Brewing a CDA with Adam

Adam and I met at the Evergreen State College in Washington State while taking a program entitled "Food, Health & Sustainability". We soon learned of each others passion for beer and homebrewing.  This particular batch of "Cascadian Dark Ale" (CDA) features Adam's homegrown Cascade and Chinook hops. CDA's are essentially Black IPA's made of ingredients from and brewed within the Cascadian bioregion. I really hope that with the spread of the local food movement, beers, wines, cheeses and other foods will gain regional qualities similar to those that exist(ed) in Europe.

The recipe we used is from NorthernBrewer.com, but ingredients used are either grown locally or purchased locally...

INGREDIENTS

0.25	#	Dehusked Carafa III
0.25	#	Chocolate Malt
0.5	#	Briess Caramel 80
3.15	#	Dark Dry Malt Extract (60 min)
6	#	Dark Dry Malt Extract (15 min)
1	#	Corn Sugar (0 min)
1	oz	Summit Hops (60 min)
1	oz	Chinook Hops (30 min)
1	oz	Cascade Hops (15 min)
1	oz	Chinook Hops (10 min)
1	oz	Cascade Hops (5 min)
1	oz	Cascade Hops (0 min)
1	oz	Summit Hops (dry hop in secondary)

Recipe directions and more can be found here.

Adam and I also concocted a strange mixture of a couple different fermenting beverages I've had lying around for a good while. Sweet Dandelion Wine (too sweet), Sour Gruit Ale (too sour) and a Ginger beer plant (symbiosis of ginger and yeast in an aqueous suspension). We made small mixtures using a 50mm syringe to record each ratio. Finally reaching a nicely balanced mixure, we bottled it so it could carbonate. The end result was a very pleasing sort of fruity, herbal and very booze heavy soda pop.

Below is a slideshow of the days events

Valentines ala Panama

I am not one to celebrate holidays in a "traditional" ways. I like black Xmas ornaments and pickled fish instead of Valentines chocolates (I wonder if Missy feels the same way??).  Either way, this Valentines I decided to make an entirely "hand-forged" Panamanian feast! A ceviche with bay scallops, tilapia and sole, coconut rice, homemade tortillas and pickled cabbage relish. It was a TON of work to do by myself, but the results were WELL worth it!  

I have also been really interested in using acidic ingredients, like lime or lemon juice to "cook" various types of seafood.  The citric acid in the juice denatures the proteins in the seafood in much the same way as applying heat would  The flesh even turns opaque when the acid has run its course. Ceviche is NOT raw sushi salad and is very safe to eat.  Check out these recipes!

Coconut Rice

INGREDIENTS

1 - Coconut (meat grated, juice reserved) 2 c Rice (~2 cups per # of grated coconut) 4 c Water 1/4 c Tomato, diced 1/4 c Bell Pepper, diced ~2 tsp Sea Salt 1/2 tsp Sugar 1/2 Tbl Hot Sauce 3 slices Bacon, streaky 1 can Red Kidney Beans 1 - Onion, small

DIRECTIONS

1. Boil the 4 cups of water with the coconut for 2 minutes, set aside to cool. When it has cooled enough to handle, squeeze dry, reserving the liquid, and combining it with the milk.
2. Chop the bacon and sauté it with the green pepper, onion and the hot pepper in the same pan that you will be using to cook the rice.
3. Toss in the tomato and kidney beans (with its liquid) and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Remove the hot pepper from the mix.
5. Pour in the coconut milk, sugar and salt. Cover pot and bring to just a boil
6. Rinse and drain the uncooked rice before mix comes to a boil. Add the rice to the boiling milk mixture. Cooked uncovered for 1-2 minutes, cover and reduce flame to low. Simmer for 20 minutes, or until the rice is tender.

Recipe from world-food-and-wine.com

Ceviche

INGREDIENTS

~2	#	Seafood (shrimp, scallops, firm fleshed fish)
1/2	c	Tomato, diced
1/2	c	Cucumber, peeled & diced
1/2	c	Red Onion, diced
1/4	c	Cilantro, leaves & stems, chopped
1	Tbl	Hot Sauce
1	-	Jalapeño, minced
~1	c	Lime or Lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Chop seafood to a rough, large-ish dice (a little bit bigger than your veggies)
2. In a bowl, cover the chopped seafood with lime/lemon juice. Make sure everything is submerged, cover bowl with a lid and refrigerate for 20+ minutes
3. Drain off lime/lemon juice and mix the seafood with the veggies.
4. Salt & Pepper to taste
5. Allow flavors to blend together in the refrigerator for at least 30 min. Then serve with tortilla chips or tortillas!

Tortillas

I am still quite a novice at working with masa and making my own tortillas (getting the dough consistency right, getting the cooking surface the right temperature ... ). According to most recipes I found, you basically take equal parts masa corn flour and water, roll it into a ball, flatten it & cook it. I've got it all down aside from the cooking aspect I think. I made a handy-dandy tortilla press out of my table, a couple layers of wax paper and a flat board (this also works great when making meat or veggie patties).

Pickled Cabbage Relish - "Curtido"

I had made this yummy relish a long while back when I was making Pupusas ... and have been keeping it in the fridge to see if it either improves in flavor, or goes bad. As expected, it has remained a very yummy mix of cabbage, carrot and green onion.

INGREDIENTS

1/2	head	Cabbage, shredded
1	-	Carrot, shredded
1	quart	Water
3	-	Green Onions, diced
3/4	c	vinegar
1/2	c	Water

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring 1 quart water to a boil. Add shredded cabbage and carrot to boiling water, then remove from heat and cover. Steep 5-10 minutes.
2. Strain cabbage and carrot, discard water.
3. Combine with green onion, vinegar, 1/2 cup water and oregano in a large jar.
4. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.