Grilling a salmon burger and having some mixed greens with a wasabe dijon. I am going to wash it all down with a chilled St. Druon.
The lambic last night was tasty, but it was just too sweet for my tastes. I really do not remember them being that sweet, but as I was drinking it (I preferred the black currant over the cherry, btw), all I could think was “This would go great with chocolate.”
At any rate, I picked up a 4 pack of Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout and a couple Schwarz. It has been so long since I drank a good beer, I am kind of curious if I still enjoy them.
*** Update ***
Ok. The Schwarz was just all kinds of amazing. That is what a beer is supposed to taste like. It was exceedingly hard to stop at one.
Jake
I, for one, am rather envious of whatever beer store you patronize. Please tell me that you have to drive hours to get to it, that you only stock up once or twice a year, or that you have it all shipped.
jamey
I had a light American-style lager from some Belgian-owned brewing concern. I think it was called “busch,” or something like that.
/thoughtful chin stroking
John Cole
It is about a quarter mile from my house, and their main store is about two blocks from my office downtown.
LarryB
Hey John,
Salmon burger: 1) ground or chopped? 2) store-bought or home-made? Inquiring minds want to know.
Throwin Stones
Sammy Smith Oatmeal is one of my favorites.
Scott H
I was a bit surprised with a first try of the Forks of Cheat merlot last night. So, I am having another bottle with baked ziti tonight. Not all by myself. I look forward to trying the local beer.
Ronnie P
Lambic goes well with chocolate. You could even have mixed it with the SS Oatmeal Stout (or better yet, a chocolate stout).
The Moar You Know
Give me Tadcaster Porter or give me death.
John Cole
Chopped and store bought. I just picked it up on a whim as I was getting a shower curtain and some toys for Tunch. thought it would be something different and would go well with the salad I had planned.
Halffasthero
Excellent choice althought very pricey. If you cannot afford it a less expensive alternative would be Goose Island. Not quite as good but definitely worth a try.
By the way, my experience is that if the stout is too cold, it does not taste as good. It seems to get bitter in fact.
Mustard is Evil
Get thee a Taddy Porter, posthaste! Or, tomorrow…
Hmmmm…
Butch
On wondering if you still enjoy those beers….my now long-ago ex and I used to enjoy a wine drink called kir. Last week for no good reason – I can’t even tell you what made me think of kir – I decided to buy the ingredients and try one again. I’d have to say my tastes have changed dramatically (both in spouses and libations, I guess).
SteveinSC
I fucking told you so yesterday. At least in your case you changed to real beer, while the rest of the crowd here is again proving the Einstein Law of Insanity.
Dreggas
I live on the left coast, I’m liberal, but John you sure beat me on the elitist bit with that there dinner…
Zuzu's Petals
John –
Just tried to e-mail you at your contact address and got a “permanent fail” message.
What else to do?
I included Tim on the message, BTW.
John Cole
There really is nothing elitist about drinking something other than the fucking swill most people call beer and eating something other than pizza or Hamburger Helper. If that is the case, then every nation in Europe is “elitist.”
Damned at Random
I had spinach enchiladas and homemade sangria at the wonderful little Mexican restaurant in town- an unexpected treat in a rural town of
Punchy
Boone’s Farm, bitches. Watermelon.
demkat620
What store is this that sells shower curtains and salmon burgers? Inquiring minds want to know?
Kevin
I have wondered what that stuff is like when you get it from the source.
The Guinness and Beamish sold in this country, for instance, are fucking horrible compared to the ‘real thing’.
Dork
By the way, John, if you need a dinner date, I’ve found a perfect one fo’ ya.
I’m sure you’ll have an interesting dinner convo.
Mary
You spoil that damn cat. Can’t he just lick himself clean like every other non-elitist moggie out there?
Ash Can
Lindemans adds sugar to its fruit lambics which, while allowing for a pleasant enough flavor, makes them a little too sweet to pair easily with non-dessert-type foods IMO. For a bracingly tart and dry kriek, try Cantillon. That brewer’s lightly raspberry-flavored Rose de Gambrinus has similar qualities, as well as one of the best beer labels ever printed.
tom.a
If you’re looking for a dessert, toss a blob of (good!) vanilla ice cream in that stout. And why does Tunch need a shower curtain?
Joshua
Ahhh, Sam Smith. I love all their stuff. As others have mentioned, their Old Taddy Porter is pretty great. I’m partial to their Imperial, though.
John Cole
There isn’t. I went to Giant Eagle but could not find shower curtains so went to Bed, Bath, and BWHATTHEFUCKTHISSHITISOVERPRICED.
peach flavored shampoo
Yowsah.
Ricki and Flowbee
sittin’ in a tree
k-i-s-s-i-n…..
