Posts Tagged ‘beer’

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Blue Ribbon

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012 by John

Photo Courtesy of The Pabst Mansion

I had the luxury of joining my cousin for his wedding this past weekend in Milwaukee.  Matt is a twin and they are just one day older than me.  Unfortunately, I have not seen his family in a long time.  The wedding was amazing, the food was nice and the drinks were great.  On my way out of town on Sunday, I decided to stop by the Pabst family mansion just west of downtown Milwaukee.

I have spent many a lazy summer afternoon enjoying one Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) after another.  So I felt it most appropriate to see the beautiful mansion. The mansion was built in the late 1800’s.  The Pabst family lived there for roughly fifteen years.  Each room was designed completely different than the next. The Pabst family hails from Germany and the lavish style of the house was very cool to see.  There was a beautiful French-looking room that was for the ladies to enjoy tea in the

Ladies' Parlor Photo Courtesy of The Pabst Mansion

afternoon.  Mr. Pabst’s private office was a dark room that was surrounded by textured wood walls that had secret openings for his personal treasures.  There were several pieces of original art.  The living room contained my favorite eye-catching wood pieces.  At two corners of the dining room were two of the most beautiful wooden cupboards I have ever seen.  They contained original china from the Pabst family.  The dining table could grow to 22 people and I could only imagine the feast at that capacity.  Also, in the servant’s quarters, there was a very unique way of chilling the beers.  It was quite a treat to see.

All in all, it was rewarding to see and understand how people used to live over 110 years ago.  On the way out, via the gift shop of course, I found a cool book that featured all the breweries that are operating in Wisconsin.  And that will help me along in my study of beer and its production.  I highly recommend to anyone an hour tour of the Pabst family mansion.  Cheers!

Dining Room Photo Courtesy of The Pabst Mansion

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John Peters is the Sous Chef of The Chopping Block at the Mart. In addition to teaching several times a week, John orders and receives the products for classes and private events, manages scheduling, works with the private events team in party planning and organizing, and keeps an overall open eye to the entire space at the Mart. He enjoys both cooking and eating Mexican food and the thing he enjoys most about cooking is truly making people happy with food!

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Beer-o-Rama

Friday, April 20th, 2012 by Kate

Mmmmmm… beer. As Homer put it: “Ah, good ol’ trustworthy beer. My love for you will never die.” Also as Homer put it: “Homer no function beer well without.” The weather’s getting warmer here in Chicago, the sun is (mostly) shining, and I’m betting that your mouth is salivating right at this moment for a crisp, hoppy, deliciously cold beer.

My friends and I have a booze-themed potluck/supper club, and a few weeks ago it was beer night. The only parameters were that we had to cook with beer and bring beer to drink. Folks, let me tell you, that’s all you need for a top-notch beerapalooza (plus a few creative buddies). People made: beer-braised sausages and cheddar; beer-and-cheese soup with popcorn and scallions; beer pancakes with a whiskey syrup; and lambic-raspberry cupcakes. I made beer-marinated flank steak from a Chopping Block recipe (though I doctored it a smidge), and fried up some tortillas for tacos. After all the beer cooking, we did the beer eating and the beer drinking. It was lovely.

While we’re talking beer, you should know that the Chopping Block is offering a Beer 101 class next Wednesday at the Merchandise Mart, featuring Wesley Phillips, a certified “Cicerone,” AKA beer sommelier. I’ll be working the class, so sign up and have a few brewskis with us! If you ever wanted to learn a little beer history, and find out more about the major beer styles, then you’ll love this.

Do try these tacos, and maybe garnish them with cilantro, a cabbage-lime slaw, hot sauce, sour cream. The beauty of this recipe is that you’ll have three leftover Matildas from the four-pack they come in, so you’ll have a built-in beerapalooza of your own.

Beer-Marinated Grilled Flank Steak

This serves 4–6. I doubled it.

2 tbsp. lime juice
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. orange juice
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 small onion, sliced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. smoky paprika
2 c. Goose Island Matilda Belgian pale ale
1 1/2 to 2 lbs. flank steak
corn tortillas, for frying
canola oil

Mix the citrus juices, garlic, onion, spices, and beer in a shallow dish or sealable bag. Add the meat to the marinade and allow the flavors to blend for at least 20 minutes or up to 2 hours.

Preheat a grill pan to medium heat.

Remove the steak and onions from the marinade; set the onions aside. Grill the steak on the first side until caramelized, about 4 to 5 minutes. Flip and continue to cook until done to your liking. An internal temperature of 125 is ideal for medium rare.

Allow the steak to rest for 5 minutes on a cutting board with a juice groove, and then cut into thin slices against the grain.

While the steak rests, grill the onions until they are caramelized and tender.

Turn up the heat on the grill pan, and warm some canola oil. Fry the tortillas for about 30 seconds on each side, until they start to bubble and brown. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels.

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Kate Soto is a part-time class assistant at the Chopping Block, and has never met a vegetable she didn't like. She writes about recipes and feeding people at domestikating.wordpress.com. When not thinking about food (especially anything with the carb-sauce-cheese trifecta), she's thinking about books, and is coordinator of the Creative Writing and Poetics programs at the University of Chicago. She was born and raised in LA by card-carrying members of the Fraternal Order of the Casserole.

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A Word on Beer from… the Wine Goddess?

Thursday, March 29th, 2012 by Diana

Yep, it’s Diana here, your lovable neighborhood Wine Goddess, here to talk about another fermented beverage: beer.  While it’s true that nine times out of ten I prefer grapes to grains, I can’t help but notice that artisanal brews are all the rage these days.  As I am here for YOU, dear Choppers, I’m calling in a bona fide beer expert to come to The Chopping Block on April 25th to help sort through all things hops and barley.  Our guest “Beer 101” instructor will be one Wesley Phillips, a certified “Cicerone,” aka a beer sommelier.  What?  You didn’t know there were beer sommeliers?  Indeed there are, with Chicago serving as the official Cicerone HQ.

“Cicerone” (pronounced sis-uh-rohn) is an English word meaning “one who conducts visitors and sightseers to museums and explains matters of archaeological, antiquarian, historic or artistic interest.”  For beer, a Cicerone possesses the knowledge and skills to guide those interested in beer culture, including its historic and artistic aspects.  Launched in 2008, the Cicerone Certification Program certifies the knowledge and tasting skills of those who sell and serve beer with three levels of certification:  “Certified Beer Server,” “Certified Cicerone,” and “Master Cicerone” (a credential that to date only four people have achieved).  To earn the Certified Cicerone credential, candidates must pass a tasting exam where they must correctly identify beer styles and off-flavors.

Enter our man Wesley Phillips.  Wesley will be in the house on April 25th armed with a bevy of cold brews demonstrating the breadth of styles and brewing techniques now commanding serious intrigue in the food and beverage realm.  I’ll even trade my wine glass for a pilsner that evening to see what all the fuss is about—but don’t think I’ve forgotten about my duties as TCB Wine Director in April.  I sincerely hope you’ll all be joining me for our New Wine List Tasting, April 18th at the Mart.  For just ten dollars, we’ll pop the tops on all 30 of the wines that made the cut onto our Spring/Summer wine list, and our vendors will be there to pour and answer questions on the wines they represent.  It should be a hoot and a holler, and perhaps after 30 wines we’ll all need a wee break from the grape and Wesley’s “Beer 101” the following week will be just the ticket!

 

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Come Party With Us

Thursday, March 8th, 2012 by John

I spend quite a bit of my time working with our private events team to orchestrate all of the wonderful parties that happen in our kitchens.  I like to promote our private events to all of my students at The Chopping Block.  I feel strongly that we create a wonderful atmosphere for our guests to celebrate and enjoy their time in our space.  Many people do not know about The Chopping Block and all that we do or are capable of doing.  So I deem it my responsibility to let you all know what we can do with you!

Here are a few fun facts.  We can host parties ranging in size from 7 guests to 250 people.  We have a wide range of menus to choose from, and we are currently in the process of updating and creating new menus for you.  Some of our bestsellers will remain, but there will be new options to choose from.  We have spent quality time on the new menus to ensure a great meal for you and your guests.  We offer a variety of delicious Welcome Appetizers (which were newly created last summer) and several options of bar packages to choose from.  Our events usually run between 2 to 3 hours.  We have menus that are specific for breakfast or lunch time.  We have a beautiful outdoor patio at the Lincoln Square location during the summer months and menus that specifically focus on BBQ and grilling techniques.  Generally speaking, we have a cocktail/appetizer reception for the first half hour of the event, followed by a hands-on cooking session.  Once the food is prepared, we set up a beautiful buffet for the guests to enjoy.  The wine, beer and cocktails are flowing throughout the entire event.

