Beer Braised Pork Chops With Cabbage, Apples And Caraway

Frigid weather and Eastern European flavors were built for one another. Hearty, stick-to-your-ribs fare is just what the doctor ordered when outside temps seem more suited to the frozen tundra of the far, far (FAR) north than to Western Pennsylvania.

Morning temps of -10, -8, -4 demand substantial fuel for our bodies to warm us up and get us through the workday until we're once again home...preferably snuggled under an afghan next to a roaring fire. (Can't you just picture a golden lab sleeping peacefully in front of the fireplace while you cradle a mug of steaming cider between your slowly thawing hands?)

What might such a dinner consist of? Pork. And bacon. Cabbage and beer! Here's a dish that's sure to warm you from the inside out.....

Beer Braised Pork Chops 

With Cabbage, Apples And Caraway

• 4 slices thick sliced peppered bacon, cut across into 1/2" lardons 
• 4  1" thick bone-in center cut loin pork chops 
• salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 T. Butter
• 1 small head of cabbage, cut into quarters, core removed and sliced across into 1/2" slices - about 12 C, more or less
• 1 large tart apple, peeled, cored and diced
• 1 large onion, peeled and diced
• 1 T butter
• 2 T dark brown sugar
• 3 T rice wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 t kosher salt
• 1 t caraway seeds (optional, but it really makes a difference!)
• 12 oz. bottle of beer (I used gluten free beer to make this GF)

In a large electric skillet, saute the bacon until crisp. Remove to a plate, leaving the bacon fat in the skillet. Add 1 T butter to the skillet, melt it with the bacon fat.

Season the chops on both sides with salt & pepper and brown them on both sides in the skillet. Remove to a plate.

Add 1 T butter to skillet again and melt. Add the cabbage, apple and onion. Stir and let it soften. Add brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, 1 1/2 t kosher salt, caraway seeds and the reserved bacon. Stir everything together well. 

Add the pork chops back into the skillet, nestling them into the cabbage mixture. Spoon some of the mixture over the pork chops. 

Pour the bottle of beer over all, reduce heat, cover and let simmer for about an hour until the pork chops are tender, but the cabbage mixture is still moist. (Add a little water, if necessary.)

Just add a salad or a veggie of some type...and definitely a nice dark pumpernickel to complete the meal!

Beer Caramel Chocolate Almond Bar Cookies

Much like mushrooms springing from front yard mulch after the rain, brewpubs are popping up all over Pittsburgh. Among them, is a fledgling spot down the Ohio River that stands out from the (6?) pack. It's not because it's the biggest or has the most taps or even that it has the catchiest name, Aurochs Brewing Company is the only exclusively gluten-free brewery in the 'Burgh.

Ryan Bove, one of the owners of Aurochs, recently led me through the the brewery on Ohio River Boulevard in Emsworth and it didn't take long. The space is cavernous, while currently the brewing capacity is quite modest....BUT...their plans for the future are BIG.

Aurochs current brewing set up.

We stood in the well lit, mostly empty, cement floored warehouse/brewing area while I learned of all that is planned to fill Aurochs to capacity - future big mash tuns, brewing kettles, settling tanks and such. I like an organization with an eye to the future!

Just imagine the gluten-free beer glory to come!

While we talked about plans yet to be realized for Aurochs, one that Ryan told me about was their hopes for a tasting room at Soergel's Farm Market in Wexford. Why Soergel's? Ryan's partner, Doug Foster, is married to Amy Soergel. An Aurochs tasting room at Soergel's is particularly appropos since Soergel's grows some of the hops for Aurochs' brews. 

When the Soergel's tasting room becomes reality, I'm looking forward to some great Soergel's BBQ on a soft gluten-free bun accompanied by a cold, crisp gluten-free Aurochs beer. (If you haven't had the pleasure of BBQ pork, chicken and beef from the huge smoker at Soergel's, get you some NOW!)

What was the best part of the tour? The part when Mark and I got to taste and enjoy two of the brews produced on the premises. We each tried both the White Ale and the Amber Ale. My favorite for a hot and steamy Pittsburgh summer day was definitely the cold, crisp and refreshing White Ale. 

White Ale on the left, Amber Ale on the right.

The slightly smoky and caramel-y, fuller bodied Amber Ale was what we bought by the growler...I had plans myself for this lovely brew in an old favorite cookie I hadn't had in many years. 

Natchez cookies. An easy to make crisp, caramel and chocolate cookie - sort of like a Heath Bar on a crunchy crust - was smack dab on my radar with a few small adjustments to make them gluten-free. The crust, normally a simple layer of graham crackers, would now consist of Glutino gluten free table crackers original premium squares. The caramel? Beer caramel now....with the Aurochs Amber Ale.

Here's Ryan!

