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Make Your Own Pizza -- back to top

20130904-112022.jpg

We had my grand parents over to my Mom's and did MYOP. We used the Trader Joes pizza dough (cut in half so 8oz/pizza) and did them on a tray (2 pizza/tray) in the convection oven set at 400°F (which drops to 375). Everybody made different pizzas and I do not remember them all. But our toppings are below. Note that we used the Trader Joes pizza sauce which I liked a lot. Also, the Trader JoesQuattro Formaggio (TJ 's site link) blend. It was exceptionally good on the pizzas.

Anyway, available toppings:

Note that the strange shapes were partially because I told people to aim for football shapes so I could fit two on a tray (lined with non-stick Al foil, but parchment is better)

As always, they came out very good. They needed about 20 minutes in the oven, but I really just watched them for when they were done.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6538, 2013-09-01_112024



Sautéed Chicken and Edamame -- back to top

20130905-211521.jpg

I needed something really fast for dinner since it was late after bottling my beer. I had chicken ready to go so I cut it up into pieces, put it in a plastic container, added some flour, salt, and pepper and shook it. I then sautéd it with just pam. I flipped them and let them cook until a few were around 150-160. I cut the heat then and let them keep cooking. I figured they were various sizes so some may be overcooked but the rest should be fine. Sure enough, most were really good with some real juiciness (surprising!) and a mild, but nice flavor. I made 10 oz of chicken and saved half for lunch.

I also steamed some edamame.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6547, 2013-09-05_211524



Pasta in a simple Salmon "cream" sauce -- back to top

20130906-203326.jpg

This was a pretty simple meal. I started by cooking 1.5 servings of "Plus" pasta. While that was going, I sautéd a tbsp of garlic. I then added a pack of salmon (5 oz). As I mixed that, and checked on the pasta, I lightly microwaved 2 wedges of laughing cow. I added a tiny bit of almond milk to the salmon (instead of cream) and then, when it was almost done, I added the pasta along with the laughing cow. I then seasoned with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. I tossed until the almond milk had largely cooked down. Topped with parmesan cheese

It was pretty good. The salmon wasn't incredible, but it did the job. I didn't calculate it out, but I think the whole meal was pretty low. Good carb source from the pasta and protein from the salmon

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6551, 2013-09-06_203328



Dunkel Homebrew Photos -- back to top

Photos for theBanana Bread Dunkelweizen

Initial setup with water. Worried that the rack may be elevating too high but in the end I think it was fine:20130909-113745.jpg

Showing how I stir with thermometer in wort while adding heat. I keep a close eye on it20130909-113809.jpg

After stirring notice how it looks like some areas with more grain than others. Need to distribute it better20130909-113814.jpg

Brew dog likes (unhopped) wort. (reminder, Hops+Dog==Sick/Death)20130909-113840.jpg

My emergency backup chilling method. I'm glad the bag was waterproof.20130909-113846.jpg

You can see as I siphoned from the whirlpooled wort, I still had a lot of trub. Not sure if irish moss would have helped this.20130909-113906.jpg

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6582, 2013-09-08_163911



Banana Bread Dunkelweizen -- back to top

2013-09-08 Main Brew Session:

Brew 003

I am brewing a banana bread dunkelweizen. As noted in the recipe, it is inspired by this but I tweaked it to a single hop and a few other things. The recipe is below, followed by pre-brew notes and then my brew notes:


Recipe:

(Brewers Friend Link) (PDF) (XML file saved locally)

Banana Bread Ale | Brewer's Friend

Banana Bread Ale

By (from HBT)

Method:

All Grain

Style:

Dunkelweizen

Boil Time:

60 min

Batch Size:

1.25 gallons (fermentor volume)

Boil Size:

1.7 gallons

Efficiency:

70% (brew house)

Boil Gravity:

1.045 (recipe based estimate)

Original Gravity:

1.061

Final Gravity:

1.015

ABV (standard):

5.98%

IBU (tinseth):

22.18

SRM (morey):

15.45

Fermentables

Amount

Fermentable

PPG

L

Bill %

1.5 lb

American - Wheat

38

1.8

51.1%

1 lb

United Kingdom - Munich

37

6

34%

0.25 lb

Flaked Oats

33

2.2

8.5%

1 oz

American - Carapils (Dextrine Malt)