I encourage you to reach out to any member of our staff while you are at The Chopping Block.  You can certainly look for me at the Merchandise Mart while you are shopping or attending one of our hands-on classes or private events.  Our staff can lead you down a glorious winding road that will take you to a great place.  Feel free to email Lauren (lauren@thechoppingblock.net) on the private events team and she can get you started on a wonderful culinary journey. Come party with us, and I will guarantee 100% smiles on the way out our door!

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John Peters is the Sous Chef of The Chopping Block at the Mart. In addition to teaching several times a week, John orders and receives the products for classes and private events, manages scheduling, works with the private events team in party planning and organizing, and keeps an overall open eye to the entire space at the Mart. He enjoys both cooking and eating Mexican food and the thing he enjoys most about cooking is truly making people happy with food!

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A Weekend in Cin(ci) City

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 by Kate

My friend Adam does not love Cincinnati lightly. He is a full-blown, first-rate advocate of the town, and a pretty darn good historian, too. So, when a three-day weekend approached us, my boyfriend and I decided to take the 5.5 hour trip south to let Adam show us all the magic his city has to offer. Armed with an audio version of the Hunger Games (as recommended by Chef Michele), we hopped in the car and headed down the snow-lined highway toward a city that is jam-packed with hills, Italianate row houses, and, best of all, restaurants.

On our first day, we worked up quite an appetite with a tour of the city, which ended up in Fountain Square. Fountain Square is the heart of the downtown area, and on this chilly day was filled with ice skaters. After a few other stops, including the Contemporary Arts Center designed by Zaha Hadid, our tummies were rumbling. Adam piled us in the car and drove over the Ohio River into Covington, a funky neighborhood just into Kentucky. As the city sits in a cradle between north and south, east and west, Amerasia is a crossroads of Asian cuisine and Kung-fu themed kitsch, with a friendly bar manager who knows a lot about beer and loves to share his knowledge. I had a Mt. Carmel winter ale, which is a Cincinnati local brew brimming with flavors of honey and spice.

We then classed ourselves up a bit for a cocktail at Japp’s, an old wig factory turned suave cocktail bar in Over-the-Rhine. Known for its large concentration of 19th-century Italian architecture and its status in the National Register of Historic Places, Over-the-Rhine is an interesting neighborhood with a varied history. Originally, it was named by its German immigrant inhabitants for the Miami and Erie Canal that they dubbed “the Rhine.” It’s historically been a center of poverty and racial tension, but is currently deep in a tangle of urban redefinition, and there are a ton of restaurants and shops within a few blocks. I had a sazerac at Japp’s, then we headed to MOTR, for a few more beers and some music.

After all that beer drinking, we needed a satisfying breakfast, so Adam took us to a cafe on Sunday in his neighborhood of Northside. Take the Cake was maybe my favorite meal of all the good meals we ate on this trip. I had a homemade biscuit topped with creamed artichoke, spinach, a poached egg, and parmesan crisps–which really did the trick with soaking up the hangover.

We visited several other neighborhoods, including the gorgeous Mt. Adams, where Victorian row houses wind up hills that overlook the city (I’m a sucker for hills and views, and this neighborhood was packed with both). We stopped for a drink at Blind Lemon, an underground German-style pub with quirky collections of copper pots and old toy cars hanging from the ceiling. The nightly live music, the selection of hot drinks, and the fireplace in the center of the room made for a perfect cozy stop before dinner. We topped off the night at Virgil’s, a bistro in Kentucky with a slightly Cajun twist.

By the end of the weekend, I was convinced that Adam will one day be mayor of Cincinnati. His tour guide skills are A+, and his love and enthusiasm for the city is infectious. Cincinnati is a great weekend trip from Chicago, and, even if you don’t have Adam showing you around, you can hit up a few of these spots on his hand-crafted itinerary, and I have no doubt you’ll have a fantastic time.

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Kate Soto is a part-time class assistant at the Chopping Block, and has never met a vegetable she didn't like. She writes about recipes and feeding people at domestikating.wordpress.com. When not thinking about food (especially anything with the carb-sauce-cheese trifecta), she's thinking about books, and is coordinator of the Creative Writing and Poetics programs at the University of Chicago. She was born and raised in LA by card-carrying members of the Fraternal Order of the Casserole.

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