you tend towards dark stouts and porters, dark chocolate, and dark coffee, I bet you'll fall head over heals for it like I did, though. I'm putting myself out there when I say basically, this is THE BEST beer bread I've ever eaten. Bold words for a bold bread.

I actually made this loaf almost five months ago, but I'm just now getting around to sharing it with you. I was waiting for the right time, and since I'm hosting this month's edition of #TwelveLoaves, I decided that time was now; I chose Malt as our theme.

Grilled Pizza w/ Onions, Peppers, Corn, and Brats

Would you believe me if I told you that Guinness© Blonde™ American Lager tastes an awful lot like Guinness Stout? Because that's what I'm telling you. As a lover of the deep, rich Porter that everybody knows as Guinness, my first sip of Blonde was a happy one. It may be a lighter in color, but not in complexity or flavor.

The first fusion beer in the new Guinness Discovery Series, Guinness Blonde combines European brewing techniques with American Hops to brew a lager that is hoppy with citrus and floral notes, while still having that "biscuity" malt finish so characteristic of Guinness. It's great for kicking back with and relaxing, but it also lends itself well to cooking and food pairings.

Bloody Beer w/ Antipasto Kebab garnish

Don't you think a kebab party sounds like fun? I'm thinking outdoors, sunny but mild, and a grill that's hot and ready. I see a table lined up with dishes that are piled high with cubes of all sorts of raw meat and fish...baked tofu...bowls filled to the brim with chunks of fresh vegetables and fruit...and jars upon jars of skewers in bamboo, wood, and metal just waiting to be threaded.

I'm thinking there's a stack of baggies at the end of the table with bottles of marinades in all sorts of fun flavor profiles sitting next to them. People thread their skewers, slide them into baggies, then cover them with their marinade(s) of choice. Seal the bag, write their name on it, and set it in a cooler for half an hour or so. When they're ready, they can mosey on over to the grill.

Of course, there would also be a table filled with fruit and pound cake, and other things you might slide on to a skewer to eat raw or as a dessert. Oh, and plenty of fun sauce and dipping options, as well. Probably some sort of chocolate fountain; it doesn't have to be big.

Beer Braised Pork Carnitas | #BeerMonth

I'm usually pretty traditional in my cooking of carnitas (or literally, "little meat")—pork, salt, and a little bit of water is really all it takes to make the best carnitas you'll ever eat in your life. Be it the traditional stove-top method of combining water and pork lard and simmering chunks of pork in it until the water evaporates and leaves the now-tender meat to crisp up in the lard, or my preferred oven-roasted method that uses the fat rendered from the pork bits themselves to baste and crisp them up. Either way, tender meat enclosed in salty crisp and sticky bits are little morsels of heaven on earth.

But today, in honor of beer month, I decided to step out of my puritanical-carnitas box and do the braising of the pork in a good, amber lager. I also added some spice beyond salt. It's gettin' crazy up in here. Crazy delicious.

Simple, rustic food is what I tend to gravitate towards, and this version of carnitas really fits the bill. A stove top braise in a fragrant beer bath and about 90 minutes is all it takes to achieve a plate piled high with tender pork. Once it is tender, you remove the lid and let the liquid evaporate and concentrate, inviting the whole garlic cloves and strips of lime zest to melt into it.

Irish Porter Cake inspired by The Quiet Man | #FoodnFlix

This month's Food 'n Flix pick is an oldie, originally released back in 1952, starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara—The Quiet Man. This flick is set in the fictional town of Innisfree, Ireland...not to be confused with the isle of Innisfree, an actual place made famous in a poem by William Butler Yates, located on Ireland's western coast.

Our main character, Sean Thornton, is an Irishman by decent, although he grew up in Pittsburgh. Looking to start over (I won't tell you why—I'll let you watch the movie to find out), he leaves the states and moves to this Irish town that he's known only through his mother's stories.

Though not particularly a foodie movie, there is plenty of inspiration to be had. First of all, it's March—and the movie is set in Ireland (exactly why I'm sharing this post on St. Paddy's Day). But even if it wasn't the month where everybody taps into their inner Irish, I would have went the same route. I can't think of Ireland without fond memories...from divided plots of land in all shades of green with sheep roaming freely to the whiskey distilleries and many glasses of beer to the breathtaking cliffs of the Giant's Causeway to the brown bread—Ireland will forever be a part of me.

