Craft Beer, Fine Wine, Artisan Spirits, and Mouthgasmic Food.

Monday, June 4, 2012

#Beer Carne Guisada Recipe with @UncleBillys Baltic Porter

I'm weird.  Yes, I am.  I do not judge a Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurant by their tacos. *GASP!*  I judge based on carne guisada.  Growing up on the Southern coast of Texas, I had my fair share of carne guisada, and like many other ethnic dishes, everyone has their own opinion and version of it.

Here's my personal, possibly completely unauthentic recipe for beer carne guisada.  I do not add potatoes to my recipe, though you could.  This is the way I like it.

I did have a few tweaks when I made this particular batch.  Uncle Billy's was out of the Smoked Baltic Porter.  I tend to be pickier when it comes to cooking with beer.  Cooking with the wrong beer can sometimes lead to excessively hoppy meals.  I was also too lazy to peel and chop garlic so I used some bacon fat confit garlic I had in the fridge.  Slow cook whole garlic cloves in bacon fat to make your own confit.  *Salt and pepper to taste as you please.  The supertaster in me tends to be easy on the salt. 
 
Ingredients:
2-3 lbs ribeye
2 medium onions, diced
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon fresh chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (or to taste)
Salt (to taste)
Olive oil
2 cups beer - I used Uncle Billy's Smoked Baltic Porter
45 oz canned tomatoes - I use several cans of the fire-roasted diced tomatoes
4 jalapeƱos, seeded and chopped

1. Sear those ribeye steaks just until they get those grill marks.  Remove the steaks from heat and allow to cool.  Slice the ribeyes into bite sized pieces discarding the excess fat.

2. In a large pot (could be a Dutch oven or soup pot), add a tablespoon of olive oil to coat bottom.  Allow the pot the heat on the stove over medium heat.  Add the chopped garlic, onions, and jalapenos to the pot.  Sautee the garlic and onions until translucent and the jalapeƱos are soft.  In the photo below, you'll see the bacon fat garlic confit I used instead of the fresh chopped garlic.  The bacon fat garlic confit gives the dish a sweeter, milder, and smokier flavor.

3. Add the chili powder, cumin, and cayenne to the pot and allow it to cook and sizzle with the veggies.  Once the spices have filled your kitchen with some awesome aromas, add in the seared and sliced ribeyes.  Give the ingredients a good mixing so that the smoky spices have coated the meat and allow to cook for about 2-3 minutes.

4. Add in the beer.  If the beer is "fresh," it ought to foam and bubble up releasing beer and spice aromas.  Add in the tomatoes, and allow the pot to come up to a simmer. You can taste it now and add salt and pepper as needed.  I tend to like my carne really spicy, so beware if you have this dish at my house.

5. At this point, you can add the mixture to a slow-cooker or you can continue to cook on the stove top.  If you decide to use a slow cooker, you'll probably need to leave it for 4-5 hours on medium.  If you cook it on a stove top (be sure to check on it frequently so the bottom doesn't scorch), you'll probably need 2-3 hours on a simmer.  Regardless, cook until the meat is fork tender.

You can serve the carne guisada now, or you can serve it the next day.  Traditionally, it is served with warm tortillas.  I also like to serve it with chopped cilantro.  You might also serve it with traditional Tex-Mex fixing such as rice, beans, pico de gallo, sour cream, guacamole, and salsa.  It is one of those dishes that tastes better the next day.  You can also freeze it for later.  Now do enjoy my beer carne guisada!


Searing the steaks.


Seared steaks.


Onions and the garlic confit cooking in the pot.


The bottom of my jar of bacon fat garlic confit.  I keep this in the fridge until I need it. 

Sliced, chopped, and ready for the pot.

This is the face that Mouse makes when I'm trimming the meat.  He gets the scraps. 

I've added the beer to the pot.  I should have added the spices by now. 

Here's the canned tomatoes I use.  You can use fresh tomatoes, but to each their own.

Everything is in the pot and it is time for the simmer. 

I took this particular batch to a stew party.  There was Irish style stew, American stew, boeuf bourguignon (French made with red wine), and my carne guisada. 

Another shot of the stews.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Locks of Love Donation with @Stetted & Tina at @SirensSalon_ATX

You might have noticed that my hair was starting to look something like a horse's tail.  It was time again. Time to donate the long locks to Locks of Love.  I'm so happy to announce that two lovely ladies, Megan Myers (@Stetted) and Tina Jiang joined me this year in donating to Locks of Love.  This donation is Megan and Tina's second time to donate.  The last time Megan had a haircut was three years ago, and I had never seen her with anything but long hair.  Thanks to Megan and Tina for dedicating their time and effort to the cause.

Growing long hair isn't at easy at it seems.  Not only is it a long-term commitment, it takes daily maintenance and care.  I generally don't style my hair with heat to keep it healthy, and keeping it from breaking is somewhat of a hassle.  It isn't uncommon to wake up to find that my hair has wrapped itself around my neck.  That's always fun!

Before we move on, a very big thanks goes to Sirens Salon for donating haircuts to Megan and myself.


There's the long hair.  Hello, we've been together for about 23 months, since the last donation.


Megan (@Stetted) with her long locks.


Mine is almost ready to go.  I had about 14 inches to donate.  No rated R jokes please.


Just a few moments before the donation.


Megan looks pretty pleased that all that hair is gone!


Here's a video of the donation. 

Tina Jiang wasn't able to take part of the haircut at Sirens Salon, but she was able to provide us with this photo of her hair.  Yay!


