To Wit

( The krausen on the 2011 Ancient Fire Orange Wit. )

Whether it is Wit or Weiss, both are nice to while the day away to. Orange and spice make some twice as nice, singing their siren song of refreshment. Jason Phelps, March 2012.

The 2012 home-brewing season continued last weekend with our first ever Hefeweizen. As we were making it I was thinking about the wheat beers we had made in the past. In 2007 we made a honey lemon ale with mostly wheat malt in the boil. The final beer was tart and sweet like golden raisins. In 2010 and 2011 we made Wit beers with coriander and orange, fermenting them using a vigorous Belgian wheat beer yeast.

( The yeast was so vigorous that we needed to use a blow-off tube. 2011 )

Wheat beers, also known as Wit in Belgium & Holland, White beers in Canada and the US, Weiss or Weizen beers in Germany and Blanche beers in French speaking countries. They are brewed with a majority of wheat and are either low hopped or not hopped at all. Without hops, other spices (gruit, a name for it in some areas ) were used as preservatives and Wit beers typically incorporate fruit as well. These beers generally deliver complex aromas of fruits, spices like vanilla and clove, as well as yeast and fermentation components. The beers are typically very pale and are served with their yeast mixed back in for added texture and flavor.

( Brewing the Hefeweizen, March 2012. )

The 2010 Ancient Fire Belgian Wit is a focused, sharp beer, with subtle coriander and orange notes. The mid-palate of the beer is thin and wheat driven, and it has a clean, tart finish. 

( 2010 on the left, 2011 on the right. )

The 2011 Ancient Fire Orange Wit was fermented with orange slices in addition to the dried orange peel at bottling. The fruit really comes out early and lasts through the finish. The nose on the more recent version is much bigger as well, making it even more inviting.

( The hot wort heading into the fermenter. )

The Hefeweizen from the recent brewing session is almost ready to bottle. It definitely has some of the signature aromatics and when carbonated should be lively and wheat driven in the mouth. With no added spices and a low hop regimen, the beer should be crisp, tart and refreshing during the upcoming warm season.

Cheers!

Jason

Here We Come A-wassailing!

What are wassail and wassailing? I had to look them up because I don’t ever remember being told of a specific definitions. I recall from Christmas carols, the aptly named “Here We Come A-wassailing” is of course the most famous, that wassailing was some form of social custom designed to spread good cheer. I also inferred that the presence of wassailers at your door commanded a gift of wassail. Hmmmm. Enjoy the carol for a minute while I figure out what’s going on here.

“HereWeCome A-wassailing”

Here we come a-wassailing

Among the leaves so green;

Here we come a-wand'ring

So fair to be seen.

REFRAIN:

Love and joy come to you,

And to you your wassail too;

And God bless you and send you a Happy New Year

And God send you a Happy New Year.

…

Here We Come A-wassailing (audio clip from Wikimedia)

It turns out both of the things I thought about wassail and wassailing are true. But how did that come to be? First the name, and then the custom. The word wassail comes from the phrase Waes Hail, the greeting “good health”, that originated from Middle English as waes hael. Singing that message amounts to caroling to good health. I can dig that.

It seems the custom of singing this refrain was adopted by farmers and their surrounding communities as a toast to the apple trees and a bountiful harvest the next year. Whether it was for eating or making some form of fermented beverage, both things we love here at Ancient Fire, I really see the imagery created here. I love the apple trees I see in my town, the ones on my street are soon to developed over sadly, and look forward to harvest every year and making apple treats with the apples that they bear.

Since then, and likely it was implied originally, the act of wassailing door to door to people’s homes wishing them the same good health was adopted. This brings us back to the mythology we find in our contemporary Christmas traditions. Very few people I know have ever wassailed, but I do know a few who have, which is likely unusual. Maybe it’s something about New England and traditions from the English homes of many of our families here. I honestly don’t know how common it even is in England where it began.

So it is no surprise then that apples show up in one form or another in wassail beverage recipes. There is no recipe that I can find that has widespread support as a classic or the original, and the plethora of them I did find prompted me to make my own. Many had brown ale in them and the prospect of using my homemade maple brown ale locked it in as the first ingredient. Incidentally, many holiday themed beers will express at least the spices present in wassail. I can’t tell which was the chicken and which the egg in this situation. Old school wassail is purported to have been made with ale or mead, but whether either also contained spices or were spiced in the construction of this drink is not clear.

