Fallen off the Blaggon

So it's been two months since I've posted to my blog; so what? That should mean I have a wealth of material, right? Certainly so!

This is the photo from the invitation for"A brew or two, a brew or two, a brew or two, or three, or four!"

Back in October I had brewed up two batches of beer in two weeks. Jami decided that if I was going to be brewing on such a rapid schedule that I had to make room for more on a similar schedule. Since she and I really couldn't drink five gallons of beer a week and still keep our jobs, we decided that our own "Beer Tasting" was in order.

I brewed up an American Brown Ale from Perfect Brewing Supply in Libertyville and bottled that. Then I brewed up an IPA and used a Corny Keg as the secondary fermenter and served that straight from the keg. I suspect that racking to the keg was the key factor in why my IPA tasted more like a Belgian Ale. It wasn't bad, it was very interesting and well received. I'm just upset because it didn't turn out like i expected and I'm not sure I could, or would want to, re-create the brew.

If there could be a bad side to a beer party, it was having so much beer left over! This is my own fault too; in the invite for the party I gave those who might be afraid of homebrewed beer the option to bring a sample of their own favorite beer to drink and share. Of course everyone exercised this option and my home brewing pals brought samples of their beer as well as their favorites from other breweries.

Needless to say, we had plenty of tasty options.

So many options in fact, that we didn't have room in the fridge for leftover food - we filled it with leftover beers!

Also, I'd hate to forget mentioning the cider that Jeff brought over; he and I had very similar ideas for samples of Wick's Apple Cider. He brought over a nice spiced hard cider in a growler ...that I need to return soon!

Jami and I couldn't bring ourselves to dump the Belgian IPA, but once that was gone I was able to put the fridge back into some kind of order; it still took us a while to clear out these leftovers!

Who doesn't like bacon?

In their mac-n-cheese!?

Being completely obsessed with beer lately, I went down to Munster, IN a few weeks ago and took the Three Floyd's brewery tour. After the tour, I stayed for some tasty beverages and treated myself to their awesome macaroni and cheese. ...and I've been plotting my own attempt ever since.

Seeing as this was my first attempt at making this iconic dish "outside the box" I first took a look at Allrecipes.com and started with their basic instructions and ran off on my own.(I'll definitely use different cheeses next time) I started with:

12oz uncooked egg noodles
2 cups finely shredded, fresh parmesan
1/2 cup finely shredded pepper jack
1/2 cup finely shredded sharp cheddar
3 cups of milk
3/4 cup butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
oregano
allspice
parsley flakes
1lb of extra thick sliced, hickory smoked bacon

Prepare the noodles as recommended on the package; you can set them aside until everything else is ready.

First, I got the bacon started in one pan. I keep the heat low, and cook the entire pound all at once (use a large enough pan). Cooking bacon like this lets you control the heat for the whole batch, you simply rotate the strips as they start to sizzle. This way, when bacon reaches it's critical cooking point, it goes from uncooked to cooked; instead of uncooked to burnt. For this dish you want the bacon to be firm, but not crispy so that it crumbles.

Next I started by making a roux in a saucepan by melting the butter, and stirring in the flour. I stirred that for a while over low heat to make sure the flour-y taste cooked away. Then I added some spices (no real measurement here) to give some color and aroma to the roux. As the roux thickened, I chopped up the bacon and added it to the saucepan:Add the milk slowly, stirring it as it thickens. Here, I added some more spices because I didn't put in enough the first time (just don't over do it). Finally, add the cheeses and stir until they're melted and the sauce thickens a bit.

Now, I wouldn't be me if I didn't just decide to pour some of my beer into the cheese sauce, would I? (I've been brewing several brown ales, so I'm drink other brown ales to compare them against) Today I've got some Dirty Helen brown ale from Barley Island brewery; Noblesville, IN.

Finally, combine the noodles and cheese sauce in a casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees F for thirty minutes. Serve.

I have to say, I'm impressed that it came out as well as it did. Admittedly, I used three fairly bland cheeses, and the cheese flavor could use some extra kick. The parmesan made the sauce dry out pretty quickly. All in all, it was a tasty dish. I'll thank the bacon for that.