Beer review: Marshall Wharf Sexy Chaos

By special request, here is my first beer review.

Tonight's brew comes from a small brewery in Belfast, Maine.  In our family, the owner is known for being a little bit of a recluse who has run a small restaurant in Belfast for years, mostly without it being open.  So we were very surprised when, a few years ago, they started producing world class beer, such as Can't Dog and Ace Hole.  Never the less, this is another gem in the MW family and I was thrilled to try it.

A Russian Imperial Stout with typical RIS alcohol content: ABV 10.7%.  Imperial Stouts are generally a strong dark beer or stout and was first brewed by England in the 18th century for export to Catherine II of Russia.

Sexy Chaos is true to the style.  A medium bodied stout that poured a large khaki, almost mocha, head.  The smell wafted dark chocolate with dark fruits; plums, figs.  At first taste, I got loads of vanilla.  Not surprising (it's on the label), but very strong.  It followed with nice roasting flavor from the malts, slight burn of alcohol (it's 10.7% ABV, remember) and a little oak, although if oak weren't on the label, I don't think I would have even noticed.

Overall,  I really enjoyed this one.  It should be a sipper, except it goes down really easily.  Be sure to do this one later in the evening!

Soup du jour

It is flipping cold in Maine in winter.  I knew it would be when we decided to move here 3 years ago, but still.  I'm cold.  What's the best thing for cold weather?  A warm fire and soup.

I love soup and it's a lot of fun to make because you can be so creative.  4 or 5 years ago,  I made soup most winter nights (mostly to serve it with bread), but our soup intake took a hit once we started eating a little better.  But now,  we're seasoned smart eaters and don't need to take down a loaf of bread at every sitting.

Tonight's soup is a nice, simple and rustic White Bean and Kale soup, with a twist.

Recipe:

The Stock- It can be fun to fortify the stock you buy at the store and it makes it much more delicious

4 cups of chicken stock (also could go vegetable stock)
4 cups of water
2 smoked ham hocks (omit for vegans/vegetarians)
6 peppercorns
2 bay leaves

In a large soup pot or dutch oven,  add ingredients above and let simmer for as long as you can.  Mine went 2 hours.  Remove hocks, pick meat from the bone and set aside.  Strain the broth into a large bowl and set aside.

The Soup

2 tbls olive oil
3 medium carrots, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 head of red cabbage (you can use green, but the purple gives great color)
2-14.5 oz cans of garbanzo beans
1 bunch of kale, cleaned, stripped and chopped into medium sized pieces

In the same pot you used for the stock,  heat the oil on a medium heat, then add carrots, celery, onion, garlic and cabbage.  Let them cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies just start to brown.  Don't burn your garlic!  Add the broth/stock and meat and bring to a boil.  Immediately lower temp to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.  Add beans and kale and cook for another 15 minutes.

Serve with a nice crusty loaf of bread, unless you're having me over for dinner.  I'll eat the whole dang thing.

Back to basics

By now, most of you reading this blog (Hi Mom!) know our weight loss story, but for those that don't, here is the semi-quick version.  When "C" was born in 2009, "A" and I decided it was time to take off the baby weight. I was pushing 225 lbs, eating badly, not exercising and quickly becoming the person I never wanted to be. Basically, we were motivated to make a drastic change.  Not a diet, but a lifestyle change.

I read books and websites about every diet out there....everything from Atkins and South Beach to the Cabbage Soup and Grapefruit diets.  They all had components I liked, but nothing seemed sustainable. Eventually, I concocted a plan based primarily around the glycemic index (more on that later) and went from there.  We both lost weight quickly, especially "A", at the beginning, but soon hit a plateau that we couldn't get past.

That was when we started running.  Oh my goodness.  Those beginning days seem so long ago, but I remember vividly how badly I felt and how hard it was to "run" for 10 minutes without stopping.  Oh, and how unbelievably sore we were!  It took days to recover before I could go out and try to "run" another 10 minutes.

But, I'm getting side tracked.  The running helped to get us through that plateau and eventually help us meet our goals.  18 months and a combined 100 lbs later, we had met our weight loss goal AND ran our first half marathon.  That was January 2011.

"What's the reason for this story?", you might ask.  Well, "A" and I are in a rut.  Mostly feeling like we're not making the best decisions when it comes to our intake and need to get back to basics.  So, as of now, it is back to June 2009....when it all started.  Nothing drastic, just an opportunity to retrain ourselves and be reminded about what got us here in the first place.

So tonight's dinner is:  Steelhead trout with braised bok choy

Recipe:

For Bok choy:

·   4 medium or 6 small bok choy

·   4 tablespoons vegetable oil

·   2 teaspoons grated ginger

·   2 medium garlic cloves, grated

·   1/2 cup water

·   1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

·   1/4 cup dark soy sauce

·   1/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar

Soak bok choy in a large bowl of cold water.. Drain, cut in half lengthwise, and dry with paper towels. Heat oil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven over high heat until shimmering. Add halved bok choy, cut side down, working in batches if necessary to avoid crowding pan, and sear until deeply browned, about 6 minutes. Remove to a large plate or sheet pan.

Lower heat to medium and add ginger and garlic, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add water and vinegar and bring to a simmer, stirring and scraping bottom of pan with a wooden spatula or spoon to loosen any browned bits. After 1 minute, add soy sauce and brown sugar. Add bok choy back to pan and cook, uncovered, until bok choy leaves are wilted and stems are crisp-tender, 6-8 minutes. Remove bok choy to serving platter.