The assembly went like this. I placed the crackers edge to edge in a rimmed baking sheet, then (carefully) poured hot, bubbling caramel over the tops, popped the sheet (again, carefully) into the oven until the caramel became a beautiful shade of deep, dark brown, then took the pan out of the oven. Once the caramel had cooled a bit, I sprinkled chocolate chips over the top, let them melt and spread the chocolate evenly over all, then finally scattered sliced honeyed almonds over everything. Once the pan cooled, it was time to break them into cookie-sized pieces and enjoy!

Like Aurochs, I have plans for the future, too...using their product! Already I'm planning on making gluten-free beer battered onion rings - something we gluten-free folk NEVER get. For Thanksgiving I'm already thinking how a chocolate pecan pie with a good dark stout would really make for a festive finish to our family feast!

Speaking of plans, I just got word of Aurochs' new regular schedule at 8321 Ohio River Boulevard in Emsworth. Starting August 7th, they'll be open Thursdays & Fridays 4:00-8:00 p.m. and Saturdays noon-6:00 p.m. Maybe I'll see you all there sometime soon!

Beer Caramel Chocolate Almond Bar Cookies

• 16 Glutino Gluten Free Table Crackers - Original Premium Squares (7 oz. package) to make these GF (or equivalent of graham crackers if gluten isn't an issue)
• 2 T gluten-free beer syrup (boil down 1 cup to 2 T - watch carefully at the end as it seems to go quickly then!)
• 2 sticks butter
• 1 C dark brown sugar
• 1 t pure vanilla extract
•  12 oz bag Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet chocolate chips - my favorite brand - real chocolate without that waxy component
• 1 1/2 C Trader Joe's (or like brand) Honey Roasted Almonds - these are sliced, not whole
• parchment paper to line the 11" X 17" rimmed baking sheet plus Pam spray to spray the parchment paper with (just for good measure)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cut parchment paper to just fit the inside of the rimmed pan and spray with Pam, letting the spray hit the inside rim, too. Again...for good measure. 

Arrange the crackers edge to edge as in the photo below. You may have to overlap ever so slightly. No big deal.



In a small, deep pot, boil 1 C beer down to 2 T. Watch carefully towards the end as it goes quickly then. 

To the 2 T beer syrup in the pot, add the butter and dark brown sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved. Continue to boil until the contents become slightly syrupy. Remove the pot from the heat and carefully add vanilla...it will boil up slightly!

Again, carefully pour he caramel over the crackers in the baking sheet. Use an offset spatula to even the caramel out to cover all crackers all the way to the edges. Carefully put the pan into the oven and bake approximately 20 minutes - more or less. Watch for the caramel to stop being liquid-y and start looking "set." Remove from oven.

Wait just a minute before evenly scattering the chocolate chips over the caramel. Wait another minute. Using an offset spatula, spread the melting chocolate evenly over the top until the caramel is completely covered. 

Wait another minute and scatter the almonds over the top - evenly, of course. Put your hand into a plastic sandwich bag and gently press the almonds into the chocolate.

Let the pan of bar cookies cool and set completely on a cooling rack. Once the chocolate is set, slide a knife under an edge of the cookies, lift up the edge and start breaking the cookies into large "cookie size" pieces. I guess that measurement depends on how big you like your cookies....bite size or giant size...go for it!

Jalapeno Chipotle Pork Chops with Tomato Quinoa

Good old fashioned pork chops and tomato rice (like we made back in the 60's when we thought they were gourmet) just got a makeover. In my kitchen. No, they're still not a fancy dish by any means, but they're still some doggone good eating.

The old version consisted of pork chops, canned tomatoes, onion, green pepper rings and instant rice. Period. 

The makeover? A little heat of jalapeno and chipotle, a bottle of beer (gluten-free in my case, maybe a nice Mexican beer for you?), a little accent of cumino and cilantro, some roasted sweet corn and instead of rice (confession time, I only had black, red and arborio and didn't want to use any of those), quinoa stood in to get a whole new thing going on. There's something to be said for a jazzy new dish that's still familiar.

You might want to add a green veggie or a salad, but with peppers, onions, tomatoes and corn already in the mix, if time is short what's in the skillet is really all you need. On top of that, it's so easy I'm putting this one into the "quickie" category...after all, it goes together quickly AND it's a one dish diner!

Jalapeno Chipotle Pork Chops 

with Tomato Quinoa

• 2 T canola oil
• 4 nice sized, thick, bone-in pork chops - I like center cut loin chops
• Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 large jalapeno, cut in half lengthwise, seeded and thinly sliced
• 2 cans fire roasted tomatoes, UNdrained
• 1 t dried oregano
• 1 t cumin
• 1/2 t dried basil
• 3/4 t chipotle powder (seriously, if you haven't gotten yourself a bottle of this smoky wonder-spice, get ON it!)
• 1 1/2 C quinoa - rinse well in a sieve under running water before adding to the skillet
• a 12 oz bottle or can of your favorite beer - gluten-free, of course, to make this GF
• 1 C roasted corn kernels (if you're roasting these yourself, dry fry in a skillet or buy already roasted corn in the freezer section of Trader Joe's (yep...MY choice!)
• a handful of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

In a large skillet (I use my trusty electric skillet), heat the oil. Season the chops liberally with salt and pepper and brown them on both sides. 

Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl mix the onion through quinoa together thoroughly. Once the chops are browned, spoon a pile of the mixture on top of each chop and then distribute the rest of the mixture around and between the chops.

Carefully pour the beer between the chops, cover, reduce the heat to simmer and cook for 45 minutes to an hour until the chops are tender and the quinoa is cooked. Check occasionally to be sure the liquid hasn't dissipated. If it's getting dry, add a little water (or more beer) and keep an eye on it.

Serve with a sprinkling of roasted corn and chopped cilantro.

Beer-Braised Reuben Meatball Hoagies

There are favorite sandwiches all over this great country of ours...a Primanti's sandwich here in Pittsburgh, a Polish Boy in Cleveland.  Baltimore? The venerable crabcake sandwich. But there is one that sandwich that goes by different names all over the U.S.  What is it? Well, that depends.

Whether you call it a hoagie (Pittsburgh), sub (Baltimore), grinder (Boston) or a hero, the big, long sandwich on an enormous bun is one of America's favorite casual meals. 

Another favorite sandwich is a Reuben, so why not make it a best-of-both Reuben meatball hoagie? Why not indeed.

In quest of a union of the two esteemed sandwiches, I put together a mixture of canned corned beef (Why canned? It crumbled and combined SO well with the other ingredients!), ground pork, egg, panko, shredded Swiss, chopped Bavarian sauerkraut, mustard and other goodies. The result? The meatballs turned out light, tender and jam packed with Reuben-y goodness. A chunky topping of more sauerkraut, onion, butter and beer complemented the sandwich to perfection.

What an ideal make-ahead meal for the middle of the week! Heat them up and pile them on crusty buns. If you're lucky enough to find rye rolls, even better! Accompanied by a crisp and crunchy Kosher dill pickles, Beer-Braised Reuben Meatball Hoagies make a hearty meal in these cold winter months.  

Some very lucky guests would enjoy these at a weekend get-together, too.  In fact, I'm going to tuck this one away to pull out for Steelers tailgates next year! Is it too early to say, Go Steelers?!

  

Beer-Braised Reuben Meatball Hoagies

Makes 24 meatballs or 8 sandwiches

• 1 can corned beef brisket, canned, crumbled with your fingers or mashed with a fork
• 1 pound ground pork
• 2 tablespoons stoneground mustard
• 1 egg
• 1 14 oz. can Bavarian (with caraway seeds) sauerkraut, 1/2 c. removed & chopped, the rest of the can reserved  (if you don't like caraway seeds, use regular sauerkraut)
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs, gluten-free if you want to make this GF
• 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds, crushed (optional)
• 1 cup Swiss cheese, shredded - preshredded is just fine
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 2 tablespoons butter, melted in a skillet
• 1 medium red onion, sliced
• sauerkraut, what's remaining in the can above
• 1 cup beer, gluten-free to make this GF
• 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds, crushed (optional)
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

• 8 hoagie rolls, sliced - gluten-free to make this GF
• Swiss cheese, shredded, extra for the tops

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
 
Lightly mix the ingredients from corned beef through black pepper. Form into approximately 2" balls and set on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or a Silpat. Bake 25 minutes, turn and bake another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and spoon into a large casserole dish.
 
While the meatballs are baking, melt butter in a large skillet. Add onion and cook until wilted. Add the rest of the can of sauerkraut, 1/2 t. caraway seeds and the beer. Quickly whisk in the cornstarch until smooth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes until thick.
 
Pour the sauerkraut/beer mixture over the meatballs in the casserole dish. Serve on hoagie (or sub or grinder....you get the picture) rolls with a little shredded Swiss on top.
 
NOTE: If you don't like caraway seeds, leave them out!


NOTE 2: Wish I'd thought of this before....these would be great for a cocktail party on little slider rolls!

Stout-Hearted Beef Stew

In my life of cooking stews of all variety over these many years, Sunday's pot of meat, stout and veggies was proclaimed, "The BEST stew you've ever made!" by the hubster.  He's had a lot of experience sampling stews, I can say that!

What made that mixture so wonderful? My guess is it was the stout and beer that made Mark grin from ear to ear...and go back for seconds. Beer does that. 
 
I was lucky to find Green's gluten-free stout at the local store. Hearty notes of stout added depth and richness and a subtle sweetness, the addition of beer lightened both the intensity of the stout AND the impact of GF stout on my wallet.  $7 for a pint of stout...whew! But it was worth it.   Just ask Mark.

