No, what happened was winter’s darkness, for one… taking photos under harsh artificial like makes food photos less appetizing.(Note: A lightbox is in the works.) And then we found out we had to move. And then I got a job. And then we moved. And I started working. And holy cannoli, there’s just been a lot of stuff going on around these parts lately.

The good news is we’re finally finding our footing again, and we’ll be posting more often– probably with a focus on things that are easy to cook on the weekdays. If you’re lucky, we’ll also post some recipes for some beer we’ve been making. I made a batch last month– a lemongrass-ginger wheat beer and it is EXCELLENT.

In the mean time, though, I wanted to share some recipes I’ve been drooling over on other parts of the web.

These alfajores de maizena cookies from Food 52 look delectable…. dulce de leche and grated coconut!? Yes!

Maggie Mason at mightygirl.com wrote 10 Things to Taste in New Orleans, and I do love New Orleans so this list is permanently bookmarked.

From The Kitchn, Pistachio and Marmalade Breakfast Cake. I, unlike Paddington Bear, am not such a fan of orange flavored jellies (or anything but oranges, orange juice and popsicles, really) but I like the idea breakfast breads and pistachios quite a lot.

Also from Food 52, this Millionaire’s Shortbread… which looks like a mix of all things tasty (shortbread + caramel + chocolate) and might possibly be the recipe I’ve been looking for to make homemade Twix.

What else is on tap? I’ve got a tasty recipe for a protein-packed Quinoa and Black Bean Salad with a honey-chili-lime dressing. It’s great for a quick, tasty, healthy (and vegan even) work lunch and it packs in a breeze. I’ve got recipes for the most recent beers we made… the aforementioned Lemongrass-Ginger Wheat and the Black IPA we made a little earlier.

I also want to talk about some restaurants we’ve visited recently: Park Burger in the Highlands (at 32nd and Clay), Carl’s Pizza (38th and Newton), The Green Russel (on Larimer Square), Parisi’s (44th and Tennyson), The Cozy Cottage (43rd and Tennyson), and Osteria Marco (on Larimer Square as well).

And let’s network a bit… did you know you can be my friend on Yelp? My reviews are here: stephanova.yelp.com

Or, you can follow Edward’s beer reviews on BeerAdvocate.com… he’s ObeerwanCo (clever.)

Here’s to a great week!

Ranger American IPA- New Belgium Brewery, Ft. Collins

New Belgium holds a special place in my beer-soaked heart. The brewery provided my gateway to the craft beer world towards the end of college, when I started having a Fat Tire or a Sunshine Wheat in between ping-pong ball garnished Keystone Lights served in red solo cups.

Today, New Belgium is kind of like a band that got too popular and then all the cool kids stop liking it, or so it would seem around some of my beer geek friends and associates.   But this isn’t fair, since it’s the same Fat Tire and the same Sunshine wheat.  They didn’t pull a Black Eyed Peas on us or anything. Instead it’s that we started demanding behemoth, monster beers with 10 percent alcohol  and hops strong enough to make a lumberjack weep. From this lens it’s easy to forget that a lot of people just want quality, flavorful beers that won’t frighten their relatives from Omaha or make them slobbering drunk at the company picnic. New Belgium does this well and deserves its large following.

That being said, Ranger India Pale Ale is an aggressive step forward for the brewery. Considering that IPAs have become a staple for many craft brewers, it is surprising that New Belgium took so long to come out with its version, but it certainly didn’t disappoint.

I tasted this at home after a busy Sunday.  This is a good-looking beer,  clear, sparkling and golden, just what you think of for an IPA. It also developed a substantial, white head, which dissipated quickly to a nice quarter-inch or so.

The hop aroma wafting from Ranger is very noticeable from several feet, long be for you put the glass up to your mouth. A pine scent dominated for me at first, made me feel like a ranger out in the woods havin’ a beer. Is that frowned upon for rangers? I also noticed some grapefruit-like fruity citrus. Not much alcohol smell.

As expected, Ranger tastes hoppy.  The hops come through on the high side, even for an IPA. Nice initial flavor with some sweet malt in the background to counter the hops. I also get a nice hint of lemon zest.  However, Ranger is less balanced on the finish, once the malt goes away.  It hits you with a strongly bitter aftertaste that is somewhat earthy and lingers for a while.  This isn’t necessarily bad for me, but I imagine that it might be over the top for some folks. At 6.5% this beers is pretty high in alcohol, but I don’t get a strong alcohol flavor from it. It is full-bodied and somewhat high on the carbonation, but it ends up feeling soft as it goes down.  It’s crisp, but not as much acid burn going down compared to some IPAs.

