Thank you DuClaw Brewing for sponsoring this post and sending me the DuClaw German Pilsner. All opinions and recipe are my own. Welcome to the May edition of “Cooking with Beer”! Each month DuClaw Brewing sends me a beer and a friend and I create a recipe. It's a fun time to think outside the box and try a new beer and new food. This month's beer is the DuClaw German Pilsner that is part of their Foundation Series. This is a traditional German pilsner, so it tastes, well, like a traditional German pilsner. This is not one of DuClaw's push the limits beers, but rather a tasty, true to style, beer. When I first saw this beer, the first thing that came to mind (of course) was beer and brats. This would be the perfect beer to soak … [Read more...]
DuClaw Blood Orange Neon Gypsy Ceviche
Welcome to the May edition of “Cooking with Beer”! Each month DuClaw Brewing sends me a beer and a friend and I create a recipe. It's a fun time to think outside the box and try a new beer and new food. This month DuClaw sent me a variety of their Neon Gypsy IPA - Blood Orange Neon Gypsy. In honor of Cinco de Mayo, we created a recipe with a Mexican flair. You all know that IPA's are not my favorite style of beer. I'll drink it, but I'm not a huge fan of hoppy flavor. Beer Geek and my co-chef, on the other hand, are huge hopheads. They both love Neon Gypsy and thought that the Blood Orange variety was quite tasty. I liked the slight orange smell and flavor that contrasted with the bitterness of the hops, but as I … [Read more...]
DuClaw Funk Pancakes with Dirty Little Freak Syrup
Welcome to the April edition of “Cooking with Beer”! Once again, I am featuring a beer that DuClaw Brewing sent me. This month DuClaw sent me one of their spring beers, Funk. DuClaw Funk is a blueberry citrus wheat ale. It's a traditional American wheat ale with Meyer lemon and blueberries added. With a light refreshing taste and an ABV of only 5%, this is the perfect summer session beer. Take it with you on a summer picnic, enjoy it by the fire pit on a summer night, or simply grab one after a hot afternoon mowing the lawn. Whatever the summer occasion, this beer makes a great accompaniment. As far as recipes go, we decide to do something a little funky (pun intended) this time. A friend suggested we make pancakes and we ran with … [Read more...]
DuClaw El Kabong Lamb Tagine
Welcome to the March edition of “Cooking with Beer”! Once again, I am featuring a beer that DuClaw Brewing sent me. This month DuClaw sent me a lovely beer called El Kabong. El Kabong is an apricot chili beer clocking in at 6% ABV. I know you are thinking "Chili beer???" (I know I was), but it was actually quite tasty. The chili flavor was not overly strong and paired nicely with the sweetness that came from the apricot flavor. In the past, I haven't been a fan of chili beers, but every once in a while I find one I like. This beer was tasty with a little chili kick but it did not slap you in the face with the chile flavor. I did find this beer a little more challenging to cook with, but I think the tagine recipe came out great. I'm … [Read more...]
DuClaw Quick Start My Heart Balsamic Vinaigrette
Welcome to the February edition of "Cooking with Beer"! Once again, I am featuring a beer that DuClaw Brewing sent me. Since February is National Heart Month, it's appropriate that the beer I'm featuring is called Quick Start My Heart. DuClaw Quick Start My Heart is a strawberry milk stout with 6.8% ABV and a medium body. It has flavors and aromas of chocolate and strawberry with a hint of coffee. You all know I love my dark beers and this is a tasty beer that answers the question of "beer or dessert" with a resounding yes! As you might imagine, this is another beer that could easily work well with in the recipe I created for beer cupcakes. I think it would be great combined with a strawberry glaze on top. I had a lot of fun with … [Read more...]
ZOOMA Run Love Challenge, Hardywood Brewing, and Snow
This weekend was crazy busy. I crammed in two separate virtual races, a soccer game, an overnight visit to Richmond, and now it's snowing. I'm actually enjoying the snow because we had plans this morning, but canceled them when we saw the snow coming. This meant I slept in until 10 am (hence this late post) and the boys are still sleeping. I think we all needed the sleep more than the event we were going to attend. One of the big things on my calendar was the ZOOMA Run Love Challenge. I planned to run a 10K and I wanted to beat the time I ran my last 10k training run in: 1:02 and change. Spoiler: I did not run a 10k and my 5k was one of my slowest. It was a balmy 25 degrees yesterday with not much wind and a fair amount of sun, so it … [Read more...]
DuClaw Naked Fish Sweet Potato “Mole”
Welcome to another installment in my "Cooking with Beer" series. I've really been enjoying this and have another awesome recipe for you. This time DuClaw Brewing sent me their Naked Fish to cook with. Naked Fish is a Chocolate Raspberry Stout that clocks in at a nice low 4.6% ABV. The chocolate raspberry flavor is accomplished by the addition of a chocolate raspberry coffee. When I first heard of it, I immediately thought it would work well in my Sweet Baby Jesus cupcake recipe with a raspberry topping instead of frosting, but I wanted to try something new. (But if you want to try it in the other recipe and report back, I'd love to hear!) When I think savory chocolate, the first thing that popped to mind was Mexican mole, … [Read more...]