Into the holiday laboratory!

Ancient Fire Wassail

1 pint plus 1/4 cup Ancient Fire Maple Brown Ale

1 cup sweet apple cider

2 cinnamon sticks

2 cloves

Zest from 1 lemon

2 apples

1/2 cups brown sugar

¼ cup demerara sugar

1/2 cup dry sherry

¼ cup Madeira wine

1/4 cup sweet red wine

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground all spice

1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

super fine sugar, to sweeten to taste

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large sauce pan, pour in the pint of ale and the cider. Add the cinnamon sticks, lemon zest and cloves and bring to a simmer over low heat.

Core and cut the apples in half. Place in a baking dish. Cover with 1/2 cup of brown sugar, remaining 1/4 cup of ale, sherry, Maderira and the red wine.

Cover baking dish and place in oven, cooking for 30 minutes.

Add the demerara sugar and spices into the sauce pan, ensuring it's well mixed.

When the apples are done baking, place entire contents of baking dish into sauce pan. Allow to cook over a low heat for another 30-40 minutes. Serve hot.

Margot and I both felt this was very reminiscent of mulled cider. It has complexity beyond that, but the other liquors don’t leave enough of their own influence to pick them out. It came out balanced a bit too much to the spice side, but that is something that can be handled with some more beer or cider right before serving.

It was drinkable almost immediately, but a short time to cool was necessary. No need to injure those who come to wish you good health!

I stored the leftover wassail in a jar in the fridge. In the photo to the right you can see the apples and lemon zest floating in the brown, spicy punch. It is likely to be even more spicy by the time I drink it again. More beer!

I’ve brought forth another festive and traditional drink today. Yesterday was a more general treatment of punch, with the possibility of producing similar tipples to wassail quite likely. I’d still say wassail is a punch of a different sort, if only because of its own specific story. The vessel it was served from has its own lore as well. Check the lyrics at the link to the carol at the top if you don’t believe me. There are people who specialize in making wassail bowls, something I don’t believe I’ve ever seen. Find one person’s adventure in Making a Wassail Bowl. I broke out the punch cups to ladle Margot and I’s first tastes into, but serving it from a saucepan on the stove wasn’t quite the image you all had here. No picture.

Margot and I wish all of you and your families good health as we hurtle towards the end of one year and beginning of another.

Cheers!

Jason

Vanilla Vodka Infusion and the Crème Brulee Martini

An infusion of vanilla was on my list of the last batch vodkas to make. One bean cut open sat in 8 oz of 100 proof vodka for 24 days and then it was strained. The color came out to be a nice gold. The reason the jar is nearly empty in the picture to the left is that because when the vodka comes out really food it doesn’t tend to last.

As for my bar tools, a big thanks goes out to the SavvyHost for my prize of a bar in a box set from the Foodie Night In event a few weeks back. A new drink was perfected with the new tools, which makes its debut even sweeter.

Meanwhile…

When the vodka was doing its thing I got to considering what to do with it. I decided I wanted “a drink” to herald this creation in. The first thing that came to mind was crème brulee. Two issues confronted me, first how to get a custard taste out of the drink, and secondly how to garnish the drink to give the impression of crème brulee and creating some flair for the experience.

The first problem was solved with the use of CoffeeMate Italian Sweet Cream coffee creamer as the cream base for the drink. Some might argue, but for those looking to try it, consider the creamer only adds 70 calories and less than half of that in fat. That is for one drink, making it approachable for everyone. Back to the drink.

The vodka and a shot of amaretto to add some additional flavor and complexity and we have ourselves a nice egg custard flavor.

As for the garnish, a little bit of genius. Demerara sugar under the broiler to great some sugar chips to float on the drink. It works, it looks cool and it doesn’t dissolve in the drink so you get a nice caramelized sugar crunch at the end of the drink.

Mission accomplished!

A few weeks back I exchanged some nice messages with the SpiceSherpa about herbs and spices and how I was planning on using vanilla next. Margot and I have had a couple of events since, and my attention was more distracted that I thought it would and I didn’t finish my drink experimentation. The SpiceSherpa has a wonderful blog about creating your own vanilla extract which is effectively what I have done, except mine was intended for drinks. But it doesn’t have to be. Either way the aromas and flavors are so much better doing it yourself than the average product you can buy in the grocery store.

