When it comes to cooking or food/beverage pairing, wine is most often the elixir of choice. Be it in sauces, braisings, or imbibed with the meal, this is nearly universal. There is even an entire profession dedicated to it, most likely due to the huge impact French technique has had on cooking as a whole. As a chef and home-brewer I believe that beer is every bit as qualified for the task. Granted, it’s more difficult get the dark berry notes out of beer that you can out of wine without additives, but it is possible, just add it!

The myriad of hop choices can give you an astonishing array of floral notes. The even greater choices in roasted barley will get you whatever earthy, dusty, or even tobacco hints you might be looking for. Even the choice of what yeast strain to use can influence the citrus, sweetness, dryness, or fruity characteristics you desire. Even still, the monopoly remains. When sitting down to a fine meal in a fancy restaurant it’s usually expected to see a good wine list. As well it should be. I’m not trying to marginalize or denigrate the merrits of a good wine list. Not nearly. I’m trying to promote beer to be seen on level ground with wine in respect to pairing with food and in the cooking process. They both have their place, but sometimes (in my eyes at least) wine just doesn’t cut it…

Case in point, oysters. One of my absolute favorite foods period! Kumamoto and/or Malpeque oysters WILL be served to me on my death bed, and if not, I’ll be sure to mercilessly torment from the grave whoever it is that fucks up that request! Just as importantly, they better be served with Guinness!!!! I can’t think of a single wine that that pairs with oysters, or most shellfish for that matter, as well as beer does. Maybe that’s just a personal preference. I’m willing to concede to that, but I think there are more than a few oyster fans out there that would agree with me. On the same note, I can’t imagine short ribs braised in anything other than copious amounts of red wine and veal stock. But you can still pair the finished dish with a good stout, porter, or barley wine. As I said, they both have their place.

I mentioned earlier the probable cause of this imbalance, the French influence on cooking technique as a whole. If you are a serious beer nut you know the reason why the French opt for wine over beer….. French beer sucks! The French don’t even drink French beer, they drink mostly German beer! Masters of cooking and wine making, they should leave the beer brewing to the Germans, English, Irish, Scottish, and Belgians. The true masters of that particular art, though some of the American micro-breweries are on their heels. Another possible root to this is the cost. Beer is cheaper than wine, at least any wine I’d wanna drink, and how good can it be if it’s $5 a glass at most restaurants that are charging $10 and up for a glass of good wine? There is something to be said for the snootiness of people with money to burn, trust me…. I’ve been feeding them for over 15 years… But to this I say, “Pull your heads out of your collective asses and open your damn mind!”

Give me just about any dish and I can tell you a good beer to use in it’s preparation or to pair with the final dish. If I can’t think of a specific beer, I should be able to come up with a style choice to explore to find the best match. I already mentioned short ribs and shellfish, here is a short list of other meat preparations and their respective beer pairings to the best of my abilities:

Sushi – a dry, hoppy Pilsner such as Sam Adams Noble Pils

Chicken:
Grilled – Pale Ale such as Bass
Roasted – Nut Brown Ale such as Sam Smith or Pete’s

Beef:
Grilled – IPA or ESB such as Fullers
Stewed – Brown Ale such as Newcastle or Stout such as Guinness or Murphy’s

Duck – Belgian Lambic or other fruit beer such as Pete’s Wicked Strawberry Blonde

Pork:
Grilled – Helles or Grolsh style
Roasted – Porter such as Sam Smiths Taddy Porter or see Duck

Red Game (venison, elk, bear ect.) – Barley Wine such as Shipyard or see Beef

Pale Game (boar, quail, pheasant ect.) – Heffe-Weizen such as Paulaner or Bock such as Spaten

These are, of course, gloriously oversimplified. To get a true “match” all the elements of the dish need to be considered when weighing your beverage choices. I hope this has opened your eyes a little to the possibilities (assuming I’m not preaching to the chior) that beer present as a viable alternative to wine for the next time you sit down to great meal.

This post is meant to be the lead off to the much neglected “Beer Snob” category of this site. I/we will endeavor to keep the beer section alive, especially now that we have a dedicated wine writer.

I could go on for pages! I will, however, end it here to leave room for future reviews, discussions, tips, and rantings. So until then, eat, drink, live!

Jack

Good evening tongue followers. Brent’s tongue is dragging my face, eyes, skull and the rest of the baggage, without warning, over to France. I didn’t want to get into France this early in the game but my stupid tongue could not resist telling the folks about this wine. Any time I feel there is a must-buy wine I am going to jump on it before it disappears.

My ultimate goal with this blog is to build the readers palette from the ground up if they so choose. If a person tries each wine I review or even a different wine but same varietal they should get a good frame of reference as to what their individual tastes are. Also with a good palette frame of reference, the more complex wines will make a lot more sense. If you were to give a new wine drinker a glass of a good Chateauneuf du Pape there is no way they will enjoy it the way it should be enjoyed.

I better get this moving along my tongue is getting anxious.

