Its Been Awhile... but Iam a Busy Guy

Just getting over the holidays. Too much good food to mention. But, thought I would start the new year right by providing a list of food to pair with beer.  I just figured it would be good to get the juices flowing since Spring is two months away... well a bit a head of myself but I can hardly wait.

1- Cheese, right go figure... you thought cheese only went with wine. A sharp acidic cheese is served best with an acidic beer such as Belgian Gueuze *as recommended.  Me personally, I would go with a sharp cheddar and Pale ale.

2- Shellfish needs a spicy beer in my opinion. I would go with a microbrew with a citrus perk something like a Summer Shandy.

3- Smoked foods or fish need a semi-dry hearty ale preferably on tap. Unless, we are talking smoked and sweet barbecued foods then a more salty Pilsner to counter the sweetness of the barbecue sauce.

4-Fish needs only a clean Pilsner or golden lager by its side.

5- White meats go well with Pilsners too or try a nutty beer like a Black Walnut to boast about.

6-  Beef needs a dark red beer with a hearty reserve as it leaves the palette.

7- Pizza, well anything on tap is alright with me... after all we talking pizza.

8- Desert, only a raspberry or pear infused malt will do.

9- Chocolate, any good stouts and or just a Guinness!
.
10-  Biscuits/cookies or a candy bar, I can only think of a dark ale with a creamy prune flavor. 





*The list provided here contains some recommendations by Beverly Carnahan.

Italian Sausage Sandwich~ I am baaaaack... wasn't that used in a movie

Tonight's dish, Italian sausage sandwich with left over spaghetti bolognese. Since, I am a 'sammy' kind of guy... I can of course make a pretty good sandwich.

I prefer to buy Italian sausage in bulk which means not in the casing. It cooks faster and still remains juicy. Get some olive oil going in a skillet, pat out your sausage in an oblong shape and lay in the patties when the oil starts to sizzle. Sprinkle on some dried herb seasoning and let em cook. Once browned on both sides, cover and simmer for 10 min. on low heat. Prepare bread or sandwich rolls by toasting in the oven or toaster oven. Have some mozzarella cheese ready to melt on the patties once they are cooked through. As the rolls come out of the toaster, press them down into the juices in the skillet where the patties still simmer. Then, turn off the heat, make a sandwich and get happy. Oh, and lastly, microwave the left over spaghetti.

~ Tutti a Tavola!

and don't forget the Giardiniera relish

Brainy Guys Love Buckwheat ~ Why?

I was first introduced to buckwheat by my wife the Brainy Gourmet who spent years on the steppes of Eastern Europe where it is cultivated. The fields are like a bride's bouquet when in bloom and afire when its the harvest.

Buckwheat is energizing and nutritious, buckwheat is available throughout the year and can be served as an alternative to rice or made into porridge. While many people think that buckwheat is a cereal grain, it is actually a fruit seed that is related to rhubarb and sorrel making it a suitable substitute for grains for people who are sensitive to wheat or other grains that contain protein gluten. Buckwheat flowers are very fragrant and are attractive to bees that use them to produce a special, strongly flavored, dark honey.


Diets that contain buckwheat have been linked to lowered risk of developing high cholesterol and high blood pressure. The Yi people of China consume a diet high in buckwheat (100 grams per day, about 3.5 ounces). When researchers tested blood lipids of 805 Yi Chinese, they found that buckwheat intake was associated with lower total serum cholesterol, lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL, the form linked to cardiovascular disease), and a high ratio of HDL (health-promoting cholesterol) to total cholesterol.

Buckwheat's beneficial effects are due in part to its rich supply of flavonoids, particularly rutin. Flavonoids are phytonutrients that protect against disease by extending the action of vitamin C and acting as antioxidants.
 Buckwheat's lipid-lowering activity is largely due to rutin and other flavonoid compounds. These compounds help maintain blood flow, keep platelets from clotting excessively (platelets are compounds in blood that, when triggered, clump together, thus preventing excessive blood loss, and protect LDL from free radical oxidation into potentially harmful cholesterol oxides. All these actions help to protect against heart disease.

So, guys... load up on the Buckwheat. It makes me feel - robust!




~ Source -  http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=11

Brainy Guys Love Gazpacho!

Gazpacho!

I did not know that gazpacho was actually Spanish and I think pretty much resembles salsa.


Here is an excerpt from an expert ~ "Gazpacho" is cool, refreshing and flavorful start to a meal on a hot summer day. This soup is eaten often in the southern part of Spain called Andalusia, the region from which is originates. Eat gazpacho from a soup bowl, or drink it from a glass. Either way, it is tasty, refreshing and very healthy, since it is made from nothing but fresh vegetables and a bit of oil and vinegar. During the hot weather, do what the Spaniards do - Make a batch of gazpacho and keep it in a glass pitcher in the refrigerator for whenever you need a cool drink.

I like the last part, keep it in a glass pitcher for whenever you need a cool drink, and the best part... its pretty much a health food.  Follow the recipe which can be done in a blender on coarse setting for soup and liquid if you want smoothie.

• 3 lb. ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded - coarsely chopped
• 2 green or red peppers, seeded- coarsely chopped
• 1 small red or white onion - coarsely chopped
• Washed and chopped fresh green (curly) parsley
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar or balsamic 
• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
•  3 cloves of garlic - minced
•  1 squeeze of fresh lime juice
• salt to taste

 *Try it topped with croutons or as a side any toasted bread.