33

1.8

2.1%

1 oz

American - Caramel / Crystal 40L

34

40

2.1%

1 oz

Chocolate (BCHB)

34

414

2.1%

Hops

Amount

Variety

Time

AA

IBU

Type

Use

0.2 oz

East Kent Goldings

Pellet

5.8

Boil

60 min

18.5

0.2 oz

East Kent Goldings

Pellet

5.8

Boil

5 min

3.69

Mash Guidelines

Amount

Description

Type

Temp

Time

4.4 qt

Heat 4.4 qt to 166-167°F

Infusion

154 F

60 min

0 qt

Raise to 170, Mash Out 10 min

Temperature

170 F

10 min

3 qt

Dunk (Batch) Sparge

Sparge

170 F

10 min

Starting Mash Thickness: 1.5 qt/lb

Other Ingredients

Amount

Name

Type

Use

Time

0.13 tsp

Yeast Nutrient

Other

Boil

10 min

Yeast

Wyeast - Weihenstephan Weizen 3068

Attenuation (avg):

75%

Flocculation:

Low

Optimum Temp:

64 - 75 F

Starter:

No

Notes

Original Source: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/banana-bread-ale-90074/ but I doubt their hop numbers. I replaced both with EKGs(used brew365 calculator for mash with minor adjustments)Note: Check the AA% on the hops and adjust as needed pitch only HALF of the yeast pack to keep the banana flavor.

Generated by Brewer's Friend - <http://www.brewersfriend.com/>

Date: 2013-09-08 15:23 UTC

Recipe Last Updated: 2013-09-08 15:23 UTC


Pre Brew Notes:

Yeast:

Target is to under pitch by a little to get more banana. I have 1.25 gal at 1.061 (estimated). According to Brewer's Friend, I need 53 billion cells. The yeast was manufactured 2013-08-15 so the above link estimates it has 83 billion. If I pitch half of it, I should be pitching about 41 billion which will under pitch by a little. I'll make sure to aerate well and maybe go a bit over half. I'll see the numbers when I put it into a measuring cup.

Process:

I'll update more with brew notes but my mash plan is as follows:

Grains were double milled

I am also going to introduce a whirlpool. I'll get it started after it has cooled by stirring vigorously. I'll then put the (sanitized) lid and let it sit for 20-30 minutes. Then, using the sanitized siphon, I'll move it to the fermenter but first through the colander. Some will go into the test jar first for a hydrometer reading.

Brew Notes:

(Combined notes taken while brewing with comments around the same time. I'll try to denote added notes with italics)

Thoughts:

(I'll keep updating this)

The process seemed to work very well. The new bags worked well (note that they were inside out) and were easy to clean. The whole thing took a bit longer than I'd hope (it's not 5:13) but it was fun and worth it.

Most of the technique (double mill, BAIB, mashout, dunk/batch sparge, etc) seemed to work well. I think I need to work on post-boil technique. Why did my brew-house efficiency come out lower than pre-kettle? Whirlpooling didn't work. I didn't like the time it took and there wasn't much hop matter spared. Maybe it would be better with irish moss? Or with a hoppier brew?

Additional Note:

I was unhappy/concerned about the measurement when I bottled the saisonso I decided to try a different measurement. I quickly took the airlock out (which was already bubbling BTW) and weighed it as 11 lbs 1/4 oz or 4997 g. I then weighed a different, empty bucket with lid at 1 lbs 7/8 oz or 478.4g. Therefore, I had 4518.6 grams. The density of water is 1000g/L but the density of this wort is 1072 g/L (OG*density of water). Therefore, there were (4516.6g/1072 g/L)=4.213L=1.113 gal. That is about 4% difference. I guess that's not too bad.

I like using the weight method but I need to be careful because my scale is supposed to max out at 11 lbs. Obviously it went above it there with the weight of the full fermentor, but there may be a loss of accuracy and/or it may just not work well.

Photos:

Photo link

2013-09-14 Update:

(Day 6) It fermented quickly but then seemed to stop bubbling after the first day, maybe even sooner. I gave it a small shake to try to re-ignite anything in there but it didn't seem to make much of a difference.

On2013-09-14, I racked it into a secondary so I could take a measurement (even though a secondary is not needed). At 73F, it read 1.021 which seems high.

However, Brewers Friends says that is 6.56% ABV and is 69.4% attenuation. That may be fine. I will investigate the typical FG of Dunkels and see what I find. I'll update if need be.