Crisped Ginger-Soy Chicken Wings + Beer Pairing, a #WingWeek guest post

Please help me welcome my first #wingweek guest poster, Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla. I'm pretty thrilled that I inspired her to make chicken wings in her own kitchen for the very first time! Her Crispy Ginger-Soy Wings sound like they are bursting with flavor, plus, she's offered up a beer pairing to go along with her wings. No wonder I like this girl.

When Heather posted that she was looking for some chicken wing guest posts this month, I almost skipped reading the rest of the request. Chicken wings?!? I thought. I don't fry.  I remember watching a cooking show about chicken wings and there seemed to be a complicated dance between the fryer and the oven. And, remember: I don't fry.

But as I finished reading her post, I decided that this would be a good culinary challenge, one that I definitely wanted to complete: make tasty, crispy wings without frying. Challenge accepted.

Good chicken wings are about great flavor and great texture. I did it! This has both.

Salted Honey-Bourbon-Beer Caramel Sauce | #BeerMonth

I have absolutely no clue where the month of April went, but I'll be closing it out in style with one last #BeerMonth post. Since I went in a savory direction for my last post, I steered towards the sweeter side of things this time. For the most part, I knew that I was going to make caramel. I just wasn't sure if I was going to make actual caramels or caramel sauce.

If I was going to make caramels, I had to find a couple of things that, with more time, wouldn't have been a problem. But I got a late start (go figure), and decided to move the caramels to the back seat for now. But I've got big plans for them in the future, so keep your eyes peeled.

So, moseying on up to the front seat was some trusty caramel sauce. I've used beer to make caramel sauce before, so it wasn't an entirely new concept. It would be my choice of beer that made the difference. I wanted something that was a bit bold. I decided on Shock Top's Honey Bourbon Cask Wheat.

Sweet 'n Tangy Beer-Glazed Chicken | #BeerMonth

If it's not your first time here, you probably know that I enjoy cooking and baking with booze. I'm even the resident Boozy Food Fanatic over at Food Fanatic. While I usually turn to my liquor cabinet shelves, I also include wine and beer in that category. Yes, I also drink booze, but bring it into the kitchen with the same fervor. I love matching the nuances of a particular drink with smells, flavors, and ingredients to turn them into something tasty.

These simple chicken breasts are one example. I started with an amber beer. Or should I say, una cerveza ámbar - Dos Equis Amber Lager. Mustard and beer are natural companions, but I also wanted some sweet and tangy flavors to add to the sauce. For the sweet, I turned to Piloncillo; those lovely brown cones of unrefined cane sugar. To balance out the deep, rich flavor of that, I added some cider vinegar.

Once all of those flavors bubbled and thickened a bit, I finished with handful of cilantro for a little brightness in every bite. I found the perfect accompaniment to be just some plain white rice, because it soaks up the juices and sort of mellows out the whole thing perfectly.

Øllebrød (Danish Rye Porridge) or Ale and Bread Soup inspired by Babette's Feast {food 'n flix}

This month's Food 'n Flix pick was Babette's Feast, a film that centers around two sisters and their "housekeeper" Babette, in 19th Century Denmark. I know sometimes we (as a group) stray away from films that can obviously be classified as "foodie films", but this pick by Camilla has stood firmly on that list since its release.

Martine and Filippa still live in the small village on the west coast of Jutland in which they grew up. Their father was the leader of a devout religious sect, and though they were admired and had suitors as young women, they were never married. They helped their father and his congregation, and when he passed away, they continued his teachings.

Martine and Filippa live modestly in a small home, with no need for a housekeeper. Or so they thought. One evening, a storm blows in Babette, a French refugee. Babette has a letter with her, written by one of young Filippa's suitors, Achille Papin. The letter impresses Babette's dire situation, and touts her credentials as a housekeeper. The sisters, though poor, are kind. They tell Babette that they cannot pay her, but welcome her into their home all the same when she entreats their help.

All-in-One Beer Bread Kit + Apple Cheddar Beer Bread

There is almost no bread in the world that is easier to make than beer bread.  No joke.  Now, I'm not talking the yeasted variety, though that's honestly not that much trickier, I'm talking the quick bread.  If you can measure, stir, and open a bottle of beer, you're golden.

Even simpler?  Eating it.

It's an all-purpose sort of loaf.  Toast up a fat slice and slather it with butter for breakfast.  Set the loaf out to eat alongside a pot of steaming soup.  Give it some sweeter add-ins like dried fruit and top it with sugar and cinnamon before sliding into the oven to get a nice, sugary crust that makes for delicious dessert or even french toast.

And there is hardly ever a time that I take it along somewhere to share it that I don't get asked for the recipe.  Now, I don't mind sharing.  But how 'bout...as a gesture during the holiday season...putting together a little "kit" and giving it as a gift?  You do all the heavy work (uuuuhhhhh...measuring) and they get the magical smell of yeast and hops perfuming their kitchen.  Totally worth it.  I mean, I'm thrilled when I receive a homemade gift...something from the heart.

The basic recipe is open to so many interpretations and flavor-additions, as well.  You (or they) can personalize their loaves to their mood.  And my mood?  Apples.  Apples and Cheddar, actually.  This loaf would be right at home alongside a bowl of Cheese Soup.  Or even bean soup.  Oh, with sausage! Mmmm...

Apple Cheddar Beer Bread (+ All-in-One Beer Bread Kit )

How to make an all-in-one beer bread kit, and some suggested add-ins for baking up a comforting loaf of bread.

by Heather Schmitt-González

Prep Time: 5-10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Keywords: bake bread beer flour American

Ingredients (1 loaf)

• 2½ c. unbleached all-purpose flour
• ½ c. white whole wheat flour
• 1 Tbs. granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. fine sea salt
• 1 Tbs. baking powder
• add-ins (optional- see below)
• 12 oz. beer, at room temp.
• 1 egg beaten w/ 2 Tbs. water

Apple Cheddar Beer Bread (add-ins):

• 1 smallish apple, diced small (peeled, if you wish...to yield ~1 c.)
• 1 c. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 tsp. minced, dried onion
• ~6 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves stripped and chopped a bit

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375° F. Generously grease a loaf pan.

Combine flours, sugar, salt, and baking powder (as well as any add-ins, if you're using them) in large bowl. Slowly stir in beer and mix just until combined, it will be thick. Dump the dough/batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Brush the egg wash generously over the top of the loaf. Slide into preheated oven and bake until the top of the loaf is golden, ~45 mins.

Set pan on a wire rack and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Jiggle bread a bit to make sure that it is loose from the bottom and edges of the pan, then turn it out and finish cooling on the wire rack. Delicious warm or at room temperature.

To make an All-in-One Beer Bread Kit:

Whisk all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl (no add-ins) until well combined. Transfer to a quart-sized zippered baggie. Place the mix into a new loaf pan and add a 12 oz. bottle of beer. Write out the instructions on a note card (or something fancier, if you wish), including a few "add-in" suggestions.

If you like, tuck a new kitchen towel underneath for color and tie the whole thing off with some raffia or ribbon.  If you're feeling especially ambitious, you can even break out that cello-wrap stuff and wrap the whole thing up in a pretty little package.

Suggested add-ins for beer bread:

-Apple Cheddar (see above)

-Cheddar & Sage (1 c. shredded sharp cheddar + handful chopped fresh sage)

-Garlic & Herb (1 tsp. garlic powder + 3 tsp. dried, mixed herbs or 2 minced garlic cloves + 3 Tbs. mixed chopped fresh herbs)

-Feta & Herb (4 oz. crumbled feta + 2 Tbs. chopped fresh oregano or rosemary)

-Italian (½ c. freshly grated Parmesan + 2 cloves minced garlic + 2 tsp. Italian Seasoning)

-Onion (½ c. finely sliced green onions)
-Goat Cheese & Sundried Tomato (4 oz. crumbled goat cheese + ½ c. finely diced sundried tomatoes)

SO MANY MORE - use your imagination

adapted from Farmgirl Fare

50 Women Game-Changers (in Food): #37 Severine von Tscharner Fleming - Beer Cheese Soup w/ Sausage

the "Gourmet" prompt...

37. Severine von Tscharner Fleming- Founder and director of the Greenhorns, the fabulous von TF’s mission is to recruit, promote, and support young farmers. The upshot: Nonindustrial farming is fun and it’s hip; it’s an explosive movement. And this is indubitably a good thing.

Severine attended Pomona College and UCBerkeley where she graduated with a B.S. in Conservation/AgroEcology.  She co-founded Pomona Organic Farm and founded UCBerkeley's Society for Agriculture and Food Ecology.  She is also the co-founder of the National Young Farmers Coalition.  She is currently based in the Hudson Valley, New York and has produced and directed a documentary film about "young farmers who are reclaiming, restoring, retrofitting, and respecting this country of ours" entitled The Greenhorns.  The Greenhorns mission is to recruit, promote, and support the growing group of new agrarians.  While growing organic fruit, herbs, vegetables, pigs, rabbits, goats, and laying hens on others property, she hopes to save up money to buy her own farm one day.*

Now.  Severine doesn't really have any recipes floating around, but she is featured in the "Kitchen Table Talks" section of the book Farmstead Chef by Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko.  There's a link to one of the recipes from this book on the Greenhorns blog...which got me to looking around at some more of the recipes they had listed.  I came across a beer cheese soup that sounded intriguing.  I haven't made any sort of cheese soup in years...and I figured that with some tweaking, I could make this my own, yet still stay in line with something that would be von Tscharner Fleming approved.