Source ~  http://spanishfood.about.com/od/soupssalads/r/gazpacho.htm

Zucchini From the Garden

Hi there, its been a while but other duties call. As you know, I am all about fresh veggies, right??? Well, most of the time. Today, since we have an abundance of zucchini from the garden what better to do than get the deep fryer going.

 Flowerettes

How do I do that? Well, its easy. Hot oil, egg whites, beer or club soda, flour and zucchini ~ Voila!

Mix your flour and beer (stiffly beaten whites for crispiness) and salt. Heat the oil and get fryin.

• Vegetable oil (for frying)
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 12 ounce chilled Pilsner, lagerstyle beer, or club soda
• Zucchini blossoms (stamens removed; about 2 dozen) 
•  Put out on the table a salsa, or creamy dipping sauce and crack a cold one.

You want gravy on that?

Its been awhile since I blogged you, but hey cooking and eating takes time. So, I have been busy doing both and given the later, it takes time to digest; especially, if we are talking gravy. Just back from a trip down south and gravy doesn't get any better than southern white gravy made on bacon or some kind of pork grease.

What is or can be a surprise for most northerners is that gravy gets put on just about everything. I guess its like the French who put 'sauce' on everything. For instance, I was in a nice local restaurant with my wife and mother. The waitress came round to take our orders and and we ordered. My wife wanted the grilled fish with mashed potatoes and coleslaw and of course the waitress said "Now you want gravy on that" and my wife said, "No thanks". The waitress looked at her and said, "Are you sure you don't want gravy on that". My wife said "No thanks" a second time. The waitress looked at her as if she were from a different planet.

Now, for myself and my mom, we integrated. I had chicken fried steak with gravy and my mom had pork tenderloin with gravy. My wife is a great cook, in fact she is the brainy gourmet in my book. She loves fish and likes mashed potatoes with butter or sour cream. In her brainy head, gravy, especially the kind served down south, is what she would put on biscuits in the morning but not on grilled fish with mashed potatoes.

When we looked about around the restaurant, just about everyone had gravy. So, my wife was feeling a bit left out. I ended up giving her a taste of my gravy so that she could feel part of the culture. She said, "best on biscuits". I agreed to keep the harmony between us.

But hey... when in Rome do as the Romans and I love gravy. I could put gravy on just about everything.
So, I ordered a blackberry cobbler for desert and asked for gravy and guess what ... the waitress looked at me and said, "Don't think you want to do that." LOL

 just keep it comin...

Chocoate is for Brainy Guys

I love chocolate; especially dark chocolate. I think that it is good for anyone's well being ... cause what I eat, I consider good for my being. The Mayans used it in a variety of ways and for various reasons and as a kind of 'treasure'.

 Here's a bit of chocolate history. Chocolate was considered ‘food of the gods’. It is believed that cacao originated in the Amazon Orinoco Basin more than 4,000 years ago, but was used primarily for the sweet pulp that surrounds the beans inside of the pod.  It was most likely spread through Central America from Ecuador by humans along coastal trade routes. By 1800 BCE, Theobroma cacao had spread into the Soconusco region of Guatemala and the Pacific coastal plain of Chiapas, Mexico. It was here that cacao is believed to have been first domesticated and used for its beans.

The Barra people – the first pottery-using culture of Mesoamerica – are believed to be the first to process chocolate and consume it in a drink. From here, cacao spread north to the Olmec people of the Mexican Gulf Coast and then to the Mayan civilizations in the Yucatán Peninsula between 600 and 400 BCE.

The earliest evidence of Mayan chocolate usage was found at Colhá in Northern Belize around 600 BCE. It was most commonly used in several different drinks and gruels, the most common being a frothy beverage that was served to royals and newly married couples. Chocolate had an extremely important place in the religious, spiritual and cultural life of the Mayan people and is depicted on vases, murals and other pieces of art. It was used as a gift to the deities, presented at royal burials to ensure comfort in the afterlife and even used as currency.

Chocolate’s importance in the Aztec empire is clearly documented and traceable through history. When the Aztecs took control of the Soconusco region, cacao was regularly brought back to Tenochtitlan as a tribute payment on the backs of traders. Each trader’s pack would traditionally contain 24,000 beans. It was noted by the 16th century writer Francisco Cervantes de Salazar that at one point, in one of the Emperor of Tenochtitlan’s many warehouses of cocoa beans, 9.6 million beans were being stored!
The Aztec way of making chocolate was very similar to that of the Mayans; both cultures made a frothy drink from the dark beans, with the only real difference being that the Aztec beverage was consumed cool rather than hot. The drink was created by first toasting the beans on a clay comal (griddle) over an open fire, then laboriously grinding the beans on a stone metate until a stream of liquid chocolate trickled off the metate’s edge and into an earthen bowl.


Water was then added to create a coarse texture, as well as flavorings such as honey, dried flowers, vanilla, chili, allspice or finely ground corn.  In order to achieve the froth on top of the beverage, it was poured from one bowl to another bowl repeatedly until thick foam formed on the top.

 

When I was in Europe, I discovered how to drink chocolate. They even offered Tabasco on the table to spike it.  Let me tell you that it was a wonderful experience. You also got a cinnamon stick to stir it. 

*Source~  http://www.wilburchocolate.com/chocolatelore/history/