2013-09-22 Bottling:

I bottled the dunkel. Here are my notes:

I really need to look into the loss of so much. What can I do to prevent it? I drank that 1/2 bottle. It was okay. Definitely tasted like a wheat beer but no detectable banana flavor. May be more pronounced cold. Not sure

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6554, 2013-09-08_171629



Chicken Pasta with a "fried" egg -- back to top

20130908-205613.jpg

I quickly threw this dinner together because I was hungry but pretty exhausted from brewing all day. (I also totally goofed and forgot to take a picture before breaking the yolk). I cooked a bt under 1.5 servings of pasta. Meanwhile, I sautéd garlic then added two small cans of chicken and then canned green chili peppers (I had to slice them). I also added two wedges of laughing cow. I brought it together with the pasta, added a tiny bit of pasta water and put the lid on to melt the cheese. I "fried" an egg and topped it with that.

It was a fast but pretty good meal. Similar to what I did the other day. The nice thing about it is that I can keep everything I need for it (minus the egg) in the pantry and ready to go.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6573, 2013-09-08_205631



Chicken Meatball Omelet and [burned] brown rice -- back to top

20130910-103234.jpg

I was going back a forth a lot on what to make for dinner while I was shopping, and this is what I came up with. First, the successful part: the omelet. I found chicken meatballs at Trader Joes (3.72 points plus for 4, though the package says you should get more). Anyway, I decided to make meatball omelets. I took 9 meatballs (half the package), cut them in half, and warmed them in a thing of spicy tomato sauce I had in the pantry. In the mean time, I cooked egg beaters on the non-stick pan and put it under the broiler to cook the top. I then topped half of it with half the meatballs, added some LF mexican cheese and put it back under the broiler. This came out very good. It was very easy and pretty low in points (though I didn't calculate it). I froze the rest of the meatballs so I could easily make this again!

I was also craving brown rice so I decided to do it in the pressure cooker (see this post) which calls for a 2:1 ratio and 18 minutes in the cooker with natural release. Well, I followed that except after about 5 minutes waiting for release, I did the water kind. Still, I opened it up and had a huge amount of BURNED rice. Ugh! I do not know if the pressure cooker heat was too high (mostly on 3, some time on 2) or if I had it too high getting it to pressure (10 on the way up) or if I needed more water. Either way, it failed pretty miserably! Next time, more water and lower heat for cooking and bringing it to pressure.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6589, 2013-09-09_103237



Broccoli Chicken -- back to top

20130910-205426.jpg

I made broccoli chicken using the broccoli beef recipe. Unlike last time where I used canned chicken, I used real, sliced chicken this time. I had a lot of broccoli so I steamed half normally and I steamed the other half in the microwave (~3 min worked well). The only problem was that I didn't think to drain it and I poured the leftover microwave-steaming water into the pan. As you could imagine, things got watered down. I also used liquid aminos in place of soy sauce

Overall, it was pretty good other than being a bit watery. I will be more careful of that next time. I liked doing it with_real_ chicken. It's not as good as beef but my original plan was to use seitan and I ran out of time. I had chicken defrosted for a different meal so I used that instead.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6594, 2013-09-10_205428



Cauliflower Fritters -- back to top

20130911-202230.jpg

I made cauliflower fritters from the recipe below. I followed the basic idea of the recipe with a few changes. I microwave steamed the cauliflower (it took about 10 minutes) instead of boiling it. I also added 2 chopped habanero peppers to the mix. I did it by mashing the cauliflower (cooled first with water) into the egg, habanero, garlic, and a bit of rosemary (not in the recipe). I then mixed together the flour with [extra] baking soda, red pepper flakes, salt, etc. As I mashed it, I added more flour since it wasn't coming together. I mixed it until it had the right consistency. I skipped the feta, lemon, and pomegranate

I also baked them instead of frying them. I used the basic idea of zucchini fritters but they needed more time. I did 425 for 30 minutes and then flipped them for 10.

I made the yogurt sauce with cumin and I added za'atar.

They came out very good. They were a bit chewy but I liked the flavor a lot. Definitely subdued but still very good. The rosemary flavor really shown through. I would definitely do them again.

