A baking and gardening journal. Mostly.
by A.J. Coltrane
Previous post here. August 11, 2013 post here.
The cucumber box fell over on Friday. The Ultomato framework is overwhelmed — parts of it came off during the tumble. I harvested five pounds cucumbers, put the framework back together as much as possible, then propped the box up against a beam that holds up the deck:
Continue reading “Container Garden Update — August 10, 2014”
by A.J. Coltrane
Previous post here. August 4, 2013 post here. The August 4 post includes the popular-on-Google picture “Girl Cat And Ziplocks Full Of Green Leaves”. It’s basil of course, but I’d guess it made the rounds as a picture of something other than basil. Why else would it be popular?
Onward. Here’s the veg from the last couple of days posing together:
By Iron Chef Leftovers
Despite being spendy, I really do like to indulge in Midnight Sun beers when I can get them. They honestly make some of the more underrated beers out on the market and they aren’t always readily available. The chance to pick up a double IPA, Obliteration IX, was a nice treat, even if the 22 oz. bottle did set me back almost $13. It clocks in at 80IBU and 8% ABV. Was it worth it?
The beer pours golden orange in color with high amounts of citrus peel and tangerine on the nose combined with a slight backing floral note and hints of grain. The beer starts out strong with a huge amount of citrus peel and tangerine before morphing into a slight resin bitterness that pleasantly delivers a finish of building orange peel and orange blossom that linger nicely. The alcohol is virtually nonexistent in this beer and there is great balance between the bitter and floral, citrus and grain delivering a wonderfully hop-forward experience with this beer.
Midnight Sun Obliteration IX delivers on its promises leaving 4 paths of destruction out of 5 in its wake.
By Iron Chef Leftovers
Thanks to the Reuben’s randall project, we have a fairly steady stream of variations on beers that they have regularly on tap. It is nice to see how flavors interact with each other and in some cases enhance what is already found in the beer. Every once in a while, they completely take it over the top with a randall, like the Nitro Chocolate Dry Stout that not only included Theo Chocolate cocoa nibs but vanilla in the process. Dry Stout, chocolate and vanilla, I am all over that. It clocked in a 4.9% ABV and 36 IBU.
The beer pours jet black with a creamy tan head. Strong notes of dark chocolate, dark roast coffee and vanilla dominate why nose with hints of malt and milk – the beer smell like an adult version of Yoo-hoo. The initial sip hits you with notes of malted milk and dark chocolate with some notes of coffee before transitioning into a slightly bitter chocolate profile. The beer finishes with a velvet mouthfeel with a wandering lingering vanilla, dark chocolate, malted milk, sugar profile. The finish is somewhere in-between a really good chocolate shake (just missing a hit of whipped cream on top) and a great dark chocolate bar.
Reuben’s Nitro Chocolate Dry Stout Randall hammers home its point with 5 six packs out of 5.
By Iron Chef Leftovers
Every once in a while you will see a beer style pop up in Seattle that does not get a ton of airplay in the Northwest. Dunkelweizen is one of those that makes a rare appearance. What is a dunklelweizen? Well according to the German Beer Institute, it is this:
Dunkelweizen is the dark version of the regular golden-yellow Weissbier or Weizenbier (more commonly called Hefeweizen in North America), the spritzy, creamy Bavarian wheat beer with pronounced clove, vanilla, banana, apple, bubblegum, and sometimes nutmeg flavors.
Basically a dark wheat beer. Maritime had one on tap a few months back, calling it a dunkelweiss, and I felt the need to try it.
The beer pours cloudy brown in color and kind of looks like a root beer float. There are strong notes of roast and grain with faint hints of smoke and chocolate. The beer hits the plate as creamy with hints of grain before quickly moving into chocolate and roasted notes, reminding me of chocolate milk in both texture and flavor. The finish is odd with a fading chocolate notes, which are pleasant but dominate the beer to the point that nothing else shows. The beer really lacked a distinct fruit and grain profile that you would expect from a wheat based beer and was heavy on the roasted flavors. It was out of balance, but there are definitely times I could see myself drinking this beer because of its flavor profile.
Maritime Dunkelweiss scores a goal with 2 bianconeros out of 5.
By Iron Chef Leftovers
Another review of a NW Peaks IPA? The gods must be crazy. I had actually been waiting for this one since the guys at NW Peaks told me it was one their brew schedule. I have become a huge fan of rye beers and they had tremendous success with their Cave Rye last year, so I wanted to know what they could do with a full blown rye IPA. I don’t think it is currently available at the brewery, but it clocked in at a nice 6.5% ABV.