Ancient Fire Crème Brulee Martini

2 measures hand-infused vanilla vodka
2 measures CoffeeMate Itlaian Sweet Cream Coffee Creamer
1/2 measure Amaretto

Shake and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a sugar chip.

Cheers!

Jason

Exploring Indian Cooking

Since meeting many fine people from India during my gig at Fidelity I have grown to love the many flavors of Indian food. I have eaten Indian dishes from different regions in restaurants and have had recipes from several regions of India shared with me. The amazing adventure this has sent us on is really getting good.

Much like how we decide which wines to make, we have reproduced restaurant dishes several times. Different dishes require different ingredients, but sometimes technique makes the difference. The Malai Kofta I made early on was only alright, but not restaurant quality. More recently I have had a success with Tarka Dals (cooked lentils or beans with onions, spices and butter), Palak Paneer and an assortment of pre-made appetizers and breads purchased at the Indian market.

Looking to branch out I paid attention from the first episode I saw of Indian Food Made Easy on Cooking Channel. The practical applications of the dishes gets high marks. Much more like what you and I do.

This past week I cooked Besan Pudas for a second time. These are an Indian crepe style bread that are often season with spices and vegetables. The first time they contained zucchini and cumin seeds. They were good, but not that good. This time I used cracked cumin seeds and caramelized onions. Much better. I didn’t end up getting any good pictures of the finished dish, but the bubbling butter has to count for something.

Caramelized Onion Besan Pudas

1 cup gram flour

¼ rice flour (I made my own)
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp coarsely cracked cumin seeds
1 cup water
1 medium onion, sliced and caramelized

Mix all but the onions until smooth. Let sit 10 minutes.
Heat a griddle or fry pan over medium heat.
Use vegetable oil to grease pan.
Fold in the caramelized onions to the batter.
Spoon about ¼ cup of the batter per Puda on to the pan and spread thin using a circular motion.
Grill until golden on both sides.

One other repeat adventure was making the fresh cheese paneer. I used a recipe and neatly documented process from Show Me The Curry. What a rewarding experience. The taste is clean and the texture is firm when cold and nice and soft when warm.

I took the wrapped curd and hung it over the cut open milk jug. DIY paneer!

This process is very easy but takes time and must be watched closely during the early steps. We have eaten the finished cheese a couple different ways. On skewers with vegetables and a spicy yogurt sauce, in Palak Paneeer, and fried up with some butter. Any way you cook it this cheese is a nice way to eat fresh.

One of the things I needed to get a better feel for early on was spices. I still have a nice long list of Indian spices I have yet to try, mainly because the ones I am trying are so much fun.

Below is a tray of spices I laid out to use in an Indian meal I made for some new friends.

From left to right, top to bottom: Corriander (fresh gound), Cumin (fresh ground), black pepper, Garam Masala, Chili Paste, Salt, Black Cardomom pods and a western-style Curry Powder. One item that I realized should have replaced the salt was Turmeric. I use it all the time.

This past week my menu consisted of

Tarka Dal
Potato Lentil Samosa
Spinach and Onion Pakora
Besan Puda
Naan
Roti
Cucumber Tomato Raita (made at home)
Tamarind Chutney
Mango Lassi

I wrote about one version of Tarka Dal in May. The spin this week was to use a small red chili (whole), lots of cumin and sliced onions for the tarka.

The Raita was made in a simple fashion after looking at a whole bunch of recipes. I have had this a few times and I was hopeful that the cooling properties of the dish might be a nice contrast for guests.

Cucumber Tomato Raita

4 oz Greek yogurt
1 large tomato
½ large cucumber
½ tsp Lemon juice
Coarse ground coriander
Salt
Black pepper
Mint

Chop the tomato and cucumber into bit size pieces. Combine the yogurt and lemon juice. Chop 4-6 mint leaves and incorporate. Add the coriander, salt, pepper to taste. Chill before serving. This made a wonderful garnish for the breads and after I got a bite of the hot peppers used in the Dal.