One more little touch added a surprise to the mix. Gingersnaps.  Cookies in stew?  Yes!  German cooks frequently use gingersnaps to add a touch of subtle spice that also thickens while it flavors the dish. You'll find German Sauerbraten takes advantage of these little flavor bombs of goodness...so if it works well there, why not in stew?  

By the way, Trader Joe makes a terrific gluten-free gingersnap at a very reasonable price. Reasonable enough to make up for the cost of the GF stout? No, but maybe it help balance things out a little...just maybe. 

Stout-Hearted Beef Stew

• 3 pounds stew beef, cut into large cubes
• 3 slices bacon, thick sliced, cut into 1/2" lardons
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• salt and pepper, to taste - quite liberally

• 1 pint stout or dark ale, gluten-free to make this gf - I used Green's Gluten-free Stout, you can use their Dubbel Dark Ale, too.
• 12 ounces beer, gluten-free to make this gf, I used Red Bridge Gluten-free beer
• 2 large parsnips, peeled,  3/4" dice, parsnips about the size of 3 large carrots each
• 4 medium carrots, peeled, sliced into 3/4" pieces
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
• 2 large red potatoes, 3/4" dice, leave skins on - potatoes the size of your fist
• 2 large Yukon gold potatoes, 3/4"  dice, leave skins on - potatoes the size of your fist
• 12 ounces Brussels sprouts, trimmed
• 1 pound pearl onions, frozen - SO much easier than peeling those fresh little suckers!
• 32 ounces beef broth (be sure it's gluten-free to make this GF)
• 18 gingersnaps, crushed, gluten-free to make this GF

Fry bacon in the bottom of a large Dutch oven or enameled pot.  Remove bacon & reserve for another use. (Snack time for the cook is perfectly acceptable as another use.)  Add canola oil to pot.
 
Season beef cubes with salt & pepper liberally.  Add beef to pot in two batches, browning each batch well on all sides.  Remove from pan.
 
Add the stout to the bottom of the pan and stir up all the browned bits.  Add the beer.  Add all the veggies except the Brussels Sprouts.  Add beef back into the pot and mix well.  Add the beef broth.  Cover, bring to boil, reduce heat to low and simmer about 2 hours until veggies and beef are tender. 
 
Add Brussels sprouts to pot and crumble the gingersnaps into the pot as well.  Stir well.  Cover and simmer another 15-20 minutes.  The gravy should be thickened and sprouts tender.  Taste, adjust seasoning if necessary and serve!

Beer and Pretzel Pork Chops

What do most men happily dream about? What do they crave? Now come on...not THAT! The correct answer in this case is beer. And what do they enjoy most with their beer? Pretzels, of course...with mustard! (None of you had an inappropriate answer, did you? Tsk, tsk.)  

Now that we've established the proper answers, let's make a dish any man (or woman) will love. Oh, and how about adding pork chops into that equation?  Yeah, I didn't think you'd say no.

You know, of course, that I used gluten-free pretzels - Snyder makes a really good gf pretzel that you can find in just about any grocery store.  If gluten isn't a problem, just use whatever brand you like the best. Same with the beer...use a nice dark or a light or whatever makes you happy.  It's beer!  How can you go wrong?! 

These pork chops aren't just hearty, they're easy, too.  Only a few ingredients total up to a whole lot hell of a lot of goodness.  You just can't go wrong with pretzels and beer...and a damned good mustard. Here's the recipe:

 Beer and Pretzel Pork Chops

• 4 pork loin chops, center cut, 3/4" thick
• 1/2 cup beer, your fave (gluten-free to make this GF)
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

• 1/2 cup honey mustard, a good one that's more honey-looking than mustard-looking...I like French's Honey Dijon
• 2 cups pretzel sticks, crushed relatively fine, but not into dust (gluten-free to make this GF)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter

• 1/2 cup beer, your fave (gluten-free to make this GF)

The night before, combine beer and dry mustard in a zip top bag and mix well.  Add the pork chops, squeeze out all the air and seal tightly.
 
Before you want to serve.  Crush the pretzels and put them in a plastic bag.  Remove the chops from the bag and dry them well.  Coat both sides of each chop liberally with honey mustard.  Put the chops into the bag with the crushed pretzels.  Coat each chop thoroughly. 
 
Melt butter and oil together in a large skillet.  When hot, add the chops.  Cook over medium heat until the chops are browned on the first side, turn and brown on the other.  Test for doneness before removing from pan. 
 
Pour 1/2 cup of the beer into the skillet and stir until the sauce thickens slightly and all the browned bits from the bottom are incorporated.
 
Plate the chops and pour the sauce over top.
 
