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:

Product Review: Pace Picante Sauce ...Spicy Southwest Tortilla Soup (#7) & Shredded Southwest Pork

A little while ago, I received a couple of jars of Pace Picante Sauce to try out from Pace through the FoodBuzz Tastemakers program. This isn't something I normally buy at the market, so I was glad to get the opportunity to experiment with it a bit.  Although the heat is labeled as medium, we found it rather mild...but I'm sure this is due to the fact that we eat a LOT of chiles around here.  It did have a nice, subtle heat to it, though.  Picante sauce is smoother than salsa...with a good balance of sweet and heat which makes it great for cooking with as opposed to dipping or smothering, as one normally would with salsa.  After playing around with it a bit, I actually think that it's a great convenience product to have in your pantry...for days when you want a no-fuss meal that still packs a bit of heat and a good deal of flavor.  I knew immediately that I would use it for a quick version of Tortilla Soup...you know me...I'm on a quest and all.  I did want to try it in another application, though...so I pulled a bag of cubed pork butt from the freezer (an essential in this house) to start it thawing.

Spicy Southwest Tortilla Soup

from the kitchen of girlichef

soup:

olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. ground cumin

big pinch of dried Mexican oregano

1 c. Pace Picante Sauce (medium)

1 (14.75 oz) can creamed corn

1 c. cooked black beans

1 qt. chicken broth/stock

1 chipotle chile in adobo, chopped

garnish:

freshly made tortilla chips, crumbled

sour cream

shredded pepperjack cheese

lime wedges

Heat a big glug of olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Sauté onions and garlic until they begin to soften.  Add cumin and oregano, stirring for ~30 seconds, just so they start to release their fragrant oils.  Add Pace Picante sauce, corn and black beans and cook for a few minutes.  Pour in broth, lime juice and add the chipotle chile.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a gentle simmer and let it cook for ~ 15 minutes.  Serve with garnish.

I liked it!  It had a great amount of heat and the corn and beans added some great texture.  The picante sauce was a quick, simple way to add a lot of flavor with no effort. 

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Speaking of no effort, this shredded pork dish is by far the simplest thing in the world to make (with a little help from a slow cooker)...and it is TO DIE FOR!  It makes a great taco or tamale filling or stuff it inside of a crusty bun for a gorgeous, flavor-filled shredded pork sandwich!

Shredded Southwest Pork

from the kitchen of girlichef

1½ lb. pork butt, in 2" cubes

1 c. Pace Picante Sauce (medium)

2 onions, sliced

4 garlic cloves, peeled & smashed

1 bell pepper, chopped

Ready for this?  Place everything in a small slow cooker.  Put on the lid.  Cook on low for 5 hours.  Et Viola!  Start stuffing your face sammiches, tacos, burritos, quesedillas....

*I received these products free of charge from Pace through the FoodBuzz Tastemakers program to review if I chose.  I did not receive any compensation for this review.  The opinions expressed in this post are all mine. MINE!

Voting is now OPEN!!! ...for challenge #1 PFB

I would be honored if you would vote for me...or if not, there are lots of other fantastic food bloggers to choose from.  No really, I totally want you to vote for me!!!

(You can read my post for challenge #1 here if you missed it.)

****You can vote HERE!!!****

Thanks guys, for all of your support...it's the fuel to my fire!

...p.s.~ you CAN vote for more than one person...but only for each person once per round!  

ummmm...what are you still doing here?  Go vote. Pretty Please!

Project Food Blog: Ready, Set, Blog! challenge #1

There once was a little girl.  She was born in the 70's...in a haze of Marley, Queen, Zeppelin, Floyd, Eagles, Aerosmith, Marvin Gaye.  A time when peace signs were flipped more often than the bird.  This little girl discovered something at a very young age.  What was this discovery, you ask?  Well, it was one of simple...and epic...proportions.  She discovered that there was a great big world kitchen full of glorious tasting things to put into her mouth.  These things were known to all as...FOOD.  If she happened to be feeling cranky because her tummy was empty and making scary noises, she could simply reach her chubby little hands towards one of the big metal boxes and one of the big people would fill them with something that smelled wildly delicious...and subdued those noises.

Over the next few years, as the little girl grew older and, of course, wiser...she continued to eat and explore this amazing world that began in the kitchen.  She found kitchens everywhere she traveled.  They were in her grandma and grandpas houses.  They were in her neighbors houses.  They even had them hidden in the back of the big buildings full of tables, where they sometimes went to sit and meet with other people to talk and laugh and listen to music.

The little girl wondered what else she could do with food...the possibilities seemed as endless as the long, sandy beach that she loved to run across with her sturdy bare feet.  Something this little girl really loved to do was to wrap up food in brown paper and old containers she found laying around the house and putting it into her grandma's sturdy basket (the one with the handles) to take out to the lawn.  She would sit on a blanket that was spread out under the beautiful crab apple tree.  She would gently unwrap that food with all ease in the world...and then savor it while enjoying the shade of that friendly tree.