2013-11-18 Note: Now part of my "recipe book"

Local Recipe

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6599, 2013-09-11_202231



Seitan Hash with Rutabaga -- back to top

20130912-201234.jpg

I made a chicken hash, though with seitan. I followed the chicken hash recipe from this post again replacing the potatoes. This time I just used a rutabaga (about 1 lbs 12 oz). And, instead of chicken, I made seitan. I made the seitan yesterday and I followed the same idea as this recipe. After the mess it made last time in the food processor, I combined the ingredients in a bowl first and then put in the food processor. This made much less of the mess. I then kneaded it in there for a bit in the food processor and then a bit more in the bowl to bring it all together. I again pressure cooked it but this time I used setting 2. They cooked nicely except you can see the bottom is darker. I liked it more like this. Though, after refrigerating it for the night, it was pretty rock solid.

The biggest problem was that I am used to using low sodium soy sauce but I used liquid aminos. It made it much more salty than I like. I'll use less of it in the future.

The hash was very good. It made WAY TOO MUCH FOOD but that isn't really a bad thing. I liked the additional red pepper I put into it as well. Maybe next time, I'll go lighter on the za'atar (even though I already used less than the recipe). I may also make it with less rutabaga (or whatever). Though, I will say, the rutabaga didn't smell great when I cut it (a bit too strong), it cooked really nicely and was really flavorful

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6604, 2013-09-12_201238



Southern Tier Pumking Clone(ish) -- back to top

Meredith and I are brewing a clone (of sorts) of the ST Pumking beer. As noted in the recipe comments, it is a combination of a few different sources. This is beer 004. The recipe is below:

Recipe:

(PDF) (TXT) (XML stored locally)

ST Pumking Clone

By gwdlaw (HBT) and Bull City

Method:

All Grain

Style:

Holiday/Winter Special Spiced Beer

Boil Time:

90 min

Batch Size:

1.375 gallons (fermentor volume)

Boil Size:

2.1 gallons

Efficiency:

70% (brew house)

Boil Gravity:

1.062 (recipe based estimate)

Original Gravity:

1.100

Final Gravity:

1.032

ABV (standard):

8.92%

IBU (tinseth):

32.64

SRM (morey):

24.19

Fermentables

Amount

Fermentable

PPG

L

Bill %

3.5 lb

American - Pale 2-Row

37

1.8

62.9%

0.5 lb

American - Caramel / Crystal 80L

33

80

9%

0.5 lb

American - Victory

34

28

9%

3 oz

Lactose (Milk Sugar) - (late addition)

41

1

3.4%

3 oz

Turbinado

44

10

3.4%

2 oz

Belgian Candi Syrup - Dark

32

80

2.2%

1 oz

Brown Sugar

45

15

1.1%

0.5 lb

pumpkin

1.75

13

9%

Hops

Amount

Variety

Time

AA

IBU

Type

Use

0.16 oz

Magnum

Pellet

15

Boil

60 min

29.83

0.13 oz

Saaz

Pellet

3.5

Boil

15 min

2.81

Mash Guidelines

Amount

Description

Type

Temp

Time

7.5 qt

Strike at 167-168 (7.5qt=1.875gal=30c)

Infusion

154 F

75 min

--

Mash Out

Temperature

170 F

10 min

3.15 qt

3.15qt=12.6 cups

Sparge

170 F

10 min

Starting Mash Thickness: 1.5 qt/lb

Other Ingredients

Amount

Name

Type

Use

Time

0.25 tsp

Irish Moss

Fining

Boil

15 min

0.13 tsp

Yeast Nutrient

Other

Boil

10 min

0.13 tsp

Allspice

Spice

Boil

5 min

0.5 tbsp

Chopped candied ginger

Spice

Boil

5 min

0.75 each

Cinnamon sticks

Spice

Boil

5 min

0.13 tsp

Nutmeg

Spice

Boil

5 min

0.13 tsp

Whole cloves

Spice

Boil

5 min

0.25 tsp

Pumpkin pie spice

Spice

Secondary

--

0.25 tsp

Capella water soluble Graham Cracker Extract (purchased online)

Spice

Secondary

--

1 each

Vanilla Bean vodka solution (see notes for exact quantities)

Spice

Secondary

--

Yeast

Ferments / Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05

Attenuation (avg):

72%

Flocculation:

Medium

Optimum Temp:

59 - 75 F

Starter:

