goodwilltasting

Jan 06 2014

Technique

Scoring A Fish

(From Whole Roasted Porgy with Root Vegetables Post)

Cooking fish whole will give you a nice presentation with little wasted meat, plus you’ll have bones and the head leftover to make into a stock if you’re so inclined. The problem with cooking a whole fish is that you’re dealing with a varying thicknesses of the meat from head to tail, so it’s very easy to get overcooked meat in the thinner areas such as by the tail, while the meat in the middle of the fish stays raw. Not pleasant. To correct this, many cooks will score a fish to allow for more even cooking.

When you “score” a fish that means you cut into the flesh of the fish in the thickest parts of the meat to allow for even cooking. Cut at an angle towards the head, as if you were cutting another gill into the flesh. Try not to get all the way to the bone. Depending on how big the fish is, you may need 2 or 3 scores.

Once you’ve scored your fish, you can cook it however you like, roasted with veggies, as above, pan fried with oil and ginger, or you can dredge the whole thing in flour and seasonings and have yourself a fish fry with some lemon wedges on the side. That’s good eatin.

Tagged fish, score, technique

Jan 06 2014

1 Comment

Beer Reviews, Saison

Stone Brewery Saison du Buff

Collaboration time! Same recipe, 3 different breweries (Dogfish, Victory, and Stone). This version was brewed by Stone.

NAME: Saison du Buff
ORIGIN: Escondido, CA
TYPE: Saison
ABV: 7.7%
REVIEW: I reviewed this over the summer and posting this is making me pine for warmer temperatures. Too bad the polar vortex is coming. Blurg. Brewed with parsley, sage, thyme, and rosemary. Golden wheat color, light bubbly head, fresh lemony aroma, sweet nutty herbaceous taste with a bit of black pepper at the end. Sharp mouthfeel, good carbonation. I really don’t usually like Saisons but with a collaboration like this I had to try it. I’m glad I did. Great summer beer that’s refreshing to drink but strong enough to take the edge off a hot September day. Would go well with a hearty fish dish or a light pasta. B+.

Tagged beer, saison, saison du buff, stone brewery, summer

Jan 06 2014

1 Comment

Beer Reviews, Stout

Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout

Brought this beer to Christmas Dinner at a friend’s house. Here’s the review:

NAME: Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout
ORIGIN: Brooklyn, New York, NY
TYPE: Russian Imperial Stout
ABV: 10%
REVIEW: Pours jet black, with a light champagne color head. On the nose you get cocoa, coffee beans, a little vanilla. The taste is smooth, roasty, nice bitterness that reminds me of dark chocolate, a little boozy and smoky at the end. Velvety mouth feel, kind of heavy. I’m usually not a huge fan of Brooklyn Brewery stuff but this was a solid, full-bodied stout, went great with our roast rib eye and mashed potatoes!

goodwilltasting grade: B+

Tagged beer, brooklyn brewery, chocolate, stout

Jan 04 2014

1 Comment

Cook, Ruffage

The Best Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Listen to me. These are the best mashed potatoes you might ever make in your entire life. I really don’t have anything else to say so here’s the recipe:

Start with the roasted garlic. Roasted garlic is great just on its own. Seriously. It becomes soft and spreadable like little garlicky pats of butter. But it’s a vegetable so it’s healthy. Right? Sometimes I’ll pop a couple cloves into my mouth before throwing them into the mashed. It’s also great on grilled slices of baguette, thrown into an omelette, blended into hummus or mayonnaise, etc, etc, etc. So here’s how to do it: Chop off just the top of the bulb, exposing the tops of the raw cloves underneath. Sorry for the old garlic picture, but I assure you it’s still just as tasty.

Drizzle some olive oil on the top of the bulb, season with salt and pepper, throw in some herbs if you got em (I threw in a couple rosemary leaves), and then wrap it up in a loosely folded pouch. It needs to be sealed but make sure it’s easy to open up so you can check to make sure it’s done. The cloves should be shiny and golden brown when done. Then all you have to do is squeeze the bulb like a toothpaste tube and peel back the garlic paper to get all that goodness out. Check it:

I like to use a ricer when I make mashed potatoes. If you like yours chunky, feel free to go old school and use a masher or even a big fork.

