Yuengling Porter Follow-up

I did put the question to John Callahan, lead brewer at Yuengling's "new" Pottsville facility: is 'porterine used in brewing the Yuengling Porter? No porterine, he said, "our Porters are brewed with Briess specialty malts$$$, and it is the oldest, along with Chesterfield Ale, of our recipes."

Doubters? Believers? John's a pretty stand-up guy, based on the impressions he's made on me on this day and at the MBAA meeting we attended last year. I buy it.

Sweet Potato Pies -- 100 proof!

I baked two sweet potato pies last night for Thanksgiving dinner, using a Frugal Gourmet recipe that I tweaked a bit. They came out pretty nice, so I thought I'd share.

2 cups cooked/mashed sweet potatoes/yams
4 tbsp. butter
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. mace
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup bourbon (I used J.T.S. Brown 100 proof, and that may have been too strong; try an 80 proof bottling)

Boil, peel, and mash the sweet potatoes, and then measure two cups of the mash. Place in a bowl, and mix in the other ingredients. Place in an unbaked pie shell (I use the pre-made Pillsbury ones). Place in a 400° oven and immediately turn the oven down to 325°. Bake for 45 minutes (I wound up baking these for more like 85 minutes, and I think it was because of the 100 proof bourbon; the filling stayed goopy-wet for a long time).

This was quite bourbony; you might want to cut that to 1/3 cup bourbon. Or not. I liked it, Cathy thought it a bit overpowering. But this is not pumpkin pie; the spices and flavors are different. Very good, but different. I'm liking it.

An Embarrassment of Cabbage

I know I've mentioned before that we have a farm share from a CSA outfit in New Jersey (Honey Brook Organic Farm). Unfortunately we had to miss our boxed share last week (we were in Massachusetts...and we missed the watermelon, dammit!), but some of the stuff from previous weeks is holding up well...including four heads of cabbage. Now, I like cabbage, a lot, although I'm not a big coleslaw fan, but that's a lot of cabbage. So I'm dealing.

Last night we had grilled chicken with a honey/garlic glaze (Safeway's house brand, and it's...well, I'd use a really bad word for emphasis on how ----ing good it is, okay?), and I shredded one head and sauteed it with a red onion (also from the CSA) and mushrooms, sprinkled with black pepper and Penzey's Mural of Flavor, one of my favorite spice blends. It was good, and I finished up the leftovers this morning with a Berks Black Angus hot dog sliced up in it.

Right now I'm prepping a kettle of my dad's Old-Fashioned Cabbage Soup, a Pennsylvania Dutch-style recipe that has sweet and sour in it:

1 lb. beef cubes, cut to 3/4"
1 head of cabbage, shredded
28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
3 beef bouillon cubes
3 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. salt
5 cups of water

Brown the meat in the kettle in a little oil, add other ingredients, bring to a boil, then simmer for three hours. (I add a little tarragon to mine, love tarragon with cabbage.)

The third head? Not sure. Anyone got some good ideas?

Bock Chicken recipe

Loren Verkovod posted a comment to the Spring Session entry that was just a bit long for comments, so for esthetic reasons, I pulled it out and made a separate entry of it. The recipe sounded too good to waste.

He also notes: " I heard the Anchor Bock is just a spice stripped Our Special Ale? Tastes like it to me. Regardless, it's a nice offering. Though not quite a true to form Bock tasting version."

Dunno, Loren, could be. I'll try to remember to ask an Anchorite at WhiskyFest Chicago. Meantime, here's the recipe he sent along.

CARIBBEAN CHICKEN WITH BOCK (LAGER) BEER
Serves 4
5 to 6 chicken leg quarters
2 tablespoons Jamaican jerk seasoning
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 jalapeno chiles, seeded and diced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups parboiled rice
1 bottle (12 ounces) bock beer
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 can (16 ounces) red or pink beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro
Coat chicken all over with jerk seasoning. In a large pan with lid, warm oil over medium heat.

Cook chicken in two batches, turning frequently until well-browned, about 8 to 10 minutes per batch. Remove chicken to plate. Pour out all but two tablespoons of pan drippings.

Add onion, chiles, ginger, garlic and salt to remaining drippings in pan. Cook, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes until onion is lightly browned. Stir in rice and cook for 1 more minute. Add beer, coconut milk, beans and half of cilantro. Return chicken to pot along with any accumulated juices.

Bring chicken mixture to boil, cover pot and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 30 to 35 minutes or until liquid is absorbed, rice is tender and chicken is cooked through. Stir in remaining cilantro.