The Alchemist Pub And Brewery

As anyone who is reading this blog knows, The Alchemist is shutting down for 8 days to renovate the kitchen.  As Robin(our resident cobbler/tire re-vulcanizer) has already said, you will not notice anything startlingly new when you walk in the door, but this renovation will definitely make things drastically easier for me to stuff your faces with your favorite Alchemist dishes.  I have a feeling that when we are done and back in operation everyone in the back will say “wow, I can’t believe how much easier this is.”  Word for word hopefully.

Now down to the nuts and bolts of this blog…  I know you, the reader has asked yourself “gee, I wonder what Jeff is doing while the kitchen is shut down.?.”  Well since I decided that you asked, I am packing up Mrs. chef and the official chef dog and going back to Cincinnati for another chili tour.  As most people know I have been in seclusion since my crushing defeat at the Waterbury Chilympiad this year and after many quiet hours of reflection I have come to a healthy spiritual place.  About time, right?  I now understand that the only way to reclaim my crown as the Chili King is to humble myself and once again sup at the tables of the masters.  I will, as is my habit, be making the rounds to my favorite chili parlors and hopefully trying some new gems that have here-to-fore eluded me.  As usual, I will be blogging about all of my adventures.  This trip to the land of my roots is just the thing to rev up some fine high music in the brain and once and for all be shut of this whole losing to Sean Carey mess.

In addition to stuffing my belly with chili, I plan to do some serious turkey hunting in Ohio.  I should get my chops tuned up on the birds in Clermont County and come back to Vermont primed for the second half of Spring turkey season here.  Hopefully in addition to my chili reviews I will be posting a triumphant account of my hunt.  As it turns out, I am a great shot as long as there is not a turkey in front of my shotgun.  Lets see if we can’t fix that, eh?

I have officially used the word “chili” far too many times in one blog.

Chili.

Until indigestion sets in,

Jeff

This was an old blog of mine from the original website. I thought that it deserved a second life. Enjoy.

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.

As winter drags on and gets painfully colder, I find that I exercise less and eat lots of fatty food. I would imagine that I am not the only person who falls into this pattern, as evidenced by the large amount of full racks of ribs that I sold last night. As my good deed for the day, I am passing along my recipe for vegetarian kimchi. Eating this delicious fermented cabbage will help maintain a healthy body even as we actively try to ruin ourselves with ham.

My simple recipe is basically the following:

3 Large heads of green cabbage, rough chopped
3 Large heads of napa cabbage rough chopped
2-3 cups of frenched red onion
4 bunches of scallion rough chopped
1/2 cup crushed fresh garlic
1/4 cup fresh grated ginger
2 cups grated carrot
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
4 large daikon radishes peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/4 to 1/2 cup good organic chili paste

Toss everything in a solution made of the following:

4 cups of hot distilled water
1/2 cup unrefined sugar
1/2 cup sea salt

Put everything into a 5 gallon bucket and compact it with your hands to remove as much air space between the cabbage leaves as possible. Find a lid or plate just small enough to fit inside the bucket and place it on top of the vegetable mix. Weigh the lid/plate down with a 4 to 5 pound weight. I generally use a large can of tomatoes or something that shape and size. Cover the bucket with a towel or sheet and cinch it tight with rubber bands. Place the whole bucket in a cool dark place for 2 to 4 weeks to allow fermentation. Check periodically to make sure that the top is not dry or moldy. When the green cabbage appears “cooked”, taste some to see if it is fully fermented. When it is fermented to your liking, put it into tightly sealable jars and refrigerate until using.

To drink up some kombucha! After two years of talking about it, I finally have kombucha on tap at The Alchemist. Kombucha is a fermented black tea that is loaded with antioxidants, amino acids and many different pro-biotic cultures. In addition to all of that, it tastes good. What does all of this mean to you? It means that your trip to The Alchemist can be written off as a medical expense.  Probably.

Aside from the kombucha, I am hoping to get the hot sauce out for sale very soon. I know, I have been saying that for two years also, but this time I mean it. We have hit a stumbling block with the labeling, but I have bottles of hot sauce waiting to be labeled and sold to our eager customers. That being said, stop asking me when the hot sauce will be ready.

Beyond those two bits of news, all that I can tell you is that The Nightstalker is on tap and the Brew Burgers are as delicious as ever. Come in and see us and don’t forget to tell your bartenders how handsome you think the chef is.

Jeff

As there has already been a formal explanation of our website catastrophe, I can get down to business.  The business of America may be business, but the business of Jeff Lang is feeding the nice people.

For those of you who have not had the pleasure of eating our pulled pork recently, you are missing out on something special.  Since the addition of our new smoker this fall, our pork is what I would honestly say is my favorite pulled pork ever.  Next time you are in for dinner and a beer, try the smoked pork burrito or the pulled pork sandwich or the red beans and rice with pork.  I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

The big news I suppose is the Alchemist’s fifth anniversary.  I still can’t believe that it will be five years already on Saturday November 29th.  A list of what will be on tap is posted somewhere on the Beer Advocate forums, but I will fill you in on one little nugget of info.  My first beer brewed at The Alchemist will be released for the anniversary.  With a whole lot of John’s guidance and assistance, we birthed The Nightstalker.  A few breweries have made some delicious Belgian-inspired dark wheat beers and they have been some of my favorite beers in recent years.  I knew that with John’s help we could make our own dark wit beer for the nice people, and I am pleased to say that it is refreshing and delicious just like everything that has come out of The Alchemist’s brewery.

That being said, there will be tons of great beers on tap next weekend.  Yes, there will be even more great beers on tap than usual so come in and help us celebrate!

Jeff