The beer pours orange in color with a nice white head and there is an explosion of citrus on the nose when you first smell this beer, but with deeper investigation, you will find additional notes of orange peel and orange blossom, spice and rye and grain notes. The beer starts off with juicy fresh squeezed orange and tangerine with orange blossom without being cloyingly sweet before brining mild amounts of bitterness into the picture in the form of citrus peel combined with some grain and spicy heat. The beer finishes extremely long with signifiant citrus tempered with a pleasant bite of the rye and coupled with a hint of resin and spice in a moderately bitter finish. Not quite a good as my favorite rye IPA, Reuben’s Imperial Rye IPA, this beer is extremely well balanced and very easy to drink and is outstanding in its own right.
NW Peaks Rye IPA finishes strong with a perfect 5 stone mills out of 5.
by A.J. Coltrane
We watched Wreck It Ralph again. (Way fun film, btw.) Afterwards I was digging around YouTube and ran into this priceless video:
It’s right in line with what some sushi joints will play on television as white noise.
By Iron Chef Leftovers
It is not too often that you will see a pale ale that is pushing over the 6% abv threshold. Pales are generally lower in hops and lower in alcohol than their IPA cousins and are meant to be much more approachable. Bad Jimmy’s takes the opposite approach with their extreme beers, putting out a pale that is 7.2% and 72 IBU, putting it firmly in the range of most IPAs.
The beer pours hazy golden in color with notes of citrus and grain dominating the nose. The beer starts out bitter in an extreme way, assaulting the palate. It is a harsh bitterness that completely overwhelms any other flavor that you might find in the beer, making this extremely one note. There is no balance and a significant alcohol burn. If you are hard pressed, you might be able to find a hint of citrus note in this beer, but it is a challenge. It might have worked better if it were called an IPA, but as a pale, this beer is just plain terrible.
Bad Jimmy’s Pale needs to get out in the sun more with just 1 pasty white boy out of 5.
By Iron Chef Leftovers
Mrs. Iron Chef needed a dish for a work pot luck recently and of course she turned to me to ask if I would make something. I debated making my Mac and Cheese, but we weren’t sure if there was any way to heat it up and it has been too bloody warm to make Mac anyway. I figured that since the event was outside and during the heatwave we have been going through that a nice Caprese Salad would be a good choice and I would do it with a twist. Tomatoes are just about in season, watermelon is in season and I have more basil right now than I know what to do with so it seemed like a good candidate with easily accessible ingredients. It would be quick to make and easy to transport also. So I went with it. At the event there was a contest for best dish and guess what took home the top prize?
The Software
1 ¼ lbs. ripe, in season, tomatoes, cut into ½ in pieces
8 oz. Fresh Mozzarella, preferably Ciliegine size, drained, patted dry and halved
8 oz. Watermelon, cut into ½ inch pieces
1 ½ tablespoons coarsely minced fresh basil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
2 table spoons extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
The Recipe
In a large bowl combine the tomatoes, mozzarella and watermelon and toss gently to combine. Add basil, oil vinegar and salt and toss gently to combine. Taste and adjust salt and add fresh ground pepper as desired. Let sit at least an hour to combine (don’t refrigerate it) and toss just before serving. That is it, there is nothing else to do but enjoy.
Notes
The key to this is to use in-season tomatoes. The riper they are, the sweeter they are so if you grow your own, this dish will be much sweeter than if you use store bought ones. I prefer roma or cherry tomatoes for this dish, but just about any tomato will work except for the ones that you will find in the supermarket labeled as “slicing tomatoes”. The mozzarella should be available in the deli section of most mega marts and the ciliegine size are about the size of the tip of your thumb. You can use just about any size mozzarella balls (don’t use the slicing mozzarella, it doesn’t have enough moisture), you just want to cut the pieces into roughly the same size as the tomatoes and watermelon. If you are using home grown tomatoes that are really sweet, I would recommend using red wine vinegar rather than balsamic – otherwise you risk a very sweet salad. A nice trick for mixing the oil and vinegar – put them into a small container with a lid and shake vigorously a couple of times until combined. I usually have a small container of the two handy so I just need to shake it up and pour over a salad. Adjust the recipe to taste – if you want more tomatoes, or basil or mozzarella, or watermelon, add it. You may need more oil and vinegar, if you do increase the other ingredients – just do it slowly. This salad is also great with some raw sweet onions sliced thinly added to the mix and served over grilled bread.
FlatbreadGarden 