Craft Beer Review - Caesar Augustus, Williams Bros. Brewing Co.

Over the last few weeks, Gerry's Kitchen has been sampling different craft beers from across this fine land. Williams Bros Brewing Co are widely regarded as one of Scotland's largest independent brewers of craft beers and are perhaps best known for the ancient and legendary Scottish Heather Ale back on the shelves. In addition to this flagline beer, the guys at Williams have a fine stable of supposing beers that I have been working my way through.
This week I picked up a bottle of Caesar Augustus, my attention gained by the 'Lager/IPA Hybrid' tagline that was emblazoned across the label. Over the last few months I have enjoyed a number of quality India Pale Ales so I was keen to see how this hybrid worked out.
Williams Bros. initially use a cold fermentation process using classic lager yeast and malt which is then stored for four weeks before adding the hops creating the hybrid.

The beer is very pale in colour, straw gold is probably the best description and pours with a light creamy head which disappears quickly. The glass has plenty of floral notes on the nose but but a slight honey aroma pushing though, resulting in an eagerness to put the glass to my lips.
The Caesar Augustus is very refreshing, like a lager should be. Sharp, crisp, and zesty flavours are recognised straight away but soon subside to be replaced by a nice bitterness from the hops, leaving the mouth with a dry finish.
The guys at Williams Bros Brewing Co claim that this lager/IPA hybrid is a revolution in refreshment and flavour, promoting the crisp notes of the finest lager with the discrete bitter finish of a well balanced IPA.
I think they might be right! I enjoyed this beer immensely, in fact I'm becoming a big fan of the blonde beers from Williams Bros Brewing company having tried Harvest Sun, Scottish Joker IPA, Birds & Bees, Scottish Session, and the wonderfully named 7 Giraffes.
The roman emperor Augustus served a four decade long age of peace and prosperity, I'm wondering if the Caesar was serving up this eponymously named beer on tap as a means to keeping the natives far from restless?
Keep up to date with Williams Bros Brewing Co on Facebook & Twitter.

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Recipe - Spiced Butter Bean Soup

So it's almost the middle of May and we are still waiting on spring turning up. Let's not kid ourselves, the weather has been awful this year. In fact the weather has been so poor recently that when this soup recipe caught my eye when I was flicking through my Olive Magazine, I knew that I had to try making it for lunch this weekend.

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1" piece of ginger, grated
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 375ml chicken stock
• 400g tin butter beans

Method

1. Heat a little olive oil then cook the onion, garlic and ginger for a few minutes until softened. Add the carrot and spices for a further two minutes.
2. Add the chicken stock and simmer for 5 minutes. At this point, add the butter beens and cook for 10 more minutes. Ladle half of the soup into a blender or food processor and blitz until smooth before pouring back into the pan and gently reheat before serving.

To serve, split between two bowls and swirl a little soured cream over the top before scattering with some fresh chopped coriander. Delicious!

 

Soup making isn't something that i'm usually that good at so I am please to say that this was a tasty, quick and easy recipe that i was able to prepare using ingredients that are always in the fridge and cupboard that I will definitely be making again, regardless of the weather. Next time I might leave the soup chunky, or maybe try using cannellini or berlotti beans instead of the butter beans.

This recipe has become my current favourite soup recipe but I would be interested in hearing what soup recipes get your taste buds buzzing?

 

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Craft Beer Review - Oxford Gold, Brakspear Beers

As my quest to try different beers continues, I am thankful that my local Morrisons supermarket has a massive selection of bottled beers from a wide selection of independent and craft breweries from across the UK.

This week I picked up a bottle of Oxford Gold from Brakspear Beers. The Brakspear name has been synonymous with brewing for over 200 years from the days when William Henry Breakspear bought a brewery on Bell Street in Henley on Thames. Following the closure of Brakspear Brewery in Henley in 2002, a £1million redevelopment of the Wychwood Brewery site was undertaken to move the brewing of Brakspear beers. This included moving and re-installing at Wychwood much of the original Brakspear brewing equipment, including the original Brakspear Copper, dating from 1779, and the famous Brakspear ‘Double Drop’ fermentation vessels, used to brew Brakspear Bitter & Brakspear Triple.

I was attracted to the packaging of the beer with its red, gold and blue labelling giving a very traditional look to the bottle. With the increasing number of bottled beers leaning towards gimmicky labels, it was nice to see something that looked like a good old fashioned beer.

The Oxford Gold is a dark amber colour and pours with a tight foamy head that settles quickly leaving a creamy ring around the top of the glass. The beer is described on the label as zesty and there is definitely citrusy notes competing with the malty aromas on the nose.

On first taste the Oxford Gold has a slightly sweet honey flavour, before being replaced with subtle hops. The flavours are simple and clean, and left my mouth with a dry finish. I found the beer very easy to drink, not too bitter, with medium carbonation. As a fan of blonde beers, the Oxford Gold was a welcome addition to my beer fridge and will be welcome back anytime.

Keep up to date with Brakspear Beers on Facebook.

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Recipe - Easy Chicken & Bacon Pie

As most of you will know from previous posts, during the week I like easy to cook dinners that can be served up in 30 minutes or less. I spotted this easy chicken pie recipe in a recent Olive Magazine and as i had all of the ingredients in the fridge, I decided to give it a go for last nights dinner.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 2 shallot, thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 6 rashers streaky bacon
• 4 chicken breast, cut into large pieces
• 150ml chicken stock
• 100g crème fraîche
• 1 handful flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 pack croissant dough, I used Jus Rol

Method

1. Heat a little olive oil in an ovenproof dish before adding bacon, shallots and garlic. Cook for a few minutes until the shallots are softened and the bacon starts to crisp up a bit.
2. Add the chicken and cook for a few minutes until the chicken is browned on all sides.
3. Add the chicken stock and simmer for 2 minutes before removing from the heat and stirring in the crème fraîche and parsley.
4. Check the sauce for seasoning then set aside to cool. Unroll the croissant dough and cut into strips. Cover the surface of the pie with the strips then place into a preheated oven, 180C and bake for 15-20 minutes until the pastry is puffed and golden.

Whilst the pie was baking, it gave me time to boil some new potatoes and sugar snap peas that would accompany the pie. The combination of chicken and bacon is one that always works and the croissant pastry topping is a great alternative to puff pastry.

I think that this pie could make a great alternative to the traditional Sunday roast, especially if you don't have the time needed to roast a joint of meat slowly in the oven. Who would have thought that you could have Sunday dinner prepared and served in less than half an hour?

You could also play about with the ingredients by adding your favourite herbs, or why not add a little wholegrain mustard or chopped mushroom or leek?

Give it a go and let me know how you get on and feel free to post your results on Gerry's Kitchen Facebook Page.

 

 

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Craft Beer Review - Crail Special, St. Andrews Brewing Co.

In recent month I have taken a step back from the mainstream brewers in favour of sampling some of the wonderful craft beers that are produced by a growing number of independent breweries across the country. After drinking many bottles, (not at the same time), I thought that it made sense to introduce beer reviews to the blog and help raise the awareness of these skilled brewmasters.

After a visit to my local farmers market at Clarkston and a chat with Stuart of online beer merchant AleselA, I was armed with the first beers that would be up for review. Stuart knows that my own preference is for fresh, zesty Blonde beers so recommended LightNESS from Loch Ness Brewery, Crail Special from St.Andrews Brewing Co, and Pale 90/- from Luckie Ales.
The first beer to make its way into Gerry's Kitchen is Crail Special from St. Andrews Brewing Co. The original Crail Ale was first brewed to celebrate the Crail Food Festival 2012, which is a bright golden ale with long lasting citrus and floral flavours. In less than a year over 5000 bottles have been sold and this ale had gone on to be crowned Champion Beers of Fife at the Kingdom of Fife Real Ale, Cider & Perry Festival last week.