This is a decent IPA that I enjoy.  Although it doesn’t quite break from the IPA pack for me, it is solid.  The nice thing about Ranger is that it goes down easier than some IPAs and is therefore a great choice if you plan to have a few, which is sometimes a great choice.  Also, it being that I am a cheap bastard and all, I find it on sale frequently, making it a quality beer that is easier on the wallet than some comparable IPAs.

Yum! I do love oatmeal raisin cookies, but what I like more about them is when they also contain chocolate. This recipe does this fairly well and are extremely lovely right out of the oven. They’re good a few days afterward too because they are cookies, but newly out of the oven is incomparable. 

This recipe is originally from the April 2005 edition of Southern Living. I took out some of the sugar, and used whole wheat flour for half the flour mixture and no one was the wiser.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 3/4  cup  butter, softened
• 1/2  cup  granulated sugar
• 1/2  cup  firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 2  large eggs
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  vanilla extract
• 1  cup  all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1  cup  uncooked  oats (any kind, I like rolled)
• 3/4  teaspoon salt
• 1  (12-ounce) package semisweet chocolate morsels (like Ghirradelli)
• 1  cup  raisins

What you do:

1. Using an electric stand mixer, cream together the sugar and the butter (beat it on medium-high speed for about 2-4 minutes until the butter mixture is lighter and fluffier).
2. Add the eggs, one at a time and mix on medium speed until combined into the butter. Then add the vanilla and mix that in too.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flours, soda, oats and salt. Then, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. (Set the mixer at a pretty low speed so the flour doesn’t fly up in yo’ face.)
4. When just combined, add the chocolate chips and raisins and mix until incorporated.
5. Using rounded tablespoons, spoon the cookie batter onto your baking pans. (I made some larger ones that were about two tablespoons and some smaller ones that were about one– you choose your poison.)
6. Bake at 350° for about 11-14 minutes (depending on your oven and how big you made the cookies– check on them at 11 minutes and make sure they’re golden brown on top before you remove them from the oven.)
7. Move the baked cookies to a cooling rack immediately and enjoy at your leisure with a nice glass of cold milk.

We’re in the neighborhood ourselves, so maybe we’re a bit enamored with the walking (and stumble home) proximity of a restaurant that serves such stellar beers, but then again, it might just be that Hops & Pie is that good. We’ve sampled both the hops and the (pizza) pie at Hops and Pie on several occasions.

The pizza is good. It’s probably not the absolute best in Denver, but it is good pizza and probably the best in a restaurant with such an intense beer list. The owners, Leah and Drew, always have a pretty decent “Pie of the Day” with slices for just $3. Last time we were there it was sausage (from Il Mondo Vecchio where they get all their salty meats), artichoke hearts and mushrooms. We also enjoyed a roasted pear salad with goat cheese, pine nuts and a raspberry vinaigrette. On another visit we tried a slightly more non-traditional pizza with applewood smoked bacon, black mission fig compote, watercress, buttermilk blue dressing and local honey. I’m a sucker for bacon paired with sweet things so I really liked the flavors although I thought the fig compote was a bit heavy.

The real stars of the show, though, are the beers. The beer board rotates on a regular basis and you can check their website or Facebook page for updates. Most recently, we ordered a bomber bottle of Grand Teton Brewing Company’s Pursuit of Hoppiness Imperial Red ale. It was lovely with nice hop notes, mellow maltiness and no astringency. On other trips, we’ve had many other beers that all measured up quite nicely for the seasoned beer lover.

We say, if you like craft beer and you live anywhere near Denver, it is worth the trip. If you live with in walking distance, well, we don’t know why you haven’t visited it already.

Deals & Other stuff:

Happy Hour: 3-6:30pm $1 off drafts & slices

First (Firken) Fridays: A firken is a small keg– about 9-10 gallons– that breweries play with. Hops & Pie taps two every first Friday coinciding with the First Friday Artwalk on Tennyson. Get there early though, it gets packed!

The main ingredients

We’ve been on a granola kick in the home of the Spice Raconteurs. It is crunchy, delicious, high in fiber, high in (mostly) good fats and is a nice alternative to boring ole’ cereal or oatmeal in the morning.

I looked at a lot of recipes and finally zeroed in on this tasty recipe that is just asking for you to add your own touch. This version is pretty low on oil/butter and sugar/honey compared to a lot of recipes out there. I don’t miss it, but I don’t like things that are super sweet. If you do, you can, of course add more.

