Welsh Rarebit

What do you do when you have a bunch of chicken sausages? Make a dipping sauce. Out of cheese. Because that’s what should be done. This is my first shot at making Welsh rarebit, but it tastes awesome. It works well in the place of fondue and you could even use it for toasts or easy mac and cheese. I did a half size recipe and it worked out really well.

Welsh Rarebit from Serious Eats:

50 g. butter
50 g. all-purpose flour
300 ml. beer
150 g grated cheese
Mustard (brown or Dijon)
Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper

In a smallish saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter, then stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly to prevent lumps, for about a minute. Add the beer slowly, stirring to make a smooth sauce. Add in the cheese. Once that is fully incorporated, add in mustard, Worcestershire, and salt and pepper to taste. If the sauce is too thick it can be thinned with small additions of beer or water.

Serve hot or warm in order to avoid gumminess. Traditionally, rarebit is spread on toast and broiled until it bubbles, but Fearnley-Whittingstall suggests dipping blanched broccoli raab into it. We did ours with fresh broccoli and it rocked.

Beer Steamed Mussels

Aaron and I both love seafood a lot. I also love Tastespotting a lot and when I came across this recipe, I knew it was what I wanted to have for our anniversary dinner. This is a fast and easy recipe, made all the easier by Aaron going grocery shopping before I got home from work and buying amazing Washington mussels. I can't think of a better way to celebrate an anniversary than cooking together.

Beer Steamed Mussels from Big2Beautiful:

1 tablespoon olive oil
½ sweet Walla Walla onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 lb. mussels
8 oz. Widmer Hefeweizen
¼ tsp. salt
½ lemon
Finely minced fresh Italian parsley (never curly. Never.)

Heat a large sauté pan or pot over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add the olive oil and the onions and sauté for about 2 minutes, then add in the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for another minute.

Add the mussels. Pour in the beer and season with salt. Once the sauce starts to boil, cover tightly. Cook for a few minutes until the mussels have opened. Squeeze the lemon over the mussels and sprinkle with parsley. We then added in egg noodles we had already boiled and a few seared scallops that didn’t end up getting wrapped in bacon (like these ones from Valentine’s Day this past year).

So delicious! What you can't see in the pictures is the amazing amount of sauce (also known as cooking liquid) at the bottom of the pan. We had some amazing baguette from Pearl Bakery that Aaron picked up at the farmer's market that was perfect for sopping that up. I do love mussels and because I don’t have them much, these seemed even better. I love the idea of cooking with beer rather than wine, though wine is also delicious. It doesn’t taste much different at first, but you get a hint of beer after each bite. The citrus nature of Widmer Hefeweizen (always our beer of choice) also blended really well with the addition of the lemon.And though I love basil, I think fresh parsley was a great choice. I try to go for what I have on hand that is fresh rather than dried. It was also excellent the next day! I mixed in some of the leftover oven roasted broccoli and it made for a dynamite lunch.

Cooking with your love is a great way to celebrate. I highly recommend this recipe, even on non-special occasions.

Widmer Brewery Tour

The Friday before Aaron's birthday (I know, I'm behind. Grad school.) we went to the Widmer Brewery because a) it was almost Aaron's birthday, b) we both love the heck outta Widmer, and c) it's right down the street. Oh yeah, and d) it's free!

And it was awesome! We got the usual rundown of how beer is made and the "please taste from lightest to darkest" speech, but all of that stuff is fascinating. I also discovered that despite my previous proclamations that I don't really like IPAs, I really dug Broken Halo. Like, a lot. Like way more than I ever thought I would.

After learning lots about beer, we crossed the street and went into the brewery itself, where we got to see huge silos of grain, so much beer, and many, many things made out of metal that turn grains, yeast, and water into delicious magic. Plus, we got to smell hops. It was a fantastic time.

See, giant silos of grain

Aaron and the mash tun

Aaron's hand and hops

My hand and more different hops.

One of these was the spicy hops, which smelled amazing. I wish I could remember which was which, but that's what happens when you take a while to post.

Barrels and barrels of delicious Widmer Bros. beer

This is when the tour got even better! Not only did we get to learn a lot about beer in general (like why IPAs exist in the first place), but then, at the end, our guide says thanks for coming and oh yeah, you get a free pint glass and key chain bottle opener. Yeah. We were stoked.

Cutest picture of Aaron ever. Aww!

After the tour, totally excited by our swag, we decided to go drink some more beer at their restaurant, the Gasthaus. And it happened to be happy hour! Yes! Aaron's drinking Drop Top Amber Ale and I'm having their special blueberry honey mead. Oh yeah, it was good. And then we had a pretzel, Aaron bought a growler of hefeweizen, and we walked home, tipsy and happy.

If you live here and haven't done it yet, go! If you don't live here, come visit and then go. They have tours every Friday at 3 pm and every Saturday at 11 am and 12:30 pm. Call ahead to reserve a spot and that's it. Check out their site for more info.

German Dinner

One of my favorite things lately has been how much Aaron has been cooking. I’ve been behind in my posting, so there will be a number of Aaron made recipes coming up soon!

This meal was all Aaron’s idea. He saw chicken bratwursts at Freddie’s and the whole plan came together. We made pretzels again earlier in the day and he went about making everything delicious. And it was quite the dinner.

German Dinner by Aaron:

Serves 2

Soft pretzels
4 chicken bratwursts
A small jar of sauerkraut
One delicious tasting bottle of beer
A few cloves of garlic, chopped
Mustards galore





The first thing Aaron did was poach the sausages in beer. He poked a few holes in each, added the beer to pot, brought it to a boil, and reduced it to a simmer. He then added the sausages, allowing them to cook for about 15 minutes.



