Steamed Littleneck Clams in a Beer Garlic Broth

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This week has unofficially turned into shellfish week. I was in the grocery store and saw littleneck clams for sale and figured I’d give them a go. This is my first time ever cooking littleneck clams. I was debating on whether to cook them on the grill but in the end I decided to steam them. I used beer, garlic, lemon, Old Bay, and parsley to make a broth then steamed the clams in this mixture. I was surprised at how easy the clams were to prepare. You just throw them into the pot then check to see when the shells have popped open. These clams would go great with a beer on a relaxing weekend. Enjoy!

Steamed Littleneck Clams in a Beer Garlic Broth

Mussels Marinara

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Last night I decided to mess around and attempt to make one of my favorite appetizers, mussels marinara. Now I like my marinara sauce on the spicier side so I added jalapeno peppers to this batch. However if I were to make it again I would use Italian hot peppers instead of jalapenos. All in all the recipe was very simple to follow. Before cooking the mussels be sure to submerge them in ice water for a few minutes to get rid of any dead ones. After cooking them be sure to throw out any mussels that have not opened. You can serve this over pasta or use bread to dip into the sauce. Enjoy!

Mussels Marinara

Philly Beer Week: Saturday June 8th

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On Saturday I went into Philadelphia for the home brewing contest at Triumph Brew Pub in Old City. The contest was organized by beer type then the top two beers of each style advanced to the final tasting. Our friend Jerry Caruso brewed a fig Belgian beer that I thought should have won best of it’s category but the judges didn’t see it that way.

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After the judging rounds everyone was able to go around and taste all the various beers that were in the contest. After Triumph we moved over to Fado’s Irish Pub for a few drinks.

After Fado’s we went over to The Dandelion. I love The Dandelion for their cask ale selection. Saturday was no different. They had three on cask that were delicious. However it was a session ale by Victory Brewing that turned out to be the highlight of Philly Beer Week for me. The beer was called Melon Session Ale, it had a sweet start but finished like a good pale ale.

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After talking to our bartender Chris we learned the unfortunate news that Victory may not make this beer again. If you have had the pleasure to try this beer, or if you have not but would like to try in please shoot Victory and email at brewmaster@victorybeer.com and let them know you would like them to keep making this great summer beer.

Fresh Squeezed Lemonade

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With the weather getting nicer and summer almost here I had the urge to make lemonade this past weekend. I first learned to make lemonade out of necessity when I lived in England. To the English lemonade is a lemon flavored soda and not the refreshing summer drink we know in America. This recipe is simple but takes a bit of work to juice the lemons. To make the job easier I would highly recommend buying a hand held lemon press. This drink is very refreshing and hits the spot on any warm summer day. Drink it by itself or mix it with some iced tea to make up a nice Arnold Palmer. Enjoy!

Fresh Squeezed Lemonade

Philly Beer Week: Founders Tap Takeover

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Last night I went to Isaac Newton’s in Newtown, PA for the Founders Brewing Company tap takeover. They had 5 or 6 Founders beers on tap. Unfortunately the kicked the keg of Kentucky Breakfast Stout within the first 30 minutes of the tap take over which was disappointing yet also quite impressive. I tried three beers at this event.

The first was the Double Trouble IPA, This Imperial IPA was very similar to the Dogfish Head 120 but with a much nicer finish. This is a great sipping beer and went well with the pork chop I ordered.

The second beer I tried was the Curmudgeon Old Ale. I was very surprised by this beer. It was very smooth and finished like a mellow scotch. This oak aged ale is a great easy drinking beer but be warned it has a 9.8% Abv.

The last beer I had was Founders All Day IPA this beer has become my recent go to anytime I see it on tap. It is a very easy drinking IPA and is not overly hoppy. A great beer to drink during the summer when you are just hanging with some friends.

