roasted bell peppers rule

Is there anything that a roasted bell pepper doesn't improve?  The local bell peppers are in and are fantastic.  Usually, our home is swimming in bell pepper and corn chowder (a vegan dish no less).  But as good as the bell peppers are this year; the corn is pretty terrible.  Our favorite corn farmer stopped coming to the Saturday GAP farmer's market (he couldn't deal with the Greenmarket politics supposedly) and now the only farmer we trust has so little that it's picked over by 9am!  

Anyone got great corn?  Bring it over and we'll make beautiful chowder.  and if you post a comment, you'll get a copy of the recipe - free of charge!  that's right!  hard to believe, no?

Wednesday beer - I'm a what? Marron? Same to you!

Palo Santo is some bizarre and exotic wood from Paraguay.  Sourcing some exotic wood from South America and creating massive brewing vessels is definitely not a localvore best practice.

This is a massive beer. The label says 12%, but I would guess it's higher than that.  I can't quite give you a sense of the flavors here.  To me, it's a bit like someone added smokey bourbon to a nice brown ale (like this one).  I like bourbon and brown ale, not the combination. 

note to self: eat a big meal before consuming this beer

note to self2: it doesn't really help to eat a big meal

Tuesday Beer - Chateau Jiahu ('07)

Jiahu cellared in my basement for twelve months.  At six months, the beer tasted off and cloyingly sweet.  At twelve months, the bottle I consumed was malty, sweet, and Mead-y.  I love a good mead, so that's a positive. But, like so many Dogfish beers, it's just too boozy for me to really enjoy with anything.  The alcohol overwhelmed the green chili I made (with local peppers, onions, chicken and garlic).  I saved a bit to enjoy with local peaches, but that also was a poor pairing.

Monday Beer - SLAM HUH-KEL?

Weyerbacher is bringing some very interesting beers to market.  I've been a fan of the Merry Monks and Quad (the only Trippel/Quadrupel duo I enjoy).

So when news got out about the Slam Dunkel, I asked the co-op beer manager to order a case.  The beer doesn't give a strong WHEAT flavor profile, rather has kind of a sweet, malty taste up-front, followed by a strong, boozy aftertaste.  That sounds bad but it's actually quite appealing, so long as you're not trying to compare to Aventinus.

BIG WEEK of BEER

This week, I'll explore a different local beer each evening and provide some thoughts.  I'm doing this solely for you - the reader.