comfort food thursday {beef stew with pumpkin ale}

well folks, looks like i have food on the brain this week. and today is no exception. but can you blame me? just look at how tasty this beef stew looks! and it just so happens that i have a beverage fridge full of wolavers* pumpkin ale...lucky lucky me.

beef stew with wolaver's pumpkin ale - via feel good eats**

• 4 strips of bacon, thinly sliced
• 2 pounds chuck or stewing beef, trimmed and cut into chunks (i think venison or bison would work too!)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• flour for dredging
• 5 carrots, peeled and chopped (1-inch pieces)
• 2lb red or fingerling potatoes
• 1 bottle wolaver's pumpkin ale (or other ale or stout)
• sea salt & fresh ground pepper

what you do: set a large frying pan over medium high heat and add the bacon slices. Cook until the bacon begins to get crispy. While the bacon cooks, pat the beef dry with a paper towel and season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Add the onions and garlic to the pan and cook until translucent, stirring occasionally, about 3-5 minutes. Transfer the bacon, onions and garlic to the crock-pot, keeping the drippings in the pan. Dredge the beef in the flour, then shake off the excess and add the beef to the pan. Turn the beef so it is nicely browned on all sides and then transfer it to the crock-pot.

Arrange the carrots and potatoes along the exterior side of the crock-pot. Pour in the bottle of ale until it covers about 3/4 of the beef. Set on low for 6-8 hours.

Remove the potatoes to a bowl before serving and roughly mash. Transfer the mashed potatoes back to the crock-pot and stir. Taste and adjust any seasonings. Serve with toasted bread and thick slices of cheddar cheese. serves 4-6

*wolaver's is otter creek's organic sibling. their IPA reigns supreme at my house, but you can't go wrong with any of their products.

**feel good eats is a great vermont blog by a fabulous local chef & food writer. site has been dormant for awhile, but the archives are worth exploring!

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happy man week!

hello, friends! happy monday. hope you all had a lovely weekend. i am recovering from the superburbs wedding weekend (which was beyond fabulous) and i am taking a little time away this week - from vermont, blog land etc. but do not fear, i have some talented folks queued up to keep you entertained in my absence. (i know, i know - you were all soooo worried!)

so, on this very special day, i present you with the first ever addition of the lovevermont man week. we're pretty excited about it...and hope you like it too!

first up, is mr. helming. a longtime friend of mr. frederickson, a vermont newcomer, and a loyal lovevermont reader. he is here to share his wisdom and expertise on the top 10 vermont beers and the best places to enjoy them. enjoy!

1. whistling pig red ale @ the norwich inn pub (norwich, vt) - unreal pot stickers and sweet potato fries
2. shed mountain ale @ a stowe ski house (stowe, vt) - be sure to take home a growler
3. long trail double bag @two brothers tavern (middlebury, vt) - say hi to beal and keep your fingers crossed that middlebury won
4. rock art american red while watching the pats at mr. frederickson’s apt (can’t divulge, vt) - always a fun day, just remember to compliment his beer fridge!
5. switchback @ american flatbread (waitsfield, vt) - you earned the booze card on the mountain
6. mcneill’s firehouse amber ale @ mcneill’s pub (brattleboro, vt) - welcome to vermont, it's exit 2 off 89…
7. magic hat # 9 @ falls of lana (middlebury, vt)…best cliff jumping/swimming hole in vermont
8. harpoon summer (cans) while tubing the white river, (south royalton, vt) - please keep it green and don’t sink the cans
9. otter creek spring ale (middlebury, vt) on the footbridge over otter creek - also, fyi, it's great place to get engaged....
10. one legged duck light, the barn (turnpike road, norwich, vt) - the helming's door is always open.
    

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simon pearce + harpoon = love

i love the idea of a wine pairing dinner. food and wine prepared by those who know and paired together in expert fashion, all designed to enhance the taste and experience of it all. what could be better? plus, it's like a little mini culinary lesson where you just have to learn and enjoy and not do all the work! and while i would love a wine pairing dinner, i know so very little about wine, the sheer magnitude of the evening coupled with the fear of embarassment would be too much for me. so when i got this email from my friends (yes, friends) at simon pearce, i just got giddy thinking about this beer pairing dinner - it seems right up my alley, as it is so very vermont, so very local and so very mr. frederickson. bless his heart, as he tries to be a wine guy, but his true love is a nice cold ipa. and after reading the menu they have prepared, i really can't say i blame him. and, to top it all off, you know the beer is going to be served in these beauties

here's what the menu looks like:

• sparkling cider taste
• yellowfin tuna ceviche, oranges, spicy chiles, toasted coriander popcorn & ufo hefeweizen and ufo white
• grilled venison "sliders" stone ground wheat pretzel roll, local honey grain mustard dip, sea salt and vinegar chips & ipa
• sweet and sour roasted pork shoulder, toasted coconut, pineapple, sweet potato fries & 100 barrel series "pott's landbier"
• braised bison short ribaged cheddar potato gratin, broccoli, malt jus & leviathan series "big bohemian pilsner"
• marinated raspberry foolpink peppercorns, mascarpone, toasted almond crisp & ufo raspberry hefeweizen

and here are the rest of the details: join us in our private dining room for a four-course tasting dinner and educational event featuring selections from harpoon brewery. tuesday, july 20, beginning at 7pm $55 per person for more info, click here. so c'mon, who's in?

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