What's brewing

UPDATE: Having some technical difficulties with publishing this post...Stay tuned while we work through it...........OK. DONE.

Buongiorno. While I'll finish my breakfast of champions - coffee and a chocolate chip cookie - I thought I play catch-up.

I'm not recapping last night's "Top Chef" reunion because it was one big snooze fest. Big Baldie, a.k.a. Hosea, is the most charisma-free winner in some time. Shut it, baldie.

And in other "Top Chef" news: Fabio is now shilling a line of frozen pizzas (mamma mia!)and about 90 people showed up at yesterday's Philadelphia "Top Chef" casting call.

Any Delaware chefs attend? Let me know.

Right now, I chomping at the bit for Marco Pierre White's show "The Chopping Block." More on Marco here

Philly Beer Week begins Friday and runs through March 16. Hop heads go nuts. There are more than 650 brew-related events at venues in and around Philadelphia that include beer brunches, neighborhood pub crawls, bus tours, meet the brewer dinners and historical culinary events. For more info visit www.phillybeerweek.org.

My story yesterday was about brew and food connections and cooking with beer.

The pork braised in Guinness from Daniel Boulud's "Braise" cookbook is worth a look. I made this recipe a month ago, but substituted prunes for the cherries because I just received a package of prunes at work. (Oh, the things that arrive in my mail....) It's a wonderful comfort food stew. Froze the leftovers - and then reheated them after Monday's snow; it was still delicious.

BBQ lovers can look over Mark Bittman's barbecue sauce recipe - Bittman gave me the recipe several months before his updated 10th anniversary edition of "How to Cook Everything" was released. I'm very grateful for his generosity.

Haven't yet tried the malty potatoes from Scott Kerkmans, the CBO or chief beer officer for Four Points by Sheraton (and isn't that a dream job?) but Scott has very reliable recipes.

PORK SHOULDER WITH GUINNESS, DRIED CHERRIES AND SWEET POTATOES

Adapted from "Braise" (Ecco, 2006) by Daniel Boulud and Melissa Clark. You can use a smaller roast, but keep the ingredients for the sauce the same.

5 cups Guinness stout
1 cup dried cherries (or you can use prunes)
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons vegetable or extra-virgin olive oil
1 (5 1/2-pound) pork shoulder or pork butt
Coarse sea or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 large red onions, peeled and sliced
1/2 teaspoon crushed black pepper
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
5 whole allspice, crushed
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup molasses
3 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
2 pounds sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and roughly chopped


Bring the stout, cherries (or prunes), and vinegar to a simmer in a saucepan. Transfer to a bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and let sit for at least 1 hour or refrigerate overnight. Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 300 degrees. Warm the oil in a large enameled cast-iron pot or Dutch oven over high heat. Season the pork shoulder with salt and pepper and sear on all sides until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer pork shoulder to a platter. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the fat in the pan. Add the onion and crushed black pepper to the pot and saute for 7 minutes. Add the garlic and continue cooking until the onions are translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 to 3 minutes longer. Add the pork shoulder, the marinated cherries and liquid, allspice, bay leaves, molasses, brown sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 cups water. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Cover the pot, transfer it to the oven, and braise for 1 hour, turning the pork once during cooking. Add the sweet potatoes and continue to braise for 2 more hours, turning two more times. If the sauce is too thin or not flavored intensely enough, ladle most of it into another pot and simmer it until it thickens and intensifies. Slice the pork and serve with the sauce on top. Makes 6 to 8 servings.


MALTY ROASTED POTATOES

From Scott Kerkmans, Chief Beer Officer for the Four Points by Sheraton.

1 cup Scotch Ale or Brown Porter
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
2 tablespoons of rosemary or thyme
4 large red potatoes (washed and cut into pieces)
1 medium onion (peeled and cut into pieces)
Sea salt
Pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Mix ale, oil, garlic and rosemary or thyme in a one gallon zip-top bag. Mix well and add potatoes and onions to the bag. Seal and marinate for 1 hour. Preheat over to 450 degrees. Use a slotted spoon to remove potatoes, garlic and onions from marinade, reserving liquid. Place in a single layer in a nonstick, foil-lined roasting pan. Pour 1/3 of the marinade over the potatoes and onions and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover pan and bake for 30 minutes. Stir mixture and sprinkle with cheese. Uncover and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until browned.


FAST BEER BARBECUE SAUCE

From Mark Bittman's 10th anniversary edition of "How to Cook Everything: 2,000 Simple Recipes for Great Food" (Wiley, 2008).

2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup beer (the darker the better; use stout or porter if you can)
1/4 cup wine or rice vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder, or to taste
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 clove garlic, minced or crushed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine all the ingredients except the salt and pepper in a small saucepan; turn the heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until flavors have a chance to blend, about 10 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary. Use immediately or cool, cover, and refrigerate for up to a week. Makes about 2 cups.