The Beer Wench Gets Cookin': Date Night

I believe I have already mentioned a certain birthday celebration a few weeks back that left me almost too hungover for wine tasting. While we all know Ale Wife for their dizzying beer selection and out of the way location, I’d like to bring something else to the table: their mussels. You see I am a huge fan of shellfish, especially if they are cooked in beer. When I saw beer mussels on the menu I didn’t bother looking at anything else. My date, however, was not so excited. “They’re just chewy little pieces of flesh”, he said, but eventually my excitement got the better of him and he caved. I’ll be damned if Ale Wife’s mussels didn’t prove him right! The only redeeming part of the meal—the garlic fries—couldn’t even make the broth tasty. I decided right then and there to redeem the beer-cooked bi-valve and prove to my man that, if cooked correctly, he most certainly would enjoy mussels.

Before beginning to shop for dinner, I like to brainstorm my options: what’s seasonal, local, fresh, and pairs well. Since I was preparing a late summer dinner I opted to go with a Hefeweizen as my base for a lighter, fresher feel. I also wanted to prepare dishes that would be ready at the same time and be relatively easy to prep in advance, dishes that would effortlessly complement my main dish. What goes better with beer mussels than French fries? A quick trip around the Union Square Green Market and I had found some lovely spuds, gigantic heads of garlic, shallots and beautiful fresh green beans.

Next up: local shopping. I love our neighborhood for it’s abundance of bakeries, ethnic markets, butchers, and fish markets. I grabbed my granny-cart and set off for EuroMarket on 31st in hot pursuit of beer. Their fridges yielded a bounty of brews—it was almost too difficult to choose! Thankfully I had made a list and found the will power to stick to it: Ayinger Brau-Weis for my broth, Jenlain Farmhouse Ale and Saison Dupont for pairing. I also left EuroMarket with excellent olive oil, Irish butter (unsalted), and Lindeman’s Framboise (for dessert). Meandering up 30th Ave I grabbed parsley and lemons at a vegetable stand, a whole-wheat baguette at Astoria Bakers, and finally made my way to Best of The Sea. Most websites I’ve found tell you to plan on 1-½ pounds of shellfish per person so I purchased two 2lb bags of mussels. Make sure you check each bag for broken mussels!

When I’m cooking for someone special, I like to have all of my slicing and dicing done before they arrive. My kitchen is too small for two and hey, I want to look oh-so-fabulous while effortlessly preparing a culinary masterpiece. The day before dinner I cut all of my potatoes into evenly sized wedges, sliced the ends off my green beans, and diced my garlic and shallots. I removed the mussels from their mesh bags, checked to make sure none of them were broken or dead, and put them in a large bowl covered with a damp cloth on the bottom of my fridge.

Date night finally arrived. I had soaked the mussels in salt water three times after scrubbing and de-bearding them to remove any grit. I donned my favorite floral apron and waited for the buzzer. My man arrived bearing cheese from Astoria Bier and Cheese and a surprise dessert! Screw flowers, the way to this wench’s heart is something delicious and edible! I already had the oven preheated to 400 so we were ready to rock.

Step 1
Put the potato wedges in a large Ziploc bag and toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, one clove of chopped garlic, crushed red pepper and parsley. Spread evenly on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Cook twenty minutes on each side. I also alternated between the top and bottom racks after ten minutes.

While the potatoes were cooking on side #1 we opened the Jenlain and nibbled on the cheese he’d brought. Smart man, he’d foraged for one that would pair well with ales—slightly sharp, yet not overpowering.

Step 2

After flipping the fries, grab a large soup pan and sauté 2 chopped cloves garlic and 2 diced shallots in olive oil. Once they soften add a handful of chopped parsley, a pat of butter, and some salt, pepper, and cracked red pepper. Gingerly pour in your mussels and add hefeweizen, about half the bottle—you want to steam the mussels, not boil them! Throw in two more pats of butter and the juice of two lemons. Cover.