The wine in question is a 2005 Graves pronounced Grahv. Chateau Cabannieux 2005 Graves is a bordeaux from the left bank of the bordeaux region. I am not going to spend a lot of time on the bordeaux classifications, I’ll leave that for another time. Chateau Cabannieux is a classified Graves and this one is a 2005 so for the price this makes it a must-have. Just a tip for those who don’t know, buy any 2005 bordeaux- everyone loves advise that rhymes? The 2005 bordeaux have been considered to be one of the best vintages in 100 years. I bought Chateau Cabannieux 2005 at Plum Market in Bloomfield Hills for 16.99. Any 2005 bordeaux at that price must be bought especially a classified Graves. I can’t imagine this wine being around for too long so buy it up. It’s truly exciting.

This wine is polar opposite from the last review I did. As far as young palettes are concerned; I would recommend buying the wine and holding on to it for a while. The Graves region of bordeaux is a very gravelly terrain which is where the name graves comes from. This feature really comes through in this wine. The earthiness is the main essence of this Graves. If you’re going to drink this I would open it and let it breathe for at least an hour. Structurally speaking this wine is very tight and needs time to open up and blossom, but the wait is sooooo worth it. Once the earthiness hits the palette it starts to unfold into a nice spice and dark berry notes. The tannin structure is fantastic and throughout the tasting hints of tobacco come to the forefront. In five to ten years this wine will be unbelievable. Beware! this wine is not for the lighter bodied, fruity wine drinkers. You will not enjoy this, but if you are feeling adventurous and open to a wine that will make you think; you won’t be dissappointed. My tongue gives this a stellar 9 out of 11.

My tongue will try to continue building on what I started with my first blog. I’m aiming at starting with the riper juicier  wines that are more one-dimensional then moving into the more complex earthier wines. The Chateau Cabannieux is more of a detour that will make a whole lot more sense in the future. And if you’re an experienced wine drinker with a palette for the more nuanced wines jump right into this one and leave some for me… son’s o’ bitches.

Pat, Brent & Jack of The Rogue Estate

As you may have figured out by now, The Rogue Estate is a collective of friends who are passionate about a wide variety of topics. We come from a broad spectrum of backgrounds and careers, all sharing the common goal of bringing better food to your table.

A dedicated Bio page is forthcoming, so for now I’ll describe the Estate Founders in brief: Jack is our resident fine dining & Sushi expert, a 4 star chef for many years. Brent is a wine and cigar 0fficianto,  having spent as much time in wine cellars as any licensed sommelier. Sara, the cupcake goddess and expert on fine chocolates. Pat, our redneck outdoorsman and hard working sous-chef. Myself, I carry a passion for the spices of the world and I do a pretty righteous BBQ.

Amongst the many things that I feel really sets The Rogue Estate apart from the massive crop of food blogs on the tubes right now is that we are all friends and coworkers in real life. We get together weekly to share recipes, cook, dine, explore unusual beverages, teach each other new skills, plan events, edit articles and brainstorm. Our weekly get-together sets up a great rhythm and really helps to reinforce the ideal that we write only from personal experience – every review, every guide, every recipe – lived and tried by one or more of us.

You’ll always get the real deal at The Rogue Estate, and never any regurgitated referral content just to fill space and inflate page view stats. As we all continue to seek out the authentic cuisines and genuine experiences in this amazing world we live in, we’ll continue to share them on these pages and we hope you’ll continue to enjoy them and share your own experiences in the comments.

Building on those thoughts, at one of our January meetings, Jack marched into Pat’s kitchen with his arms full of groceries and his head full of steam. Tonight’s dinner, he declared, is PASTA PUTTANESCA!

The story behind this dish varies from telling to telling, but the common theme is that it was originally from the Italian whore houses. If customers didn’t come in for the women, they were sure to come in for the food. Another variation tells that the ingredients in this bold sauce were as easy to get one’s hands on as the women themselves. Whatever the truth of it’s origins, one thing I can tell you about Pasta Puttanesca is that it is an astoundingly powerful, pungent and delicious meal.

Jack led us on the first preparation during this particular chef’s night and I recreated his methods in my kitchen with minor alterations a few days later. In both instances, the results were rich, bold, complex and mind bogglingly delicious. Don’t let the ingredients list intimidate you: every element of this dish works together and the final product is more than the sum of it’s parts.

Pasta Puttanesca – The Software:

• 6 Tbls Olive Oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 bottle of medium bodied red wine
• 3 lbs of tomatoes, diced
  

  Basil Chiffonade

• 1 head of garlic, cloves peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 oz. Anchovies, thinly sliced
• 1 Tbls Aleppo pepper flakes
• 2 tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
• 1/2 cup capers
• 1 cup ripe Kalamata olives, sliced
• 2 Red Bell Peppers, diced
• 1 lb chicken breast, coarsely cubed
• 12 large Basil leaves, chiffonade
• 1lb cooked seafood medley (chopped mix of whatever creatures you prefer, we went with mix of octopus, clam, squid and scallops.)
• 1 lb dried penne or farfalle pasta
• Juice of 1/2 lemon (freshly squeezed or skip it – the bottled stuff does no justice.)
• 1/2 lb Freshly shaved Parmesan cheese (throw that pre-grated sawdust in the green tube away.)

