The United Steaks

Pizza in Berkeley isn’t just pizza. It’s a political movement!

The Cheeseboard Pizza Collective is an independently operated adjunct to the larger Cheeseboard Collective, at 1512 Shattuck Avenue. Everyone who works at the Cheeseboard Pizza is a member of the collective with equal decision-making power. There is no boss, manager, or employees-it is worker-owned.

The Cheeseboard Pizza Collective is open Tues-Sat for a few hours at lunch and again for a few hours at dinner.

Last year, I wrote about Lasater Grassland Beef located in eastern Colorado. Their sustainable ranching practices produce healthier and better-tasting beef.

This year, I’m going to place an order for Christmas. Four 7- to 9-ounce filets go for $60. I don’t mind a little indulgent spending at this time of year. And it will be interesting to see if we can taste the difference. I’m betting we can.

Japanese Flickr user, twin_lens takes beautiful photos of food.

Blogging power couple, Meg Hourihan and Jason Kottke are back from their trip to Asia, where they ate (and blogged about) some wonderful food.

Here’s a selection from Meg’s report on their Thanksgiving dinner in Vietnam:

For our Thanksgiving the other evening, we headed to Le Bordeaux in Ho Chi Minh Ville (I love that ville, all the French restaurants say that on their menu) for a special dinner. Once our taxi driver actually located the restaurant, things were very nice, if a bit more than I’d anticipated.

We started with a Champagne aperitif and enjoyed some kind of crab amuse in a spoon with dill and a mayonnaise-life creaminess holding the chunks of firm crab together. For my appetizer, I ordered a “Foie Gras Three Ways” (which Jason, ha ha ha, called “ménage à foie”). There was a slice of terrine, a poached sliver, and then a crisply seared chunk. Each was nearly the size of a typical order of foie gras, so when they put the plate down before me, I was both overjoyed and a bit overwhelmed. It was a lot of foie, but it was delicious!

I love foie gras but it’s so rich. Moreover, it’s so special. For me it’s a few-times-a-year indulgence, and something I really look forward to. Each bite is a nibble of magic. Eating that much at once caused some of its magic to diminish, as if I’d exceeded the foie gras limit. Because I believe for everything, even the yummiest most delicious amazing foods, there is a limit. Six oysters is perfect for me. 18 would not be. Two glass of Champagne is about enough. Three or four glasses and something is lost. A nice chunk of foie gras is just right, and I don’t need three.

It reminds me of Thomas Keller’s philosophy and the diminishing returns one gets upon successive bites of the same food. The tongue fails to distinguish; the Champagne’s bubbles blur or a BBQ pork’s tang recedes. Eventually it’s just another sip of liquid or bite of liver. And I don’t ever want to feel that jaded about anything I eat, be it foie gras or liverwurst. There’s a magic that happens when we put tasty food in our mouths, and I don’t intend to lose it.

Italian Beef - Our Deluxe Package

Portillo’s famous Italian Beef ships in two convenient 1 lb. cryovac bags with two containers of gravy (will make 4 sandwiches per bag). Along with the beef there are eight bake and serve Italian rolls; a perfect complement to our Italian Beef. Our deluxe package includes oven roasted sweet peppers and hot giardiniera. The beef, gravy and rolls are shipped via UPS.

Prices include standard 2 day shipping. Additional fees for Standard Overnight and Priority Overnight Shipping.

Price: $61.95

As a lover of hops, the name of this beer–Hop Wallop–certainly got my attention. I’ve not yet put this nectar near my lips, but next time I’m anywhere near Philadephia, a trip to Victory Brewing Company in Downingtown is in order.

When you’re travelling on I-95 through south Georgia, pull off at Exit 3 (Kingsland/St. Mary’s) and find Blue’s BBQ hut (by the Wendy’s). Blue makes a mustard-based product that is so well-smoked and succulent, it’s difficult to find words.

The pulled pork plate with two sides ought to get you down the road a spell.

By the way, if you don’t like sweet tea, too bad. Blue don’t cater to that unsweetened Yankee nonsense.

Ingredients:
• 2 oz. UV Blue raspberry Vodka
• 4 oz. Lemonade

Mixing Instructions:
Combine and serve over ice.

Ingredients:
• 1 5.5 oz. can V-8 (the single serving can, sold in 6-packs)
• 2 oz. Absolut Vodka
• pinch Lawry’s Original Seasoning Salt
• 1/2 tsp. Fresh Ground Black Pepper
• 1/2 tsp. Lemon Juice
• 3/4 tsp. Lee & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
• Tabasco Sauce to taste.

Mixing Instructions:
Mix in a shaker, pour over ice and serve with the requisite celery stalk. Or for a slightly different twist, garnish with a couple vodka-infused green olives.

Options:
The Bloody Mary, unlike many ‘traditional’ cocktails, can be varied in an infinite number of ways. I urge experimentation and offer the following suggestions:
• I use the can of V-8 as a matter of convenience when mixing a single serving. I’ve also been known to simply use an 8 oz. can of tomato sauce mixed with 1/3 cup tap water for a double batch (regular tomato juice lacks a certain bite in my opinion).
• In a party setting, whip up at least one gallon of the above mix, minus the vodka & Tabasco, a couple days ahead of time. When ready to serve, add Tabasco and vodka to a glass and top it off with the mix.
• Add Horseradish, drop the Lawry’s and reduce the worcestershire sauce to 1/2 tsp.
• Substitute 1 oz. of the Vodka with 1 oz. of Tequila…an acquired, but enjoyable, taste.
• What about those vodka-infused olives? Simple, get a fresh jar of olives, pour out olive juice and fill with vodka, replace lid and refrigerate for5-7 days.

