This year's Brewers Fest was a hell of a good time. Aside from the part where my dog ran away and was roaming around Burlington for 2 1/2 hours that is. I am happy to report that she was found by Mr. and Mrs. Chef safe and sound. As promised, here is my chili recipe from Saturday:

In a heavy sauce pan or stock pot, sweat in 2 tbsp olive oil:

1 cup diced sweet onion
3/4 cup diced red bell pepper
2 tbsp chopped garlic

When the onions soften and begin to appear transparent, add:

1 lb lean ground beef

To the vegetables and beef add:

1 tbsp Hungarian paprika
1 tbsp smoked Spanish paprika
2 tbsp ground ancho chili
1 to 2 tbsp sea salt or kosher salt
1 tbsp toasted ground cumin seed
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice

Stir constantly while the beef cooks through to ensure that there are no big chunks of beef in your finished chili. In the end you want a smooth chili with an even consistency throughout.

To the pot add:

3/4 cup unsweetened tomato paste
12 oz. low bitterness porter
12 oz. low bitterness light ale or lager

Bring the pot to a boil and reduce to slow simmer. Cover and stir occasionally(you will need to remove the lid to do that) for 2 to 4 hours.

To fully recreate the Cincinnati experience, serve the chili over spaghetti and top with shredded cheddar cheese. You can also add diced raw onion and/or red beans to the toppings. For those who are really curious, chili, spaghetti and cheese is a three way; chili, spaghetti and cheese with onion or beans is a four way; chili, spaghetti, cheese, red beans and onion is a five way.

To further recreate the the Cincinnati experience, watch a really bad professional baseball team get their guts stomped out by their opponent. Love ya Griffey!

Enjoy many happy days of chili-making joy and don't forget to chill down six or thirty of your favorite beers to enjoy while cooking/eating your chili.


Mahalo,
Jeffrey

Exciting things are afoot at The Alchemist. Interestingly enough, exciting things are also a foot at The Alchemist. The new menu is in the works and will have some very interesting surprises for our patrons. As for the hot sauce, just hold your horses bub. All things in their own time.

Most importantly, it is getting hot outside! As I have previously mentioned(at every opportunity) I love hot weather. The best thing about the hot weather for you, the diner is: fresh local produce. We will be using produce from several local farms this summer. There is nothing like fresh tomatoes still warm from the sun. Actually, that last sentence was grammatically incorrect. The first person to tell me in person what the error is may or may not get bought a beer by me. You also may get a thrashing at the hands of one of my henchmen. Who knows? What? Oh yeah, vegetables. Also look forward to Thursday night specials featuring whatever delicious ingredients I pick up at Waterbury's farmer's market.

As for the 5th anniversary, more things are afoot and also feet. I will be brewing a beer for the anniversary. For now that is all ye know and all ye need to know.

I have no intention of explaining why I interpret everything as circles with lines through them. If you had to spend five minutes in my brain, that would not even be in your top 100 list of questions. Also, I do not intend to reply to every comment on my previous post in the following post, so don't get any bright ideas.


Mahalo,
Jeffrey

The sun has apparently remembered where Vermont is and I couldn't be more pleased. People who know me know that I really don't like it when the temperature drops below 85, but this snowy winter has made these past few warm sunny days seem especially Summery. Aside from getting my neck a little redder out in the sun and getting the yard in shape, I have been a grilling fool. Usually I am just the regular kind of fool. Usually people think of grilling as the usual burgers and steaks, but you can cook almost anything on your grill. In the last two weeks I have grilled pizza, focaccia bread, chicken wings, potatoes, veggie kabobs, and whole bell peppers and sweet onions. The moral of this story is that Summer is coming to your corner of the slab and you need to grill! So ice down some beers, crank up Hogscraper, take off your shirt and start grilling!

I apologize most sincerely for the delay in this post, but my absence was unavoidable. As required by my status at The Alchemist, I was sent to Arizona for the 117th annual pork rendering by-products Olympic games at the fabulous Cuttlesville Rod And Gun Club. I will spare you the details of the whole month-long competition, but suffice it to say, I am no longer welcome to compete at the amateur level.

Big things are on the horizon at The Alchemist. In the very near future, my hot sauces will be available for retail sale in the pub. The long and stilted process of getting them onto the market is nearly over and as soon as I can get my labels printed, I will be able to start satiating our customers chili jones.

With spring allegedly around the corner I am looking forward to fresh vegetables and wild mushrooms. The hardest part of winter for me is enduring flavorless and mealy commercial tomatoes. I'm not so hip on the roof raking either. After last year's generally dismal wild mushroom season, the prospects of a bumper crop are helping me trudge through the ice and mud. Aside from the mushrooms and fresh tomatoes, we are closing in on fiddlehead and wild leek time as well. A steaming bowl of mussels with wild leeks and a pint of Holy Cow IPA will do the trick for killing the mud season blues.

Finally, to dispel any rumors that are currently floating around: I have not officially been tapped for the Vice Presidential nomination yet, but my people have been in constant contact with people who ought to know about these things. I washed my hands of politics in the mid seventies, but the time feels right to jump back in. Keep your eyes open for my campaign commercials which will soon be airing. "I like beer." I'm Jeff Lang and I approve this message.



Jeff

Winter has once again settled upon us all, and there isn't a damn thing we can do about it. This time of year, I am torn between two impulses: Warm comfort food, and Summer favorites. I love to sit down with a plate of meat loaf and gravy, but barbecued chicken and collard greens help me remember that some day the snow will melt and I can take off my boots.
With all of the great Vermont products available, it is very easy to make a hearty stew with Wood Creek beef and root vegetables from Pete's Greens. What many people don't think of is using those Misty Knoll chicken wings with your favorite hot sauce(or our home made Alchemist hot sauces, coming soon) and a cold glass of your favorite brew to celebrate the Super Bowl. There are now so many local food items available all year that we can all add a few ingredients from our home state into every meal. O.K., my home state is Ohio, but I would like to think that most of you are decent enough to not bring that up.
John is bringing out a whole slew of new seasonal beers and some old favorites are coming back. With that in mind, I have been trying to keep pace and serve up some great specials. My chefs and I have been trying to walk the line between winter comfort food, and some of our favorite regional/ethnic cuisine. With the addition of our new Sous Chef Matthew Deshong from Oklahoma City, be on the lookout for some beef on your plates! Also, some of our more astute diners will notice that some of the more frequently recurring specials will be on the menu this Spring. Perspicacity is its own reward. Indeed.
Coming up very soon, I hope to have my home made hot sauces as well as some of our condiments available for retail sale at the pub. Yes, we will be selling spicy mustard. Also, we are very excited to be working on serving Kombucha at the bar. Kombucha is a naturally fermented lightly-sugared black tea. This beverage has been traced back to the Qin Dynasty of China. There are several health benefits from this tea which is loaded with pro biotic organisms and antioxidants. The important thing is that it will stomp your hangover in minutes flat.
So with this glut of information, hopefully no one will be hassling me when the next blog is behind schedule. If John would just approve my expense account from my trip to The Matto Grosso, I would enthrall you with tales of hunting wild boar and wrestling savage wolverines, but if the check doesn't come, I won't write word one. On that note, I bid you good night. Yeah.


Jeff