Red Cabbage and Carrot Coleslaw with Dungeness Crab

This is simply a light coleslaw tossed with some precooked crab meat, halved Cherry tomatoes and some garlic fried plantains. I decided to toss this together when I came across some precooked Dungeness crab meat at the fish guy. I shredded about a quarter of a red cabbage, sliced half of an onion & made long "noodles" of carrot using my vegetable peeler. I folded these veggies together with about two tablespoons of fresh parsley, one tablespoon of olive oil, one tablespoon of grainy mustard, the juice of half a lemon, salt & pepper. It is best to allow the slaw to rest at least an hour before tossing with the crab, tomatoes & plantains.

To make the garlic-fried plantains, roast some garlic cloves (still in its skin) in about three tablespoons of oil over high heat until browned on both sides. Remove the garlic & add one plantain diced into quarter-inch cubes. Cook until browned on all sides and drain on a paper towel.

Enjoy with a dry American Pale Ale like Bear Republic's XP Pale Ale.

Bear Republic XP Pale Ale

XP Pale Ale is Bear Republic's "Exceptional Pale Ale" which is to say American Pale Ale. This beer pours golden brown with a thin off-white head and has a sweet citrusy smell. Its flavor is clean and yeasty with a spicy, dry malt flavor and hints of hops. This clean dry beer would pair extremely well with spicy dishes or grilled fish, but would work with almost anything.

Café Matou

This past Friday, my wife decided to celebrate some gambling wins by treating us to a wonderful meal at one of my favorite local restaurants. Café Matou is located in Bucktown (just south of Western on Milwaukee) and has consistently delivered meals that exceed my expectations. Chef Socher changes his menu almost daily, based on what the seasons provide, updating French classics at a price quite below what one would expect at this quality level. On this evening I decided I wasn’t in the mood for wine so I selected a beer from the selection of Belgians available.



Poperings Hommel Ale is a Belgian IPA, it has hints of hops flavor, but is nowhere near as hoppy as American IPA’s. The flavor is slightly earthy, with a floral quality & bread-like flavors. There is a slight bitterness, but mostly this ale is more akin to a Belgian Blonde or a Triple. Hommel Ale is very crisp and easy to drink; it also has a complex character which worked quite well with both courses from this evening.
It was a slightly warm evening, so to start I selected the Chilled Celery Soup. This soup was served in a chilled bowl with a healthy dollop of crème fraiche. As one might expect the dominant flavor here was celery, but the soup had a rich creaminess and hinted at notes of onion and garlic – the crème fraiche gave a wonderful tanginess that complimented the crisp celery flavor quite well.

For the main course I chose the Roasted Halibut. This delicious fish was cooked to perfection – moist and flaky with a wonderful golden-brown crust, which lay atop a slightly acidic, light Sherry sauce. The earthy sweetness of the Roasted Halibut worked perfectly with the acidity of the sauce. Roasted Chanterelle mushrooms and white rice completed this plate - the Chanterelles were the highlight of the dish for me, they have a delicate yet spicy flavor that really brought out the delicate flavor of the halibut. Even the rice is worth mentioning in this meal. Now generally I am not a fan of white rice, the flavor tends to be close to nonexistent & it just seems boring to me, but this evening the rice was slightly nutty and delicate; I am not sure what Socher does, but I cleaned my plate.

This meal further cements Café Matou as one of the best places to dine in Chicago. They consistently deliver great meals at an affordable price point and maintain a great wine list as well as an interesting beer menu – with a focus on the Belgian persuasion. Try one of the monthly five course “flights to France” which pairs five different wines with dishes inspired by a specific region in France. They also prepare a beer pairing menu quarterly. I cannot recommend this place enough.

Tomato and Basil Blossom Salad

The basil I have growing on my balcony began to flower and from what I understand if I allow this to continue the plant will focus its energy on these flowers instead of the leaves, so I removed all of the blossoms. I then tossed them with some fresh tomatoes, a little olive oil as well as some salt and pepper. We enjoyed this salad on grilled bread as a late afternoon snack and of course you could use basil leaves if you do not have access to the flowers.