      

Jalapeno Beer-Brined Chicken Under a Brick

Chicken on the grill AGAIN?!  Yep!  But it’s not any old, every day boring chicken, my friend.  Not this time.

We’ve been making an Alabama brined chicken around here for a couple of years now.  It is VERY good, but I honestly thought we could bump up the pow with some of our favorite things (cue Julie Andrews?) instead what we’ve been using.  Mmmmhhhhmmmmm…it worked.  This version is waaaayyyy better than the original! 

Chicken can’t be boring when it’s brined overnight in beer, jalapenos, garlic, lime and a few other very lovely things that drive the marinade flavors deep into the chicken. Grill it slowly over indirect heat and UNDER a brick and it seals the deal on great flavor and tender juiciness!

Jalapeno Beer-Brined Chicken Under a Brick

• 1 whole frying chicken, cut into 2 leg quarters and 2 breast quarters - or buy them cut that way already or use 8 pieces of your favorite parts, but they MUST BE BONE-IN AND SKIN ON!!!!

• 1 cup apple juice
• 12 ounces beer, Use a gluten-free beer to make this gluten-free
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce, be sure to use a wheat-free soy sauce or wheat-free tamari (that's what I use) to make this gluten-free
• 2 limes, juiced
• 3 tablespoons dried jalapeno, Penzey's carries this - if you can't find it, use 2 fresh jalapenos, seeded and sliced
• lime wedges (optional, but nice)

In a zip top gallon bag, mix the marinade ingredients.  Add the chicken, squeeze out all the air, seal tightly and marinate in the fridge overnight.
 
Wrap 2 clean, new bricks in aluminum foil... make it nice and neat.  Set aside next to the grill.  (You may want to wrap an extra brick or two just in case...better to have them ready if you need them than to have to find and wrap a couple at the last minute, you know?)
 
The next day, preheat the grill on just one side.  Leave the other burner off since we're grilling over indirect heat..  Remove the chicken from the marinade.  Salt the chicken liberally on both sides.
 
Lay the chicken skin side down on the grill, NOT over the flames.  This is indirect grilling.  Lay a wrapped brick on top of the chicken, arranging chicken so the bricks cover all the chicken.
 
The chicken will take 1 1/2 - 2 hours to grill.  Turn the chicken over 1/3 of the way through and again about 1/2 an hour before the chicken is done. 
 
That's it!  If you want to squeeze a little fresh lime over to serve, go ahead!  

NOTE:   The grilling technique was derived from the spatchcocked chicken recipe that was posted earlier.  For reference - OR for another great grilled chicken recipe - here's the link:  http://dinnerplan-it.blogspot.com/2012/05/spatchcocked-lemon-rosemary-garlic.html

Shot-and-a-Beer Steak

Shot-and-a-Beer Steak

Want to make that beer loving man - or woman - in your life smile from ear to ear?  Want to see him - or her - near giddy with hops-inspired delight?  You might just want to give this a "shot." 

This recipe is a true nod of respect to the old days of hard working, blue collar Pittsburgh.  And not just Pittsburgh, mind you, but all the gritty, REAL cities whose workers celebrated the end of a hard, sweaty day with a cool one and just a wee (?) bit of the hard stuff for fortification.  I'm talking about you Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Minneapolis...ANY and all of the good old blue-collar towns we love.  Some of our teams may be rivals, we may all talk some smack sometimes, but down deep we are so very much alike.  Scary, isn't it?

So what about the steak?  I've been doing this one for years.  Experimenting along the way with types of beers (I use gluten-free now, of course), herbs and no herbs, onions/no onions, kicking up the spice or toning it down...this version is the culmination of all the trials and errors...this iteration stands heads (no pun intended) above the rest! 

The flavors are rich, caramel-y, beefy - sweet with onion and garlic accented with thyme; sharp with Coleman's mustard and vinegar; smooth with butter that helps make a silken, luscious gravy; and, more than a little bit boozy with the beer and applejack brandy!  Oh, speaking of the gravy....be sure to serve mashed potatoes to ladle the gravy over!   

Shot-and-a-Beer Steak

• 2 pounds round steaks, 1" thick
• 1/2 cup flour (gluten-free to make this GF - you know I prefer Jules brand)
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 12 ounce can beer (gluten-free beer to make this GF)
• 1/4 cup applejack (more if you want!), I use Laird's - bourbon is wonderful, too!  Experiment.
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dry Coleman's mustard
• 1 tablespoon thyme, dried
• 10 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 large onion, diced

Cut all fat off the steaks, cut into serving pieces, dust with flour, salt and pepper - LOTS of pepper - and pound into steaks using a mallet.  Melt butter and oil in large electric skillet and brown steaks well on both sides.  Flip and season the other side with salt and pepper to taste..
 

Scatter the onion and garlic over the top of the steaks, nestling them down between the pieces of steak.
 