Step 3

In a frying pan sauté one chopped clove garlic in butter, add green beans, the juice of one lemon, a splash of the hefeweizen, salt, pepper, and some cracked red pepper. Cook over medium heat, making sure to rotate the beans. Wrap sliced baguette in aluminum foil and stick in oven with potatoes for the last five minutes.

Step 4

By now the potatoes should be crispy on the outside and cooked through the middle, remove from oven, place on serving dish. I sprinkled them with extra salt, chopped parsley and chives. Go ahead and plate the green beans too (I like them on the crisp side).

Step 5

Check the mussels, they are done when they open. I used a large serving dish for the shellfish and a side bowl for the amazing beer broth (fries dipped in beer broth=divine).

Step 6 is the best part:
Open the Saison Dupont and eat your feast! I’m going to go ahead and pat myself on the back for this—everything was delicious. However, my opinion of my moules frites wasn’t the important one; had my culinary endeavor changed my man’s opinion on the mollusk? Well, he was eating them while commenting on their structural strangeness. He was dipping fries in the broth of his own volition! The green beans had all but disappeared and the bowl of discarded shells was filling rapidly.

“They look so weird,” he said. But he was still eating them.
“Well, are they still just ‘chewy pieces of flesh’?” I asked.
He popped another one in his mouth, “Well they are always going to be weird looking but Babe, these are delicious! I’m full off of things this big! Seriously, I can’t stop eating them!”
That may have been validation enough for my cooking ability, but the fact that he ate too many mussels to even think about eating dessert didn’t hurt either.

I used the leftover potatoes for breakfast the next morning—they made epic home fries!

Want to follow my recipe and make Moules Frites at home?

Here’s my shopping list:

1 head garlic
2 shallots
Green beans
Parsley
2 large roasting potatoes (or 4 small)
3 lemons
Irish butter (unsalted)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Whole-wheat baguette
1 bottle Ayinger Brau Weiss
Mussels (1 ½ lbs per person)
Saison for pairing (I used Saison Dupont and Jenlain)
A hot date

The Beer Wench Goes...Wine Tasting?!?

North Fork Wine Map

While I’ve spent my fair share of time drinking my way from Long Beach to Montauk (as well as a painfully long summer season working as a server in East Hampton) I had never actually been to any of the vineyards on Long Island. Sure, I’ve tried their wines and know a smidge about a few of them, but no one ever said, “Hey, let’s go wine tasting on the North Fork!” and actually followed through. It always seemed to be some sort of grown-up, romanticized, couple-y thing—like bed and breakfasts, picnicking, or, hell, row boats in Central Park, something that requires a floral frock or, at the very least, a hat—wine tasting didn’t really seem like a Wenchly activity. So when my friend Nicci brought up the notion of exploring the North Fork Wine Trail this past Sunday, I thought what the hell, donned a frock, and jumped on board.

It may help you to know that Saturday night I had been downing Dogfish Punkin at Ale Wife in honor of my girlfriend Amy’s 30th. But Wench, you say, a few beers would’ve been A-OK. True, a few would have been and I did enjoy a moderate amount however, Punkin is 7%abv and ok, ok I’ll admit I was supplementing it with Barrier’s Black Saison. All right, fine, she turned 30 and there were whiskey shots. And maybe a bourbon nightcap to follow my beer cupcake from Prohibition Bakery. I don’t know about you but after waking up feeling the repercussions of my stupidity the last thing I wanted to do was drink wine. Thank Dionysius that the drive out east was long enough for me to eat a bagel from NYC Bagel Co. and return to a more human state.

