Beer 6 - Dotybrew ESB Rebrewed

My family was all in town last month and we decided to hold our own personal beer fest. We stocked up on beers from around the world and had a tasting. Since Dotybrew ESB went over so well last time, I decided to make it again for the beer fest.

Once again, everyone loved it. It wasn't as good as last time though in my opinion. This time the fermentation got stuck at 1.020 so the beer ended up a bit sweeter than last time. Getting stuck at 1.020 is the curse of using extracts and I think I finally found out why. Pouring in the extract too quickly without turning off the burner causes some of it to caramelize when it hits the bottom of the pot. I was more careful for beer 5 than I was for beer 6. Lesson learned!

Ropa Vieja Recipe

This has been one of our favorite recipes lately.

 

Ingredients:

3-4 lbs flank steak

1 packet (or 2 cubes) beef bouillon

1 c beer

12 oz jar Goya red (tomato based) sofrito

6 oz jar tomato paste (I’ll usually get the garlic or Italian spiced one)

2-3 bay leaves

2 large cloves of garlic, diced small

1 tsp cumin

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp vinegar

1 onion

2-3 peppers

Add sofrito, tomato paste, bouillon powder, water, bay leaves, garlic, cumin, olive oil, and vinegar to crock pot. Add sriracha or other hot sauce to taste.

Brown flank steak on both sides on stove with a little bit of vegetable oil and put into crock pot, covering with sauce as best as possible.

Cover and cook on low heat for 5 – 6 hours

Chop onion and peppers and add to crock pot, cooking for one more hour on low

I suggest serving with yellow rice. It also works well in tacos, empanadas, and sandwiches.

Beer 5 - Results

Beer 5 is long gone. It was easily the best beer I've made yet. That may end up being the first recipe I repeat.

Oven Baked Ribs Recipe

It's been a long while since I've brewed any beer so I decided this was as good a place as any to post food recipes as well. If nothing else it gives me a good way to go find them again.

Last night I made oven baked ribs. My recipe:

Ingredients:

• Baby back ribs
• Cajun seasoning
• Salt 
• Peper
• Onion powder
• Garlic powder

1. Turn ribs over and peel membrane off bottom
2. Rub both sides with salt, peper, onion powder, garlic powder, and cajun seasoning
3. Lay two large sheets of aluminum foil on a baking sheet and put ribs on top
4. Lay two large sheets of foil on top of ribs and pinch sides off to seal in ribs
5. Bake at 300 degrees for 2 hours
6. Remove top layers of foil so ribs are exposed to the oven air
7. Bake one more hour at 300 degrees

If using a BBQ sauce, brush the ribs with it when you remove the foil. In my case, I made a chipotle glaze and served the ribs dry with the glaze on the side.

The glaze recipe is here:
http://www.emerils.com/recipe/3709/Orange-Chipotle-Glaze

It makes a big batch so there will be plenty of leftover glaze. The glaze goes well with wings also.