Combine the beer, applejack, vinegar, mustard and thyme in a small bowl or glass measuring cup.  Pour over steak, cover and simmer for 2 hours or until fork tender.  Turn the steaks over halfway through cooking and stir the liquid to keep is smooth.  Check occasionally.  If necessary, add a little water or beef stock.  Serve with the gravy and mashed potatoes!

NOTE:  If you're watching the calories, cut out the flour, cut down on the butter and oil - it's just as good!  The gravy?  Call it sauce instead! 

New Year's Good Luck in One Pot!

Just after the kale has been stirred into the chili.

Traditions.  Most families have them.  Our family most certainly has a few.  Growing up in a family of mostly German heritage, with some Welsh thrown in for good measure, New Year’s was filled with traditions from the Old Country brought to the new. 

Back in the old days, every Christmas each woman and girl in our family got a new apron from my Nana so we could start off the New Year all clean and fresh.  Symbolic, yes?  Sadly, that is one of our traditions that has gone by the wayside. These day none of us wears an apron anymore! (I do, however, have a gorgeous collection of handmade aprons that I treasure.) 

The food traditions?  What Pittsburgh German family doesn’t enjoy a steaming pot of fragrant pork and sauerkraut to insure luck and money throughout the New Year?!  Just check out the Giant Eagle flier to confirm that custom is still intact! 

While living in the almost-Southern state of Maryland, our New Year’s food traditions were influenced by some good old Southern good luck foods.  Greens and black-eyed peas insure luck and money in that area of the country, so we added black-eyed peas to our tradition.  Every bit of luck helps!

Some years we had ribs (pork is good luck because the pig goes forward when it roots for food...forward = progress), coleslaw (greens are good luck because they're the color of money), and black-eyed pea chili (peas and beans = coins = money)....definitely a change-up from pork and sauerkraut!  One year I found a recipe for Cowboy Caviar using black-eyed peas.  That one made it to our appetizer table and has been a family favorite ever since.  (During the year we use black beans in place of the peas…delish!  It’s a regular at picnics and parties.) 

So what’s going to be on our table this New Year’s day?  A new recipe.  I’d intended to make Michael Symon’s Pork Cheek Chili.  First off, I used ground pork in place of pork cheeks…come on, where do you get pork cheeks in Pittsburgh?!  Kimber and I made it together on Christmas Day.   Now you know there were some necessary substitutions…you just KNOW we didn’t have everything we needed…grocery stores aren’t open on Christmas Day!  So we made do with what we had on hand.

We only had one red pepper – no big deal.  No San Marzano tomatoes?  Fire roasted tomatoes stepped up to the plate.  Not enough of those?  Eh, add a can of RoTel, too.  Not enough fresh jalapenos?  That can of jalapenos lurking in the back of the pantry finally made it to the big leagues!  We added extra garlic and extra canned chipotle peppers.  And to make sure we get our good luck greens?  We added some chopped kale near the end of the cooking process!  Now we have all our good luck in one pot!  Sorry about the changes Michael.  (Somehow though, I think he’d approve.)   

How did it turn out?  It is a fantastic amalgamation of porky goodness, fragrant spices, a good heft of heat, sweet tomatoes, onions and peppers in a heady, smoky sauce. Since I haven’t had the original I can’t compare, but I can’t imagine it being any better than this.

Now I can sleep in on New Year’s day confident that 2012 will be filled with lots of luck and good fortune – all in ONE pot - thanks to our pseudo Michael Symon’s pork chili.  Hell, just sleeping in is a good start of good luck!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!!!!

Smoky Pork, Black-Eyed Pea and Kale Chili

• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds, warmed in a skillet until fragrant, then ground in a spice grinder
• 1 tablespoon paprika, a good Hungarian variety
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 1/2 pounds ground pork
• salt and pepper, freshly ground black pepper!
• olive oil
• 1 pound bacon, thick cut, sliced across into 1/2" pieces
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 large jalapeno peppers, finely chopped (less if you like less heat)
• 1/2 can jalapeno peppers, canned, chopped
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 1   beer, gluten-free to make this GF
• 2 cups chicken stock, canned is fine (be sure it's gluten-free to make this GF)
• 2 cans diced tomatoes, fire-roasted kind
• 1 can tomatoes with green chilies, RoTel (or another can of fire-roasted tomatoes if you like less heat...it would be a shame, though)
• 4 chipotle chiles canned in adobo, plus a little of the juice, chopped (less if you like less heat)
• 1 pound dried black-eyed peas, rinsed and picked through
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/2 pound kale, washed well, chopped, leave the moisture on the leaves

Mix the pork, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper to taste together until thoroughly incorporated.
 
In a large soup pot, pour enough olive oil to just cover the bottom of the pot.  When it's good and hot, crumble half of the pork mixture into the bottom and brown well while stirring occasionally.  Remove that batch of pork and repeat, using more oil, with the other half of the pork.  Remove when it's browned to the same bowl as the first batch.
 
