Cerveza Cucupá Chupacabras Pale Ale

One of only a few Mexican mircobrews, Cucupá is out of Mexicali and makes a nice range of beers. Carrboro Beverage Co. recently started carrying a few, and I tried the excellently-named Chupacabras Pale Ale. And: a very, very nice beer. Great hop character and creamy body, well-balanced with malt. Super-satisfying beer and well more than just a novelty - pick it up if you get a chance.

Chicken Liver Paté

For reasons that are probably a bit beyond my comprehension, I've gotten incredibly into liver recently. Specifically bird liver which, astoundingly, is just about the cheapest part of the bird you can buy. So armed with the larger part of a pound of smoked chicken liver (courtesy a friend's smoker), I proceeded to make some paté.

Chicken Liver Paté

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb. chicken liver, smoked
• 3 cloves elephant garlic, roasted
• 1/2 onion, chopped, caramelized
• 2 oz. cream sherry
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tbs. butter

Procedure

1. Chop all ingredients finely
2. Melt butter in saucepan, add garlic
3. Add onions, liver and pepper; stir thoroughly
4. When hot, add sherry and cook down, mushing all ingredients together to a delicious goo
5. When gooey, remove from heat and let cool for a few mintues
6. Throw 'er in the food processor or blender
7. Get everything out, put in a container and chill in the fridge for a couple of hours
8. Serve on crackers and eat the hell out of it

Verdict

Duh. Obscenely decadent and delicious.

Alternately, if you prefer it in the original French, there's

Dominique's Foie Gras via Claire

Ingredients

large goose liver (500g)

salt

white pepper

sugar

cognac

Procedure 

Rajouter sel, poivre blanc, muscade râpée, une pincée de sucre, deux cueilleres soupe d’alcool, porto, cognac, armagnac, tu couvres d’un film, et tu laisses macérer une nuit.

In your bowl, put salt, white pepper (I'm fairly sure I used regular), a pinch of sugar, 2 tablespoons of alcohol (porto, cognac, armagnac), cover with the transparent plastic, leave in the fridge one night.

Le lendemain, tu prends du film étirable, l’enrouler une douzaine de fois, comme un saucisson, fermer les bords avec le fil de fer. Il faut absolument fermer hermétiquement.

The next day, take some transparent plastic film, wrap up the liver a dozen times (I used to do 20 times), close the ends with twisty-metallic thingees. It HAS to be impermeable.

Faire bouillir 5 L d’eau dans une grande marmite, quand l’eau bout, tu éteints, et tu plonges ton foie dedans, et tu le maintiens au fond. Mets le couvercle. Quand l’eau est froide, ton foie est cuit. Il faut le retirer. Puis, l’enrouler dans un torchon et le laisser dans le frigo 5 a 8 jours (8 c’est mieux).

Get your biggest pot, and put 5 litres of water, bring to a boil (it might be easier to get your kettle's help on this, 5L is a lot of water). When the water boils, turn the stove off, place your liver at the bottom--keep it there (mine floated, so I had to submerge it under a couple of bowls-get creative). Cover the pot and leave it be. Once your water is cold, the liver is ready (it will take hours, of course). Take it out of the water, wrap it pretty snuggly in a kitchen towel, place it in the fridge for 5 to 8 days (8 days is better).

Bon appetit!

Bon appetit!

Great Divide 16 Oak-Aged Double IPA

A knockout - oak aging perfectly balances the huge maltiness and (obvs.) hops of this guy, and leaves a fantastically smooth, dangerously smooth 10% ABV treat. Currently on tap at Tyler's Carrboro - go getchoo some.

Savory Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes and Peppers

Ingredients

• 6 chicken thighs, bone-in and skin-on
• 3 red peppers, roasted, skinned, chopped into 1/2" squares
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, oven-dried and preserved in oil (you could probably fudge this, but I had 'em)
• 4 cloves garlic, diced roughly
• 1 large onion, sliced medium-thin
• 1 14-oz. can foul mudammas
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 c. stock (I used veggie, you could also use chicken)
• olive oil

Procedure

1. Heat oil to low in a large saucepan with a lid
2. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant (~1 min.)
3. Add onions and stir; cook until they begin to soften
4. Add tomatoes and peppers with a bit more oil (from their containers works nicely)
5. Stir all ingredients together and add a bit of stock (~1/2 c.); stir again to combine and cover
6. Cook covered for several minutes, then open and add chicken
7. Cook chicken for several minutes, turn over, and add foul mudammas, stirring to combine
8. Cover again, and cook on low for about 10 min.
9. Uncover, and cook for about an hour on low, stirring occasionally and adding stock when the sauce gets too thick or starts sticking to the pan
10. Serve with rice and enjoy!

Verdict

Really, really good. Just really good. Still-thinking-about-it-now good.

Rhubarb and links

I saw the stems from the corner of my eye at the store, such a soothing, beautiful pink colour! I love rhubarb from way back in the day, it grew on the side of our house, was easy to identify and easy to cut, it was ideal for kids-turned-kitchen assistants--"Go get me some rhubarba!" Off I'd go with the smallest kitchen knife, on a mission. Last night it made me a little sad to just have to pick them up from a basket and stuff them into a plastic bag, I missed out on the cutting noise, the juiciness, comparing the leave sizes... Ah well. Such is life these days. You can grow rhubarb easily, but you have to wait 2 years before you consume it, I don't have that time.

My instinct recipe for rhubarb: rhubarb-strawberry crumble. I made this one, intrigued by the inclusion of port (I only had dry sherry). But I made two mistakes: I couldn't find/was too lazy to look for rolled oats, so I replaced it with steel cut oats. (Turns out, if you replace an ingredient with a better ingredient, you don't necessarily get something better). And: I didn't reduce the sugar. So my crumble was decent, but not spectacular, too sweet, and a tad too crunchy, even though it smelled enticing. But maybe I'm a bit blase about it, so many rhubarb-strawberry crumbles in my life...

This morning I found this recipe: orange-coriander ice-cream and rhubarb pop-tart. Now that caught my attention! I still have a couple rhubarb stems sitting in the fridge. I'll try that (especially the orange-coriander ice-cream), and report soon.

Vichtenaar Flemish Ale

Sour nose, sour body, sour finish. Just sweet enough with strong tart-cherry flavors, it's a great sour ale; recommended if you're into that sort of thing (which I am).

One-line Beer Reviews Vol. II

Kind Belgian Red Ale: not bad, well-balanced and tasty, but nothing special and not especially Belgian – drink it at a party if it's there but don't go out of your way for it.

Victory Helios: super-refreshing, nice edge of the Belgian yeasty base and crisp but not overwhelming or floral hop finish – highly recommended, especially on a summer evening.

Stoudt's Gold Lager: just a great beer - crisp, refreshing, perfectly balanced, great hop finish; very highly recommended.

Stoudt's Karnival Kölsch: not bad, but a little too sweet for my tastes – probably not a repeat buy for me, but it could just be that I don't like Kölsch ales that much.