Pasta Puttanesca – The Process:

If you have room, prep your vegetables and protein (poultry last, of course) and set aside for use as needed.

Grab a large fry pan and heat 3 tbls of olive oil, toss in the onion for a sweat.

In a large sauce pan, simmer the entire bottle of wine down to 1/3 it’s original volume.

When the onion is near transparency, toss in the garlic and the anchovies and simmer for 5 minutes, tossing occasionally. Transfer the onion, garlic and anchovies to the wine reduction. Add the tomatoes and bell peppers to the reduction, reserving 1/3 of each. Bring to a boil and then reduce back to a simmer, adding the Black pepper and Aleppo pepper. Simmer this mixture, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, add 2 more Tbls of olive oil to the fry pan, bring up the heat to medium and brown the chicken to your preference. When it’s done to your liking, stir it into the main sauce main with the wine/tomato etc. mixture. Add the Kalamata olives, Seafood Medley, reserved tomato and reserved bell pepper, stirring to combine. Simmer for 5 more minutes then remove from heat, cover and let rest until it’s time to serve.

Fire up a large pot of water to a boil and pour in your pasta, cooking til done – al dente is king around The Rogue Estate. Drain and shock with cold water to stop the cooking process then drain again and toss with 1 Tbls of olive oil. Portion into serving bowls.

Stir the lemon juice and Basil into the sauce and ladle onto the pasta portions, garnish with any smaller left over whole Basil leaves and a generous portion of the shaved Parmesan, serve immediately.

As with all our recipes, if you prepare a dish with our instructions we’d love to know about it. Love it or hate it, tell us all about it in the comments.

Enjoy!

-///

Forschner chefs knife

Not many things are more upsetting to me than being asked to cook in some one else’s kitchen, only to discover that the only knives they own are either so dull I’d be better off using a bowling ball to cut things, or they’re all of the “never needs sharpening” variety.

First of all, The most frequent cause of accidental cuts is a dull knife. Picture trying to cut a tomato, pepper, or anything that has a round surface and thick smooth skin with a dull knife – the blade slips off and you spend the rest of the afternoon in a clinic getting stitches. If you’re gonna have real knives, go get yourself a medium or fine grit sharpening stone and a honing rod (and no, a honing rod does not sharpen the knife, rather it just “hones” the edge, once it’s dull it’s dull, get a stone too). Both are relatively inexpensive. And PLEASE do not keep them knocking around in a “knife drawer”… there’s no better way to take the edge off of a good knife than to leave it rattling around in a drawer with other metal objects. Get yourself a magnetic strip, a knife block, or rack to hold them safely away from each other and from damage.

Secondly, the only knives in your kitchen that need to be serrated are a bread knife and steak knives for your table setting. Those incredible things that you bought for convenience are nearly useless in my eyes; they’re better at tearing through foods than actually cutting them.

If you’re looking to upgrade or re-stock your collection, here are a few tips to help you along:

Most companies that make the knives professionals use also make cheaper models most people can afford, and they’re a hell of a lot better than any

Henkels chefs knife

“bargain knife set” you might see on TV or in a store. The top 2 companies most pros go with are Henkels or Wusthof (also known as Trident). I personally use mostly Henkels. However, they don’t hold an edge as well as a Wusthof, so they require frequent maintenance, but they are heavier and made of harder metal. Wusthof is the most common brand seen in a chefs knife kit for these reasons, but I still like, no love, my Henkels. Another common brand in restaurant kitchens is Forschner. Much less expensive than the other two, so they might be a better choice for your daily home uses. You really do get what you pay for here, though, so realize that lower price tag means lower quality as well.

Selecting which knives to purchase can be a daunting task when faced with the near endless multitude of blade shapes and sizes. The truth is, all you really need as a home cook is one good chefs knife. Maybe a paring knife and a slicer as well, and perhaps a boning knife, but as long as you have one good chefs knife it’s all you’re really gonna need. It’s the backbone and workhorse of any good collection. The width of the blade makes it good for chopping, the length makes it good for slicing, the curve makes it good for fine work like small dice, and the weight makes it a decent cleaver. The tapered point is also good for detailed work.

If you do a lot of roasts or other large hunks o meat or fish you might also want to invest in a slicer. The longer blade means one swipe, clean slices without having to saw through things leaving jagged edges, and the thinner blade will give you less friction meaning it will pass through much easier.

Paring knives are good for small detail and decorative cuts, and boning knives are just that, made for de-boning meats and fish. They are also good for smaller vegetables. However, these knives are probably not gonna be used very often by the home cook, so it’s really up to you whether or not to spend the money on them.

Wusthof chefs knife

Check out the links I’ve provided to read more information if you’re unsure which brand to go with. If you have any questions about this or other topics I’ve posted please feel free to ask in the comments.

Alton brown explains knives via Youtube

http://www.wusthof.com/desktopdefault.aspx

http://www.j-a-henckels.com/en-US

http://www.forschnerknives.net/

Jack