Pangea Poached Pears with Smoked Blue Cheese and Almonds

I have previously cooked with beer but this is the first time I have written it down. I wanted to take advantage of the ginger profile found in Dogfish Head's Pangea. The Pangea worked well and reduced without turning bitter. See video for the story of Dogfish head Pangea.


 

Serves 4


2 cups simple syrup
2 cups Dogfish Head Pangea. (You know what to do with the rest)
1 cinmamon stick, broken in half.
1 vanilla bean, cut in half lengthwise. 
2 tbsp honey.
4 firm pears, peeled, cored and cut in half. (Red bartlet pears are my favorite)
fresh spring mix, rinsed and dried.
1 cup of smoked blue cheese.
1/2 cup almonds, toasted.


1. In a medium saucepan, add all ingredients. Bring to medium heat and stir until honey is melted through.
2. Add pears, cut side down and bring to a simmer.

3. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until pears are just tender, turning half way through.
4. Remove pears and let cool.
5. Reduce poaching liquid until it reaches a syrup like consistency. Remove from heat.


Place a mound of greens on a salad plate. Slice 2 pear halves into thin slices and fan on top of greens. Crumble 4 tablespoons of blue cheese on pears and sprinkle with toasted almonds. Drizzle Pangea sytup and enjoy. Repeat this for the remaining three plates.

If you want, omit the greens and smoked blue cheese and place on top of vanilla ice cream. Drizzle with warm Pangea syrup.

Well here is my first tasting on Beer Delaware blog. I will do things differently. No numeric ratings, no A, B, or C ratings. I do not want a number or letter to persuade you one way or another. What I want is for you to try all Delaware beers and decide whether or not you like them yourself. I will give you my over all impression and feelings toward these beers.

Today I tasted one of my favorite styles, a Porter from Evolution Craft Brewery, located in Delmar, Delaware. This Porter is called Lucky 7 Porter due to the simple fact it is brewed with 7 lucky malts. Cool huh?

Well just like some of the other EVO beers I have tasted, this fails to disappoint. It pored black with a reddish tint through the light. A nice tan pillowy head that kept me company for about 5 minutes. The aroma gave off roasted malts, then coffee with dark chocolate.

It had a medium bodied mouth feel and  provided a sharp maltiness on the tongue, light coffee bitterness with dark chocolate notes. It had a long pleasant finish. Most beer drinkers relate Porters with cool autumn air and a toasty fire. For me, Porters work well all year round, especially with BBQ. Try it with your favorite chocolate dessert.

Lucky 7 will be a standard porter in my household. Keep up the good work Evolution!

Serve Lucky 7 in a a pint glass or a glass similar to the one featured in the picture. Best served between 50 and 55 degrees.

Enjoy and Drink Local

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Randall the Enamel Animal

Say what? Randall the Enamal Animal? Sounds like a nickname for a professional wrestler. Well in the beer world, this is simply known as the Randall. It is actually a cool device Sam Calagione from Dogfish Head came up with when he wanted to pimp up his 120 minute IPA with fresh hops. What does it do exactly?  Well, simply put, the double-chamber filter is filled with flavor-enhancing ingredients. The Randall was originally designed to extract the aromatic oils from fresh hops. Over the years, the Randall has taken on a life of it's own using ingredients such as pumpkin seeds, jalapenos and butterfingers.

This past Thursday, Two Stones Pub hosted a one of a kind event. They called it DFH@2SP . Sam Calagione and his guys joined 2SP to hang out with a full house of Dodfish Head and craft beer fans.

The taps were filled with over 12 DFH brews plus a special Randall vs Randall. DFH created their unique Randall featuring Palo Santo with chocolate vodka soaked cherries and vanilla beans. In 2SP's corner was Midas Touch over sage, ginger and cranberries. And the Beer Belt goes to...... Two Stones Pub.

Drink Local