Using locally brewed beer and locally made Dyngus-style (it's that time of year) sausage along with homemade chicken stock and organic veggies and serving it in a boule of homemade bread, I think I accomplished my mission.  I found the amount of flour used in the original recipe (2 cups!) to be excessive, so I cut it down by half and gave an option for thickening.  The result is a rich, comforting, stick-to-your bones pot of soup reminiscent of fondue.  And I'm awful fond of fondue. That's why I think it was a bonus to serve it in a bread bowl

Beer Cheese Soup w/ Sausage

by Heather Schmitt-González

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 40-45 minutes

Keywords: simmer soup/stew beer cheese sausage American

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Ingredients (serves 12)

• ~1 lb. Dyngus-Style Sausage (or other)
• 4 oz. unsalted butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped (~1 c.)
• 3 fat cloves garlic, minced
• 1½ c. nibble-size broccoli florets
• 1½ c. julienned carrots
• 1 c. flour
• 2 c. chicken stock
• 12 oz. Four Horsemen Irish Red Ale (or any variety of beer you like)
• 1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
• 4 c. whole milk
• 1 Tbs. maple syrup
• 2 tsp. dry mustard
• ½ tsp. fennel seed
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lb. (~4 c.) extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Instructions

Cook sausage in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium heat. Once it is nicely browned and fully cooked, remove to a small dish leaving as much fat behind as possible. You should have built up some nice fond on the bottom of the pot - leave it there, that's going to add a lot of flavor to the soup. If you have much more than a tablespoon or so of grease left, decrease your butter by that much when adding it.

Add butter to pot and once it begins to bubble, add onions and garlic and sauté for a few minutes, until onions are soft and translucent. Add broccoli and carrots and continue to cook for another 3-5 minutes.

Stir in the flour and let it cook out for at least a minute so that it loses the floury flavor. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Stir in beer, Worcestershire sauce, and milk. Reduce heat to low and simmer for ~10 minutes.  

Add maple syrup, mustard, fennel, and reserved sausage. Add ~2 tsp. of salt and a few grinds of black pepper.

Cook for another five minutes or so, and then slowly add sprinkle the cheese in a little at a time, stirring constantly until the cheese is melted and the soup begins to bubble.

Adjust consistency with a bit of milk or water if it seems too thick. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

notes:

This soup reminds me of fondue...it's perfect for dipping some good substantial bread in (or even better, serve it in small bread bowls).

I sautéed a little extra broccoli and carrots just to add as a garnish when serving. Grate on some more pepper and sprinkle with a few crushed red chiles when serving for a pleasant hint of heat.

If by chance this soup is too thin for your liking, make a roux by using equal parts butter and flour. Melt butter and stir in flour with a wooden spoon. Allow the roux to cook down for at least five minutes or so. It should look like wet sand. Whisk in small bits at a time and allow to boil (since this is when it really thickens). Add more if needed. Cooled roux can be stored in a container with a lid in the fridge for a week or so if you have some left.

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In May '11, Gourmet posted a list of 50 Women Game-Changers (in Food) that runs the gamut from food writers to cookbook authors to television personalities to restauranteurs to chefs to food bloggers.  Some are a given.  Some are controversial.  Speaking the names of some brings fond childhood memories.  Speaking the names of others will make some readers cringe.  And of course, some of our favorites were not even included.  We food-lovers are a passionate bunch of people and whether we agree or disagree, every woman on this list has earned her place for a reason.  Being a woman who is passionate about food (cooking, eating, talking about, writing about, photographing), when I caught wind of Mary from One Perfect Bite's idea of cooking/blogging her way through each of these 50 women...one per week...I knew I wanted to join her.  Many of these women paved the way for us in culinary school, in the kitchen, in cookbooks, in food writing, and on television and I think it is a fabulous way to pay tribute to their efforts.  Some of the women on the list have been tops with me for years.  Some I have heard of (perhaps even seen, read, or cooked from) before.  And there are even a handful that I am not familiar with at all.  I excited to educate myself on each of these women game-changers and hope you look forward to reading along.  We are going in order from 1 to 50.

Who is cooking along with these 50 Women Game-Changers?

