Wild Brews for Wild Women

Last night I attended the latest installment of the Tasting Women Series at Sugar Maple. These tasting events are for ladies who want to learn about beer in a Beer Snob Free Zone. This month Janine, one of the bartenders, spoke about spontaneously fermented beers like lambics and gueuzes, which are sour, funky tasting brews. I happen to love them, so I was all about this tasting.

We learned a ton, and I loved that Janine dropped some major science without being dry. She even made diagrams!

Here's the diagram of how you introduce wild yeast into the wort (the pre-beer juice):

See that first step, the Cool Ship? Basically the brewer leaves the wort out in these wide, shallow vats, exposed to wild yeasts and bacteria that come in from the slatted roof. That's right, the cardinal sin of brewing, contamination, is encouraged. So weird. I kinda knew about that step in the process, but what I didn't know was that each barrel has its own little ecosystem growing in it, hence the need for blending, sometimes over and over again to create a consistent final product. That's why these beers can be so expensive, they could take up to years in production.

Anyway, back to the yeast and bacteria. Janine had this diagram about the differences between wild and classic strains:

See how the Brettanomyces yeast is all hippie-looking? That's because he imparts a flavor known in the beer-tasting world as "horse blanket." Yum! I love how this tasting terminology is so gross. Like, Scotch is often referred to as having the taste of wet band-aids. And that's not a bad thing.

Anywho, the tasting was fun. Adrienne, the owner of the bar, put together some awesome cheese and fruit pairnings, and Janine was a great teacher. Here's a list of what we tasted with some short commentary.

O'So Dopplebock (Plover, WI)
Janine couldn't confirm that this was wild, but you could totally taste the Lactic Acid flavor associated with Flemish Sours. Dark color, sour taste with a malty, caramely finish.

New Glarus Berliner Weiss (New Glarus, WI)
This beer is delicious, super crisp and sour, it's brewed with grapes and is very bubbly. Very light and tart.

Lakefront Rosie Kriek (Milwaukee, WI)
I love this beer, apparently it gets its name not from its rosy color, but from the blend of yeast used, which is from the Flemish town of Roeselare. That's where Rodenbach is brewed, and you can totally taste the connection. It's like sour cherries in a glass. Lakefront has really been stepping it up, this beer is a prime example.


Jolly Pumpkin Weizen Bam Saison (Dexter, MI)
Saisons aren't usually wild, but it still works. You get the piney, hoppy flavor at the front end and a sour kick after. It's got the really thick head I associate with Saisons, too.

Cantillon Iris (Brussels, Belgium)
This is a tasty, tasty beer. Pricy enough to be considered a special occasion beer, Iris is very earthy and sour. I always thought it was a gueuze, but I guess technically under Belgian law it isn't because they break a bunch of rules in the brewing process.

Cooking is Back!

I haven't cooked in ages. Which is sad, because I pride myself on being a fairly decent home cook. I don't think I've actually cooked anything in over a month. Pathetic. But I was actually home alone this Saturday night, so I decided to go for it.

Here's the article that finally got me cooking again. The Nigella Lawson recipe particularly appealed to me since I love Moroccan spices.

Root Vegetable Couscous

3 T olive oil
2 med. onions, quartered & sliced thickly
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 t each ground cinnamon, cumin & coriander
1/2 t paprika
generous pinch of saffron (if you have it around)
3 med. carrots, peeled & cut into a 1 inch dice
2 med. parsnips, peeled & cut into 1 inch dice
2 medium turnips, peeled & cut into a 1 inch dice
1 small kabocha or butternut squash, peeled & cut into a 1 inch dice
1/2 med. rutabaga, peeled & cut into a 1 inch dice
3 zucchini sliced 1/2 inch thick (you can peel if you like)
4 1/2 cut chicken, beef or vegetable stock
1/2 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with liquid
2/3 c sultanas
1 1/2 c (14 oz each) chickpeas
salt
few drops chili oil or 1 t harissa if you have it

1/2 c pine nuts
4 c quick-cooking couscous
2 T butter

1. Heat the olive oil in a big, deep pot & turn the onions in it for a few minutes.

2. Add the garlic, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, paprika and saffron, and stir over low to medium heat for 5 minutes.

3. Add the carrots, parsnips, turnips, squash, rutabaga and zucchini and turn briskly.

4.After about 5 minutes add the stock, tomatoes, orange zest, sultanas and chickpeas. Turn again & try to get everything at least partially covered by the stock. Add more stock or water if needed. Season with salt.

5. Cook for 20-30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender but not mushy (at least not all of them - some will be beginning to fray around the edges, and that is good) and the liquid has formed a thin but not watery sauce.

6.Taste and add chili oil or the harissa if you want it to have more punch. Serve with couscous, pine nuts.




I doctored it up quite a bit. Trader Joe's had a pre-cut medley of squash, turnips and yams, so I just used that plus a couple carrots and turnips. I attempted to buy parsnips, but was in a hurry and accidentally ended up with daikon. Oops. They'll make a tasty snack tomorrow, I guess!



I couldn't get the effing tin of paprika open (seriously, you need like tin snips to get in that thing) so I used a pinch of cayenne to add heat. Plus Melinda's XX hot sauce instead of harissa. I skipped the pine nuts, I was going to use almonds instead but totally forgot and didn't miss them at all.

Do you know what sultanas are? Me either, until this recipe. They're just white grapes, easy-peasy. British people use such fancy words! Aubergines, brown sauce, etc. I happened to be watching Jacques Pepin today, and he referred to golden raisins as sultanas, so I used raisins instead of actual grapes. We may never know Nigella's actual intended ingredient, but it turned out just fine.

And one last swap, I used Israeli couscous instead of regular, the box had been been sitting lonely and unused in the pantry for months. It's bigger than regular couscous and I love the texture. Think round orzo.



I'm so glad I finally washed some dishes and cooked something. It reminded me of what I love about cooking: being creative with a recipe, that sense of accomplishment when you ladle up your dinner and of course a delicious meal.

Co-sleeping isn't evil

This recent article about a "co-sleeping" infant death in Milwaukee got me really riled up.

Unsafe sleep practice suspected in baby death

I put co-sleeping in quotation marks because co-sleeping was not the cause of the death. An unsafe environment and a drunk parent caused the death. From the article:

"Prescott told police she had gone to a party and gotten drunk Saturday night. She did not remember when she picked up the children or even coming home. She told police it was possible she slept on the couch with the two children."

That's not co-sleeping. That's negligence.

Co-sleeping is defined as infant and guardian sleeping in the same room and I think most proponents these days would not recommend sharing a bed. I was raised in a co-sleeping household. While I certainly understand that it's not for everyone, it definitely has some benefits. I don't get why people put such and emphasis on putting their baby in a separate room. What's the point? I learned to sleep through my father's robust snoring, and that ability has served me well in my adulthood.

I don't want to do everything like my parents did (thanks for the non-weening that turned into an oral fixation, Mom). But they did a rocking job raising two happy, healthy daughters, and I know that of the many things I do want to replicate as a future parent, one of them is co-sleeping. There's definitely a stigma attached to it, and I'm pissed that I've been made to feel ashamed of my upbringing and my intended parenting style.

So, Journal Sentinel, thanks for perpetrating the stereotype that co-sleeping is unsafe, you've managed to vilify something completely natural and benign. Great work.