Dreggas
I kid, hell I am just as freaking snobbish about what I eat and drink. However the idea of fish as a burger just doesn’t work for me.
Gold Star for Robot Boy
Ice cream, too.
Dreggas
Are you saying John licks his pussy?
Corner Stone
Anything by S. Smith, but especially the Imperial Stout. Pop the top and just walk away from it for about 10 to 15 minutes or so. Let it breathe and warm up a bit.
As close to Heaven as we’re going to find on this rock since impeachment is off the table.
As for pounding coldies on hot days, I used to do this too when I was underage. After I became an adult I realized I should probably drink things I actually enjoyed the flavor of.
Just Some Fuckhead
Last night I made chicken gumbo from a bacon/chicken stock roux in my favorite iron skillet. I had it with some leftover cab.
Dunno about tonight yet. Pretty unmotivated at the moment.
Sherrell
Where the hell is this magic wand the President keeps talking about..and why isn’t anybody using it!
Dreggas
bah my current comment is awaiting moderation *snickers*
Tsulagi
Now French ale. Along with that dinner. Okay, no need to keep walking down the path in search of your inner liberal Dem. Prop up your Birks, you’ve arrived.
Kevin
You should have just said that it was “satire”.
Just Some Fuckhead
I get a killer headache just thinking about Budweiser, no need to drink the headache beer. Hopefully InBev will fix it or kill it.
Throwin Stones
I am weak and due to John’s unintended suggestion had to stop on the way home for a 4 pack of Oatmeal.
The cashier mentioned he’d just tried the Sam Smith Organic beer. Has anyone tried this?
Just Some Fuckhead
Satire, Bitches!
Xavier Cugat
My newest and favorist beer is a Canadian take on a Belgian Triple — La Fin Du Monde by Unibroue
Dreggas
LOL
Just Some Fuckhead
Walmart, Costco, Burgers & Curtains.
Dreggas
Oh the possibilities…
KRK
Maybe Tunch would prefer you kept the toys for yourself and gave him the salmon. He could always take the toys away from you later.
Steve Balboni
Sammy Smith Oatmeal stouts? Awesome, I feel like I’m back in the parking lot on Phish summer tour!
cyntax
When did “European” stop being a synonym for “elitist”? I totally didn’t get that memo.
Speaking of French bière, if you can get anything from Strasbourg, do so. When I was stationed in Babenhausen we had a sister unit in the French Army that was down there, man that was good stuff. It was a great hybrid of German-French brewing styles.
Anne Elk (Miss)
If you liked the schwarzbier, next time you’re shopping, see if you can find some Sprecher Black Bavarian (Milwaukee). Might be fresher (since it only has to come from WI, not overseas) and comes in 16 oz bottles, for the proper filling of an imperial pint glass.
Just Some Fuckhead
Frozen pizza and Corona for those who’ve been anxiously refreshing the comments for my dinner decision. :)
cleek
took a pork tenderloin, rolled it up on itself, tied it. covered in rib-rub and put it on the grill, with a box full of hickory chips, for 90 minutes. in the meantime, i made a roasted beet risotto.
total fucking kick ass.
cleek
… and now i’m drinking Brooklyn Pennants.
demkat620
Lolz! Yeah, $39.99 for a vinyl shower curtain seemed petty toney to me but, what the hell, you gotta spend that liberal elitist money on something, right?
OriGuy
May the Schwarz be with you? Was that what Yoghurt meant?
Over here on the left coast, I can usually find Gorden Biersch Märzen when I go out. Some beer aficionados turn up their noses, but I like it. Given a choice, I’ll take an IPA like Lagunitas. I don’t keep beer at home much, but if I do, it’s usually Mexican, since I can walk to the supermercado. Got a Peruvian lager called Cusqueña the other day. Wasn’t awful, but I wouldn’t repeat.
Michael Brown
Sammy Smith? Not emetic, but come on, get real. Even on his worst day, Rasputin could Sammy’s teeth into the middle of next month. North Coast are also going to be doing another edition of the Old Rasputin X Anniversary stout, which was aged in bourbon casks. “>That edition sold out in about a week around $10 a bottle (and cheap at that price). You should be able to find a distributor somewhere downrange of that benighted dell of mountain williams you inhabit.
Just Some Fuckhead
I wanted something a little more complicated (but not as complicated as the night I spent three hours making chili so I could have a chili dog) and then John dropped the pizza idea on me. I tried to fight it but I just happened to have leftover green peppers, onions and mushrooms from my omelet the other day and there was some pepperoni in the meat drawer. So I accesorized a frozen cheese pizza.
cleek
sometimes we get a “garbage” pizza from our local cranky Italian pizza makers – it’s piled with peppers, onions and sausage – so much that the pizza takes 20 minutes longer to cook. the next morning, my wife will grab a cold leftover piece from the fridge, tear the cheese and toppings off, and drop that into her eggs. omelet from pizza!
gaucho
Did anyone else not hear until the past couple days that Miller and Coors are now MillerCoors? That one kind of slipped under the radar… Anyways, just riding this flood of beer threads for all they’re worth – time to go find a decent IPA.