Mary- One Perfect Bite, Val- More Than Burnt Toast, Joanne- Eats Well With Others, Taryn- Have Kitchen Will Feed, Susan- The Spice Garden, Heather- girlichef, Miranda- Mangoes and Chutney, Jeanette- Jeanette's Healthy Living, Kathy- Bakeaway with Me, Sue- The View from Great Island, Barbara- Moveable Feasts, Linda- There and Back Again, Nancy- Picadillo, Mireya- My Healthy Eating Habits, Veronica- My Catholic Kitchen, Annie- Lovely Things, Claudia- Journey of an Italian Cook, Alyce- More Time at the Table, Amrita- Beetle's Kitchen Escapades  

*source: The Greenhorns

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Come join SoupaPalooza at TidyMom and Dine & Dish sponsored by KitchenAid, Red Star Yeast and Le Creuset

Beer-Orange-Vanilla Bean Caramel (...featuring New Belgium's Somersault Ale)

This post has been a long time in the making.  No particular reason.  Nothing out-of-the-ordinary.  Nothing spectacular.  Oh, let me rephrase that- this caramel is spectacular.  My goal- not so much.  Don't you just hate it when best laid plans don't work out?  I was planning a dazzling "ladies who lunch and drink beer" day in which I would get together with my mom and sisters and grandma.  It just never came together. The whole menu was carefully planned out using a selection of New Belgium Beer throughout the menu.  Oh yeah, it was going to be epic.  The lunch party to end all lunch parties.  There was the meal which consisted of something typical made non-typical. 

What's typical you ask?  Soup, salad, and bread.  Pretty typical.  Nothing flashy, but meal that I am pretty much happy with anytime.  However, this was not just any meal consisting of soup, salad, and bread.  Oh no.  It started off with a Wedge Salad with Blue Cheese Beer Buttermilk Dressing and Spicy Beer Nuts made with Mighty Arrow Pale Ale.  And then.  Then there was Oatmeal Brown Ale Bread Bowls made with 1554 Enlightened Black Ale.  And to sit perfectly inside those retro little bread bowls was an amazing Beer Cheese Soup made with Fat Tire Amber Ale. While my lunch hasn't come together yet...I do still plan on making it happen.  This menu was too good to go to waste.  However, I still wound up making my planned dessert.  A simple Vanilla Bean Ice Cream smothered in warm Beer-Orange-Vanilla Bean Caramel made with Somersault Ale.  This should inspire a fire under their booties.  Although to be fair...one gave birth, and that slowed things down a bit.  And probably foremost were gas prices (unfortunately, we don't all live in the same town.  Or even state.).  One way or another, these ladies will be lunching.  Soon.  Did I mention the beer bottle vases?  Aaahhhh.  It's so vivid in my head.

Beer-Orange-Vanilla Bean Caramel Sauce
inspired by/adapted from Food Network Magazine June '11
makes ~1½ c.

1 (12 oz.) bottle New Belgium Somersault Ale
4 cardamom pods
juice & zest (cut in large, wide strips) of one orange
1 vanilla bean
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
1½ c. packed brown sugar
1 c. heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
sea salt

Bruise the cardamom pods a bit and scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean.  Place the cardamom pods and the scraped vanilla bean & seeds into a large (really, large...this helps prevent boil-overs later) saucepan with the beer, zest and juice from half an orange and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Cook, stirring, until reduced to about 1 cup.  This will take around 10 minutes.  

Add the butter and brown sugar and let boil until thick and syrupy, ~10-12 minutes.  To test for doneness, drip a bit of caramel into a bowl of cold water...it should form a soft ball when ready.

Slowly stir in the cream and cook another 5 minutes, until sauce has thickened a bit.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract and a couple pinches of sea salt.  Remove cardamom and vanilla pods and orange zest.  It will be a bit loose, but as it cools it will thicken up nicely.  

Transfer to a jar and store in the fridge.  It could last for a couple of weeks stored that way...but I doubt it will.  I mean, I'm sure it will, I just don't think it will last that long.  It vanished in no time around here.  When we wanted it to coat our cold vanilla ice cream, I stuck the jar in the microwave for about 30 seconds...then spooned the warm, fragrant, addicting caramel over and made quick work of it.  So. Stinkin'. Delicious.  I'm not saying that I occasionally pulled the jar from the fridge and scooped out a bite and ate it just like that.  Okay, yes I am.

*As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received a stipend to help reimburse the cost of the beer & ingredients.  All thoughts and opinions on New Belgium beer are my own.

*I am sharing this post with: