It's been a long time...

Holy crap... It has been a long time since I have updated this. The last time I posted anything on here was when I was making my way to Wyoming with my brother. Tracking all the food and beer that we were tasting along the way. Since then I have moved back east to the great state of Pennsylvania. I am currently slinging great desserts and great dishes at the restaurant Nap's Cucina Mia! Greatest place on earth, greatest people on earth. My second family.
We are currently working on opening a new restaurant/market/wine bar next to the existing restaurant. I can not wait. It is coming along beautifully. The space looks great and is coming together very quickly. I hope that we can really bring Indiana a fresh new place that serves awesome wines, beers and antipasti.

I need to start compiling lists of beers that I feel we should carry/rotate. Also I need to start working on menu items. Nick and I are working together to get this stuff done but I feel like I should make my own lists on my own time and then when we get together to discuss offer up my ideas and hope that they are good.

Lately I have been coming up with some awesome desserts, but I feel as though I am slipping into a rut. I have been working a theme where we do seasonal desserts. Some of which are ones we have done before, but I always try to work in a new one that I have never done. I need some inspiration. I need more books to reference for ideas, what books though? This is that tough part... I don't know where to find some good reference material. The internet is a great place to find inspiration but when you don't know what your looking for specifically, it is often times easier to flip through the pages of a great cookbook and find something that catches your eye. If anyone has any suggestions for a good Italian cookbook please let me know. I reference a lot of Mario Batali cookbooks. Mainly because he knows how to really make certain ingredients really shine. He doesn't over do it.

Well this got drug out. Not much about beer in this post but I think this blog is taking a turn to food and beer as opposed to just beer. Until next time, enjoy a cold one and cheers!





ps. Expect a post about one of the most interestingly bad beers I've ever tasted... I'll give you a hint: Breakfast items.

Moving on...

I have relocated. Gone are the hills and farms of Indiana County, Pennsylvania, and now I reside among the hills and farms of State College, Pennsylvania. Well, not so much in the hills and farms, but they aren't far away. You go a few miles from Penn State campus and you see dozens of cattle and/or acres of corn.

It's exciting to enter a new stage in my life, and even more exciting to have access to new beers. I am much closer to lots of delicious breweries in the eastern half of the state, and I have, right in town, a delicious restaurant that brews its own beer. Otto's Pub and Brewery just relocated to a larger venue and they have yet to deliver a beer I haven't enjoyed.

But. But back to the task at hand. I recently bought a 12 pack of Brooklyn Brewery's summer seasonal brew. Their Summer Ale is tasty.

To me, it embodies everything you would want for a summer barbecue. It's not overly hoppy and goes down easy and smooth. If Tom weren't over in Wyoming I likely would have picked up a case or two to throw down while relaxing in my back yard next to a fire (and perhaps taking a drunken trek through the woods behind the house).


However, without Tom or the woods behind my house I enjoyed it at home with a delicious meal. I made some homemade garlic toast(as pictured pre-broiled below), meatballs and penne with leftover sauce I had made earlier in the week.

It was made all the more enjoyable by having my girlfriend there to share it with me. Now if only I could get her more interested in beer...

After dinner I took the time to bake some zucchini bread. Tis the season. It turned out pretty well. I hope the grad students in Penn State's Materials Science and Engineering program enjoy the leftovers.

Redemption

So Wisconsin has redeemed itself. We stopped and had lunch in Madison. A place called Bluephies. It was a really sweet place that was a blend of mexican/asian/american. The menu had a very Wisconsin touch to every item. I had a pulled pork Mac-n-cheese grilled cheese sandwich and Tony had a fried cheese curd grilled cheese with tomato jam. He originally settled on a duck confit grilled cheese with brie and something else but they were out if duck. They had an awesome selection o local brews but since we were driving for a distance we steered clear of then. They also had a extensive vodka selection. Here are some photos. And Wisconsin you can thank Bluephies for saving your image.


















Midget ketchup!

Mil-suckie...

Well Milwaukee sucks. Heres some of the beers we drank today.






These were both very tasty beers. I hate this city so much I don't feel like talking anymore about these beers. They were very good though. Sucks that this city is so shitty. Yay for rhyming.

Chicago stop 2

So day 2 comes to a close and I lay in my hotel bed satisfied and somewhat buzzed. Today was a day filled with touristy skyscraper tours but combatted with popular local eateries.
To start off our day we caught a cab off to Hot Doug's



This place was brought to light light for me by Anthony Bourdaine's No Reservations. It is a cash only hot dog joint that serves extravagant sausages and hot dogs. I had a normal hot dog with chili cheese and onion and a rib eye steak sausage with horseradish mayo and roquette cheese and crispy onions. Tony got a bratwurst with kraut and mustard and the famous fois gras dog. Everything was amazing.









We finish there then head off to the sears tower then the Hancock tower. On the 95th floor of the Hancock I had my second encounter with 312 beer. A common wheat beer of Chicago. Nothing spectacular but alright.



After a nice stroll around downtown Chicago we decided to head to dinner. After a long debate we settled on Kuma's Corner. This place was recommended by our bartender the night before at US beer co.
Kuma's in short is a heavy metal burger bar. You go in and it about the size of naps. They refuse to sell any beer like miller or bud or coors. The loud sounds of Mastodon when we first entered was a treat. The first beer I ordered was Dark horse boffo brown ale. Just as it sounds malty and dark. A very tasty brew. The second was Langunitas censored "aka the kronic" red ale. This beer was extremely good smooth and flavorful. The burgers were amazing served on pretzel buns with either fries or homemade chips.

Location:N Kedzie Ave,Chicago,United States

Chicago stop 1 of the brews and food tour

This is only stop one of the trip to Wyoming and already am I blown away by our first choices of brews and food.
Chicago is a mecca for amazing dives. At first we left the hotel thinking we were headed to this Chicago brew pub called Goose Island brewery but instead we accidentally walked into a place called US Beer Co. We knew right away this was only a bar and thought fuck it let's get a beer and find out the places to go. So we sat down and ordered a beer both of us got this...



New Holland Brewing's Poet stout. It was a great balanced stout that had a nice flavor without being to overpowering. We struck up a conversation with the bartender which led us to find out that we should skip our regular decision and go with the Burger Bar. Just as the name states it is a bar that serves awesome brews and awesome burgers.



My burger which was a hormone and antibiotic free grass fed beef with bacon and a fried egg. It was also served with truffle fries. Amazing.



Tony got some crazy German inspired burger that was a burger with polish sausage kraut and a nice mustard on a pretzel bun. Also with truffle fries. Talk about addictive.
Now to my brew...



I had a New Holland's Dragon Milk stout which may have been the best beer I have ever drank. It was dark with a tan head. The first sip was smooth with a nice alcohol burn at the end. It reminded me of drinking a nice glass a malty bourbon. Had hints of vanilla and the nice aged flavor from the oak barrels it was aged in. Had a alcohol content of 10%. It was a great beer to clean the pallet after and during eating the most amazing burger and fries meal.
There is so much more to come from this trip and I can not wait.

Location:W Mart Center Dr,Chicago,United States