Here's the back of the post donation haircuts.


And the front.  We're really happy to have short hair for the searing temperatures to come.  A big thanks to Sirens Salon for sponsoring our donation!

Monday, May 21, 2012

Dessert Project #3 @CarillonAustin


What happens when you put some of the hottests pastry chefs in the same kitchen?  You get a decent fill of deliciousness.  A big thank you to Chefs Plinio Sandalio of Carillon, Philly Speer of Uchiko, and Steve Cak from Parkside for inviting me to the Dessert Project Experience, where pastry chefs do dinner. 

The first dish up was an amuse bouche made up of a trio of cauliflower.  From a puree to bright shades, it was as amusing to the eyes it was to the palate. 

Why yes, I did run around to the back to watch the plating.


The plate reminded me of Mardi Gras.  Show me your beads?


I caught chefs taking photos all night long.  Here's Philly.


This dish was the Maine Scallop with Celery Root, White Chocolate, and Kumquat.  You might think that the dish would be too sweet, but it was perfectly balanced in flavor and texture.  I could eat this up all night long.


Caught Chef Steven Cak in the act!


This drop dead gorgeous dish has got to be my favorite borscht so far.  It is Warm Borscht, Corned duck, Red and Golden Beets, Caraway Rye, Granny Smith Apple, and Creme Fraiche.


The borscht was poured at the table, and it was rich with favor and interesting in texture.  If you didn't like borscht before, please see Chef Steve Cak for an attitude adjustment.


The next dish was Crispy Beef Tongue, Corndog Puree, Red Cabbage Kimchi, and Sriracha Jus.


It was kind of like a corn dog, kind of sort of, but way better.


Next was a little sorbet with basil seeds that wasn't on the menu.  It was a lovely palate cleanser.


And here's the plating of the Red Cabbage Creme Brulee.


Beets with white chocolate and pistachio.  This dessert reminded me again, of how vegetable can have a place at the dessert plate.  The subtle yet distinct flavor of the red cabbage in this offering was like the veggies snuck up on you.


The final tasting of the night were little Chouxs filled with Plinio's Trentino Gelato.  I've had the Bill Norris Honey Mezcal, and it is pretty darn tasty as well.  I would highly recommend them.


Hello, Lovely Chouxs!


The Happy Chefs!


More Happy Chefs!

Monday, April 30, 2012

Last Day of the @AustinFoodWine w/ @Chef_Morimoto songs


Today was the final day of the Austin Food and Wine Festival, and it did not end with any less than a bang.  The morning started off with a Tim Love grilling demo.  A small army of grillers armed with cooking utensils, steaks, and charcoal grills were gleefully entertained for two hours.  I didn't take part in the grilling, but I did hear that it was a huge hit. Reportedly, 660 lbs of charcoal was used each day for a total of 1,320 lbs of charcoal.  Now that's a grilling good time!
I did manage to catch a few sessions today, including Christina Tosi of Momofuko Milk Bar.  Even with her vast accomplishments behind her, Christina was so down-to-Earth you never would have guessed. 

There's something just right about a Christina Tosi next to a magenta KitchenAid Blender.  It matches her headband and her book!

And here's she is answering questions for the crowd.  I think I have a girl crush on her.

I stopped by the Andrew Zimmern presentation just in time to tell us about a certain fermented animal part.  I'm not sure if I should be intrigued or disgusted.  Either way, it was interesting. 

The next stop for me was Chef Morimoto, who led a fantastically entertaining demonstration.  Between every few thoughts, he yelled "TEXAS!" followed by "is very hot."  Everyone started cheering at VERY HOT! Talk about a crowd energizer!

Morimoto is chopping something. It looks like radishes.

Chef Morimoto skinning a diakon radish into a long paper thin roll. 

The bottom left hand side, you can see the sashimi presentation coming together. 

Morimoto claims that the green plant decor all came from the nearby foliage along the lake.  I'm not sure if he was joking, but it was pretty funny.  Through out the demonstration, he sang to us.  He meowed at us!  See below (I didn't capture the meowing though).  It was an incredible experience.



I wish I got a better shot of the tray with a view from above, but this was as close as I got.  Not close enough though.

Here's how Morimoto transports his nori. 

Some of the pieces from the demo.  Aren't they gorgeous?

And then I ate it!  I ate food prepared by Morimoto two days in a row!

Here's some other things I didn't get to mention from the grand tasting.  Dude, Sweet Chocolate is based out of Fort Worth, and they have a vast array of chocolate concoctions.  During the festival, they were serving chocolate skulls paired with the Breckenridge Distillery Bourbon.  Woowee!  That was some pairing.  You can purchase some of their products online, including Albatross (chocolate, blue cheese, salted fudge), Tequila infused chocolate sauce, and Tub of Love (Italian Hazelnut spread). 

A quick trip to the VIP area netted some tasty dishes from Barley Swine and Jack Allen's Kitchen.  There was shrimp, shrimp, and a roasted and pulled javelina slider!

GourmetFury and Jack were not shy about gnawing on the javelina snout.  Unfortunately for me, I was much too full eat another bite.

The festival this year was certainly different from previous years.  This year's line-up provided an opportunity for attendees to really see the personalities chefs come to life during the demos.  The hands-on events were definitely a crowd pleaser, and I thought the Meyer's hand washing station was just genius.  A giant thank you goes out to C3 Presents and FOOD and WINE Magazine for inviting me out to enjoy the event.  Also, a big thank you to KitchenAid for sponsoring my photographer's pass.