No

Notes

Do not trust the FG numbers because of the lactose, etc---------------------------All grains and pumpkin go in the mash. If the pumpkin is in the boil you will most likely lose a gallon of water, and have a tough time straining the pumpkin out.The sugars go in at 60 min except that Lactose that goes at 15.The pumpkin should be cleaned and cut into small cubes and baked for 45 mins at 350, then mashed and coated with honey. Then baked for another 45 mins at 350. Let it cool to 154 and add to mash.For the vanilla bean vodka solution, 1/2 vanilla beans are cut in half. The seeds and goodies are then scraped into 1oz of vodka. Let the vodka sit for two weeks.----------------------Recipe from http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/southern-tier-pumking-clone-191381/index20.html (gwdlaw) and http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/16367/southern-tier-pumking-clone and http://bullcityhomebrew.com/recipes.aspx?id=Pumpkin%20Spiced%20Ale%20(All%20Grain).xml(all over the place)

--------------------

The mash numbers are a rough estimate. Adjust as needed

Generated by Brewer's Friend - <http://www.brewersfriend.com/>

Date: 2013-09-15 16:17 UTC

Recipe Last Updated: 2013-09-14 10:56 UTC

2013-09-14 (prep):

2013-09-15:

Brew Notes:

Photos:

See HERE

Other Notes, etc:

It didn't start to really show some air lock activity for 18 hours. From my reading, that is not too abnormal. Furthermore, it is probably colder with the swamp cooler method

2013-09-22 Racking + Spices:

I racked the pumking beer and added the vodka mix. I racked into the gallon jug onto the vodka and also took a sample (before vodka). I got 1.031 (1.032 with temp) which Brewers Friend says is 10.5 ABV. I calculated that the vodka should add 0.3% to that but we'll see based on how much gets into the bottle.

I basically filled the gallon jug. That means I still lost a good amount to yeast/trub. But I do think I did a better job than ever before at getting just about all of the liquid off the yeast!

Also, no graham cracker extract was added.

2013-10-08 Bottling:

Here are my notes. Meredith was here for this too.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6611, 2013-09-15_161210



Pumking Photos -- back to top

Photos for the Southern Tier Pumking Brewing

The pumpkin after the oven. It looks a bit dry The wort cooling. Took a bit longer to cool but the ice held My first time with dry yeast. Looks and smells like when proofing bread yeast. Not really a surprise a bit Brew Fiance and Brew Dog are ready for the end of Brew Day! Almost there My version of a swamp cooler. Inspired by my improvised ice bath last time

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6622, 2013-09-15_184743



Spinach and Mushroom Omelet and Home Fries -- back to top

20130916-203837.jpg

I had potatoes, spinach and mushrooms all getting ready to go bad. So I decided to make this. I made the home fries like I used to. I thinly chopped the potatoes, microwaved them for a bit, and then cooked them on the skillet, tossing very often and pamming as needed. As they got more cooked, I eventually added salt, pepper and rosemary. I kept tossing as they cooked.

In the meantime, I finely chopped some mushrooms and cooked them in the pan, adding a bit of sherry as it cooked down. I then added spinach and let it wilt. (and then added more). I took the stuff out of the pan, I cooked the egg and then put the mushroom and spinach stuff back onto the egg. I then added a bit more spinach and cheese. I cooked them in the broiler until finished

Overall, it was okay. The eggs definitely needed more salt and flavor. I guess eggs can be pretty boring and I should have been more prepared for that. Next time I'll add more flavor to it.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6631, 2013-09-16_203839



Balsamic Broccoli and Seitan -- back to top

20130917-204306.jpg

I made my [roughly] regular Balsamic Broccoli recipe (most recently perfected here). I basically followed that recipe more or less for the balsamic sauce (minor changes, including the whole bottle of dressing and hot banana peppers). I had to microwave steam the broccoli since there was so much!

The real star was the seitan. It was again based on when I did the same thing except I made it more chickeny. I actually doubled the dough and 1.5 times the sauce (since you don't need an exact double). I did it a bit differently. I used 1 tbsp of liquid aminos for the_double_ and I added 1.5 tbsp of chardonnay. I also included the Osem but_not_ the worcestershire

I made the sauce out of 3 cups water, 2 Tbsp Osem, 1/4 cup wine and 1 Tbsp liquid aminos. I pressure cooked it for 30 minutes. The dough balls really grew and kind of stuck together making them have a strange shape. However, the texture was pretty good. Not totally evenly cooked. Some areas were more dense than others but overall, it was still really good.

