Flying Fish Exit 16 - Hop Heads Rejoice

Wifey and I go to at least three "beerfests" each year and consequently we drink more craft beer than macro-brews anymore. Cherry Hill, NJ (local to me) based Flying Fish brewery's beers fill most of my pint glasses, especially since they stated making their Exit Series beers. As a Jersey native, I love the concept of the exit series: "a multi-year brewing experiment to brew a series of beers as diverse as the great state of New Jersey. These big beers–in size as well as flavor–will celebrate each exit of the state-long artery that connects us." Flying Fish brews one batch of each beer and releases them in wine sized (750ml, 25.9oz) bottles and that's it. Well, it was supposed to be it, but Flying Flying fish recently re-released the first one, Exit 4 (an American Trippel and Flying Fish's nearest exit), in 12oz bottles (nice). There's no word on if Exit 11 (Hoppy American wheat and the best beer I've ever had) or Exit 1 (Bayshore Oyster Stout and brewed with 100 NJ oysters), will also see the 12oz treatment. Please guys, more Exit 11.
The liquor store near us Canals of Berlin received their shipment of the fourth and newest release, Exit 16 (Wild Rice Double IPA), today and we bought some to try. The Exit 16 website gives the brewers notes:

"Although usually identified with landfills and pipelines, the Hackensack Meadowlands is an amazingly diverse ecosystem providing vital animal and plant habitat. In a nod to a once common food plant here, we've brewed this beer with wild rice. We also added organic brown and white rice, as well as pils and pale malts.
'Rice helps the beer ferment dry to better showcase the five different hops we added. Lots and lots of them. We then dry-hopped this Double IPA with even more-generous additions of Chinook and Citra hops to create a nose that hints at tangerine, mango, papaya and pine. This beer pairs extremely well with spicy foods and all kinds of seafood. And of course, it's quite enjoyable all by itself."

All the rice and hops yield a formidable beer at 8.4% alcohol by volume. The beer carries a deep straw color typical of an IPA. For a beer with a higher ABV the head holds nicely. The aroma hints of citrus and light tropical fruits. The citrus continues through to the taste, but only for a moment; then the hops takeover. After a second or two on the tongue the beer gets really bitter, but that's expected from a double IPA, and the bitterness lasts for a looooong finish. While double IPAs aren't my cup of tea, Exit 16 is a really good beer.

Broiled Flounder Triple Threat

The seafood counter at my local supermarket had some very nice JUMBO flounder, so I picked up a piece for dinner. Since one filet weighed in at over a pound, I knew I would have to cut it in some way to make portions for both wifey and I. I thought a flounder tasting dish would be nice, and I came up with the "triple threat." I portioned the fish into six pieces and cooked it three different ways: two classic and one not.

Oil/Lemon
Broiling fish coated in oil and lemon is a simple, yet highly tasty, preparation. I seasoned the first piece with salt (always kosher), pepper (fresh ground), parsley, and basil. Then I coated it with olive oil and squeezed fresh lemon juice over it. To keep it moist and add more lemon flavor during cooking, I put a round of lemon on top.

Panko breaded
Breaded fish, either broiled or fried, is a staple at many restaurants. Instead of regular bread crumbs I used panko flakes. Panko breaded foods tend to have a slightly crunchier feel since the flakes are bigger than standard bread crumbs. To prep, I simply seasoned the fish with salt and pepper, dipped it in an egg wash, and then coated with panko.

Cocktail sauce
I accompanied the breaded flounder with some cocktail sauce (on the side, of course). I like my cocktail sauce simple and strong; no lemon or hot sauce here. Quality horseradish is the key, and I only use the best: Kelchner's. From Pennsylvania, Kelchner's only distributes to the Mid-Atlantic but you can mail order from their site. To make the perfect cocktail sauce, add some horseradish to a bowl and mix in ketchup until it isn't too hot for you. Simple, but only good with quality ingredients.

Parmesan encrusted
While my Italian heritage screams at me not to combine fish and cheese, my American upbringing says WTF, try it. For the last piece of flounder, I went little more daring, and used the leftover shredded parmesano/reggiano from the weekend's caesar salad experiments as a topping. I seasoned with salt, pepper, and Old Bay; then topped the fish with the cheese. Simple, yet different. Why the old bay? Why not? Plus flounder doesn't have a lot of flavor and I thought it would compliment the cheese.

Broiling
Not much is easier than broiling flounder. Preheat the broiler, set the rack about 5 inches from the heat (second rack down in my oven) and broil on a cookie sheet until the fish is opaque, but not quite flaky. You don't want to cook all the way to flaky, because that is actually overdone. Since you can't see the fish in the broiler, you have to time it. My fish was HUGE (3/4 inch thick) so it took about five minutes to cook. Regular pieces of flounder only take a minute or two. I also put a piece of parchment paper on the pan to keep the fish from sticking.

