white ale

we've mentioned our love of belgian-style white ale before here, and especially the adorable owl on the hitachino label. while reading grub street a few weeks ago, we saw that alton brown shares our love for this great japanese beer! so when we came across this recipe from an old issue of Food & Wine magazine using white ale, we knew it would be right up our alley. the recipe is from Sang Yoon, owner of the awesome gastro pub Father's Office - an institution with two locations in southern CA. thinking of the amazing beers on tap paired with their famous burger makes us miss the sunshine state a little! make sure to serve these mussels with a big spoon and lots of bread to mop up the delicious sauce.

Curried Mussels in White Ale

serves 4

2 tbs vegetable oil

1 tbs thai red curry paste

6 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tbs grated fresh ginger

1 large fresh lemongrass stalk, bulb only, smashed & chopped

2/3 cup mirin

15 oz coconut milk

1/4 cup soy sauce

3 tbs asian fish sauce

1/2 cup basil leaves

2 12 oz bottles white ale

2 lbs mussels, scrubbed & debearded

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

in a saucepan, heat the oil. add red curry paste, garlic, ginger and lemongrass and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. add mirin, coconut milk, soy sauce, fish sauce and basil leaves and simmer for 15 minutes. strain the red curry sauce into a bowl.

in a large saucepan, bring ale to a boil. add mussels, cover and cook over night heat, about 5 minutes. discard any mussels that do not open. divide mussels between four bowls. add the red curry sauce to the ale and boil about 1 minutes. pour sauce over mussels and sprinkle with chopped cilantro. enjoy!

the greatest day...

...is opening day.  in our household, not many days can compare with the opening day of the major league baseball season.  for most it's a fresh start for their team, as it is for us, but an added bonus is the start of the sights and smells of summer.  for my money, there is nothing better than a dog and a beer at any ball park in america.  there is just something about that classic combination, the crack of the bat, the cheer of the crowd and the opportunity for our angels to win it all this year.  this special year has the addition of the new yankees and new mets stadiums, which bring a new blend of the idea of food and sport together.  truly game changing stuff out there - we can't wait to partake in some ny baseball this year.  pictures above are a couple of dogs, on the left a chicago dog from a spring training game in arizona this year, and on the right, our version of our favorite dog (suggested below).  anyway you slice it, a dog tastes great at a game so get out there and have a few.  here is to celebrating the dog days of summer, no pun intended.  GO ANGELS!!!

the purcell dog

hebrew national beef knockwurst (our must have dog)

grilled chopped onion

heinz ketchup

gulden's spicy brown mustard

bread and butter pickle slices

oroweat country potato hot dog bun

add all or some of these to your favorite dog.  these ingredients are our favorite to put on a dog at home.  everyone has a different taste, make it your best.

restaurant week

we decided to make this first week of march our version of restaurant week! for our posts this week, we're going to feature recipes from some of our favorite places - places that inspire us, delight us and have a particular dish that we just can't get enough of. 

we were lucky enough to hear about momofuku noodle bar about a year before david chang was in every food magazine imaginable and now we make sure to get a few amazing pork buns every time we visit manhattan. gourmet magazine published the recipe for these amazing sandwiches in october 2007 and we finally got around to trying them at home this past week.  we recently received 8 pounds of pork belly from a friend (don't you wish all friends came with pork belly?!) and in addition to the bacon currently brining in the fridge, we knew we had to try the recipe. another great memory from that first visit to the crowded restaurant in the east village was discovering hitachino white ale. it's from the kiuchi brewery in japan and is a Belgian style white ale with plenty of orange peel and spices, plus the logo on the bottle and cap is the cutest little orange owl you've ever seen! unfortunately, the noodle bar no longer serves this fantastic beer but you can find it at specialty liquor stores and markets with amazing imported beer selections across the country. it is definitely worth seeking out and a great pair to the steamed pork belly buns. the recipe is a bit long with many steps but the end result is SO worth it - they taste exactly like the little pieces of heaven that put momofuku and all it's glory on the culinary map. get the recipe here, find some hitachino (or order it here) and have a pork bun party as soon as possible!