What you need:

• 4 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 cup nuts of your choice (I’ve used sliced almonds, walnuts, pecans and walnuts so far)
• 1/3 cup oil or melted butter
• 1/3 cup honey or brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• dashes of any other spices you like: ginger, cloves, nutmeg whatever
• 1 cup dried fruit (my preference is apricots), chopped
• 1 cup raisins (or other dried fruit of your preference)

What to do:

1. Set your oven pretty low at about 200°.
2. Add the oats, coconut and nuts to a large cake pan (mine is 9 x 13).
3. Combine the next 6 ingredients (everything but the fruit) in a small bowl and mix well. If you’re using honey, I recommend warming it in the microwave for about 15-30 seconds to make it molten.
4. Drizzle the honey mixture over the oat mixture and mix thoroughly, then spred evenly across the bottom of the pan.
5. Put the pan in the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes. Stir the mixture and then repeat 3 more times until the mixture has baked about an hour and the mix is golden brown.
6. Remove from the oven and add the dried fruit.
7. Allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container!

Finished granola

Our Thanksgiving Table... missing a few chairs

Thanksgiving turned out fantastically. Again we had TONS of food, not really due to our own prolific-ness, but that of E’s father who is a very good cook. He even made a smoked turkey breast (I know!)

Tom Colicchio’s Herb Butter Turkey … turned out nice and herby but still a little on the dry side which may just have more to do with our finicky oven than anything else. Next year I’m thinking butterflied (or spatchcocked. Such a lovely word!)

Arugula, Pear and Goat Cheese Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette … This was delicious. The shallot dressing really pulled everything together nicely even though E decided he doesn’t really LIKE pomegranates and also forgot to add the pistachios. (It would be good with a different red fruit like strawberries, I think.) It was still a nice contrast to the heaviness of the rest of the food.

Cranberry-Ginger Chutney …Perfect and really simple. I will make this every opportunity I have

Walnut Bourbon Pie… Adapted from this recipe except replace the dark corn syrup with brown sugar. This was only OK this year— I’m not sure what went wrong (too many walnuts? Not very good crust?) but I will experiment for and let you know.

Vanilla Ice Cream ….soooooo rich. Almost too rich. Next time I plan to cut down on the number of egg yolks I use in the custard. But boy was it dreamy. We decided not to add any burbon at the last minute because it tasted so good already.

Julia & Jacque’s Deglazing sauce …we didn’t end up making this, but it IS damn tasty.

My mom’s bread stuff with apples and sausage…similar to this recipe…. was excellent again. Recipe coming posthaste!

We’ve got blue cheese and fig crackers, brownies, pecan pie, toffee and pralines!

Fig & Blue Cheese Savories via Food52… Cute little blue cheese studded biscuits with a thumbprint of good fig jam sound like a perfect savory treat in a holiday saturated with sweetness.

And now for the sweetness:

Alice’s New Chocolate Brownies via MattBites…. I’m a sucker for chocolate and when brownies are described with such righteous claim to them being “the best” I have to try them. Also, you put the metal pan in an icebath after cooking and a suggested addition are tart dried cherries. Sounds interesting to say the least!

Chocolate Pecan Pie via David Lebovitz… I really like: a) chocolate, b) pecans, c) pie, and d) everything DL creates. So, this seems to be an excellent choice.

Lia’s Butter Toffee via Pioneer Woman… I tried to make toffee last year and it ended in something tasty but not quite toffee, so I’m excited to try this version with excellent pictures to walk me through it

Pralines via Simply Recipes… When we went to New Orleans for our honeymoon we stocked up on delicious pralines and they almost didn’t last the plane flight home. So, these sound like another fun candy to try concocting!

Tom Colicchio’s Herb Butter Turkey … because the ultimate judge of Top Chef can’t be wrong, can he? (Can he!?) Also, this recipe is one of the highest rated turkey recipes on Epicurious, and it doesn’t call for brining. Although I want to try that some day, I’m just a little too intimidated right now.

Arugula, Pear and Goat Cheese Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette …because f*ck green beans. I think Thanksgiving food tastes great with a light, flavorful and acidic salad.

Cranberry-Ginger Chutney …because f*ck cranberries in a can. In fact, I don’t really like any cranberry anything I’ve ever had at Thanksgiving, but I DO love chutney. And this recipe was also very highly lauded by the people using Epicurious.

Walnut Bourbon Pie…because Bourbon is amazing and so are walnuts. Adapted from this recipe except replace the dark corn syrup with brown sugar. Just as good without supporting the evil that is the corn-syrup industry.

Vanilla Ice Cream ….that I plan to spike with more Bourbon…

Julia & Jacque’s Deglazing sauce …this is the deglazing sauce that Julia Child and Jacque Pepin use to deglaze the roasted chicken pan. It is, simply, amazing. I’m going to try to make some on the side as an alternative to the gravy that comes with Tom’s turkey recipe. With this recipe you “scatter” some carrots and onions in the roasting pan while the bird is roasting. It is nice to dice these quite finely and then refuse to strain it.

My mom’s bread stuff with apples and sausage… I made this last year and it was a success, but I’m not sure how it will go this year. I’ll take notes on an actual recipe and post it later. In the mean time, it’s not so different from this (except that I’m going to buy my sage-thyme sausage from Whole Foods, and I’ll add raisins, cornbread and pumpernickel bread cubes.)