Results
The flounder came out perfectly cooked: opaque, moist, and easy to pull apart. The five or so minutes of cooking time was enough to just brown the panko flakes and melt the parm. Another minute or two would have given a better browning on both, but likely over-cooked the fish. One end of the parmesan pieces were thinner, and a little dry. All three tasted great, and Wifey said she liked the panko crusted the best because the different textures of the fish and breading gave a better mouth feel. She also said I made the cocktail sauce too spicy, but she always says that.

Apple-Apple Martini

It's fall in New Jersey, which means apples are in season. While some people like to make apple pies, apple crisps, or even baked apples, but I prefer to drink my apples. No, not apple cider; gimme some apple-cinnamon infused vodka.

Infused vodka drinks were all the rage a few years ago, a trend started by the Capital Grille and their Stoli Doli. I make a few different infusions throughout the year, depending on what Jersey Fresh fruit the farmer's market sells, but I prefer apple to the rest.

Since I am a martini drinker, I like it shaken over ice and served up, but on the rocks tastes great also. The cinnamon can be a little bitter so I add apple pucker to sweeten the martini and add some color. Garnishes are optional, but a cinnamon stick or floated slice of a Granny Smith Apple look awesome. Also, rimming the glass with cinnamon sugar also adds a nice touch.

Ingredients

• Vodka
• Red delicious apples
• Cinnamon sticks
• Apple Pucker

Tools

• Jar for infusing vodka
• Apple slicer
• Martini shaker

Making the Infusion


The first thing necessary in making the infusion is a container to make it in. Any vessel will do, but Infused-Vodka.com sells some fancy glass for making and serving flavored vodka. I own two, a 100oz verona and a 204oz verona. The recipe amounts below are for the 204 oz container, which makes about a gallon of vodka. Quality ingredients are always important when cooking and are just as important in flavoring the vodka. The better the apple, the better tasting the infusion. Red delicious apples are my favorite to eat, so I get the best ones I can. Cut them with an apple slicer and fill your infusion jar with them. My infusion jar takes about five pounds of apples to fill. Like all spices, cinnamon loses flavor over time, so make sure it is fresh. After some testing, I settled on three cinnamon sticks. More than three, and the infusion was very bitter, less than three and the infusion didn't have enough flavor. The vodka, however, doesn't need to be the highest quality. The apples filter the vodka during the infusion time, so there is no need for the best stuff. I'm not recommending Popov, but there is no need for Grey Goose. I typically buy Smirnoff, and use almost two 1.75L bottles to fill my infusion jar. The infusion process takes a week for the flavors to be fully extracted from the fruit, and you'll notice the vodka turns reddish brown, and the apples will lose their color. The apples on top will react with the air at the top of the container and will turn brown, but it doesn't impact the taste. Also after the first day, the apples will absorb some of the vodka, so you have to add some more to re-fill the jar.

Making the Martini

After the week wait, you can serve directly from the infusion jar, or empty the jar into a bottle for serving. I make my apple-apple martinis with much more apple cinnamon vodka than apple pucker. Since I don't measure the amounts, I estimate the ratio to be about nine parts apple-cinnamon to one part pucker. It's really about cutting any bitterness from the cinammon, without masking the taste. Shake over ice, pour into a martini glass, and enjoy.

Feel free to experiment with different apples, different amounts of cinnamon, and different mixers. Let us know about the results in the comments.

Stephie's Macaroni Salad

My number one, sure fire, guaranteed method of finding great recipes to cook is to ask my mom for her recipe. I know the recipe is extra special when she tells me she doesn't have it written down.

Mom's macaroni salad is legendary in the family. She brings it to almost every BBQ/get together we have all summer long and never there's never leftover to be found. Often, she makes a double or triple batch so Dad can have some for lunch.  Making the salad is fairly simple, but there are a couple tricks to making the salad truly excel. The first and most important tip is the salad needs to be made at least the day before you need it.

Ingredients

• 1 lb Creamette Elbow Macaroni
• 3 ribs of celery - diced
• 5 - 6 scallions - diced
• 1/2 pound cooked baby shrimp
• 2 cans crabmeat
• 1/2 can solid white tuna
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp parsley
• 1 tsp celery salt
• 1/4 tsp celery seed
• Hellmann's Mayonnaise

Tools

• Pot for cooking pasta
• Colander
• Mixing Bowl
• Mixing Spoon

Cook the pasta until just done and rinse. Al dente pasta doesn't add here. Add the celery, scallions, shrimp, crabmeat, tuna and seasonings to the bowl. The second trick for the recipe is to add about a half can of crab juice.  Mix the ingredients in the bowl.

The last ingredient is the most important: mayonnaise.  Throw the Miracle Whip away and get the real stuff: Hellmanns.  Add in a couple large spoonfulls of mayo and mix.  You want to add just enough mayo so all the pasta is coated.  Put the salad in the refrigerator and come back tomorrow.

As the salad sits overnight, the pasta soaks up the mayo leaving the salad rather dry. Add more mayo and mix again until you have a nice sticky but not overly wet consistency.