Melt butter in large skillet, and add onion, shallot, garlic, chili spices, and cumin. Cook over low heat until onion is translucent. Add hot sauce and ale, whisk well and add cream cheese in large chunks, stirring constantly. When cream cheese is melted, stir in Cheddar cheese and remove from heat. The cheese will melt slowly, but texture is rough. You can scrape mixture into a food processor and pulse on HIGH if you want a smooth-textured dip. Taste and add salt if needed. Scrape mixture into a serving bowl and chill until ready to serve, at least 2 hours for flavors to meld. Garnish: top with chopped toasted pecans or chopped green onions.

I came up with this recipe in response to a query from the Brewing Network – always good to have some *real* cheese spread available for snacks….

This is a plush version of macaroni and cheese, full of intense flavors such as smoked paprika and shallots. Aged Gouda is an excellent cheese for grating and baking, with a rich, nutty taste.

Aged Gouda Macaroni & Cheese with Smoked Paprika
Serves 8

Ingredients:
2 cups dry pennette or elbow macaroni
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garlic salt
2 tablespoons shallots, peeled and finely minced
1 1/2 cups reduced fat milk
1 cup ready-to-serve organic roasted red pepper and tomato soup
1 3/4 cup (7 ounces) Wisconsin Aged Gouda, rind removed, grated
2/3 cup Panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoons melted butter
Black pepper, freshly ground, about 1/2 teaspoon or to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add pasta and cook according to the directions on the package. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, melt butter in large saucepan over medium-low heat, and add flour. Whisk until smooth and bubbly – the flour will start to turn golden brown and smell like popcorn. Stir in paprika, dry mustard, turmeric, garlic salt and shallots. Cook, stirring often, until shallots are tender, about 2 minutes.

Whisk in milk, stirring to remove lumps; add the prepared roasted red pepper and tomato soup. Stir well, reduce heat to low, and cook until slightly thickened, stirring often, set aside.

Place 1 heaping cup of cooked pasta into a buttered 9×12-inch baking dish; pasta should cover the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle about one-third cup grated Aged Gouda over pasta, repeat pasta and cheese layers three additional times or until all the pasta is in the dish, ending with cheese. Pour sauce evenly over the pasta and cheese mixture.

In a small bowl combine Panko bread crumbs with melted butter and ground black pepper to taste. Sprinkle the buttered bread crumbs over the top of the macaroni and cheese. Bake until the sauce is bubbly and the top is golden, about 45 minutes.

Pair with a brown ale or golden bock.

Photo by amypowersphotography.com

Iron Cupcake Milwaukee

Note: bakers must pre-register with Sandy: ironcupcakemilwaukee@wi.rr.com – only 24 spots are available! For more information, check out Sandy’s blog: http://www.ironcupcakemilwaukee.com

Sugar Maple cookies by Christina Ward

This year’s party will be held at the Sugar Maple, 411 E. Lincoln, on Sunday, December 13, 2-4 pm, bring 3 dozen cookies and prepare to go home with a fantastic assortment – or just stay and sample!

Bakers relax with samples & winter ales

Angler’s Ale (5.4% ABV, 34 IBUs) from the firkin
This strikingly authentic English-style Pale Ale is brewed with all-English malts and a pound-and-a-half of Pacific Northwest hops per barrel. It is medium-bodied, crisp and well-balanced with a flavor profile featuring subtle notes of caramel, toffee and toasted malt, counterbalanced by the ideal level of hop bitterness. The delicate herbal hop finish is produced by Goldings whole leaf hops.

Hopmouth Double IPA (8.1% ABV, 76 IBUs) from the firkin
This remarkably balanced brew has a deep amber hue with a generous white head. Hopmouth showcases a rich, toasty flavor and sweet caramel notes as a result of the high-quality Maris Otter malt, imported from England. The hops are right up front in the aroma, reminiscent of citrus and pine, while the resin-like flavors linger well after the last sip.

London Porter (7.2% ABV, 42 IBUs) 12 oz bottles
This 18th Century-style “smoked porter” has a subtle accent of peat-like, Bamberg smoked malt, which is apparent in both the aroma and flavor. It is brewed with seven varieties of premium European malted barley, resulting in notes of bittersweet chocolate and coffee that are counter-balanced by a long-sustaining finish of Goldings hops.

Jim was one of the key contributors to the Best of American Beer & Food cookbook, and his PhD in food science truly earns him the title, “Dr. Beer.” Cheers!

Larry and I also talked about the upcoming Great Lakes Craft Brewers & Water Conservation Conference, the subject of a profile by Barry Adams in today’s business section of the Wisconsin State Journal. Adams’ article includes interviews with Kirby Nelson of Capital Brewery, Dan Carey of New Glarus Brewing Co., and Fred Scheer, brewmaster at Boscos of Nashville, and chairman of the Master Brewers Association of the Americas’ global emerging issues committee.

So, since I’m swamped with conference details, I’m testing the easy crockpot beef recipe from a listener of the Larry Meiller Show – with a few tweaks of course. I’m using 2 bottles of Lakefront Brewery’s Eastside Dark Lager, 3 bay leaves, 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, 12 cloves garlic, smashed, to cover about 3 pounds of beef rump roast, cut into 3 large pieces to fit into my crockpot. It’s going to take about 5 hours for the beef to turn completely tender, but in the meantime, the Sunday kitchen smells delish.

Discovery World is also the site of the upcoming Great Lakes Craft Brewers & Water Conservation Conference. We have brewers coming from all over the country to Milwaukee to learn about water saving operations: Flying Fish Brewery of NJ; Great Lakes Brewing Co. of Cleveland; Schlafly Brewing of St. Louis; Mark Anthony Brewing Co., MI., Bison Organic Brewing, Berkeley, CA, Summit Brewing Co. of St. Paul, Lakefront Brewery, Sprecher Brewery, Stone Brewing Co., Escondido, CA, Bells Beer of Kalamazoo, MI, Capital Brewery, South Shore Brewery, MillerCoors, Goose Island Beer Co., Sly Fox Brewery of PA, etc., and industry reps from Alfa Laval, Gordon Lane from Briess Malts, WaterWise Consulting from CA, and conservation groups including the Shedd Aquarium, Clean Wisconsin, Milwaukee Riverkeepers, National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes Restoration Program and more. We’ll be hosting a welcome reception, SPLASH! with special guest speaker Jake Leinenkugel of the Leinenkugel Brewing Co., the platinum sponsor of the conference. Tickets for SPLASH! are $45 each and may be purchased online at the conference website, www.conserve-greatlakes.com, just click on the registration tab to order by PayPal. RSVP required….because we’ll have a fantastic buffet dinner catered by Bartolotta’s, to enjoy with recipes prepared from the cookbook.

Routson’s soup, posted on her blog, Drink with the Wench, calls for oven roasted butternut squash, pureed with a delicious Gingerbread Ale, a spiced porter from Bison Brewing Co. of Berkeley, CA – a gorgeous ale sadly not available in WI. But you’ll enjoy the step-by-step photos, even if you have to make do with another ale for the soup base.

Here’s the recipe from Diane Alexander that I’ll be making for tonight’s dinner:

Brickskeller Carrot Ginger Curry Soup
15 large carrots, peeled and chopped
3-inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 quarts defatted chicken stock
1/3 cup dark brown sugar, or more to taste
1 tablespoon hot Madras curry powder
2 teaspoons mild curry powder
Pinch garam masala
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Salt and ground white pepper to taste

1. Place prepared carrots and ginger in a large 3-quart saucepan fitted with a lid. Add chicken stock and enough water to cover carrots and place over medium-high heat. Cover and bring to a boil; stir occasionally.

2. When carrots are completely tender, remove from heat and add brown sugar, curry powders, and garam masala. Use a stick immersion blender to puree cooked carrots with cooking liquid in the pot, or puree in batches in a standard blender. For safety, fill blender container only half full, and use a folded tea towel to hold the blender lid in place when pureeing the hot liquid. Steam may push the blender lid off if not held in place.

3. Return saucepan to stove, over low heat. Warm cream; slowly stir into pureed carrots to reach desired consistency. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and ground white pepper to taste.

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Pairing: Hefeweiss or American pale wheat ale

Note: You can make a low-cal vegan version of this soup with vegetable broth instead of chicken stock, and nonfat almond milk instead of cream.

The language used in presenting this bill is, as Kirby Nelson of Capital Brewery points out, very shaming:  “the people trying to make this happen are considering changing this from a “tax” to an “impact fee”.  They want to emphasize that it is needed to offset the “harm done by beer”.  I find it insulting to imply that the millions upon millions of us who enjoy beer are a menace to society and need to pay more to offset our havoc causing ways.  This type of mentality cannot go unchallenged.”

I do not feel that any Wisconsin brewery, retailer or responsible consumer should be subject to increased taxation simply because some consumers act irresponsibly.  Increasing the tax on beer will not decrease irresponsible behavior.  Instead, increase the penalties on abusers who drive under the influence.  Make them pay for their mistakes and use that money to pay for increased law enforcement and treatment programs. And what about another option – funding public transit??

This is important, because Britain added many new taxes to beer – and those taxes have just about killed the traditional English pub.

Contact your Wisconsin representative and express your point of view.  Join the rally against WI Assembly Bill 287 outside the capitol, 9:00am, October 13^th.  Contact your friends and encourage them to express their opinion. Here’s a link from O’so Brewing Co. with email addresses for the Assembly Committee on Public Safety below – just tell them NO new beer taxes!

Representative Tony Staskunas (D-West Allis), Chair
Email: rep.staskunas@legis.wisconsin.gov
(608) 266-0620

Representative Bob Zigelbauer (D-Manitowoc) Vice-Chair
Email: rep.zigelbauer@legis.wisconsin.gov
(608) 266-0315

Representative David Cullen (D-Milwaukee)
Email: rep.cullen@legis.wisconsin.gov
(608) 267-9836

Representative Jeff Smith (D-Eau Claire)
Email: rep.smith@legis.wisconsin.gov
(608) 266-0660

Representative Terese Berceau (D-Madison)
Email: rep.berceau@legis.wisconsin.gov
(608) 266-3784

Representative Garey Bies (R-Sister Bay/Door County)
Rep.bies@legis.wisconsin.gov
(608) 266-5350

Representative Al Ott (R-Forest Junction/Upper Fox Valley)
Rep.ott@legis.wisconsin.gov
(608) 266-5831