Grilled IPA Peanut Chicken Satays

     The History of the IPA, or India Pale Ale style of beer is a fascinating one.  This beer has traits that were determined by function, and were designed solely to fix, what was a very big problem for Britain.  As a result, this beer helped shape the course of history. 
     To remain a force in the East Indies, Britain needed to supply their troops, as well as an ever increasing transplanted citizenry with beer. Those in positions of power knew that the cultural and healthful aspects of beer were crucial to cohesion and maintaining their colonies.  In fact, the troops were given a ration of 1 gallon/day of beer.  The problem: at that time, the styles and means of brewing preferred by the British did not exist in India, and trips to these colonies usually consisted of 3-5 months at sea which caused the traditional dark, sweet beer to become flat, stale, and unpalatable. 

     Through ingenuity, a solution was discovered.  Greater application of hops and higher alcohol were found to inhibit spoiling, and acted as a preservative allowing the beer to last for longer periods of time.  Bow Brewery in East London created a pale ale with a significantly increased amount of boiling hops, the skilled use of "dry hopping," plus higher ABVs.  This ensured that the beer would survive the journey across the seas, and become a major success factor for the emerging British dominance in the East Indies.

     In light of this history, I thought I would make an Indian style dish incorporating the beer that was originally brewed for India.

     For this recipe, I decided to try a beer I've never had.  Based on a little advice, I went with Bridgeport's IPA.  This is Oregon's oldest brewery, and their IPA more closely resembles an Old World IPA (at least compared to the current American versions) in terms of bitterness, malt balance, and hop selection.  This is the style I prefer.  It has a good citrus nose, great notes of pine and grapefruit, beautiful lacing on the glass... wait, sorry, got distracted... let's get cookin'!

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs chicken breasts cut into 1 inch cubes (can substitute pork or shrimp)

1 cup IPA for cooking, a couple IPAs for drinking

2 tbl crystalized ginger

1 lemon grass stalk chopped in 1/2 inch pieces

5 garlic cloves minced

3 Thai chili peppers minced

1 cup light coconut milk

1/2 cup unsweetened creamy organic peanut butter

2 tbls fresh cilantro minced, 1 tbl fresh cilantro whole leaves

2 tbl low sodium soy sauce

2 limes

1 bunch of scallions lightly coated in olive oil, salt and pepper

1 tbl honey

Sriracha

Kosher salt

Cracked pepper

Peanuts for garnish
Jasmine rice prepared according to directions

Prep Time: 20 mins, plus marinade time

Cook Time:  25 mins

1.  In a blender mix your IPA, peanut butter, honey, coconut milk, minced cilantro, ginger, lemongrass, garlic, chilis, soy, salt, pepper, and juice of 1 lime.  Place your chicken cubes in a gallon size freezer bag, and pour in your mixture.  Let this marinate in the fridge for at least a few hours, up to overnight.

2.  Light a chimney starter full of charcoal.  While you're waiting for the coals to be ready, take a couple pulls off your beer, and then thread the chicken pieces onto skewers (soaked bamboo work, but trust me- metal skewers are the way to go).  This is also a good time to prepare your rice.

3.  Pour reserve marinade into a cast iron skillet (or sauce pan).  Over high heat bring to a boil, then back down to a strong simmer, stirring slowly.  Reduce down by half, or until it is thick enough to easily stick to a spoon.  Add Sriracha to taste.

4.  Your coals should be just about ready.  Have a drink, and then spread them out evenly.  Place the grill grate on, clean it, and oil it with a paper towel.  Next, place your skewers on the grill.  Using your reduced marinade, brush a thick coat on the chicken.  Cook these for 7-10 minutes, flipping them half way.

5.  In the meantime, put a piece of foil on the grill, and cook your scallions on this in a single layer.  These should take about the same amount of time as the chicken.  You want to turn them half way, and they should have some char. 

6.  Once cooked, place your rice in bowls (Udon noodles are great, too), then add chicken pieces.  Cut the scallions into 1 inch segments and sprinkle them in the bowls.  Drizzle with remaining peanut sauce, sprinkle peanuts, add a squirt of lime, garnish with cilantro leaves, add more Sriracha if you're like me and dig the heat.  Make sure you have some cold IPA nearby, and dig in!

This was another one of those dishes, which are ridiculously easy to put together and cook, but will taste like you went to a ton of work.  Without rice, these make a dynamite appetizer.

Be sure to hit me up if you have any questions or suggestions!

Cheers!

The Drunken Chef 

Kyle's Grilled Rueben Pizza

     Grilled pizza was introduced in the United States at the Al Forno Restaurant in Providence, Rhode Island, by the owners Johanne Killeen and George Germon in 1980.  Although it was inspired by a misunderstanding that confused a wood-fired brick oven with a grill, grilled pizza did exist prior to 1980, both in Italy, and in Argentina where it is known as "pizza a la parrilla."