I feel like I am really dialing in on a seitan recipe.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6635, 2013-09-17_204307



Falafel -- back to top

20130918-203624.jpg

I made the standard falafel except that I forgot the garlic (both powder and minced). It came out very good today. A crispy outside with a nicely cooked inside and lots of flavor. I really feel like I have the falafel recipe dialed in to where I like it. I also made a za'atar and yogurt dip.

I actually doubled the recipe and froze half.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6664, 2013-09-18_203731



Sous Vide Tilapia and Sautéed Kale -- back to top

20130919-200304.jpg

I made tilapia using my new sous vide setup. Actually, the setup isn't for sous vide but it should work. I do want to do some real tests, but in the mean time, I just cooked tilapia from frozen. I started with the water pretty warm, put the fish in, and let it go. However, I only set it to low and when I checked on it a while later, it was not at temp. I was afraid the fish was at the "danger zone" for too long so I tossed it and tried again with it on warm

A few things. The first is that I am unsure of this setup. It blew past the set temp and took a very long time to come down. I do not know if it is a mixture issue or that fact that it may be too strong of a source. I'll investigate. (see the photo below. I'll comment later on making it but it's for beer)

The other thing is that this is simply a piss-poor test of the system. It is pretty boring fish with absolutely no seasonings. I just wanted something fast and easy.

The fish came out pretty well. It was warm when I ate it but that is likely after I plated it. It seemed fully cooked and certainly not overcooked.

I also made sautéd kale. Pretty standard. I just added some salt, pepper and dried onions.

20130919-200330.jpg

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6681, 2013-09-19_203308



Sautéed Kale with Salmon -- back to top

20130920-201635.jpg

I had a lot of kale left and I wasn't very hungry since I ate earlier so I made this. I sautéd kale with some garlic and a pack of canned salmon. Kind of strange but it was fine and quite filling. I actually think it would be very, very good with fresh salmon instead of canned. I'll keep that in mind for future meals. Still, this was quick and easy

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6689, 2013-09-20_201650



Pasta & Meatball Omelets -- back to top

20130922-213306.jpg

I needed something fast since I was cooking for tomorrow (will link to then). I defrosted some TJ's chicken meatballs and I was debating as to what to make. I remember that I had done this last time. I didn't have as much egg so I decided to add pasta. The sauce was the same as last time (Classico Spicy Tomato and Basil)

I make about 1 serving to split between two. I added half of that one side of the eggs. I cooked the egg, then added half the meatballs, some low-fat sharp cheddar and some parm. I put it all in the broiler and then folded it over. Finally, I topped it with sauce and more parm cheese.

The pasta made it_much_ better! It added a nice texture, flavor, and body to the omelet. I would most certainly do it again. The only thing I missed is salt but topping it was enough. I'll add it next time.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6698, 2013-09-22_213759



Lentil Moussaka -- back to top

20130924-070644.jpg

It's not the prettiest picture, but I made lentil moussaka. I followed my moussaka recipe (since changed to note lentils) and my post from last time. Based on the suggestions of the last lentil attempt, I cooked the lentils separately and added it to the main mixture when the time came. I also ~1.5x all of the spices. I do not think it is needed for the beer one, but the lentil one does.

A few other changes were that I cooked the eggplant on a cooling rack over the pan. It think they crisped a bit more. And I forgot the butter in the béchamel. It didn't make too much of a difference making think I can skip it.

I made it on Sunday and refrigerated it and then cooked it tonight at 375 for about 45-55 minutes (I turned off the oven at 45 and let it sit as I did some other things).

It came out really, really good. Lots of flavor and good texture. The lentils were a tad over cooked but really not bad. I would definitely consider doing it with lentils over beef again.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6702, 2013-09-23_070701



Seitan Taquito Cupcakes -- back to top

20130925-195159.jpg

I made cupcakes with seitan. It was a bit strange. I used the seitan I made on 2013-09-17. I shredded it with the grater blade in the food processor. I also did zucchini. I cooked it with sautéd onions, some jalapeños, hot salsa and finally some laughing cow. After that, I followed my regular dinner cupcake procedure. The bottom layer cooked a bit too much. It wasn't burned but it shrunk a bit. Next time a bit shorter.

Anyway, the filling was interesting. I had hoped that the food processor would grate it but, likely due to the springiness, it became more powdered. Maybe a bit like ground seitan. It certainly had the flavor of seitan but lost all texture. I want to look into better ways to make finely chopped. Still, it was pretty good.

