Author: AJ

The M’s Top Prospects

by A.J. Coltrane

The M’s top 15 prospects over at Fangraphs. The top six are the ones that might matter sometime this year.

I wouldn’t say the Seattle Mariners organization is the deepest system in the majors but it has some of the best upper-tier talent among the 30 baseball clubs. What’s even more impressive with the organization is that so many of those top prospects are pitchers and up-the-middle position players. Also, unlike a lot of the top systems in the game, the bulk of Seattle’s talent is at the double-A and triple-A level suggesting better days are ahead for the Mariners and their fans.

Nice to see that the M’s are almost recovered from the Bill Bavasi regime — four years later.

Now it’s time to start winning.

Beer of the Week: Reuben’s Brewing Roasted Rye PA

By Iron Chef Leftovers

I have really become a big fan of Reuben’s Brewing, and it doesn’t hurt that I can walk to the brewery from the Iron Chef abode. Their beer is usually solid and frequently spectacular and their beer board usually contains something for everyone. Reuben’s recently brought back the beer that got them started in the brewing industry – Roasted Rye PA, a rye IPA, which is rapidly becoming my favorite style of IPA because of their complexity.

From Reuben’s website about the beer:
We took one of our favorite hoppy IPAs and added some chocolate and rye goodness to create this tasty ale. It helps warm the soul on Seattle’s chilly winter evenings.
ABV: 7% IBU: 100+
First Place 2010 PNA Winter Beer Taste People’s Choice

The beer is hazy brown in color, almost amber. Lots of malt on the nose with citrus hidden in the background – I was expecting a more hop forward aroma, but it is subdued by the roast from the malt and that is not a bad thing. This beer goes through multiple stages on the taste buds: It starts off with a slightly sweet malt flavor, moving briefly to some light citrus notes, followed by a dry toasted rye flavor. The finish is long with pleasantly bitter citrus peel, more roasted malt and hints of dark chocolate and something that I couldn’t quite place (probably the rye) and there is a slightly tannic feel on the finish. Overall the rye flavor is much more pronounced in this beer as it warms. Despite the high IBU and alcohol, this beer doesn’t come across as a hop bomb and the alcohol is warming component rather than something that smacks you in the head.

This is definitely a different beer and a great one to have if you are only going to have one, but it is a complex beer and is probably not one that everyone will like.

Reuben’s Roasted Rye PA places a spectacular 4 gold statues out of 5.

Caring About Your Chocolate

By Iron Chef Leftovers

There was a nice piece recently about Theo Chocolate on CBS News and their work in the Congo.

Three things you should take out of the story:
1) Most cacao farmers have never tasted the finished product.
2) Raw cocoa beans are tasty and taste like citrus.
3) YOU SHOULD GIVE A SHIT WHERE YOUR CHOCOLATE COMES FROM.

At some point I will write a more in depth post on #3, but until then, enjoy the piece.

http://cnettv.cnet.com/av/video/cbsnews/atlantis2/cbsnews_player_embed.swf
 

An “Ideal” Amount Of Salt?

by A.J. Coltrane

Does not dig salt.

Most rustic breads call for right around 2% salt by weight, relative to the flour weight.

That got me thinking today:  Is that the “ideal” amount of salt for all savory foods? Is it even close to “correct” in most instances?

According to the interwebs, one teaspoon of salt weighs 6 grams.

So, let’s say we have a 10 oz steak. That’s 283 grams. 283 x .02 = 5.66 grams, or about .95 tsp.

That doesn’t sound like a crazy amount of salt. If it were broken out into 3 oz cuts it would be about .3 teaspoons per serving. That still sounds reasonable.

How about if I had 1 pound of potatoes? I’ll spare the math, it comes out to 1.5 teaspoons of salt. For 3-4 fairly good size russets it would be a little less than 1/2 teaspoon per potato. That still sounds like it’s in the ballpark.

So the next time I’m sauteing some vegetables, I’ll just weigh them beforehand and remove the guesswork? Or maybe I should weigh them after they’ve lost some of their water to evaporation…

Now I need to look through some cookbooks and see how *that* averages out..