Now, years rolled past and the little girl continued to grow.  She loved spaghetti night...that night in which, by some magical coincidence, she always ended up wearing the exact same white shirt (with little pieces of fruit covering the spot over her heart).  She never knew it was spaghetti night when she put it on that morning.  But inevitably, it was.

This was about the time that she also discovered her love for books...for reading books. She would read with a flashlight under her covers until her parents screamed up the stairs for her to go to bed. She could walk and read at the same time. These books...they would transport her to another place...another time...another life. She went through books faster than she went through napkins!

It was also around this time that sat down on the couch to watch television with her dad whenever she saw either one of two things on the screen....kung -fu or cooking shows.  They both captivated her full attention.  The beauty, the precision, the discipline, the talent flowing from their fingertips....those of the martial artists and the culinary artists.

Our little girl also fancied herself a student of the world...already...at the ripe old age of 12.  As she was pouring through books...or eating tacos...or watching, hearing, smelling the preparation of food...or pretending she was a kungfu master...or singing along at the top of her voice to one of her many favorite songs (did I mention that her Walkman was always clipped on to her waistband...a change of cassette nearby)...in her imagination she was up in lights.  She was sharing it with the world.  She began to write stories, as well.  It was a logical progression.  She could record the world as she saw it.  There, in print, for others to share her worldly adventures.

No longer little, this girl went on to high school...and college.  She armed  herself with a dorm-fridge, books, paper and pencils, cd's, her favorite kung-fu flicks, her aqua blue Le Clic camera...and her thirst for knowledge.  She was a dreamer well into her adult life.  Nothing ever seemed to quench her thirst. Nothing except for the time when she was learning about...or participating in...one of those things in particular.  She did not know what she wanted to do with her life.  She craved more than what she was doing.  Working in a decent paying job...that was boring her out of her mind.  She yearned for more...for adventure...for challenge...for passion!  She wanted to work, but she wanted work that didn't feel like work. 

She decided to go back to culinary school...and in turn worked in kitchens.  It was good.  Through it all she met a man, fell in love, got married...there were even a few kids that worked their way in in the midst of it all.  Although she was happy working with food, she was happiest when she was exploring food.  When she was learning about food.  Trying and cooking new things.  She wanted to travel and see the the food and people of different cultures.  She wanted to write it all down in one of the notebooks that were always somewhere nearby.

And then one day, by chance, she stumbled upon something called a blog.  You can imagine how quickly she was hooked.  She realized that she could do this herself.  She has discovered a way to roll all of her passions into one.  She could explore food in all of its facets...and then she put it into action.  She would research it.  She would cook it.  She could document the whole process through photographs and writing!  THIS WAS IT!  It was a culmination of all she'd been looking for...something that was work, that didn't feel like work.  She could learn and explore and grow and teach and share and socialize all at the same time.  She could speak of herself in the third person, even.

And maybe....just maybe...she could even get paid for it someday.  This is why she is entering Project Food Blog.  If YOU believe in THIS GIRL (this girl right here)...please register to vote over at FoodBuzz. 

....I will figure out a way to work the kung-fu in one of these days!!!

Egg, Bacon, and Cheese Toast Cups + Nature's Pride Bread

So...I feel like a big slacker because I received this awesome bread from Nature's Pride via FoodBuzz's TasteMakers program some time ago...and thought that I blogged it...and realized that I didn't. Sheesh. Get with it girli! I received 2 loaves (the same ones that everyone else received, I think)...one being 12 Grain and the other Whole Wheat. I liked both varieties. They were both hearty and toothsome...and perfect when toasted. I really like toast. Ha ha ha ha...but really, I do. I like toast a lot. See, I decided to do the easy (but delicious) thing first and toast up a slice (okay 3) of the Nature's Pride 12 Grain bread. And then I slathered it with butter and some local Buckwheat honey. Ah. Mah. Gah. Seriously, I didn't need to do anything else with this bread. I could have. Okay, I made sandwiches...but I craved toast the whole day long and had it for at least one meal a day until this loaf was polished off.

And since I was super boring and predictable with the first loaf, I figured why not go a little crazy with the second loaf. I'll show 'em. I can do something cool with this seemingly simple loaf of bread. Perhaps turn them into a delicious breakfast item...yes, I'll make them into toast cups!! Mwaa haaa haaa...evil genius

Egg, Bacon and Cheese Toast Cups

Nature's Pride Whole Wheat Bread

Bacon

Eggs

Cheese of your choosing

sea salt

freshly cracked black pepper

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F. Using as big of a circle cutter that fits inside a slice of bread, cut out as many rounds as you need to feed your eaters. Spray a muffin tin and push the rounds into the holes, pushing down and mashing a bit...you know, kinda like you did when you smashed your bread from your sandwich at lunch in elementary school. (Just don't ball it up...come on, you did it...admit it!)Cook your bacon until it is about 1/2-3/4 of the way done. I just zapped it in the microwave...but you can do it on the stove top or in the oven...it's up to you.Roll the bacon up into the toast cup and sprinkle in a little cheese. Stick 'em in the oven for 5 minutes or so to get the cheese melty and the toast starting to...well...toast. So, technically, I guess I should say...and the bread to start toasting. I have to say this because I know it would drive me crazy if I saw it somewhere else. Next, crack an egg into a small bowl and then slide it into the middle of the (now) toast cup. The cup probably won't be big enough to hold the whole egg, so hold back some of the white. Once you've filled as many as you want, use the extra white and another egg and stir them up into scrambled eggs and fill up another toast cup or two with that. Waste not, want not. Bake them until they are set/cooked. Seems like it was 10 minutes or so. Enjoy as is or with some salsa or pico de gallo or hot sauce....