We wish you all a happy and successful day of food, family and giving thanks!

I MADE THEM

I don’t want to sound hyperbolic, but these were probably some of the best caramels I’ve ever had. And, yes, it could be because I’ve never made caramel before that I was so taken with them, but I don’t think so. Instead, I think it was their delicious balance of sweet and salty and spicy, chewy and crunchy. The roasted pepitas make the caramels look beautiful while the pumpkin pie spice and the sea salt elevate the caramels to the next level. I’m no expert at making candy so instead of talking about any changes I made, I’ll just tell you: follow this recipe on Food52. It will tell you everything you need to know (with pictures).

I made these to take to a Halloween party and they were a hit. Because of the subtle pumpkin flavors, I think they’d also make a lovely hostess gift if you’re heading somewhere for Thanksgiving. Or, if you want to make something special for the Holidays, I think the caramel base would also be amazing made into turtles (ie. caramel drizzled over 5 pecans, then topped with chocolate.) Oh yes. I’ll update when I make those again.

My only other hint is that you really should wrap them in waxed paper as soon as they’re ready. The waxed paper helps them keep their shape. In the picture above you can see that I didn’t do it immediately and they got a little squished looking. Still delicious though.

Yummy, cheesy baked goodness? Yes! With a twist of fresh mint and swiss chard, this take on eggplant parmesan is a perfect meal for a fall night. Plus, swiss chard may still be hanging on in your garden so this is a nice way to finish it up.

The only negative about this recipe is that it takes a while to prepare because you first have to roast the eggplant slices, and then have to assemble everything before baking for another hour. For that reason, I wouldn’t recommend this for a weeknight meal unless you prepare it the night before and simply pop it in the oven when you get home. In that case, well, I think it would be lovely.

This recipe is from Bon Appétit and was lauded as being a healthier version of eggplant parmesan. And, it is… but it still has a hefty amount of cheese which contributes to over 50% of the calories coming from fat. I decreased this a little bit by using part-skim ricotta and mozzarella and the recipe does not suffer so I’d recommend going that route.

What you need:

• 2 medium eggplants (about 2 1/4 pounds total), trimmed, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• Coarse kosher salt
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1-pound bunch Swiss chard, center ribs removed and chopped
• 2 large eggs
• 1 15-ounce container part skim-milk ricotta cheese
• 1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 jar pasta sauce (we like Newman’s own Sockarooni)
• 1 8-ounce ball fresh water-packed mozzarella, drained, thinly sliced

What to do:

1. Prepare the eggplant slices by salting the hell out of them: Cover bottom and sides of each of 2 large colanders with 1 layer of eggplant slices; sprinkle generously with coarse salt. Continue layering eggplant slices in each colander, sprinkling each layer with coarse salt, until all eggplant slices are used. Place each colander over large bowl; let stand at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour. Rinse eggplant slices to remove excess salt; dry thoroughly with paper towels. (I… sort of skipped this step for one preparation and it resulted in a slight runny sauce, but not the end of the world, so if you’re short on time, no worries about step 1.)
2. Broil the eggplant slices:Position oven rack 5 to 6 inches from heat source and preheat broiler. Line 3 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Arrange eggplant slices in single layer on prepared baking sheets. Brush both sides of eggplant slices with olive oil. Broil 1 sheet at a time until eggplant slices are tender and beginning to brown, watching closely and removing eggplant slices as needed if cooking too quickly, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove baking sheet from oven and cool eggplant while preparing filling. (We think you could also grill the slices, but haven’t tried this yet.)
3. Cook the chard: You can either boil it in salted water for about 2 minutes, then drain. Or you can saute it in a pan for about 4-5 minutes.
4. Make the filling: Whisk eggs and pinch of coarse salt in medium bowl. Stir in chopped chard, ricotta cheese, 1 cup Parmesan, mint, and black pepper.
5. Prepare the baking dish: Lightly oil 15 x 10 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Spread half of tomato sauce evenly over bottom of dish.
6. Make the roll-ups: Divide chard-ricotta filling among eggplant slices, placing about 1 heaping tablespoon filling in center of each. Starting at 1 short end of each, loosely roll up eggplant slices, enclosing filling. Arrange rolls, seam side down, atop sauce in baking dish.
7. Finish it up: Spoon remaining tomato sauce over. Place mozzarella slices in single layer over rolls. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
8. Bake it: In your preheated oven (set to 350°F), bake eggplant rolls, covered with foil, until heated through, about 30 minutes (40 minutes if you made it the day before and put it in the refrigerator). Uncover and bake until brown in spots and sauce is bubbling, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve hot.