Blog Archives
Ultimate Thanksgiving: Roasted Green Beans with Mushroom Chips & Blue Cheese
Pair with:
Westerly Santa Ynez Sauvignon Blanc 2009
Domaine Vacheron Sancerre 2010
Ingredients
1 ½ lbs green beans, trimmed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt/pepper to taste
1 1/2 pounds oyster mushrooms
½ lb maytag blue cheese
Mushroom Chips: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove the oyster mushrooms from the stem and break apart into bite size (smaller mushrooms can be left whole). Mix mushrooms, olive oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Spread the seasoned mushrooms out on 2 baking sheets in a single layer.
Roast the mushrooms about 10 to 12 minutes until crispy. Remove from the oven and let it cool for 3-5 minutes. Scrape the mushroom chips off the bottom of the baking sheet with a bench scraper and set aside.
Beans: Increase oven to 400 degrees.
Spread green beans over a baking sheet covered in aluminum foil (for easy clean up). Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Using your hands, mix so every bean is covered in seasoning. Roast until tender and lightly caramelized, 10 minutes.
Spread roasted green beans on platter, top with crispy mushroom chips and blue cheese crumbles. Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary.
Ulimate Thanksgiving: Hasselback Sweet Potatoes with Maple Pancetta
Pair with:
Swanson Pinot Grigio 2008
Ponzi Vineyards Pinot Gris 2010
Ingredients (6 servings)
6 small sweet potatoes
1 lb pancetta; ½ inch thick rounds
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 ½ cups pure maple syrup
½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
With a sharp knife, cut slits into the potatoes about ¾ of the way through (do not cut completely through the potato!) Each slice should be about ¼ inch thick.
Slice pancetta rounds into ½ thick strips. Add maple syrup to a small bowl, stir in cayenne. Add pancetta to syrup and mix until each strip is covered completely. Place a pancetta strip in every other “slit” you’ve created in the potatoes.
Arrange potatoes on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil. Brush each potato first with melted butter and then with remaining maple syrup. (Use all the syrup and be sure to get some in every “slit”)
Sprinkle potatoes with salt and bake for 45 minutes.
The Beers of Autumn
Ahh, the beers of Autumn. The weather breaks its summer swelter, it’s time to move to something a bit darker to accompany the hearty and rustic meals on menu. With butternut squash and wild mushrooms, pumpkin pie and apple tarts, the aromas of sage and ginger, cinnamon and cloves, food friendly beers are becoming increasingly popular with traditional holiday meals.
It seems that every brewery these days are making some sort of pumpkin or fall spiced brew. Rightly so, as autumn beers are the most popular of all the seasonals. From Late Harvest to Autumn Maple, Apple and Pear Cider, Oktoberfest Marzens and Pumpkin Spice, there is a beer for ever fall meal. But where to start, and how to pair? 
If you are sticking with traditional turkey, stuffing, cranberries, mashed potatoes and gravy for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, you will find that the variety of flavors that can be found in this meal are at all ends of the spectrum. From savory to citrus, sweet and spicy, many find it a difficult task to pair an appropriate wine for the occasion. Luckily, beer is here to save the day. An Oktoberfest Marzen pairs wonderfully with the diverse flavors that come along with this meal. Try Paulaner Oktoberfest, light in body, full in malty flavors, it won’t overpower anything, but is still big enough to hold its own – $10.80 for a 6 pack. If you are looking for a beer that will pack some bigger flavors, try Dogfish Head Pangaea. It has a warming ginger tone, but a light crisp finish that will cleanse your palate – $10.50 for a 750 ml bottle. For those of you that prefer a lighter, Champagne-y style beer, go for a cider. Ace Joker Cider $4.50 for a 22 oz bottle, pairs fabulously with a pork roast slow cooked with Granny Smith apples and rosemary. Serve it in a Champagne flute and impress your guests.
If you have ham with orange glaze on the menu, try a Weizen such as Franziskaner Hefeweizen, spicy and light with notes of citrus, coriander and clove – $10.80 for a 6 pack. If you prefer a bolder ham with perhaps a mustard glaze, try a darker styled weizenbock or dunkel weiss such as Julius Echter Dunkelweiss, – $3.50 for a 22 oz bottle. The smooth malts will cut the acidity in the mustard, and with the low hop content it won’t leave you with a bitter aftertaste in your mouth.
For the prime rib, roast tenderloin and brisket lover, try a Scotch ale, a Porter or a heavy German Dopplebock. Spaten Optimator is one of those big, scary dark beers (my favorite!), and be careful of the alcohol content at 7.2%. Certainly not a slugging beer. Perfect for beef with a good amount of peppery flavors or whole peppercorns – $10.80 for a 6 pack. If you choose a rich, dense gravy, Rogue Mocha Porter will do the trick – $13.50 for a 6 pack.
And on to dessert – pumpkin pie, pecan pie and gingerbread cookies go famously with a pumpkin spiced beer. Try Dogfish Head Punkin – $9.90 for a 4 pack. If you simply want beer for dessert, try Southern Tier Creme Brulee (tastes just like burnt cream) $9.25 for a 22 oz and Southern Tier Pumking (tastes like biting into pumpkin pie crust) $7.50 for a 22 oz - a side of vanilla bean ice cream will suffice.
Most of these beers are seasonal and they do sell out. The next time you can get your hands on these fall specialties won’t be until next year, so grab them while you can and enjoy the holidays!