-Courtesy of sh2.com.

Ingredients:
• 3/4 oz. Bacardi Spiced Rum
• 1/2 oz. Bacardi Light Rum
• 1/4 oz. Apricot Brandy
• 1/2 oz. Coconut Cream
• 2 oz. Pineapple Juice

Mixing Instructions:
Mix it up and serve over ice with a pineapple or orange wedge. Or blend with 1 cup of crushed ice for nice alternative.

-Courtesy of Carnival Cruise Lines.

Ingredients:
• 1/2 Pint Guinness
• 1 oz. Jamison Irish Whiskey
• 1 oz. Baileys Irish Cream

Mixing Instructions:
Pour the half pint of Guinness. In a shot glass, combine the Jamison and Bailey’s. Gently drop the shot glass in the pint glass and polish it off in one drink (chug!).

Ingredients:
• 1 oz.Malibu Rum
• 1 oz. Jagermeister
• 1 oz. Pineapple Juice

Mixing instructions:
Combine and shake over ice. Pour into a shot glass.

La Folie is a special brew put out by New Belgium Brewery that pays homage to the Beglian brew Rodenbach Flemish Red Ale.

The sour beer is produced in 3000 bottle lots (bottled and corked in champagne bottles) after undergoing one to three years aging in wooden barrels and is available only at the brewery. Fame Beer writer Michael Jackson has called it one of the ten best beers he has ever tasted and continues

“The idea was to create an intentionally sour effect, though not as intense as that in the famous Belgian beer, Rodenbach. The finished beer, called La Folie, has a dark pinkish-amber color; a sustained bead; a toffee-like start; then apple and passion fruit notes. The label suggests that the beer be left to breathe for ten minutes. During that period, firmness and acidity seem to come to the fore. Quite sour in finish but a beautifully balanced beer.”

Michael Jackson, Beer Writer

If you ever make it out to the Fort Collins area, do yourself a favor and hit up the brewery tour. The tour itself isn’t as packaged as the Budweiser and Coors tours nearby, but the ample, and free, samplings are highly recommended.

This amber-colored, naturally pumpkin flavored ale is brewed only in the autumn and combines the flavor of vine-ripened pumpkin and spices. If you’re in the mood for something unique and different to go along with the change of season, autumn is the perfect time to try Blue Moon™ Pumpkin Ale. Available mid-September through December. 185 calories per 12-ounce serving and 5.77% alcohol by volume.

“Real” beer fans (ratebeer.com, beeradvocate.com, etc) always tend to rate Blue Moon products on the lower end, primarily because they are a product of mass commercial breweries. Just the same, Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale is always a refreshing change of pace every year when the holiday season starts to roll around.

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I initially started BeerAndPizza.org a couple years ago to chronicle my experiences with food and drink. Shortly after getting started, I found I just didn’t have the time to give this site the attention it deserved and it slowly wilted away.

But now I’m back and refocused. To keep things moving along, I’m setting up the site initially as my beer log and hope that will allow me to fill in the other pieces.

tastingmenu.com is giving away their cookbook All About Apples free in PDF format.

Judging by the PDF, this should be in hardcover as it is worthy of bookshelf space from any food enthusiast.

My Martini recipe for your enjoyment.

• 2 oz. Bombay Sapphire Or Broker’s Gin
• 3 drops Martini & Rossi Dry Vermouth
• 3 Green Olives (no pimentos)

If you store your gin in the freezer, add the drops of vermouth to the glass and spin the glass to coat it. Add the gin, and garnish with the skewered olives.

If you must shake or stir, add your vermouth to a clean shaker and roll it it to coat. Add the ice and gin and give it a few good shakes in a gentle, rolling motion. Pour into your martini glass and garnish with the olives.

By no means should you rely on my recommendations for gin, as everyone’s tastes are different. Broker’s would be my preferred but not available locally. Bombay Sapphire’s blue bottle will brighten your liquor cabinet and the subtle differences in flavor over a traditional gin will add a bit of diversity to a classic martini. Tanqueray and Tanqueray No. Ten are also quite suitable.

Also, if you can find Lillet in your neck of the woods, give it a try in place of the Martini & Rossi.

Last week I whipped up a batch of my infamous (at least to my friends and neighbors) pizza dough and captured the results on the digital camera.

With the unseasonably cool weather this past Friday, and an expecting wife demanding I make her a batch of my chili, what else could I do but comply with her orders. I’ve the got the write-up and a couple photos to get posted here as well.

On Saturday, my wife and and I ventured out to a local BBQ RibFest event. I have a couple of reviews I need to polish up and get posted.

And finally, there is beer to talk about. Specifically, Boulder Brewery’s Pass Time Ale, Genesse Cream Ale, Curve Ball Kolsch, and Hopalleuia, from the very small brewery, Spilker Ales in Cortland, NE.

This blogging thing is harder than I thought, ha!

My wife and I spent the Fourth of July in New York visiting friends and had the good fortune to find ourselves invited to a rooftop dinner party with a front row view of the fireworks. The evening was catered by both an Italian restaurant and an Italian bakery. On the desert menu were the typical Cannolis, strawberries with a mascarpone-based dipping sauce, and brioche rolls with ice cream.

Since then, my quest to find a local source for the brioche rolls has dead ended at every turn. Not to give up without a fight, I spent this past Sunday on my own baking adventure.

The result:

Served warm, sliced in half with a generous scoop of chocolate ice cream.