Lentils with Everything-but-the-kitchen-sink Marinated Chops

Let's get the marinade out of the way first. This marinade has quite a few ingredients in there, but manages not to taste muddled. Whisk together the entire list from below & coat your chops. Let this marinate for at least two hours (two days would be better) and grill to your specifications.
Now for the Lentils. These little legumes come in many forms [brown, green, black, yellow] and are prepared in many ways from regions all over the globe. Here I use French Green Lentils and go a sort of French route, in a recipe that I feel delivers a lot of flavor, while still allowing you to taste the lentils. This should be enough for two as a healthy side.
Rinse half a cup of Lentils, place in a sauce pan & cover with about three inches of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. In the meantime, saute one half of a diced red onion in 2 tablespoons of duck fat until soft & translucent. Add one finely-diced carrot, a minced clove of garlic, two sprigs of thyme and saute for about five minutes. Add half a cup of water, two tablespoons of whole grain mustard & simmer for another five minutes. Drain the lentils and add them to the onion-carrot mixture along with another tablespoon of duck fat. Toss this well, season with salt and pepper. If the Lentils aren't quite tender enough, continue to cook over low heat (stirring frequently) until finished.

A perfect beer to accompany this meal would be Lagunitas' ode to the Frank Zappa album 'We're Only In It For The Money'. If you are not fortunate enough to have Lagunitas distributed in your area, go for any of your favorite Belgian Ales such as Chimay's red or white label.


Everything-but-the-kitchen-sink marinade:

3 Tbsp. Olive Oil, 2 Tbsp. Cider Vinegar, 1 Tbsp. Whole Grain Mustard, 1 Tbsp. Honey, 2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar, 1 Tbsp. Salt, and 1/4 teaspoon. each of the following: Black Pepper, Paprika, Coriander, Ancho Powder, Chipotle Powder, Cumin, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Ginger Turmeric, Fennel Powder, Nutmeg, Clove, Cinnamon, Allspice

We're Only In It For The Money

We're Only In It For The Money is the fourth beer from Lagunitas' ambitious campaign to commemorate every Zappa album - 40 years after its original release. Although released a little later than originally slated, this limited brew takes form as a Belgian-style Triple Ale and is complex, yet smooth & refreshing. Culinarily speaking this is a very versatile beer and would be great with anything from Thai food to BBQ or a burger. Its delicate nature also lends it to pair well with other light and delicate flavors, but its complexity allows this ale to work well with more bold and earthy flavors as well.

Pullman Brown Ale Braised Venison

This dish came to fruition through my quest to find great beers for cooking. Often times the beers I truly enjoy to drink do not work well in the kitchen and cooking with wine isn't exactly ground-breaking. I prefer full flavored beers that tend to be on the bitter side of things and cooking intensifies these qualities. So the first time I had the Flossmoor Station's Pullman Brown Ale, I was pretty sure I found a dual purposed ale. The earthy sweetness of this unusually robust brown lends itself well to reduction, which makes it a great choice for use in sauces, poaching & braising. For this play on beef burgundy, I made use of the delicious Indiana Venison roast in my freezer (although you could certainly use beef or pork if you do not have access to fresh game).

Here's what I did. Preheat oven to 350°. Chop the meat into manageable pieces, season with salt & pepper & brown on all sides in a dutch oven over medium high heat. Work in shifts so you do not crowd the pan & remove to a plate once browned. After all of the meat has been browned, pour two 22oz. bottles of Flossmoor Station's Pullman Brown Ale into the dutch oven & scrape up all of the tasty brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat & allow beer to simmer for about 20 minutes. Add Venison to the simmering brown, along with one onion, one carrot and one stock of celery (all roughly chopped), as well as two bay leaves, 6 springs of thyme, one spring of rosemary & one table spoon of black pepper corn. Cover & place in the oven for two and a half hours. After the two and a half hours have elapsed, remove meat from dutch oven & strain liquid into a pan. Bring liquid to a boil, reduce heat & allow to simmer until the liquid has reduced to half - about a half an hour. Whisk in a table spoon of butter and season to taste with salt and pepper. Return Venison to sauce & bring back to heat. Serve over egg noodles with plenty of the reduced braising liquid & a pinch of fresh herbs (such as thyme, parsley or basil). This could also be served alongside your favorite roasted veggies or something of the like.

And what better beverage for accompaniment than the Pullman Brown that brought this whole dish together.