I also made kale chips (pictured below) with the method I discuss on 2012-07-31. I tried two things differently. First, I was lazy and didn't cut the stems. The second was that I cooked half of it with the cooling rack in the pan. It actually cooked better on the pan with parchment so I'll know not to do it that way again.

20130925-195206.jpg

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6710, 2013-09-25_195225



Snickerdoodles -- back to top

20130927-165358.jpg

I made Snickerdoodles from the recipe below taken out of one of my Dad's recipe books. I used to make them with the recipe when I was much younger so I decided to use it again.

I followed the recipe pretty closely except I used Wolfram Alpha to convert 3.5 cups flour to 17 ounces and 2 cups sugar to 14 ounces. I also just mixed all of the dry ingredients into the wet slowly at the end.

I made big ones since it was supposed to make 35 to 40 but only made 28. I forgot how much they spread. Some stuck a bit but I was able to separate them. I'll do smaller ones and more batches next time. They tasted pretty good. Some were a bit too cooked but still tasted fine.

They were very good. Nice flavors rich taste. I'd make them again if I have a need to.

Snickerdoodles (from ???)

Local Copy-- password is the name of my dog, all lower case

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6715, 2013-09-27_143055



An Old Warmer -- back to top

Homebrew number 005

Recipe:

(PDF) (TXT)

An Old Warmer

By Justin Winokur (Combined from Jamil's Recipes)

Method:

All Grain

Style:

Holiday/Winter Special Spiced Beer

Boil Time:

60 min

Batch Size:

1.35 gallons (fermentor volume)

Boil Size:

1.9 gallons

Efficiency:

72% (brew house)

Boil Gravity:

1.060 (recipe based estimate)

Original Gravity:

1.085

Final Gravity:

1.021

ABV (standard):

8.32%

IBU (tinseth):

40.2

SRM (morey):

28.46

Fermentables

Amount

Fermentable

PPG

L

Bill %

1.75 lb

United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale

38

3.75

42.4%

5 oz

Molasses

36

80

7.6%

4 oz

American - Caramel / Crystal 80L

33

80

6.1%

1.75 lb

English Pale

38

3

42.4%

1 oz

Black Patent

25

680

1.5%

Hops

Amount

Variety

Time

AA

IBU

Type

Use

0.25 oz

Horizon

Pellet

12.5

Boil

60 min

40.2

Mash Guidelines

Amount

Description

Type

Temp

Time

5.1 qt

Strike around 165

Infusion

152 F

60 min

--

Mash Out at 168

Temperature

168 F

10 min

3.1 qt

Sparge around 175

Sparge

168 F

10 min

Starting Mash Thickness: 1.33 qt/lb

Other Ingredients

Amount

Name

Type

Use

Time

0.25 tsp

Irish Moss

Fining

Boil

10 min

0.13 tsp

Yeast Nutrient

Other

Boil

10 min

0.25 each

Spices (see comments)

Spice

Boil

1 min

Yeast

Wyeast - London Ale 1028

Attenuation (avg):

75%

Flocculation:

Med-Low

Optimum Temp:

60 - 72 F

Starter:

No

Notes

--------------------------------------

Spice Mix. Note, you only want to use A QUARTER!:

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp allspice

--------------------------------------

This recipe is roughly based on Jamil's Old Ale and his Winter Ale. I also added half of the base as Morris Otter since it sounded interesting and worth trying

Generated by Brewer's Friend - <http://www.brewersfriend.com/>

Date: 2013-09-30 21:07 UTC

Recipe Last Updated: 2013-09-30 21:07 UTC

2013-09-30. Main:

Below are my notes. Again I use italics to try to differentiate between what I wrote at the time and comments

I will update this later and as I go. Maybe I'll come back and comment too

2013-10-22 Bottling:

Wes helped me bottle while we were also brewing an APA (Beer 7). So the timing on this was more spread out.

2013-12-07 Tasting Notes:

I tried a bottle while I was brewing. I was actually pretty happy with it. I didn't taste any spice or molasses but it still had a nice flavor. A bit harsh in the throat but really not too bad. Especially since it is 9.2% ABV. I didn't get any aroma but it tasted kind of like a dark brown ale but there wasn't really any roasty-ness. I will come back with more notes next time I have one

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6720, 2013-09-30_205818