Irish Cheddar Stout Bread

While my husband is planning to make an Irish beef and potato stew for dinner, I decided to cap dinner with an Irish bread to dip in the stew. After all, St. Patrick’s Day is coming up in less than two weeks. 

I researched some breads and looked at the flours I had. I created this recipe from a conglomerate of blogs and books, taking into consideration the ingredients that were in my pantry and fridge.

The dough was a giveaway for how tasty this bread would turn out. Although it was darker in color than the final product, the dough was sweet and yeasty, without any yeast. The beer and the cheese added a unique depth that brought me to the pub from my kitchen.

The final bread should be on every table on St. Patrick’s Day. It has a thick rustic and buttery crust, with a soft and sweet center that tastes like whole grain. However, I used all-purpose flour, so I believe the Guinness beer added a yeasty taste. 

Overall, let me just say that we ate five slices before the stew was even done.

Irish Cheddar Stout Bread Recipe
Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
• 12 ounces Guinness (or other stout beer)
• 1 Tablespoon butter

Method
1. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. Gently, toss the cheese into the flour mixture. Make sure that each strand is coated well.

4. Add the Guinness and stir until just combined. Double check that flour at the bottom of the bowl has been incorporated.

5. Pour the dough into the loaf pan and let it rest for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

6. Bake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes. Remove from the oven and rub the butter into the top crust. Bake for an additional 5 minutes.

7. Let the loaf stand for five minutes on a cooling rack. Then, pull the parchment paper up from the pan and allow the bread to cool completely. 

The Rocky Mountain Gentry Show

Rocky Mountains!

Before last week, I had been to Kansas and California, but nothing in between. I had said this so many times in the past few years that I think people around me wanted to shoot me. Now, I don't have to say it any more because Brad and I went to Colorado! 

We visited the Gentry's, who used to live near us. We set them up a few years ago and eventually they got married and moved away. Although we were sad they did not stay, it is nice that we have a new place to visit. On this particular visit, they took us to all the places we wanted to go:  Mountains and Beer!

Mountains!

This mountain portion of my trip really hits the theme of my blog. The mountains make me so happy on the inside, that it shows on the outside. The views in the Rockies are amazing. It makes me realize that my little troubles of day to day life are so insignificant. I can stare out into the wilderness with few people around me, and I don't feel alone. There is the wind, the trees, the grass, deer, birds, and even bugs. The whole world seems still to the naked eye. But when looking into it, I realize that if I remove myself from every day life, it is busy being alive!

Long Horn Sheep at Pike's Peak

I really did enjoy our trip to Pike's Peak. The ride up was an amazing experience. With friends, it was even better. We made jokes. We had spectacular views. We couldn't laugh too hard because we would run out of oxygen. Seriously. I decided to climb around on the rocks (eek!) and had to pause because I ran out of air. Even just walking fast on flat ground was tricky for this gal that lives in an area that is technically below sea level. All I need to say, is that Zebulon Pike, you were one courageous man.

Breweries!

There are so many microbreweries in Colorado, which means so many wonderful challenges for the palette! Brad and I had our first date at a brew pub, and we have always appreciated a craft beer. We drink to taste and appreciate, as opposed to get drunk. We were lucky that we had the chance to sample brews that we can not get out here on the east coast while we were in Colorado. Although, we were having quite a lot of heated fun after finishing three breweries in one day!

Fort Collins Brewery

We had two flights at Fort Collins Brewery: One was the regular drafts and the other was the seasonal drafts. Of all the drafts, their rauchbiers and schwartzbiers were my favorite. For those of you who are not beer people, these are beer that taste like smoked meat. Their Z lager and their Kidd Lager were fabulous for me!  See  Fort Collins Brewery Website for more info!

Mostly finished flights at Fort Collins Brewery!

Big Beaver Brewing Company

This was a "hoot." It was quaint and semi-raunchy with beer that was tasty. We took my gnome and got some pictures. The staff was pleasant and they gave us free raunchy stickers! Check out the Big Beaver Brewing Website for more!

New Belgium Brewing Company

This is the larger microbrewery that we had the chance to visit. I have had their Fat Tire over here in the east and it was always enjoyed. Here I tried a black IPA and their 1554. But the best of all was their Cocoa Mole Ale. It tasted like cinnamon! You could even smell the cinnamon in the beer. It was a wonderful beer. To read more about it, check out the New Belgium Website to read about it, get pairings, and more!

Grampy liked the New Belgium trailer

Grampy liked the food truck outside, too!

Road Trip to Abingdon

Brad's Parents

Brad and I are continuing working on our Summer Bucket List.  It never ceases to amaze me how different my husband's upbringing was from mine, and yet we fit together so perfectly. I am always reminded of this when we visit his parents' home in Abingdon, VA. I am writing this a little later than I originally hoped. We went for the 4th of July and stayed for a week. Here are some of the highlights of our trip!


Fourth of July BBQ- Most of the dishes were the same fare we had up North. We had hamburgers, bratwurst, macaroni salad, potato salad, and corn on the cob. It was pretty standard American picnic fare. However, what is it with the south putting mustard in the potato salad? I never did understand this. It just does not belong. However, an addition that could be added from our southern picnic: Banana Pudding. Holy cow. I had never even heard of it until I moved down South. Banana pudding belongs... at every holiday. I am an addict.


Spiderman with a Side of Suicide: We decided to see the Amazing Spider Man movie on the 4th of July instead of fighting traffic from the fireworks (on a side note- liked the new actor so much better than Toby Maguire).So much for worrying about the traffic. We were on a one lane each way highway in the dark. There were adults and kids on bicycles everywhere. I could tell that Brad was concentrating very hard on the bicycles. With my very poor night vision, I saw something dark in the road. I couldn't quite tell what it was until we were about fifty feet from it. It was a girl sitting in the middle of the road talking to herself. I yelled, "ROAD!" and at the last minute Brad has to swerve around her. We pulled over just in time for the guy behind us to hit her, only going about 20 mph. I think she was on drugs.... or drunk... or both. Probably suicide. The police already knew who she was. Everything turned out all right, but it was scary to say the least.

Wolf Hills Brewery Penny Topped Table and Beer Flight... after sampled

Wolf Hills Brewery:  We also got to check out a new brewery in Abingdon called Wolf Hills Brewing. We had a beer flight and sampled five different brews before going out to dinner with Brad's parents. The beer was middle of the road, but the coolest thing: THE PENNY TABLE! The entire table top was adorned with glued pennies. It was a very cool idea. See the picture to the right.




Here is what we tried:

• Lonesome Pine Porter: It was awfully smokey and strong to be a porter when it was just pulled from the keg. After letting it sit a bit, it mellowed out with the rise of the temperature. 
• Holston River Hefeweizen: This was not too bad at all. It was very drinkable and even Brad's Mom liked it. 
• Trooper's Alley IPA: I have one word to say: GRAPEFRUIT. (It was because of the hops, but if you were to add three tablespoons of sugar to it, I would have thought I was drinking grapefruit juice)
• White Blaze Honey Cream Ale:This was my favorite out of all of the samples we tried. Coming from SUNY Geneseo, very near the home of the Genesee Cream Ale, I really learned to hate cream ales. However, this one was pretty decent. Very drinkable and you could actually taste the honey and the flowers with it. Score!

...and there was one more, and for the life of me, I have no idea what it was. It must not have been amazingly good or bad. :) For more info on the brewery, check it out at: http://www.wolfhillsbrewing.com/