Under-represented Beer Styles in Seattle

By Iron Chef Leftovers

The blog, Seattle Beer News, recently posted a poll on “What type of beer would you like to see more of in Seattle?”
Here is what he said:

I recently had a conversation with someone looking to open up a brewery in Seattle who asked me what I think the Seattle beer scene could use more of. I know my answer, but what do you all think?

I don’t have any issue with asking the question. It is a valid one. There are a ton of breweries opening up and many of them are producing some very good and different beers, but they don’t cover everything that is out there.

Where I have an issue is with someone who is looking to open up a brewery asking that question. First, if you are planning on the capital outlay for a brewery, wouldn’t you think you would have already done enough market research on your own to answer the question already? Heck, all they need to do is go to a beer festival and ask the 400 or so hard core beer drinkers what they would like to see. Second, just because a people say they want more barrel aged beers or Belgian style beers, doesn’t mean that they will actually buy them. Third, shouldn’t you produce beers that are to the brewer’s strength rather than trying to fill a market niche? There is a ton of competition out there and if your brewer makes a stellar stout, wouldn’t you want to put that out on the market to get people familiar with your beer instead of making something that may or may not be any good and ruining your reputation? Plenty of breweries have proven that you can make a name with a style that is already “over-represented” in the market (Fremont Brewing and Black Raven come to mind).

So to all you aspiring brewers, brew what you love and what you are good at and then brew the unusual or under-represented styles. People around here are going to try a new beer regardless, you might as well make it your best one and get people hooked.

Dulce de Leche Pie

by A.J. Coltrane

By request. Annie S’s Dulce De Leche Banana Cream Pie.

Recipe here. [Food Network, Marcella Valladolid: Dulce de Leche Banana Cream Pie Recipe] Annie substitutes a pre-made graham cracker crust. The Nestle La Lechera Dulce de Leche should be available in the Mexican section of any large supermarket.

Oh Captain, My Captain

By Blaidd Drwg

With a teary farewell, Jason Varitek finally hung up his gear and called it a career. You will get the few idiots in Boston saying he was a Hall of Fame player (not even close), the same way you had them in NY when Posada retired earlier this off season, but generally he did have a pretty good career …with the bat.

Varitek produced an oWAR of 23.7 according to baseball-reference.com. That is a pretty good number for a catcher. He had 3 pretty good seasons from 2003-2005, but generally he was league average or worse. The nice thing about the Red Sox lineup for the first decade of this century is that league average production out of your catcher made him look great in the runs and RBI departments. His post season numbers were pretty much in line with his regular season ones, so he was nothing special in that arena.

Varitek gets a great deal of credit for how he handled the pitching staff. There is no real evidence to suggest that a catcher has any impact on the performance of a pitcher, so I won’t say that he was or wasn’t a great handler of pitchers. Defensively though, he was atrocious at throwing out baserunners – at 23% for his career. In his last 2 seasons, baserunners were successful in 107 out of 128 attempts, or 84% of the time. The league average success rate is somewhere around 73%. That really doesn’t tell the whole story. Varitek was behind the plate for 850 inning in 2010-2011, or roughly 94 full games. Runners attempting over 1 steal per game against him is extremely high.

I don’t blame this all on Varitek; for years the Red Sox pitching coaches had an aversion to holding on runners, which lead to more steal attempts against the Sox then probably should have been attempted. Still, some of the blame falls on the catcher, and Varitek was really bad at throwing runners out.

Spring Hopes Eternal

by A.J. Coltrane

Last year, the HomeTown Nine made an improbable late run at the _____ League Wild Card and stayed in contention for the spot until the final few games.

The remarkable turn of events had fans and the media buzzing about the “return” of the HomeTown Nine.

After an offseason in which the club decided to re-sign _____ and trade _____, add _____ and _____ to the back end of the bullpen, sign _____ to serve as the team’s new first baseman while penciling in No. 1 prospect _____ in right field, the pre-season hype about the Nine seems legitimate.

_____ believes this Nine club could win 90 games, if they stay healthy.

And it is easy to see why.

Despite the loss of _____, HomeTown’s returning starting rotation comprised of _____, _____, _____, _____ and _____ still figures to be one of baseball’s best.

The Nine’s additions of _____, _____ and _____ this off-season— along with the emergence of _____— gives HomeTown a more well-rounded and deep batting corps than last year’s group.

The team still lacks a prototypical “big bopper” on paper, but with _____ serving as the team’s clean-up hitter, protecting both _____ and _____, the pieces are in place for a solid middle unit.

That is, of course, if all prove to stay healthy.

The key to HomeTown’s success will be if _____, _____ and _____, who are all overcoming past health concerns, can stay on the field and out of the trainer’s room.

_____, a future Hall of Famer, is expected to rebound from his career-worst season at the plate in _____.

I can’t help but think that _____ could be that legend and that any number of heroes could stand up to help cement the greatest storyline of the year— sending _____ out as a winner.

Oh, the beauty of Opening Day…where no dream is too big.