In a nutshell...I enjoyed Nature's Pride bread and will even buy it all on my own...probably the 12 Grain, I liked that best. Oh, and the toast cups...good, but I prefer just to make everything separately then eat it all together...much less hassle :D Thanks FoodBuzz TasteMakers and Nature's Pride!

Sloppy Joes & Chips...love being a Tastemaker...tag, you're it!

One of the most awesome perks of being a FoodBuzz featured publisher is that you get the opportunity to be a Tastemaker and try new products! I love getting free things...free foodie things at that! I recently received a package containing a few of Emeril's products...Emeril's All-Natural Chicken Stock, Emeril's Chicken Rub and these two beauties that I used in the following recipe...Emeril's Kicked Up Horseradish Mustard and Emeril's Original Essence Seasoning. BAM! You know you can't resist saying it. Okay, I know I can't resist saying it! Boy it's hard to empty your pantry when you get more fillers in the mail. I'm not complaining. But, this is the last meal I made in my pantry/fridge-cleaning extravaganza. I hit the market the very next day. Kicked Up Sloppy Joes w/ Red Potato Chips

by girlichef

yield: 8-12 svgs (depending on the size of your buns...or the size you want your buns to be)

2 lbs. ground beef

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 3/4 c. ketchup

1 c. water

1/4 c. brown sugar

2 Tbs. Emeril's Original Essence

2 Tbs. Emeril's Kicked Up Horseradish Mustard

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. minced, dried onion

1/2 tsp. crushed red chiles

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper- to taste

1. Cook the ground beef, onions and garlic until ground beef is browned. Drain fat. Add all remaining ingredients except salt and pepper.

2. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Partially cover and let cook until liquid is reduced and coats the ground beef all nice & sloppy-like, ~20-30 minutes. Now season to taste with the sea salt and black pepper.

Red Potato Chips

Red Potatoes

vegetable (or whichever kind you prefer) oil for frying

Black Truffle Sea Salt (go ahead, click it...)

1. Thinly slice your potatoes with a mandolin, vegetable peeler or super-sharp knife. Fry in oil that has been brought up to ~350 degrees F.

2. Remove to paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with Black Truffle Sea Salt.Serve the Sloppy Joe on your choice of bread...I used small-ish, split rolls. Crunch some chips in between bites of the Joes...ahhhh, slightly sweet w/ an underlying kick!

I want to give a big shout-out to Palidor of Crazy Asian Gal for passing me this Premio Meme! award. If you do not know her, you must go visit her...she has some crazy delicious food over there...and she gives a big thank you to each new person who joins/follows her blog (sweet, huh)...so quick go bombard her and see how many thanks she has to put up on her next post...LOL!! Thanks Palidor :D This award states that we're supposed to share 7 of our personality traits...since I've done this before, I won't bore you. You can click here if you'd like to find out what I said. And I just know that you know that I'm gonna break the rules and not pass it on to 7 people...since I've passed it on before. Maybe I'll just hold it for later....speaking of passing things on....

I was tagged by Jenn of Bread + Butter to receive The Joy of Reading award....cool. Here's the skinny on this particular "tag" or "award":

1. Collect the book that you have most handy.

2. Turn to page 161

3. Find the 5th complete sentence.

4. Site the sentence on your blog

5. Pass it on to 5 other bloggers.

I imagine that most or all of you know that I love books. Can not get enough of them. I've told you of mexi's comments that we have more than the library. One of my all-time favorite quotes is...."A room without books is like a body without a soul." -anonymous This is so obviously the reason that I have books spread throughout the house...although I actually draw the line at the bathroom. Ewww, no thanks. The book I have most handy is actually a stack of 8 books, so...I'll pick a couple of them and share with you. Because I just know you're interested in how diverse I am. Why yes, I do practice sarcasm, why do you ask?

The first book I have handy is The French Chef Cookbook by Julia Child (come on, you knew one would be a cookbook) and the chosen sentence is: Pour fat out of browning skillet, pour in 2 cups of stock or bouillon, and boil, scraping up coagulated browning juices. Sheesh, now I'm hungry. Doesn't take much.

Another of the books in my current pile is The Zen of Eating by Ronna Kabatznick, Ph.D and the chosen sentence here is: You learn that mindfulness is something you can trust. Indeed.

So....Kim of The Ungourmet, Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies, Danielle of Cooking for my Peace of Mind, Wandering Coyote of ReTorte and Ty's Mommy of The Seventh Level of Boredom...you're tagged! Do with it what you will.