Ingredients:

3 lbs yellow or white potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks (1.5″ cubes)
1/2 pint heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream
1 whole small bulb garlic
5 oz parmesan cheese, grated
salt/pepper
Chicken broth
butter
olive oil

Pre-heat oven to 400 deg
While heating cut the top off the whole garlic bulb, exposing the tops of each clove, drizzle olive oil over it, and season with salt and pepper. Place the bulb in a foil pouch, close it and roast for 45 min. If you have any fresh herbs you can throw it in the pouch as well. Roast until it’s soft and golden brown, then when it’s cool squeeze out the garlic into a bowl and mash with a fork.

While garlic is roasting, cook potatoes in salted boiling water for 10 min or until you can stick a fork in it easily to cut it in half. Mash the potatoes well or use a ricer if you have it. Add the cream, sour cream, and salt/pepper to the potatoes and stir to combine. The initial consistency should be relatively thin, almost like a thick soup, so add more cream or chicken broth to thin it out. Don’t worry it will thicken again as you mix it around. Mash the garlic cloves into a paste with a fork, and add that and the Parmesan to the potatoes and mix. Add a few pats of butter at the end if you wanna make it even more rich, or serve as is.

Enjoy!!

Tagged cream, mashed potatoes, parmesan, roasted garlic

Jan 04 2014

Slumbrew Yankee Swap

Here’s another Christmas Ale brewed locally in Ipswich, MA.

Slumbrew Yankee Swap Ale brewed with maple syrup. Ipswich, MA. 12% ABV. Dark brown opaque color, nutty sweet smell, very sugary, boozy taste that’s pretty heavy on the maple syrup. Kinda sickeningly sweet with a short bitter finish. Might be good as a donut glaze but not really a beer. Try dogfish head 75 min IPA for a better use of maple syrup in beer.

goodwilltasting grade: C

EDIT: The taste actually improved as it came up to room temp. So maybe C+ but that is generous. Sorry Slumbrew!

Tagged beer, maple syrup, seasonal, slumbrew

Jan 04 2014

Heavy Seas Yule Tide Ale

I’m a few days late but I wanted to keep sharing some of the Christmas beers I’ve been enjoying this winter. Seasonal beers are what make this miserable season worth enduring. Especially here in frigid Boston!

Heavy Seas Yule Tide Imperial Red Ale. Brewed with ginger and aged in rum barrels. Baltimore, MD. 9% ABV.

Dark copper color, minimal head, fruity smell, heavy on the ginger, notes of coconut. Really gingery taste with good malty backbone, smooth, not too boozy for a 9% beer aged in rum barrels, sweet finish. Pretty complex and spicy beer to ring in the holidays.

goodwilltasting grade: B

Tagged beer, heavy seas, Red Ale, yule tide

Jan 04 2014

1 Comment

Beer Reviews, Seasonal, Stout Image

Anchor Steam Christmas Ale 2013

Here we have Anchor Steam’s 2013 Christmas Ale! This is something I look forward to all year. The recipe changes year to year so it’s always a surprise what they’re coming out with.

Winter Warmer Ale, 5.5% ABV. Dark black coca cola color, minimal head with moderate lacing. Pine, nutmeg, clove on the nose, nice nutty, roast-y taste with subtle sweet hop finish. Well done Anchor! I like it more than the 2012. But not as much as the 2011.

goodwilltasting grade: B+

Tagged anchor steam, beer, christmas, seasonal

Jan 03 2014

Whole Roasted Porgy (Scup) with Root Vegetables

So I recently went on a fishing trip out in Buzzards Bay, RI. I wasn’t super successful… after 8 hours of fishing I only had 2 porgy (aka scup) and a little baby bluefish to show for it. I also caught a couple sea bass but they were too small to keep. Boo. Oh well. Let’s cook!

Most of the work for this recipe is in the prep. After I cleaned and scaled the fish (tutorial to come, hopefully), all you really need to do is season and prep the fish for roasting. Here are my babies cleaned, fins cut off, and scaled:

When you “score” a fish that means you cut into the flesh of the fish in the thickest parts of the meat to allow for even cooking. Fish will overcook and dry out like you wouldn’t believe so this is important to get nice, tender fish throughout, rather than fish jerky on the sides and sashimi in the middle. Cut at an angle towards the head, kind of like cutting another gill into the flesh. Try not to get all the way to the bone. Depending on how big the fish is, you may need 2 or 3 scores.

(Adapted from Cookstr)
Ingredients:
2 12-in porgies, cleaned, scaled, and scored
1 lb fingerling potatoes
3 medium sized carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 large Spanish onion, cut into large 1-inch chunks
1 lemon, sliced thin
6-7 sprigs thyme
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
olive oil
salt and fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place potatoes, carrots, onions, 4 sprigs of thyme and garlic into a roasting pan and coat liberally with the olive oil. Season generously with salt and pepper and pop the whole thing into the oven for 30 minutes. The vegetables take a lot longer to cook than the fish, so they need a head start.

While the veggies cook, drizzle olive oil all over the fish and season with salt and pepper, both sides, inside the cavity and in the scored flesh. Break apart the remaining sprigs of thyme and tuck them into the scored flesh and into the cavity. Place a couple slices of lemon into the cavity as well. After 30 minutes, take the veggies out of the oven.

Increase the oven heat to 425 degrees.

Arrange the fish on top of the veggies so they aren’t touching each other. Place a few more lemon slices on top of the fish and pop the whole thing back in the oven. Roast for another 20 minutes or until the flesh is completely opaque when cut with a knife. Cooking time will vary based on the size of the fish. Generally a 1-2 pound fish will take 20-30 min to cook.

Serve with fresh pesto and olive tapenade if you’re fancy pants.

goodwilltasting beer pairing suggestion: Stone Saison Du Buff

Note: you may be wondering what happened to the little baby bluefish. I dredged that little guy in flour, seasoned with plenty of S&P, and fried it up in a good amount of oil. He was small but delicious!

Tagged cook, porgy, recipe, root vegetables, scup

Jan 03 2014

4 Comments

Cook, Sauces

Basil-Arugula Almond Pesto

Sauces and condiments can make almost any dish go from ordinary to delicious. Think about it. What’s a Thanksgiving dinner without turkey gravy? Or Eggs Benedict without hollandaise? Or a Shake Shack burger without Shack Sauce? Yeah I don’t know either.

Let me say something else: fellas, do yourself a favor and get yourself a decent food processor. If you hate prep work like I do, then this is a must have appliance for your kitchen. Cuts your chopping, slicing, grating, and mixing time by like 80%. Real talk. I have a 9-cup Cuisinart.

Here’s all you need to make this pesto:

(Not Pictured: Fresh Arugula)

(adapted from Ina Garten’s recipe)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup dry roasted sliced almonds
9-10 cloves garlic, chopped
4 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

2 cups fresh arugula leaves, packed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups good-quality olive oil
1 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Tools:

Food Processor

Preparation:
Fit the food processor with a steel blade and process the almonds and garlic for 15 seconds, or until it looks like this:

Add the basil, arugula, salt, and pepper. Important: Make sure the basil and arugula are washed and dried before placing in the processor. You don’t want watery pesto. While the processor is running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is thoroughly pureed. Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute. Use right away or store the pesto in the refrigerator or freezer with a thin film of olive oil on top.

Final product:

Notes: Pesto becomes brown and dried out as it is exposed to air. For storing, pack it in containers with a thin film of oil or plastic wrap directly on top with the air pressed out.

I had some olives so I also made a simple tapenade after I made the pesto, with a handful of olives, a couple basil leaves, the juice of half a lemon, and a 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped. Again, add olive oil while processing until you get the desired consistency. You don’t even need to clean the bowl!

One more thing: do you know how much pesto costs at specialty markets? It’s like $10 for a little 6 oz tub! Get outta my face with that stuff! I made this with basil I had growing in my backyard and I had enough to fill a 32 oz jar. It was basically free. Enjoy!

Tagged cook, food processor, pesto

Sep 09 2013

2 Comments

Beer Reviews, Sour Image

Duchesse De Bourgogne

Duchesse De Bourgogne Flemish Sour Ale. Brouwerij Verhaeghe, Belgium. 6.0% ABV.

Dark amber color, fruity acidity hits you right on the nose, tart taste with notes of cherry and plum, crisp mouthfeel with pretty strong carbonation, delicate finish. Oddly enough this is served at Han Dynasty in Philly with their spicy schezuan-style Chinese food. And I think it pairs nicely.

goodwilltasting grade: B-

Full Disclosure: I’m generally not a fan of sour ales so take my grade with a grain of salt.

Tagged beer, duchesse de bourgogne, sour ale

Eat. Drink. Be Manly.