————————-

It’s actually excerpts from a 2010 Atlanta Braves season preview at bleacherreport. Top prospect Jason Heyward led the team in OPS+, the team won 91 games and the Wild Card. Chipper Jones was right in predicting 90 wins. And Bobby Cox went out a winner.

I never read these things — even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes.

The Kiss of Death In Professional Sports

By Blaidd Drwg

Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro is on the hot seat because of his team’s middling performance. He received the dreaded “vote of confidence” from the GM and owner of the team. From espn.com:

…coach Vinny Del Negro received a vote of confidence from Clippers owner Donald Sterling and general manager Neil Olshey this week and appears safe to finish the season as the team’s coach after reportedly being on the hot seat last week.

Receiving the “vote of confidence” is a close to a guarantee that you are hanging on by a thread in professional sports. Too often, a manager or coach gets it and is fired within a couple of weeks. My prediction – Del Negro gets fired if the team goes .500 or worse over their next 8 games (which is about 2 weeks from the date of his “vote of confidence”.

Unorthodox Egg Rolls

by A.J. Coltrane

These were inspired by this Simply Ming recipe: Spring rolls filled with turkey, carrots, and carmelized onions. The carmelized onions in an egg roll sounded really good to me.

I began by shredding one red pepper, 1/2 a red onion, and three large button mushrooms. These went into a skillet with two cloves of minced garlic, two tablespoons of hoisin sauce, and a splash of soy. Everything was sauteed over medium heat until it was all a big, sticky, red mess. When cool it was combined a bowl with minced cooked chicken (about one large breast), and the green parts of a bunch of scallions.

The egg rolls were sealed with an egg wash.

And deep fried in canola oil until golden brown.

I used this recipe for sweet and sour sauce, minus the cornstarch and the boiling. (1/3 cup rice vinegar, 4 TBP brown sugar, 1 TBP ketchup, 1 tsp soy.) It came out vaguely too sour, though that could have been because I ran out of ketchup. A little fiddling and it was fine… if anyone has an easy sweet and sour recipe they like I’d be happy to try it.

Don’t worry, no beer was wasted on the cat.

A Low Hassle Pizza

by A.J. Coltrane

The dough:

Ingredient	Baker’s Percentage	Weight	Approx Volume
Bread Flour	75	300g	2-1/4 cups
Wheat Flour	25	100g	3/4 cup
Water	70	280g	1 cup + 3 TBP
Sea Salt	2	8g	2 tsp
Yeast	2 tsp	2 tsp	2 tsp
Honey	1.5 TBP	1.5 TBP	1.5 TBP

The other stuff: 14oz can of tomatoes (I use Muir Glen, in this case Diced Fire Roasted), dried oregano, garlic, red onion, balsamic, cheese (I used havarti and parmesan).

1. Combine the dough ingredients and knead at low speed for 6 minutes. Lightly oil the dough and the bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a towel, and let rise about two hours (about double in size).

2. Lightly oil a pizza pan. (I use a 13″x18″ sheet tray.) Press the dough out to the edges of the pan (or close). Cover with a towel and let rise one hour.

3. Get the toppings ready. Here’s what I did: While the dough is resting, thinly slice 1/2 an onion and cook with a splash of balsamic over low heat until soft. Puree one 14oz can of tomatoes together with 1 tsp dried oregano and two cloves of garlic. Remove the onions from the pan, turn off the heat, add the tomato mixture and let it reduce slightly in the still warm pan.

4. To top the pizza: Start by topping with shredded or sliced cheese, then the tomato mixture, the onion, and finally a generous amount of grated parmesan. Bake at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes. I didn’t have pizza-appropriate meat in the house, but that would be good too.

If You Don’t Like Soccer, You Are Missing a Great Game

By Blaidd Drwg

The Spanish First Division in soccer, better known as La Liga, boasts two of the most dynamic players in the world – Christiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid and Lionel Messi of Barcelona. The league has played 29 out of 38 games on the schedule and Ronaldo and Messi are tied for the league scoring lead with 35 goals each, a very impressive number. What makes that number even more impressive is that 35 goals is MORE GOALS than 11 of the 20 teams in the league have scored all season. Think about that, one player scoring more points than 11 teams. That would be like someone hitting 150 home runs in a season in baseball. Despite the two high octane offenses that Barca and Madrid poses, they are beatable. Madrid has lost twice and drawn 3 times while Barca has 6 draws and 2 losses.

The La Liga standings are so top heavy because of these two teams that the third place team, Valencia, is 22 points behind second place Barca. Madrid is 6 points ahead of Barca in first place in La Liga, which, with 9 games left, is close to being insurmountable, but they still have one game against Barca which could ultimately decide the title.
I mention this because the quarterfinals of the UEFA champions league matches Barca against AC Milan, the winner advancing to the semi-finals. It should be a contrast in styles between the high scoring Barca and the solid defense of Milan. The home and home is 3/28 at Milan and 4/3 at Barca. If you like soccer at its best, you should watch these two games.

Vegas And Some New Recipe Categories

by A.J. Coltrane

I’ve added three new subcategories as children to the “Recipes” tag: Breads, Pizza & Flatbreads, and Asst Doughs. Most of the existing “dough” recipes fit reasonably cleanly into one of those subcategories. (The Grissini recipe wound up categorized as “Breads”, which I guess is ok.)

The Vegas gambling went fairly well last week, I won over 62% of my college basketball bets. The most interesting “miss” was a fun three-team parlay, combining Wisconsin to beat Syracuse (+150), Florida to beat Marquette (+110), and Louisville to beat Michigan State (+190). I bet $20 to win $324. Wisconsin lost by 1, which killed the parlay. The other two teams won. On the bright side, most of the games from the weekend seemed to follow the “script”, so that’s reassuring for next year. (Exceptions: Baylor down 20 at the half against Kentucky. That, and Florida shooting 8-11 from 3 point range in the first half, then going 0-9 in the second half to lose to Louisville. I was feeling good about my Florida bets at halftime…)

Three fun MLB prop bets that we put a little money on before leaving town:

More Combined Hits, Homers, and RBIs: Evan Longoria over Adrian Beltre. (Pick em). Beltre officially turns 33 on April 7. Longoria is 26. I’ll take the 7+ year age difference, thank you.

More Wins: Jered Weaver over Cliff Lee. (Giving 1/2 win).

More Strikeouts: Felix Hernandez over Tim Lincecum. (And Lincecum’s inconsistent velocity over the last couple of years.)

Risotto Made Easy(er)

By Iron Chef Leftovers

Making risotto seems like a daunting task for someone who has never done it before and there is always the potential for doing something incorrectly and ending up with a big pile of mushy rice. I was lucky growing up in an Italian household – risotto was a staple for special meals and from a very early age, I was lucky enough to watch my dad make it, so I was able to lean by doing it without ever having to use a recipe. Over the years, I have had a number of people ask me for the “recipe”, and they have always been disappointed that there isn’t one. My standard response has always been, come over and I will show you how to make it. Over the years, as I have increased my knowledge of the science of cooking, I have made changes to the way that I make my risotto. I learned that you don’t need to constantly stir it and with a little tweaking, risotto went from something that I made only on weekends to something that I can make for a weeknight dinner. Below is an attempt to put together a repeatable recipe. While I did measure everything out, so much of this is by feel, that it may take you a couple of tries to get it right. Of course, you can always come over and I can show you how to make it…

The Software
3/4 cup Arborio Rice
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup yellow onion, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups warm water
1/3 cup grated parmegiano reggiano
2 tablespoons butter
1 pinch of saffron, steeped in 1/4 cup hot water
salt
pepper

The Recipe

Steep the saffron in hot water for 10 minutes

Heat the chicken stock in a saucepan. You are looking for it to be warm before you use it (around 120 degrees), so bring it up to temperature and hold on the stove over low heat to keep warm. Add the saffron and water to the pot.

In a saucier or sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add the onions and cook until they start to soften and become translucent (about 7 minutes), stirring occasionally. You are not looking to brown the onions; so if they start to brown, lower the heat.

Add the rice to the onions (yes, you read this right). Toast the rice in the pan for 2-3 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP; IT IS CRITICAL TO THE RICE TURNING OUT PROPERLY.

Add the white wine to the pan to deglaze and stir.

Once the liquid is absorbed lower the heat slightly and add 1/4 of the chicken stock to the rice. Stir. It doesn’t have to be 1/4 exactly, so don’t worry about measuring it, just guess. It won’t hurt you to put more or less in. Cook for 5 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed.

Repeat this process with the remaining liquid, adding it in 3 more times and stirring after the liquid is added. If the rice is sticking to the bottom of the pot badly, lower the heat.

Once you have added the last batch of stock to the rice, add the water to the pot that contained the stock and heat it. This is necessary in case more liquid needs to be added to the rice.

After MOST of the last addition of stock is added, you are going to check for doneness. The only way to check is by tasting it. The rice should be soft with just a hint of toothiness – if it is at all crunchy, it is not done. If you are at that stage, add 1/3 of the water and continue cooking the same way as with the stock until you are done.

When the rice is fully cooked and there is still a small amount of liquid in the rice, reduce heat to medium low and add the cheese and butter, stirring constantly until both are incorporated. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve immediately.

Notes
There are several critical components to this dish. The rice you use is important – you need to use Arborio rice that mentions superfino on the package. If you don’t use Arborio rice, you will not get the creamy texture that is the trademark of risotto and superfino indicated that the rice is a high grade. Using rice that is not superfino grade can lead to a mushy meal. Chicken or veggie stock are my recommendations, but you can use any stock you would like (or even just water) – just be warned beef stock will impart a very strong flavor to the rice. The saffron really is optional, but it does impart a golden color and earthiness to the rice. This recipe will feed 4 as an appetizer or 2 as an entrée with some leftovers for seconds. This is really a base recipe. I will be posting a few of my favorite variations, but once you get this one down, feel free to experiment to your hearts content.