Heshe
I had cold spam with a mayo/mustard sauce (loosened up warm tap water) on a bed of wilted lettuce, all washed down with Classic Coke at room temperature, and a king sized bag of peanut M & M’s for dessert. Delicious! Another perfect dining experience. Cheap too, since the lettuce and the coke came from the dumpster out back. I’m glad that thing is there. It’s a real money saver.
Breakfast will be tonight’s leftovers. Instant coffee too! I’m so fortunate to live in America. So many food choices.
cain
Fred Meyer of course! But I would never buy meat from Fred Meyer. I go to New Seasons for that or some other kind of local butchery.
cain
Heshe
Pardon me and no offense cleek, but if my woman did what yours occasionally does with old pizza, I’d be looking overseas for a new one. She’s got be a good looker, considering she does crazy stuff like that and still, you let her stay. Lucky you…and her too.
Punchy
I had no idea others called it garbage za. Been callin it this for years. Kinda thought I’d invented the term. Dammit.
Phoenix Woman
Easy-peasy 100% from scratch pizza recipe:
Crust: 2.25 cups flour, 3/4 cup lukewarm (body temp) water, heaping teaspoon active dry yeast, pinch salt, pinch sugar, splash of olive oil, 1/2 oz. corn meal
Topping: Four standard-sized tomatoes OR eight Romas, two splashes of olive oil, four to eight cloves garlic, one pound ground pork, four green onions (the stalks are pretty), eight standard-sized (1.5″ wide cap) mushrooms, eight ounces shredded Mozzarella cheese, pork seasoning of choice
Put yeast, pinch of salt and and sugar in the lukewarm water and let sit until a head forms. Since this will take a few minutes, we can set that to one side and brown our pork. Fry up the ground pork with a splash of the olive oil and with the seasonings of your choice (rosemary’s always a winner, but it’s up to you), taking care to stir it so that it cooks up into small half-inch-sized chunks: small enough to cook evenly, yet not so small that it’ll dry out when cooked a second time on the pizza. Drain (or not — you might want the oil for the next step) and set aside to cool.
Now there should be a half-inch-thick light-brown layer of foam on the yeasted water. Stir this into the flour and splash in some olive oil for manageability’s sake, and also to help the dough brown better. Mix it all up until the dough is smooth, uniform, and only slightly tacky; sprinkle in flour if the dough’s too moist — if the dough’s crumbling into small balls, it’s too dry: add some water. Let it set, covered with a cloth, while you do the next step.
Slice tomatoes and mushrooms, chop green onions and herbs if any, mince garlic. Cook all but the mushrooms together in frying pan and a little oil (either another splash of olive oil or the oil left from browning the pork). Reduce the liquid down to about half (this won’t take long – probably five to ten minutes at medium heat), then set aside to cool.
Now you’re ready to make crusts. You have enough dough for one ginormous 16-inch pizza, two 12-inch pizzas, or four 7-inch pizzas. Roll out (or form by hand-tossing or shaping) the crusts as desired. Get a cookie sheet or other baking device and sprinkle the corn meal on it; this ensures that the pizza won’t stick to the sheet. Preheat oven to 500F and start loading on the tomato mixture, mushroom slices, sausage and cheese. Put in oven for five minutes, and you’re done. (Alternatively, you can make frying-pan pizza on your stove top — it takes less than five minutes for a 7″ unit — but it won’t brown as well as the oven versions.)
Enjoy!
Just Some Fuckhead
Christ that was pretty fucking funny taken back to back. Thanks for the laugh Heshe. Good to see you ain’t particular about the important things.
rachel
BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw, and chocolate mint milkshakes for dessert.
What kind of beer would be good with that?
cleek
root beer
Barbara
Can I come for dinner at your house? Really, that sounds very good. I never have much luck grilling fish and I am reluctant to spend the money to get another grilling conraption that might make it easier.
rachel
Root beer? My favorite! (Too bad I live in South Korea, where root beer is a leeetle hard to come by.)
Corner Stone
Just never enjoyed the Rasputin that much. The stout seemed a little chalky like chocolate stout’s can sometimes be and it had no follow through, IMO.
If you’re ever somewhere that has Maredsous #8 on tap that is a definite must. Tap is the only way to consume that deliciously evil brew. The bottle of Maredsous #10 just isn’t as flavorful – again IMO.
Blue Raven
Don’t be silly. If he could do that, he’d never leave the house. Not to mention become a millionaire from charging people $19.95/hr to watch him do it via webcam.