AB Inbev and the Bud Brand

By Iron Chef Leftovers

An interesting article from Businessweek.com about AB Inbev and their destruction of their brands in their quest for greater profits. It is a bit of a long read, but basically the summary is:

— They have all but abandoned Beck’s as a flagship brand worldwide.
— They are in the process of driving away Bud drinkers in the US by changing the beer’s recipe and using “lesser quality” ingredients.
— They have pretty much wrecked the Goose Island brand.
— They might buy SAB Miller and pretty much try to control 75% of the world beer market.

I don’t think it is a plot to destroy American beer so much as a potential opening for the expansion of craft beer in the US.

1969 Seattle Pilots Photos

By Blaidd Drwg

This is really cool – the Seattle PI/MOHAI uncovered some photo negatives from the Seattle Pilots 1969 spring training and some game images.  Below is my favorite photo of the bunch. It amazes me how something like this can just disappear into an archive and get discovered some 43 years later.  You can see all of the photos here.

Photo: MOHAI/Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection / SL

AB’s Instant Chocolate Pudding

By Iron Chef Leftovers

So I am going to show you want to do with the instant pudding recipe. I have modified the original recipe and that change will be described in the notes. This is fairly quick to make and tastes so good when it is done.

The Software
1 ¾ cups of pudding mix
4 cups of whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

The Recipe
Combine the mix and milk in a medium sauce pan. Whisk together until combined. Heat over medium heat until mixture begins to boil (7-10 minutes) constantly whisking gently. When boil is reached, reduce heat to low and simmer for 4 minutes, whisking constantly. Remove heat and whisk in vanilla. Transfer mixture to a single bowl or individual serving bowls. Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding if you don’t want a skin to form. Refrigerate or just eat it warm. Using your finger or a spatula, remove any chocolate pudding still in the pot and consume.

Notes
The original recipe called for 2 cups of heavy cream and 2 cups of milk. I replaced the cream with the milk and did not really notice much difference in the texture or flavor. I need to try it with replacing some of the whole milk with skim milk to see how that affects the product. I also tried doubling the recipe. It increased the cooking time from 10 minutes to almost 30 since there was much more cold milk to bring up to temperature.

R.A. Dickey Interview

by A.J. Coltrane

Tim Kurkjian does an interesting interview with Orel Hershiser and R.A. Dickey about the development of R.A. Dickey’s knuckleball. Hint:  Charlie Hough has a big role.

In a related note, I had it in my head that Charlie Hough was active something like 1955-1975. His career actually ran 1970-1994(!) From wikipedia:  “He was converted into a starting pitcher in Texas, where he pitched from 1980–1990, making his only All-Star team in 1986. He left Texas as the franchise leader in wins, strikeouts, complete games and losses.”

Hough is still only 64 years old. I expected he’d be closer to 80. I’ll blame in on Bill James, who sort of talked about him as though Hough was older than Methusela, even in 1985.

Beer of the Week: Diamond Knot Whip Pale Ale

By Iron Chef Leftovers

I have a soft spot in my heart for Diamond Knot beers. I really like their IPA’s and I learned a significant amount of what I know about beer from the late Brian Sollenberger, one of the founders of Diamond Knot. On a beer shopping trip, I saw a new beer from DK, Whip Pale Ale and I figured what the hell, I will give it a shot, not really knowing anything about it other than the description on the bottle. The description of this beer:

Diamond Knot Brewery has been working with Seattle metal legend Michael “Whip” Wilton of Queensryche for quite some time to perfect the recipe for the new Whip Ale. Whip Ale is an American Pale Ale bittered with Nugget, Simcoe and Cascade hops. Pale, Caramel and Vienna malts provide a balance to the bright, citrusy hop flavors. American Ale Yeast generates a clean, crisp finish.

I purchased Whip in a 22 oz. bottle (it can also be found on tap) for $5. It comes in at 6% ABV and 30 IBU.

Whip pours a golden orange color. Hops, caramel, malt and spice dominate the nose – this beer smells wonderful, and really reminds me of a Belgian IPA more than an American Pale Ale, it is a really complex olfactory experience. Malt and hops dominate the palate with a long, lingering, tannic finish, showing just a hint of hop bitterness as it fades. As it begins to warm, hops dominate the front of the palate and Belgian flavors – coriander, spice and yeast, dominate the back.

I really loved this beer and would not hesitate to pick up a bottle or have a pint if I was in the mood for something with hop character without being a hop bomb.

Whip Pale Ale strums in with 4 Silent Lucidities out of 5.