Pork Chops with Bacon Gravy

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I decided to take a stab at some southern country style cooking earlier this week. We had breaded pork chops on Sunday and I decided to make a bacon gravy for them. In the end the gravy turned out pretty well. However while I was making it I was disappointed with how bland and plain it tasted. The slat and pepper helped but it just needed something else. I took a few spoonfuls out of the pan and experimented with a few additions. Mustard didn’t work well with the flavor of the gravy, Horseradish was too harsh, Finally I settled on chipotles in adobo sauce. The chipotles gave the gravy the subtle zing it needed. If you want you can use the gravy recipe as a base and substitute out the chipotles for whatever direction you want to take the gravy. I am also thinking about substituting the bacon with sausage the next time I make this to see how that works.

Bacon Gravy

Bacon Wrapped Scallops with Ginger BBQ Sauce

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This is a very easy to make appetizer that is sure to impress. If the scallops you use are very large be sure to cut them in half so they all cook evenly. When picking scallops try to find dry packed, they cook better than wet packed scallops. Make sure to precook the bacon. by precooking the bacon you solve the problem of having either overcooked scallops and crispy bacon or perfectly cooked scallops and undercooked bacon. You can pair the bacon wrapped scallops with ginger BBQ sauce or a nice cocktail sauce. You will find the recipe’s for the scallops and the BBQ sauce below. Enjoy!

Scallops Wrapped in Bacon

Ginger BBQ Sauce

Philly Beer Week: Dogfish Head Tap Takeover

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On Friday night I went over to the Dogfish Head tap takeover at Uno’s Chicago Grill in Bensalem, PA. I ordered one flight and one 120 minute IPA. The flight contained four beers. Sixty-one, Black and Blue, Burton Baton, and Palo Santo Marron. The Sixty one is twist from the 60 minute ipa and uses the same ingredients plus the addition of Syrah grape must. I enjoyed this beer, it was very easy to drink and had great flavor throughout. The second beer in the flight was the Black and Blue. The Black and Blue is a Belgian-style golden ale fermented with black raspberries and blueberries. This beer was a little too sweet for my tastes. The third beer was the Burton Baton, an oak aged English old ale Imperial IPA hybrid. This was my favorite beer of the flight. It had a great hoppy taste and nice accents from the oak barrel. The final beer of the flight was the Palo Santo Marron brown ale. This beer is a great winter beer so the fact that it was 90+ degrees when I was drinking this took away a bit of the enjoyment but overall it was a good ale with hints of vanilla and caramel.

Along with the flights I also ordered a 120 minute IPA

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I’m probably going to get torn apart for this but I was not the biggest fan of the 120. The first sip is good with a great IPA flavor but I feel the aftertaste kills the beer. I find it tastes like someone dropped a shot into the beer. I know this is a high alcohol content beer but I’m just not a fan of the after taste. Overall I enjoyed the my first event of Philly Beer Week and look forward to the next one.

Philly Beer Week 2013

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Philly Beer Week starts today and runs through June 9th. During this time you will be able to sample all types of beers at different venues throughout the city and surrounding suburbs. You can find the full schedule for Philly Beer Week Here. I have only lightly glanced over the calender of events but there are a few that I am trying to make. On June 6th at Issac Newton’s in Newtown, PA the is a Founders tap takeover. Founders makes some great brews, two of my favorite are their all day IPA and their Kentucky breakfast stout. As I attend Philly Beer Week events I will write posts about the beers and the breweries. This should be a fun week and I can’t wait to try some new beers.

Sichuan Style Chicken Stir Fry

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I haven’t cooked with Szechuan peppercorns in a while and decided to throw together a Szechuan style stir fry the other night. I marinated the chicken in a mixture of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, corn starch, water, and salt. I then put oil in a wok and heated it until it just started to smoke. I added the chicken in batches and cooked it until it was done. I then added the Szechuan peppercorns and dried chili peppers and sauteed them for 30 seconds to a minute. I then added a bit of chicken stock, soy sauce, and rice wine vinegar. I reduced this mixture to thicken it a little. If I had uncooked veggies like snow peas or peppers I would have added them here to cook them. Since I was using steamed broccoli I added the cooked chicken and broccoli to the wok to coat it in the sauce. I then served the stir fry over brown rice.

The stir fry turned out good and the Szechuan peppercorns gave the dish a unique sensation when eating it. If you have never had them before they cause a tingling or slight numbing sensation in your mouth. They can be hard to find, I had to go on Amazon to find them.