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The Crail Special is a double hopped version of the popular Crail Ale. The bottle conditioned beer pours cloudy, (almost like a wheat beer) with a thin soapy head that dissipates quickly leaving a thin wispy foam. Strong grapefruit and bready yeast aromas fill your nose and the grapefruit flavours come through in the tasting balanced with a slight sweetness. The Crail Special is very crisp although not as zesty as I like, but does have a strong bitter finish, which comes from the use of the American Columbus hop. I apologise for the slight blurring of the above photo, but that may be down to the hefty 7% abv punch that comes with the Crail Special. In all seriousness though, it's smooth enough that you would never know that this special run beer is a higher strength offering.
This was the first beer from St. Andrews Brewing Co. that I have tasted and although I enjoyed the flavours, it's not one that I would rush back to buy again. That said, I am interested in tasting the original Crail Ale to see what all the fuss is about, as well as a few of the other brews from the East Coast Brewery.
I will continue to post up small review pieces on the bottles or draught craft beers that I will be drinking over the coming months. Of course, if anyone has any beers that they think I should be trying next, feel free to get in touch.

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Recipe - Baked Rhubarb & Ginger Cheesecake



Baked Rhubarb & Ginger Cheesecake



A couple of months ago I attended a cookery class at The Cook School Scotland in Kilmarnock. Whilst there I purchased one of their calendars from the gift shop, to hang in my kitchen. Each month the calender presents a recipe feature in season produce, as well as various offers and discounts to use at The Cook School.
This week, my gorgeous wife was getting something from the fridge when she had been distracted by a picture of a delicious looking cheesecake recipe from this months calendar page. Nicola is a huge cheesecake fan so asked if I would make an attempt at replicating the picture, and with rhubarb in season just now, I set about making my very first ever baked cheesecake.
Ingredients

• 75g butter, melted - plus extra for greasing
• 175g gingernut biscuits
• 175g poached rhubarb - plus extra for decorating
• 450g cream cheese
• 150g caster sugar
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180c, and butter the sides and base of a 24cm cake tin.
2. Place the biscuits into a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles rough breadcrumbs. Alternatively, place them into a plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin. Mix the crushed biscuits with the melted butter and press down into the base of the cake tin.
3. Spread the poached rhubarb over the base before chilling in the fridge until needed.
4. Beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, and the eggs together in a large bowl until smooth and creamy. Pour over the top of the rhubarb before placing in the preheated oven.
5. Bake for 40 minutes, or until pale golden in colour and only wobbles slightly when you shake the tin.
6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for about 10-15 minutes, then run a knife around the edge to loosen it, and carefully remove the cheesecake from the tin. Transfer to a serving plate then dust with icing sugar.

To serve, cut into generous slices and top with a few chunks of warm poached rhubarb.


Poached Rhubarb Baked Cheesecake













The cheesecake weighed more than 1.5kg so I was surprised that the cheesecake tasted lighter than I had expected. With a rich creamy, almost custard flavoured topping contrasting with the slightly sharp rhubarb layered gingernut base, each forkful was packed with classic flavour combinations. Think rhubarb and custard, or rhubarb and ginger, either way - truly delicious.
Although this cheesecake takes a little longer to prepare than my usual cheesecake offerings, I will definitely be preparing baked cheesecakes in the coming weeks and months, now I just need to think about what flavour to bring to the table when the rhubarb season is over.

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Review - Bar Soba, Mitchell Lane, Glasgow

Myself and Nicola travelled into Glasgow on Saturday to check out a new craft fair venue that was opening in the city centre. As we had no other plans for the afternoon, we decided to have a few drinks before getting a bite to eat. The craft venue was just around the corner from Browns Bar & Brasserie at George Square so we popped in for our first refreshment of the day and through the wonders of social media, we were able to catch up with a couple of friends who were also in the city centre.

Nicola wanted to have a quick look around the shops, especially the new Paperchase flagship store in the recently developed Buchanan Quarter in the city centre. I've never been sure why girls have such a big attraction to paper and pens, but it was weird to see a grown woman acting like a kid in a sweetie stationary shop.

We had once again use restaurant deal site, www.5pm.co.uk, to book our dinner for later in the day - this time we booked the pre-theatre option at Bar Soba, a restaurant that we used to visit regularly. After a little shopping we still had an hour to kill before our dinner booking so took the opportunity to check out a brand new bar and club located in the heart of Glasgow’s City Centre, Swing - which serves up a blend of live jazz, dancers, performance acts and contemporary DJ music. We enjoyed a couple of well priced drinks, soaking up the atmosphere and elegance of the roaring 20’s, whilst listening to Swing's in-house chanteuse Hannah Jackson lay down a few songs with her own unique twist.