The lawn at Macari Vineyards was dotted with wrought iron tables full of people enjoying assorted wines, cheeses, olives and each other. We headed for the tasting room and bellied up to the bar. After perusing the menu of tasting flights, we opted for the “Vintage” experience. I was an instant fan of the Gruner with its crisp acidity and brightness. There is only one word to describe their Chardonnay: BUTTER. I felt like I had just swallowed a glass of palate coating melted butter. I thoroughly enjoyed the following reds, especially their Dos Aguas blend. We asked our Bro of a bartender (wine tasting host? what exactly are their titles?) where the name came from—he had to go ask someone else. Turns out it was named for the two rivers that flow in the area, go figure.

While I enjoyed the wines at Macari, our experience was pretty lack luster. After doing a little research on my own I found some things worth noting:
-The wine team is led by a CHICK! Kelly Urbanik is her name and she’s worked at both Beringer and Louis Jadot. Bad Ass.
-Macari is all about natural farming and bio-diversity. They compost and apparently raise Spanish goats and Texas Long Horns (sadly I didn’t see any)

Next up: Bedell Cellars. I know a little more about this particular vineyard as my old roommate used to intern with them before he moved to France. Bedell was also the location of Nicci’s sister’s wedding a year ago, so I had seen photos of its epic beauty. The experience couldn’t have been more different from the one we had at Macari—for starters, the tasting room is outside on a gorgeous deck and, oh, our bartender Nicole actually knew what the hell she was talking about. Let’s start with the fact that the vineyard is sustainably farmed, which means that everything they grow and everything they do is to enhance the land over time—they’re very green, people! Also their labels are designed by various artists which leads to them being quite eye catching. Sure, they’ve won all sorts of accolades and points from Wine Spectator but the real cherry on top? Their wine was served at Obama’s Inaugural Luncheon. Bam.

My favorites included their extremely limited 2010 Musee ( a velvety well spiced red blend), their Blanc de Blanc (a honey yet minerally bubbly), and their Gewurztraminer (citrusy, minerally, and delightful).

Our final winery was definitely a little different. Set back off the road, the tasting barn at Croteaux serves only Rose. That, my friends, is all they make. The back yard is shaded by huge weeping willows and looks out into the vineyard—it’s like being transported to another freaking world.

Instead of doing tastings at the bar and talking you through the wine, Croteaux brings you the entire flight and a laminated key so you can do your own thing. We cozied up to a picnic table to enjoy our wine and their featured cheese and baguette. Croteaux is the youngest vineyard out of all three (it was planted in 2003) but the atmosphere and staff made it feel comfortable and homey. My favorite here was their Cuvee Sparkle: light, dry, and crisply effervescent.

What better way to end our classy day than with dinner by the water in Greenport? Since the brewery was already closed for the day, we made our way to the foremost in fine waterfront dining: Crabby Jerry’s.

Our lobster rolls and fried seafood platter pared effortlessly with the Bronx Pale Ale and the sounds of the cover band echoing from the neighboring deck bar. Nothing but class.

Pre-gaming For Pumpkin Season With The Beer Wench

Well kids, summer has come and gone in a haze of light lagers and hefeweizens. And, while I’ll miss the beach and backyard BBQs, I couldn’t be more excited for the malty goodness of fall. You all know my affinity for all things bourbon barrel aged and roasted brown ales—porters and stouts, I simply can’t wait! But there is one thing in particular that makes the advent of fall seem oh-so-exciting—and I am not talking about something that requires waiting in line at Starbucks for an hour.

Move over Pumpkin Spice Latte, this Wench is holding out for pumpkin beer!!

This fall I plan on trying as many luscious gourd infused brews as possible. As I begin my seasonal tasting quest, let’s take a minute for one of my personal favorites: Dogfish Punkin.

Punkin is a medium bodied brown ale brewed with pumpkin meat and brown sugar, which strikes a nice harmony of seasonal flavors and malt. I find it extremely quaffable and love that it tastes like beer, not pie, and it pairs effortlessly with all fall fare. Dogfish entered Punkin in the Punkin Chunkin home brew competition in 1994 (and won) six months before they even opened their brewery! They’ve been making Punkin seasonally ever since. This is one to stock up on because stores stop stocking around Thanksgiving.