This week’s meal was paired with the Ancient Fire Gewurztraminer/Riesling blend from 2008. The dishes had a little heat and the wine has a little sweet, with nice fruit flavors. The wine didn't overwhelm the food and was flavorful enough to have a nice finish. We also enjoyed one of the last bottles of the 2008 Ancient Fire Plum Dessert wine with Kheer brought by our guests. That wine is one of my absolute best!

Cheers!

Jason

Exploring Dal

Toor Dal (split yellow pigeon peas)

The Indian word Dal (also spelled Daal and Dhal) describes the preparation of beans, lentils or peas that are dried, removed of their husks and split. From there the type of bean/lentil/pea and the method of preparation branches out in many directions. Those familiar with Indian cuisine will know that there are many regional distinctions beyond a general difference in ingredients and methods between the north and south of India.

A few years back I took a job where I met many wonderful people from India. I was under-exposed to Indian food but being food curious this didn't last long. A willingness to share their homeland's food wonders was a great privilege for me, one that I worked hard to answer with things I had learned growing up the American food culture, like Apple Pie. Back to the Dal.

I love to cook what I call Dal stews, essentially lentils cooked with aromatics and other simple ingredients like onions and tomatoes. I generally serve this dish with store-bought appetizers like Pakora or Samosa and Naan bread.

Recipes for dishes like this abound and preparing the dishes is straightforward. Trying to match the flavors to what you might find in a local Indian restaurant will be a challenge due there not being a "master" recipe, and individual cook's decisions about how much of various spices to use. I say don't both bother. Make versions at home you like and happiness will follow.

A recipe for Lentil Dal from Itsy Bitsy Foodies was featured in the FoodBuzz Top 9 today. This recipe is a very straightforward preparation and a great framework and starting point to experiment if you choose. Check it out at http://www.foodbuzz.com/recipes/2214277-lentil-dal.

I have tried several enhancements to recipes similar to the feature including adding onions sautéed in butter with turmeric and cumin seeds after the lentils are finished cooking. I have also added cilantro paste, bought in a container in the grocery store, a few minutes before the end of the cooking to add some flavor without having to find or use fresh cilantro leaves.

In a recurring column named The Minimalist in the New York Times Mark Bittman writes on food and beverage topics. In an article from January 2010 he wrote about this same topic with good background and lots of ideas for the curious home cook to tackle. Check the article out at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/dining/06mini.html?ref=dining.

In particular I found the definition of the enhancement I described above, called a tarka, a nice validation of the things I had learned first hand as I have come to know how these dishes are made.

If you are lucky enough to have an Indian market nearby you can find all of the ingredients you might use in a dish like this as well as sides, appetizers and chutneys to serve along with it. In the same store bread is also worth exploring. Naan is the most well known type where I live. There are other styles, several of which are layers of bread with seasoned vegetables and onions in between, that are definitely worth a look.

Wikipedia has a nice article on Dal and lists some of the names of the other commonly found legumes that form the basis of this type of dish. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dal.

The picture above is my version made today. I used the FoodBuzz recipe as a guide and experimented with some changes. I used vegetable stock instead of water, substituted diced tomatoes for the tomato paste and added green chilies and cilantro paste with the tomatoes. For the cumin and coriander I used seeds and gently crushed them together with my mortar & pestle to ensure good aroma and flavor extraction. I finished it with a tarka of green onions, butter, lemon zest and curry powder.

A note on curry powder. This is strictly a facet of the western world. It was created for the British who got used to Indian flavors and then moved elsewhere. It is not something a native Indian will use. The blends of spices used in Indian food may be similar to this but are more often totally different, and that is what makes Indian cuisine so interesting. Using curry powder from the grocery store is a good way to harness flavors you are used to and I still use it from time to time. More often I used the base spices in different combinations depending on what ingredients are in a dish.

With food and beverage pairing constantly on my mind here are my ideas of how to pair with a dish like this. The dish is not overly spicy, although you can make it this way if you like, so the standard off-dry wine may not be necessary here. I am actually going to suggest a medium-dry rosé served cold. If rosé is not your thing or not to be found then a Riesling or Gewurztraminer will pair nicely with this dish and anything served alongside. If spicy sides accompany this dish then definitely go for something with a little sweetness to balance the heat. A hibiscus tea with a touch of sugar will also pair well. If you have time make and chill the tea ahead.

My wife and I love Indian food and continue to experiment with different dishes and methods and enjoying many dinners along the way.

Cheers!

--Jason