In the same pot, add the bacon and brown well.  Pour off almost all of the bacon fat, return to heat and add onions, garlic, jalapenos, canned jalapenos and red pepper and cook until the veggies are softened.
 
Add the pork back into the pot and all the juices, too.  Add the beer, stock, tomatoes and RoTel, chipotles, dried peas and the cinnamon stick.  Bring to boil, cover with lid and reduce heat to low.  Simmer until the peas are tender.  2-3 hours.
 
Once the chili is done, remove the cinnamon stick and add the chopped kale (it looks like a whole hell of a lot....it cooks down to almost nothing) and cook until the kale is wilted and the flavors come together beautifully.
 
Serve in bowls with cornbread on the side and it's dinner!

P.S.  Other Pittsburgh New Year's traditions?  1. A good luck New Year's pretzel from the bakeshop.  It's like a coffee cake in the shape of a big pretzel and drizzled with icing.  2. Standing on the front porch banging pots and pans with big spoons, making a racket!  3. Fireworks!  Nothing in Pittsburgh is celebrated without fireworks....just give us any excuse and we send up the rockets and party under the noise and explosions of color!  4. This one is a Welsh tradition....to bring good luck, the first person through the front door in the New Year has to be a handsome dark-haired, gentleman.  No problem in our house when that describes my husband to a T!  5. Eating herring is a German tradition that my Dad enjoyed.  I don't follow this tradition these days although I loved herring when I was a kid! 

And finally, I always share the black-eyed pea dish of the year with all the family.  Share your luck!  Makes it all the sweeter. 

Brisket, Bacon & Beer Cowboy Stew

 

 
After all the hustle and bustle of the days (weeks?) leading up to tonight, it is finally time to sit back, relax and enjoy the fruits of our labors.  So what's for dinner at our house on Christmas Eve?  Something we cooked ahead of time.  Yeah, making this stew was part of that aforesaid hustle and bustle, but to my way of thinking it's better to put a little time into making this ahead than to spend Christmas Eve cooking!  It's time for family, friends, fun and relaxation!

Kimber texted me the other day that she was craving one of our favorite wintertime meals - Brisket, Bacon & Beer Cowboy Stew.  These flavors have me imagining cowboys sitting around the campfire, the cattle mooing, the horses whinnying and coyotes howling in the distance while this stew simmers away in an old black cast iron Dutch oven over the flames.  I can almost smell the campfire!

The stew is a hearty, beefy broth kicked up with smoky bacon, garlic and onions, a zip of heat, undertones of coffee and smoothed out with creamy potatoes and sweet corn.  Make a pan of Bacon Corn Cheddar Green Chile Cornbread, add a green salad and it's dinner!  


Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!

Brisket, Bacon & Beer Cowboy Stew

• 8 slices bacon, sliced across into 1/2" pieces
• 5 pounds beef brisket, trimmed and cut into bite size pieces
• Jane's crazy salt, to taste
• Hot Shot, to taste (if you can't find Hot Shot, mix cayenne pepper and freshly ground black pepper), or just freshly ground black pepper if you don't want the heat
• 12 ounces beer, 1 bottle, gluten-free to make this GF
• water
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large white onion, chopped
• 5 large red potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
• 10 ounces canned corn, DelMonte Summer Crisp or frozen
• 1 can tomatoes with green chilies, Ro-Tel brand
• 1 tablespoon chili powder, ancho chile powder if you can find it - enhances the smoky flavor...or try chipotle chile powder!
• 2 tablespoons beef bouillon granules, beef soup base - check to see if it's GF if you're making this gluten-free
• 2 tablespoons coffee powder, instant

Fry bacon over medium-low heat in a large Dutch oven.  Remove and set aside. 

Toss brisket cubes with Crazy salt and Hot Shot.  Brown the brisket cubes in bacon fat, cooking in batches.  When last batch has been browned, add garlic and onion; cook until onion is soft while scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.  

Return meat to pot, add beer and water to barely cover and bring to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer until tender beef is tender -  about 2 hours. 
 
When brisket is tender, add potatoes, corn, Ro-Tel, chile powder, instant coffee and soup base.  Simmer until potatoes are tender and stew comes together nicely.

Serve with reserved bacon sprinkled on top of each serving.

Smoky Bacon and Beer, Gouda and Cheddar Mac and cheese

Humble, basic, good old-fashioned macaroni and cheese - the one your mom - or maybe your grandmom - dutifully served up once a week when you were a kid has gotten all gussied up lately.  Have you noticed?  Now I'm not talking about the blue box variety, I'm talking about the made from scratch, hand-grated cheese of your choice (but pleeeeease don't tell me you make it with Velveeta), baked in the oven until the top gets those crusty browned yummy bits on the top kind.  The REAL mac and cheese that dreams are made of!