Continue to cook liquid in pan over medium heat until it reduces to a glaze of desired consistency, 6 to 8 minutes. Spoon glaze over bok choy

For trout:

1lb trout or salmon

Set oven to a low broil and place top rack at highest level.  Broil for 6-8 minutes, depending on thickness.

Thankful for a good fish monger

I am blessed to have an abundance of fish mongers in my area and one of my favorites is Harbor Fish Market in Portland.  The best part is watching "C" wander around checking out all of the whole fish and having the same old guy come out to show him a lobster.  Never gets old.  Today, our mission was to pick up some calamari and some Bang Island mussels.  The BI mussels are an amazing blue mussel (see previous post), hand raised in Casco Bay.  They are big, plump and the mussel of choice for some of the best restaurants in town.  However, they played second fiddle to tonight's main:  Squid Salad with Lime, Cilantro and Arugula.

Recipe, adapted from recipe by Nigella Lawson

For the dressing:

1 bunch fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic, peeled
2 tbls fish sauce
1/2 tsp granulated sugar
2 tbls sambal olek
1 lime, peeled and seeded
3 tbls vegetable oil

For salad

7 oz baby arugula
1 very small red onion, sliced thin
16 oz calamari, hoods and tentacles, rinsed and sliced
3 tbls vegetable oil
salt

Tear the cilantro off of the stem and put into blender or food processor along with garlic, sugar and sambal.  Pulse to combine, then add peeled lime and oil, then blend to emulsify.   Set aside.

Arrange arugula on plate and add the peeled and slice onion.  You will not use all of the onion.

Slice the squid, leaving the tentacles whole, and add to a hot pan with a little oil.  You'll need to do this in batches, as the squid will give off a shocking amount of water.  Remove the cooked squid to a bowl, sprinkle with salt, then add dressing once all of the squid is cooked.  Arrange on plate with greens and onion.

Enjoy!!

Something blue

As a kid living in the Ohio, I had little knowledge of what was on the coasts of America, outside of what I saw on television.  I knew that we didn't have things like topography or a really cool gang sign (Midwest-syyde!!) and we certainly did not have much for seafood.  The fish dishes in our family mostly came frozen or canned and I'm pretty sure I loved each and every one of them.   Thankfully, when I turned 14, my mom took me to visit friends in Seattle.  I had quite the revelation.  Mostly it went like this: "HOLY CRAP!!"   

Later in life,  I meet and fell in love with a girl from Maine and had my first taste of Maine's blue mussel. Amazing.  Firm, briny and you can prepare them a multitude of ways.  It certainly helped that we could collect these delicious bivalves just steps from the cherished family vacation home where they would then be lovingly prepared by Amy's grandfather.  Almost 20 years later, I'm thrilled to be able to share them with my kids.   It is still one of my most beloved foods.  

Tonight's dinner:  Moules frites with bistro salad

Post marathon blues

In case you didn't know, i.e. you haven't seen or spoken to me for more than 3 seconds in the past week, I ran my first marathon last Sunday. Hands down, the most difficult thing I have ever done and it can only be described as a life changing moment for me. For that reason, I am struggling to get on with my life. At this point, I am still dealing with a lot of emotional and physical ailments. The physical one (stupid sore ankle) will heal with time and rest, but the emotional one will need to be tackled head on. And, as in the past, cooking will save the day. Tonight's dinner is one that I've done for years. We've been eating arepas (think thicker tortilla) since our days in St. Louis and they're still a favorite.

Arepas with turkey, arugula and avocado

Masarepa corn meal
water
2 tbls vegetable oil
turkey breast (I bought a rotisserie style one from my grocery store)
1 avocado, peeled and sliced
store bought salsa of your choosing
1 cup arugula

 Make Arepa meal as directed. You're looking for the dough to come together but not be too wet. I used a cup of masarepa flour and added water until it looked correct. Make golf ball sizes balls of dough and press then with a heavy flat surface. I put each ball between two sheets of parchment paper, then used a plate to flatten each one. They won't be as thin as a tortilla, but that's not what you're looking for. Cook each disc in a pan with the oil until browned on both sides and set in the oven to stay warm. This might sound like a lot of work, but it's really not. You can use tortillas, but it's not the same.
Meanwhile, slice the turkey breast thinly and set aside 4 oz or so for each person you are serving. 
To plate: Place one arepa on the plate, place the turkey on top. Add the arugula and avocado, then top with salsa.

It's that easy.

Dinner.

I spend an abnormal amount of time thinking about dinner. I think about it while I'm falling asleep, at breakfast, while I'm preparing lunch and even while I'm eating dinner. I have a problem. I'm also the sort of person who wants to shop everyday for that night's dinner. It's not that I need to buy the freshest food, I just really like to shop for it. One problem: My kids HATE to grocery shop. And I'm to blame. Since their birth, I have dragged them to the grocery store, almost every day. They know the way we go so well, that they start complaining before we hit the stop light before the turn. I won't go into what the actual shopping trip can be like. "N" is a little more tolerant these days, but it's mostly that she's been spared due to being in school. "C" is in the twilight of his grocery store going days and is in full on passive resistance......even offering to stay in the van, by himself. "Hmmm....that's a good idea, but Dada would end going to jail." So, if you see a 30-ish year old man standing in an aisle at your grocery store with a stupid grin on his face, please let him be. He's shopping without his kids. Risotto with Roasted Cauliflower and Minted Sambal: