Maine: Just a taste

I've been on vacation and have a few tasks that demand my attention before I can explain the State of Maine.

And for my final beach post I give to you CRABS!

My favorite night to eat when we go to the beach is crab night!!! We get a bushel of steamed jimmy crabs loaded with Old Bay seasoning, 3 dozen scallops, 1 dozen oysters, sometimes 1 sashimi grade tuna to slice thin with some salt, lemon juice and wasabi, and lots of corn. A picture is worth 1000 words....

Beers at the Beach

I know I haven't included any pictures of beer that was consumed at the beach, and the only reason was that I just didn't take any pictures of the selection I brought. Know that I spent a pretty penny on about 3 cases of beer to take down with me (so I did not disappoint). To name a few... Summer Solstice, Heavy Seas, Mojo Risin, Nugget Nectar, Gubna, Oberon, multiple Lagunitas, Duck Rabbit, one Dragon's Milk, Mikkeller single hops, Breckenridge Peach for the ladies (it sucked and I brought 3 of the 6 pack home with me), and a few other 22 ouncers.

I'm going to go off on a little tangent about these Mikkeller single hop beers. After having my sinus surgery I am able to actually taste different components in my food and beers, these single hops are quite a treat. I'm sure some of you have heard of them, but what Mikkeller did was they made about 6 beers in 11 oz bottles (they are NOT cheap) and each beer is brewed with a different single hop. I could only find 3 of them and they might not even be around anymore. The secret is to drink all of these in one sitting with a few people as a tasting. It's amazing the difference of each hop. Unfortunately, we never had a chance to do this at the beach... fortunately I did have the chance to do it at my house. I'm not going to tell you that they're the best beers I've ever had, I just know how you guys like to do some tastings! I'll include some pictures that I got off their website since I didn't take any.

Mistake On The Lake???

The Earl and Duchess of Sandwich spent the past weekend eating and drinking in Cleveland, Ohio. There were a few standouts on our tour, this was one. You may have heard some internet/tv chatter on a restaurant called Melt which opened in 2007 in the Lakewood section of the city. They specialize in grilled cheese sandwiches, and they do it right. Melt has twenty five or so different "bar gourmet" grilled cheese sandwiches on their menu, along with a handful of grilled cheese burgers. In addition to these fine menu items, they also have a very nice selection of craft/import beers in a bottle and on draft.

We all know that to make a successful grilled cheese sandwich you need bread, you need cheese, and you need patience. We were reminded of this after we waited over an hour for a table(which with two delicious Schneider Weiss Aventinus', wasn't too bad) then once we got to the table, now slightly buzzed, our waitress told us it will be at least another half hour for grilled cheese. We had our orders almost complete, so made some last minute adjustments then went for it....




For our first choice in the draft, we went with what was called The Firecracker Chicken, this was the special of the month, and we were told it was superb, it didn't disappoint. All grilled cheese come on homemade thick cut bread. The Firecracker also came with a nice blackened chicken breast(That was the fire in the cracker), fresh cut avocado slices, grilled pineapple, and a load of pepperjack cheese. Perfect blend of heat and sweet...A+



Our second choice was originally passed over, i'm sure glad we went back over the menu. It was called The Godfather, it it was frickin' fabulous. Once again thick cut homemade bread( it was turned into garlic bread with baked on romano and herbs, whole piece of three cheese lasagna(yes, I said lasagna), fresh fennel-oregano pasta sheets, spicy red sauce, and fresh provolone. Think the best lasagna dinner you've eatin, but in a handheld version you could quite possibly eat in the car. All grilled cheeses came with some of the most delicious fries I've had in a while, but had trouble even getting to them. The Godfather was killer. A+




We managed to eat a half of each, then had to throw in the towel. From that point on, the cheese took over my brain, and I literally blacked out, and woke up on our hotel bed. Scary stuff. We also planned to have some grilled cheese sandwich bites late night in the hotel room. And you may say? "Hey Earl and Duchess of Sandwich, cold grilled cheese sandwiches are terrible" and we would agree with you, it did take some ingenious planning, but we managed to "iron out" this minor detail.



Overall, our hats off to Cleveland! The Duchess and I had loads of fun, met some very nice people(strange amount of Steeler fans), and ate and drank entirely too much!!

Go visit if you get a chance.....


p.s We Steeler fans all know the Browns still suck, but if you were wondering, the majority of Cleveland feels the same way about the Browns as they do LeBron.

And It's Pork Shoulder By A Baby Back's Length!!

congratulations pork shoulder, you are one versitile cut of meat.

Oysters and Shooters

I love seafood no matter where I'm at, but obviously going to a fresh seafood market at the beach is the best. My personal favorite is the freshly shucked raw oyster with a bit of lemon and a splash of hot sauce.


























When we go to the beach we like to take it a step further and down these suckers as a shooter. A good way for your shooter is just a shot of vodka, the juice of a lemon wedge and a few drops of hot sauce. Drop the oyster in the shooter and slam it down. I do a little something different and take it one step further. Bloody Mary oyster shooters are great for breakfast lunch or dinner at the beach, home, or at work. This year was even better because I had some of The Earl of Sandwich's peppers and garlic infused vodka. You don't even need any other spices, just put a few shots of the infused vodka into some plain old bloody mary mix and it has the perfect amount of kick and taste!!!

And there you have it... infused vodka and bloody mary mix shaken with ice then poured over a fresh oyster.

Sandwiches and beer are quite similar in that simple ingredients create extraordinary flavors when paired correctly.

To the right is a Chicken/Apple Sausage grilled then butterflied, caramelized onions, and
Pull My Pork's favorite the Fresh Mozzarella melted into the butterflied sausage. Yellow Mustard and Mayo finish this off before it was pressed.








I could have used the soles of an old pair of Samba Classics as bread for either of these sandwiches and they still would have been delicious.

To the left is a Tomato, Basil, Yellow Zucchini, S/P, and again the Fresh Mozzarella. Served on a simple toasted 12 grain w/ dash of balsamic. Of course the tomato and basil were grown with love in the urban garden. I included the s/p in the ingredients list because a long long long time ago the earl of sandwich taught me to always season tomatoes. Always.











This beer foursome is a classic good news bad news scenario.




Wolhaver's Brown (otter creek brewing)
Long Trail Black Berry Wheat
Ploeeko Gold Pale Ale (anderson valley brewing company)
Nectar IPA (nectar ales)

Bad news first, I should have bought the Acme Brown rather then the Wolhaver's Brown but live and learn. Wolhaver's Brown Ale is sub par on numerous levels, so many that i will refrain from going into detail. STRIKE OUT! Although the folks over at Longtrail make some great beers that I really enjoy I'm not particular to the Blackberry Wheat. It is the kind of beer that is left in the murky water at the bottom of cooler after all the others have been drank a la Sam Adams Cherry Wheat circa New Years Eve 1999 (think about it). There are plenty of other fruit beers I would fancy before this one. STRIKE OUT! Now for the good news, as mentioned the hippie- mountainwich previously, the people over at AVBC are really doing it this year and the beers they are putting out are worth seeking especially those in a can. I am all for the can revolution and I like that a beer this good can be made in a completely solar powered brewery. HOME-RUN! The Nectar Ales Nectar IPA does the trick. A multitude of citrus tastes are prevalent immediately followed by that sought after IPA dry finish. This is an IPA that goes well with about 4 more. A top tier IPA it is not but it is tasty enough to have a few. GROUND RULE DOUBLE! I decided to keep with the baseball analogies previously used by the Earl. In the end I went 2/4 a solid batting average of .500 well above the Mendoza line.

Mexicana

We enjoy a nice basic Mexican night when we all go to the beach. This is filled with something wrapped in a corn fajita, margaritas, and tequila. Usually the food is very basic but tasty.

First, the meat and veggies. We go simple here... both the chicken and sirloin are marinated in some light oil, salt, pepper, diced jalapenos, lime juice, and tequila. Let it sit at room temp for 2 hours before grilling the meat to medium rare and the chicken all the way through. Slice very thin right before serving. Next the veggies were sauteed in some oil, salt, pepper, and quartered fresh jalapenos.

Onto the sides... nothing crazy, fresh grated cheddar and monterey jack cheese, some salsa, sour cream, freshly made guaq, tomatoes, jalapenos, lettuce, and an array of hot sauces.

Finally for the best part... homemade margaritas. Take 36 limes, 1 orange, 2 lemons... peel the zest off of all citrus. Let that sit in 18 cups of water for 1 hour. While it sits juice the citrus and strain out as much pulp as possible. Drain the citrus zest water into a huge pot with 9 cups of sugar and mix. Add the freshly squeezed citrus juice (about 5 cups), add 9 cups of tequila, and 2 1/2 cups of triple sec (we prefer Patron orange liquor). Stir everything up nicely and you'll have 4 pitchers of fantastic freshly made margaritas, not too sweet, not too sour, just refreshing. Rim glass with salt, and pour over ice.

WHERE'S THE BEEF??

THIS "LITTLE" GEM WAS SOMETHING WE CONSTRUCTED FOR OUR WEDS EVENING MEAL. UP FIRST, AND ACTING AS A SOLID FOUNTATION, WAS A FRESHLY BAKED ALLEGO WHOLE WHEAT TORPEDO ROLL. BATTING SECOND, IS AN ORCHESTRA OF SLICED BABY PORTS AND VIDALIA ONIONS(NOT COMPLETLY CARMELIZED, I LIKE TO LEAVE MY BURGER ONIONS/SHROOMS AL DENTE). THESE TWO WERE THEN LIGHTLY SHOWERED WITH WHITE TRUFFLE OIL, WHICH ADDED AN ENAHNCED EARTHINESS TO THE BABY PORTS. THE VIDALIA BALANCED THE EARTHINESS WITH SOME SWEETNESS.

NEXT UP ON THE CONVOY TO FLAVORTOWN WAS OVEN "FRIED" PEPPERED BACON. MR. BACON'S FLAVOR PROFILE WAS LOST SOMEWHERE IN THE SHUFFLE OF THE BURGER. THE CRUNCH I WAS LOOKING FOR WAS THERE, BUT UNFORTUNENTLY THAT WAS ALL. HIS VETERAN ATTITUDE AND SUPPORT WERE INDEED PRESENT, AND WERE QUITE STRONG, FOR THAT ALONE, I OWE MR.BACON MY DEEPEST GRATITUDE. I'LL SEE YOU IN THE LATER ROUNDS.

THE MEAT PORTION THE BURGER WAS SEASONED GROUND SIRLOIN, COOKED TO MEDIUM, STUFFED WITH A SICKENING AMOUNT OF AMISH BLUE CHEESE. THE BLUE ADDED THE "BITE" I WAS AIMING FOR, AND HAD NO TROUBLE BEFRIENDING THE REMAINING INGREDIENTS. THEN TO TOP IT OFF, MORE MELTED BLUE AND SOME CRISPY TOTS.

ABSOLUTLEY FANTASTIC BURGER.

Taco Salad

Flat Taco Shells
Black Beans
Ground Turkey
Shredded Havarti
Jersey Sweet Corn
Jersey Tomatoes
Caramelized Onions
Homemade Pineapple Salsa

This was a taco salad that played by its own rules.

Beauty is a Joy Forever

Yes, John Keats was referencing smoky-gooey-sticky Ribs. These particular ribs, although oversmoked, were damn near perfection. The only problem with oversmoking ribs is that they tend to fall off the bone too easily(as you can see in the photo above 3rd bone from the left). In true BBQ circles the perfect rib sticks to the bone just enough to keep the racks in tact. Here is a snippet from a certified KCBS judge. ***

"The rib will be first subjected to the smell test, and then the judge will look at it to decide what portion he wants to eat first. The judge will take a bite from a side of the rib, which should come off at that point with just a little bit of resistance. If all the meat comes off the side of the bone, the judges know it is overcooked.
If the meat is resistant to come off, then the judge knows it is not cooked properly. In either
case, your entry will lose points." Blah,Blah,Blah.

F that S. Any rib falling off or near falling off the bone can sit next to me on a bus. I wish I would have taken a picture of the smoke ring I achieved on these, but there is always next time. Also, I have been making ribs for about a decade now and I am proud to say I have it down to a simple science. Any questions feel free to ask.



***KCBS- Kansas City Barbecue Society

I know, I know, some of you might be shaking your heads thinking about drinking an imperial stout in this heatwave, but continue reading and I promise you will understand why. Founder's does an amazing job with their stouts and their aged series, but the KBS (Kentucky Bourbon Stout) blows the other ones away. It pours so dark, and rich with a Carmel-toffee head that provides a visual of what your tastebuds are about to partake of. The upfront taste is definitely of coffee with a significant burst of bourbon-laced alcohol, but it's finish is full of vanilla, toffee-carme-ly goodness. The smell is amazing and the feel in the mouth is almost velvety. Ultimately, this is a perfect end to a long day, whether in a heatwave or a snowstorm. Try and track down one--they have probably all but disappeared at this point.

Sandwiches from Italia...

My brother, Jason, and Anna, his wife, are spending the summer in Europe. This was a post about sandwiches from their euroblog. Thought some of you may enjoy.




http://jasonanna.wordpress.com/2010/07/04/words-pictures-sandwiches-of-italia-thus-far/

Summer Solstice

Nothing says summer like our favorite Anderson Valley brew - Summer Solstice Cerveza Crema. Guess what... now it comes in these sexy cans!!!

I have become more and more a fan of the fine beers in a can. Oskar Blues (Dale's, Ten Fidy, Old Chub) has been doing it right for years now and it's nice to see that others are finally following suit.

I'm going to the beach next week so be ready for my break out contributions to the Wiches n' Brew blog. There may not be a lot of sandwiches, but I guarantee a ton of great pictures of seafood, beer, booze, and maybe even a few of me slightly intoxicated!!

Lobster Roll for you viewing pleasure.

I know the photo could be a tad crispier but, a lobster roll is a lobster roll is a lobster roll. This one was pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good. Even with out the requisite New England Style top split bun this lobster roll was the strait DT's. This sandwich was built strictly for research purposes and was not built for consumption. I am heading to the great northeast on a sandwich/beer Rumspringa of sorts in a few weeks and figured I'd attempt to make a lobster roll before I get to Maine and eat 3 or 4 a day. Once again, the succulent picture of the lobster roll to your right was not consumed rather analyzed for scientific purposes. Alright, I ate it and it filled my beard with buttery-lobster-mayo goodness. An adjective has not yet been invented to describe this sandwich from the bottom of the sea. I would sell my Upperdeck Ken Griffy Jr. Rookie card for one more bite. Yeah, the one where he looks 15 years old. Anyway, the ingrediants were simple:
Lobster
Mayo
Drawn Butter
Lemon & Zest
Celery Salt
White Pepper
Bibb Lettuce
Potato Roll (buttered and toasted)

***I am taking the week off due to the "hell on Earth" heatwave encompassing the Northeast therefore I will be cooking tasty meals and posting tasty pics. ***

Simple Is Good.........Really Good!

Fresh Mozzarella, Garlic, Olive Oil, Grated Romano, Tomato, Oregano/ Thyme/ Basil(all grown in our sunroom), Salt/Pepper, Dellallo's Crust

How about a Brown?

I know what you are saying, "Keith have you gone Bonkers?! Who would want to drink a brown on a hot summer day?" I assure you I have not gone bonkers and after work today I had refreshing Ellie's Brown or 6 on the roofdeck of one of my chums. Carmely, malty, nutty sweetness perfect for a 78 degree Brooklyn evening. Avery brewing Co out of Boulder Colorado make a few choice beers my favorite being the Brown. The White Rascal, their Belgian White, is also beer worth seeking out especially if you fancy an spicy unfiltered white. Don't forget, America's birthday is rapidly approaching prepare yourselves now or you are a Russian Spy.

Best meal in the burgh for under $10

Purchased from Istanbul Grille on Liberty Avenue downtown Pittsburgh, this may very well be the best meal in the burgh for under $10. Charred gyro chicken over Bulgar rice (yes, it's below the meat), grape leaves that have been marinated in a lime juice, a simple salad with a light oil dressing, and mix it all together with Baba Ganoush = fantastic lunch. Everything is bought fresh that day from vendors in the strip. If you have never been to this establishment definitely worth the effort to get there and the wait sometimes.

Looking For A Refreshing Beverage in This Hot Summer Heat ???

I will go out on a very long, very wide, and very stable limb here and say that the Hofbrauhaus has the most refreshing wheat beer(brewed in haus) this side of the Ohio River. I would recommend forgoing the full liter(I know its tempting), and just sticking with two or three half liter wheat glasses while you indulge. This way, your beer stays nice and frosty with each and every magnificant sip. Perfect for a hot, humid, and sticky Pittsburgh day next to the river.




If this in anyway helps to convince you to go, call me, you can buy me a beer..........cheers!!!

Sunday Night Supper Club

For whatever reason, we seem to make sandwiches on most sunday evenings. We build some big, build some small, make some hot, make some cold, some with bacon, some without, most with mayo, but all with love................sandwich love.

Going to bed with your hair smelling like bacon grease, and with toasted foccacia crumbs on your pillow is just an all around nice way to wind down the weekend.



ok j plam.....heres the rundown:
toasted foccacia, garlic/basil ranch, oregano, thyme, rosemary rubbed grilled chicken tenderloin(sliced), double smoked/cut parma company bacon, homegrown tomato slices, butterhead lettuce


Enjoy.......