     According to legend, the Rueben sandwich was created by Arnold Rueben of "Rueben's Restaurant and Delicatessen."  The story goes- One night one of Charlie Chaplin's leading ladies came into the deli and said "Make me a sandwich, I'm so hungry I could eat a brick."  Ol' Rueben said he went to "clowning around for the dame," cut a rye loaf on the bias, piled on a ton of corned beef, then threw on some saurkraut and russian dressing.  Supposedly, she wolfed down the whole thing, and word got around about a great new sandwich.  The Rueben special was born.

Grilled pizza, and a legendary sandwich...  I'd heard of these two magical foods being spliced together, and so I decided to give a go for myself, with a couple personal tweaks.  And of course, I wanted to bring beer into the mix!

Ingredients:

Crust (makes enough for two 12 inch pizzas- you can freeze the other half for next time):

• 1 1/2 cups of warm beer (I used Fat Tire-it's biscuity flavor is perfect for pizza crust).  Heat the beer to about lukewarm before using.  You want it warm for the yeast, but not hot.
• 1 package of active dry yeast (I used one that was labled "best for pizza crust").
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 2 cups wheat flour
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 tea kosher salt
• 1 tea sugar
• 1 tea clover honey

Pizza Ingredients (enough for one 12 inch pizza):

• Olive Oil (enough to brush the crust, and grill grate)
• Cormeal (enought to sprinkle on whatever you use to transport the pizza to and from the grill)
• 1/2 cup 1000 Island dressing
• 2 cups shredded swiss cheese
• 6 oz sliced deli corned beef cut into small strips
• 1 cup sauerkraut- drained as much as possible
• 1/3 cup chopped dill pickles
• 1 tea caraway seeds

Prep Time: 2hours 20mins (much of it is combining and rise time for the dough)

Cook Time: 35 minutes

So, right off the bat, I'll tell ya- I don't have the patience to knead dough and create it from scratch by hand.  For me, the bread maker is the way to go (If you don't have a bread maker, there are easy to find recipes for using a mixer, or if you're patient, by hand.  I'll leave that for you to decide).

Alright... Let's crack a beer, and get cookin'!

1.  Mix your dough ingredients together in the bread machine, making sure you add all of the wet ingredients first, next the dry ingredients, and then create a small indentation to place the yeast.  Start the cycle.  It will take about an hour and a half, so this recipe definitely takes some planning.  Once the cycle is over, punch down the dough, and let it rise back up (should take about 15 minutes).  Do this a couple times.  The whole process will take about 2 1/2 hours.  Trust me, it's worth it, rather than using a premade frozen dough.

2.  If you use a charcoal grill like me (definitely the preferred method for this recipe), get the coals going in a chimney starter.

3.  Chop, measure, and gather up the pizza ingredients.

4.  Sprinkle flour on whatever surface you plan on working your dough.  Using your hands, shape the pizza however you want.  Let it sit for 5 minutes, then spread it out again, if needed.  Don't bother making a raised rim around the edges.  Thin or thick, either will work fine.  Sprinkle cornmeal on a pan or pizza stone, or whatever you're using to transport your pizza.  Carefully place your pizza dough on it.  Now its time to check the grill.

5.  Once the coals are ready, clean your grate and brush it with a folded paper towl lightly soaked with olive oil to prevent sticking.  Carefully slide your pizza dough onto the grate (the cornmeal makes this easy), and close the lid.  Let it cook for 2 minutes.  Meanwhile, have some beer.

6.  After 2 minutes your crust will have some bubbles, or will be very puffy overall.  This is a good sign.  Lift up half of the crust with tongs, and check to be sure it's getting a light char.  If it has, carefully slide the pizza stone/tray/what-have-you underneath, and remove from the grill.  If it hasn't charred much, wait another minute or two.  Once removed from the grill, flip your crust char side up.  Lightly coat the top and edges with olive oil.  Now it gets fun.  Have a drink, and reflect on how well this is going. 

7.  Spread 1/2 of the dressing over the entire top of the crust.  Next, sprinkle with 1/2 of the swiss cheese.  Arrange all of the corned beef on top of the cheese, then drizzle the rest of the dressing.  Throw on all of the sauerkraut, and then the remaining cheese.  Lastly, sprinkle on the caraway seeds.

8.  Time to get this bad boy back on the grill.  Carefully slide your pizza back on the grill, and cover.  Let it cook for 2 minutes.  Same drill as before, using tongs  to check the underside for char.  If there is some char and the cheese is melted, game on (if not, give it a couple more minutes).  Slide the pizza off the grate onto your stone/tray/what-have-you.

9.  Sprinkle on the chopped pickles.  Let your pizza sit for 5 minutes, then slice it up and dig in.

This was the first time I've tried to make this, and it turned out even better than I had hoped.  I think the above method of grilling crust/pizza is solid.  As far as staying true to the sandwich, all the toppings are straight from a Rueben, and the wheat crust and caraway seeds helped mimick rye bread very well.  The beer definitely added another great layer of flavor to the crust. 

Considering how easy it was to put together, I'll definitely make this again.  Give it a try, and let me know if you have any questions, or changes that worked well!

Cheers!

The Drunken Chef