Because sauerkraut from the jar is kind of lame, he jazzed it up by adding chopped garlic and some of the remaining beer from the sausage pot.



The brats went onto the grill and they cooked for about ten minutes.



After the sausages were done, everything was served with mustard. This was a fun dinner and a great mid-week meal. You will have leftover kraut, but I promise you it will taste better and you can use it for sandwiches.

Irish Cupcakes

It’s St. Patrick’s Day and here is my Guinness recipe, as promised. First, though, a disclaimer. I’m not even the teeniest bit Irish. Not even close. None. Nothing. However, I love Guinness. A lot. Here’s some proof:



(that’s me at St. James’s Gate in Dublin)

Anyway, I saw this recipe back in January and thought “daaang! Perfect Paddy’s day recipe!” So here we are, today, and I have found an excuse to cook with both Guinness and Bailey’s. These are so delicious, though, that no one should need an excuse. The original recipe has these cupcakes filled, but though I do love a filled cupcake, I just didn’t feel like doing the extra work. Plus, not everyone likes a filled cupcake. These are amazing this way and I will have to restrain myself from eating all of them.

Irish Cupcakes modified from Chocolate Beer Cupcakes from dinneranddessert.wordpress.com:

Makes 24 cupcakes

For the cupcakes-
1 c. stout Guinness
1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
¾ c. unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 c. all purpose flour
2 c. sugar
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
2 large eggs
2/3 c. sour cream

For the frosting-
3 to 4 c. confectioners sugar (3 cups was fine for me)
½ c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 Tb. Bailey’s



Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.



Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined.







Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes. Mine took closer to 18/19 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.

For the frosting, whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.



When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Bailey’s and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin (it shouldn’t, but just in case) beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar. 4 tablespoons of Bailey’s made this frosting perfect.



Ice and decorate the cupcakes. I don’t have a pastry bag, so I filled a zip baggie with the frosting and cut the corner. This worked well for most of them, but then the top of the bag wouldn’t close and started to make a mess, so I frosted the last 4 the way I usually do. It doesn’t really matter though because these are so good, you’ll just eat them all up anyway.

I plan on sharing these with some friends, especially those more Irish than I am, but it will be difficult to not eat them all tonight!

Guinness Rye Bread

This is another recipe from my ambitious list, adapted from one in my Mark Miller book. It was originally called Liberty Ale Rye Bread, but since I had never heard of Liberty Ale and didn’t care to go on a super search for it, I went for the adaption. In addition, the note before the recipe says you can use a stout “for a darker, more intense bread.” When I see stout I automatically think Guinness. And it is March. I do have a special recipe coming up for St. Paddy’s day that involves the brilliant beer, but you’ll just have to wait for that.

Anyway, I meant to post this recipe days ago. We’re on the second loaf now. The benefit, though, is that I’ve tried it a number of different ways and can tell you it is amazing with pretty much anything. It’s very tasty with meats and sharp cheeses (the intense, interesting flavor really lends itself to that), as toast with goat cheese or jam, as a grilled cheese sandwich with cheddar and pickled onions, by itself, with egg salad. It’s versatile, it’s different, and it will definitely make your sandwich awesome.

This bread may also mark the first time I was able to properly shape a loaf that wasn’t challah. Although the first rising was a bit slow (it’s been on and off cold here) and the dough was ridiculously sticky in the beginning, by the time I shaped them, it was wonderful. I don’t mind doing a bit of battle with my bread; doing so makes the results so much more worth the time.

Guinness Rye Bread adapted from Liberty Ale Rye Bread from Flavored Breads:

Makes 2 loaves

1½ c. Guinness (I used Extra Stout), at room temperature
2 Tb. dark molasses
1 Tb. olive oil
2½ tsp. dry active yeast
1¼ c. rye flour
2 c. bread flour
2½ tsp. salt (I used kosher)

Combine the beer, molasses, and oil in the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer or in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle yeast over the mixture, stir in, and let sit for 2 minutes.

Add the dry ingredients (flours and salt). Mix with the dough hook (or knead by hand) for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the dough appears silky and resilient. I finished mine of by hand as it was still very, very sticky in the mixer. Plus, it just feels nice to knead bread. If you like to finish yours off by hand, remove the dough from the mixer a few minutes before the finish time, turn out on a floured surface, and work by hand. You’ll get the same results and it’s a very relaxing activity.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place (like on top of a warmed oven) for 1½ hours, or until approximately doubled in volume.



Punch the dough down again, re-cover with the plastic wrap, and let rise again in a warm place for 30 minutes. Place a baking stone (if you have one. I don’t) on the middle rack in the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.

Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and cut into two equal pieces. Grease two loaf pans or generously dust a baking sheet with rye flour. I went for the loaf pans. Shape the dough into oblong loaves. With the heel of your hand, flatten and pull the dough horizontally into an oblong shape. Beginning with the long bottom edge, roll up the dough jelly-roll style and pinch the same firmly to seal. Tuck in the ends and even out the load by gently rolling it with the palms of both hands.

Place the loaves in the prepared loaf pans or on the baking sheets, cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap, and let rise again in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Uncover the loaves and, using a spray bottle, spritz them with water, then dust with rye flour. Make 2 or 3 diagonal slashes in the tops of the loaves with a serrated knife to allow the dough to expand in the hot oven. Using the spray bottle, spritz the oven walls with water. Work quickly so the oven does not lose heat.

Set the loaf pans or baking sheet on the hot stone, again, if you have one. Mine were fine without it. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the crust is crisp and deep brown and the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.



Transfer the loaves to a rack and cool completely before cutting. If you can wait. I have a few more cool recipes that I really want to do out of this book that are on my list, so look forward to that. Every single one I have tried so far has been delicious and fun.

PS: I love how the edges of my cookbooks seem to appear in the background of so many of my photos.