We could have happily spent the rest of the evening in Swing but as time marched on we made our way to Mitchell Lane for dinner.

When we walked into Bar Soba, the bar area was already buzzing and it was only six o'clock! We made our way downstairs to the restaurant to find a large group of girls on a Hen Night occupying a large section of the area, fortunately for us, they were still in the early stages of their night so weren't too loud or outrageous yet. We let staff know that we had a booking through 5pm.co.uk and for the second time in a row, the booking hadn't been fed through to the restaurant yet. Thankfully, this wasn't a problem for our waitress and were were quickly seated in the corner of the restaurant. (Far enough away from the Hens)

Bar Soba has an imaginative Asian fusion menu which is served up in a cosy, minimalist setting. The 5pm deal is priced at £13.95 for two courses and a glass of wine from a good sized Pre-Theatre menu.
We always struggle to choose starters and tonight was no different. In the end we chose two dishes that we could share between us, Chicken Sate Ayam and Coconut & Szechwan Pepper Crusted Prawns Skewers. Both dishes were well presented, served on a banana leaf with an Indonesian cucumber salad. The Javan spiced chicken skewers were nicely blackened from the grill and smothered in a wonderful spicy satay sauce. Nicola used the words 'Oh My God' to describe the flavours, and was also disappointed that she had to share the rest with me.
The Coconut & Szechwan Pepper Prawn skewer contained four large tiger prawns encrusted in a spicy, crispy coating served with a garlic & chili aioli. Athough the prawns were very nice, there was definitely room for another skewer on the plate.

With two delicious starters demolished we were looking forward to our mains. Nicola had order Singapore Noodles whilst I was interested in trying one of the vegetarian dishes from the menu. The dish that caught my eye was Malaysian Potato, Paneer & Aubergine Masala Curry in a rich cinnamon & last tomato gravy. This sounded delicious so I was gutted to be told that this wasn't available and had been replaced with a Red Thai Vegetable Curry. With vegetables on my mind, the red Thai curry sounded good to me.
Nicola's Singapore Noodles was a huge bowl filled with sticky pork, chicken and cured beef with spicy curried noodles, black bean and shredded vegetables. The combination of flavours worked well and the addition of black bean gave the dish an earthiness that Nicola really enjoyed.
As Nicola struggled with her chopsticks, I dived into my red Thai vegetable curry. The sauce was full of flavours that I love, with lemongrass & kaffir lime leaves helping balance the thick coconut milk sauce. I'm not sure what combination of vegetables I was expecting to be bobbing around in my sauce, however I was dismayed to find nothing more than two thin slices of mushroom, a few small chunks of aubergine, a solitary cherry tomato, and lots of potato. As I looked jealously across at Nicola, who had ditched the chopsticks by this point, I regretted not rethinking my main course strategy. Don't get me wrong, my dish tasted great but had I known that it was 90% potato then I would not have ordered it.
After two courses I was stuffed but Nicola seemed to have hollow legs tonight and decided that she was having a dessert to finish off her meal. After much deliberation, she decided to order the Banoffee Cheesecake yet I was actually so full that I declined the waitresses offer of '2 spoons'.

When the cheesecake arrived, I was allowed to sample it and immediately regretted not ordering my own! My sister-in-law makes a brilliant Banoffee Cheesecake but Bar Soba's offering definitely runs a close second. Buttery ginger biscuit base topped with a light cream cheese filling, layered with slices of fresh banana before being smothered in sweet sticky toffee sauce. Simple yet delicious!
By the time we finished our meal, the restaurant was filling up nicely and the 'Hens' were beginning to come out of their shells, so instead of making a start on the extensive cocktail list we settled the bill an made our way home.
Overall, we had a great meal. The highlight was, without doubt, the Chicken Sate Ayam starter - one of the best combinations of flavour that we've had in a long time. My only disappointment was missing out on the Malaysian Potato, Paneer & Aubergine Masala Curry, but that just means that we need to get back in the near future.
Bar Soba had always been a place that Nicola and myself have enjoyed visiting and based on our experience from Saturday night, Bar Soba still sits nicely in our favourites list.
Keep up to date with Bar Soba on FaceBook & Twitter.

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