All of a sudden it's on virtually EVERY restaurant menu everywhere!  And not just with cheese...oh, yeah, there's cheese in it - it wouldn't be mac and CHEESE without the cheese part now, would it?  It's the other accoutrements that define this formerly modest dish that suddenly turned gourmet:  lobster, shrimp or crab mac and cheese, bacon mac and cheese, chorizo mac and cheese, 3-cheese or 4-cheese or even 5-cheese mac and cheese...then there are the veggie additions like poblanos, jalapenos, cilantro, asparagus, broccoli or spinach.  Truffles even! The list of possibilities is staggering!  The combinations endless!

And, sadly, when dining out I have to pass every single one of them by - I get teary-eyed knowing I can't indulge.  Yes, that old gluten devil keeps me from a lot of gustatory enjoyment.  But not now.  I'm fighting back!  I'm standing my ground, standing up and exercising my right to enjoy those honest-to-God, new-fangled versions of my childhood (and pre-celiac diagnosis) favorite....yes, I'm talking about GOURMET MAC AND CHEESE!  Only made at home. In my very own kitchen.   And I'm fine with that.  More than fine, actually because I can take the best of what's out there on the menus and create the mac and cheese of my very own dreams!

I got busy in the kitchen with some good, smoky gouda and cheddar cheeses, hmmmm, what would go with that?  BACON!  Smoky gouda and bacon mac and cheese.  Ehhh...still needs more to bring it up to those restaurant offerings...what to do, what to do....BEER! The final creation bubbling away in my oven became, wait for it.....Bacon and Beer Smoked Gouda and Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese! Take THAT all you snazzy restaurants with your high-priced gloriously tempting, inaccessible (to me...sniff) fancy-schmancy pasta dishes!  I did it, dammit!  

And so, dear readers, here is the recipe so you can do it yourself, too.  There's no difference in the recipe between the gluten-free version and a regular version...I just used GF flour in place of the regular all-purpose flour you would normally use and gluten-free beer in place of the regular beer you would normally use.  Use the mac of your choice - elbow, ziti, whatever....it will all turn out wonderfully.  (Of course, I made this gluten-free - yep, with gluten-free beer, gf flour and gf macaroni.  And there is NO difference whatsoever!)

Smoky Bacon and Beer Gouda and Cheddar Mac and Cheese

• 5 slices thick-sliced applewood smoked bacon, cooked crisp and broken into nice sized pieces
• 4 T. butter
• 2 T. (make them heaping) flour (GF flour to make this GF)
• 1 t. salt
• several grinds of black pepper
• 1/2 t. Coleman's dry mustard - or any other dry mustard
• 1 can or bottle of your favorite beer (gluten-free for GF version)
• 1 C. half and half
• 1/2 lb. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded, plus extra for the top
• 1/2 lb. smoked gouda cheese, shredded
•  1 lb. elbow macaroni (gluten-free to make this GF)

Melt butter in 1 quart saucepan over medium heat.  Combine the flour, salt, pepper and dry mustard and then gradually whisk  the mixture into the liquids, stirring until smooth.  Continue stirring over low heat about another minute to cook out the raw flour taste.  

Continually whisking, add the beer and the half and half  and stir until smooth and thickened.  Over very low heat, now add the cheeses a handful at a time and stirring until smooth until all the cheese is incorporated and the sauce is silken.

In the meantime, cook the pasta in heavily salted water (Mario Batali says the water should be as salty as the sea!).  Remove the pasta from the water while it is still al dente - that way the pasta soaks up some of the sauce...yummy!  (Also, it isn't a mushy mess - you want firm pasta!)  Drain the pasta well and then.

Pour the sauce over the pasta, add the bacon, mix well, pour into a large, buttered casserole dish and cover the top with a layer of shredded cheddar.   

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or until it is browned and bubbly. 

NOTE:  I use nothing but the best, top quality gluten-free ingredients.  If you don't want to be disappointed in your version, use the very best yourself.  (This goes for the regular version, too!)

GF pasta can fall apart easily if you don't use a really good brand.  I use BiAglut pastas.  They're a Heinz product that is imported from Italy - IT IS EXPENSIVE!  And worth every penny.  It stays firm, it has substance that is identical in every way to normal pasta in taste and texture.  

For GF flour, I use either Jule's or Tom Sawyer.  Both brands are used just like wheat all-purpose flour - measure for measure.  

And I use Redbridge GF beer which is made by Anheuser-Busch. 

Soergel's, in the Wexford area north of Pittsburgh, is where I buy my gluten-free products.  If you're around Pittsburgh and you haven't tried Soergel's Naturally, make the trip.  You'll be glad you did.  And you'll become a regular there, too.  And they're so knowledgeable  and friendly!