Wild Mushroom and Hefeweizen Risotto

On this lovely evening we decided on a Risotto - Hefenweizen recipe that we "discovered" in Draft Magazine. Neither of us had ever made a Risotto before so we decided to go for it. This was a pretty interesting process/method of cooking rice that was really able to add a lot of flavor. So here we go... 

Ingredients:

12 ounces oyster mushrooms (stems discarded/give to dog, and caps cut in 1/2-inch pieces)

1 1/4 cups Arborio rice

4 cups veggie bouillon

1 cup Pyramid Hefeweizen

1 medium onion (minced)

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus additional

1/4 cup green onions (cut into 1/4 inch pieces)

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoons dried thyme

2 teaspoons minced garlic

 

Instructions:

First we brought the bouillon to a simmer in a saucepan; at the same we melted 1 tablespoon of the butter in a larger pan over medium heat, adding 1 tablespoon of olive oil to it.

We added the onion to the pan, sautéing until tender, and then added 1 teaspoon of the garlic. We sautéed this for about 1 minute, then stirred in the rice. We sautéed this for 1 minute more, stirring constantly. 

We then added the Hefeweizen, stirring constantly until it was absorbed by the rice. 

Once the beer was absorbed, we added the bouillon, ½ cup at a time until all was incorporated, and then let it cook, stirring every few minutes until it was all absorbed.

 

While the risotto cooked, we again melted 1 tablespoon of the butter in a larger pan over medium heat, adding 1 tablespoon of olive oil to it. We added the mushrooms to this pan, and sautéed them until they were tender (5+ minutes). We then added the remaining garlic and ½ teaspoon of thyme and sautéed for another minute.

When all of the liquid was absorbed and the risotto was tender, we stirred in the mushrooms, Parmesan, remaining butter and thyme, and the chives.

We topped each serving with additional Parmesan and another sprinkle of fresh chives.

Cory (the beer drinker) says:

This is great! You get some hints of the toasted wheat that was in the beer but it doesn't dominate the whole experience. One might not even recognize what the wheaty beer flavor is until pointed out. I would definitely suggest this beer recipe for people who might not be the biggest beer drinkers. Added plus: the beer we chose was an excellent addition to this meal. Remember the appropriate glassware can make all the difference. 

Sadie (the non-beer drinker) says:

This was super good! I really liked the flavor that the beer added to the risotto; it made it have a really "full" flavor (I could taste different aspects of the risotto on all parts of my tongue).

This recipe was a little too thymey for me, so I would half the thyme next time. :)

Zod says:

I love cheese.

I love mushrooms.

Recipe source

Smoked Gouda IPA Soup

For our first Beer Food Boozeday we made a Smoked Gouda IPA (India Pale Ale) Soup. The recipe we used is below but we decided to half it because we were only cooking for two... but we still had leftovers.

Ingredients:

2 carrots (chopped)
2 stalks celery (chopped)
1 onion (minced)
2 cloves garlic
1 cup roasted red peppers
1 12-ounce bottle IPA
5 cups veggie bouillon
1 stick butter, sliced into pats
1/2 cup flour
3 cups milk
6 cups smoked Gouda, grated
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper salt, to taste

Part One:

First we put the carrots, celery, onion, garlic, roasted peppers, IPA (we used Big Daddy IPA from Speakeasy Brewery in San Francisco) and bouillon into a medium pot and brought it to a strong simmer over medium-high heat. 

We let this mixture simmer for about 30 minutes, until the vegetables were very tender.

While that combination simmered, we made the cheese base. We melted the butter in a pot over low heat. 

Once it was melted we whisked in the flour, allowing it to cook until lightly browned. 

Then we added the milk, whisking until smooth (we recommend just stirring in a little milk at a time because ours ended up lumpy). We brought it to a light simmer while whisking until it thickened. Finally, once we reached our desired texture, we took the pot off of the stove and mixed in the cheese and cayenne pepper.

Part Two:

Using our not-so-handy Bullet Blender, we processed batches of the veggie+liquid mixture until smooth. We then added the puréed mixture into the cheese base, whisking until smooth.

 

Lastly, we simmered the soup, for just a bit, until the rest of dinner was ready. 

Because we used a relatively bitter IPA we could definitely taste the hoppy flavor along with the smokey-ness of the Gouda. The flavors in the soup were strong, which is why we ate it with just a basic salad and bread w/ butter. Because we made a half-recipe, we were able to serve the leftover beer with the meal to compare just how much of that beer flavor made it into the final product.

Cory (the beer drinker) says:

It was a little too thick.

Both the IPA and smoked Gouda flavors were a little too strong.

Next time I would use a less hoppy beer and less flour to thicken it.

Sadie (the non-beer drinker) says:

It was too bitter for my liking; I didn't enjoy the lingering bitter taste.

I didn't mind the thickness.

However, I didn't fight for the leftovers.

Zod says:

I love cheese.

 






















P.S.

You’ll notice that there are not many great pictures of this process, because we had not yet settled on the blog idea. 

Recipe Source