Visit almost any Dutch bar and you will find on the menu a snack called bitterballen. Savory and meaty, if eaten too hot they can lay waste to your mouth like a small explosion of napalm, while if too cool they can become a gummy mess. When made from scratch in-house, they can be a... View Article
There are certain parts of the country where a proper sandwich is worshipped with the reverence it deserves. It is more than just meat and cheese between two slices of bread. Ingredients matter. Construction matters. In order to get a proper sandwich you must go to a deli, not an impersonal shop with pre-sliced meats... View Article
Thanks to entrepreneurial bakers, beer cupcakes are popping up at festivals, in storefronts and in wholesale bakeries around the country. Boozy cupcakes are not just delicious but also inventive, like the “Pretzels & Beer” baked with pale ale and Nutella, which has become a best-seller at the Prohibition Bakery in Manhattan. “It’s the easiest way... View Article
In early fall of 2011, Laura Lodge approached Todd Bemis, Vail Cascade Resort & Spa’s executive chef about an upcoming beer-and-food event. It would be Lodge’s 12th year coordinating the popular Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines Festival in Vail, Colorado, one crucial element of which are the two dinners held on consecutive nights. Each dinner... View Article
Belgium has long been a serious beer drinker’s destination, and when combined with great foods, a week’s trip is a delight. The entire country—Wallonia in the south and Flanders in the north—is chock-full of great breweries and restaurants. That’s too much to tackle in one week so we focused on Flanders—with a visit to the... View Article
Pohutukawa smoked in-house made bacon with local tomato on homemade French baguette. Dressed with Arugula and Purple Basil Vinaigrette and served with Caramelized Brussels Sprouts and White Bean Ragout. We recently brewed a Robust Porter with Epic Brewing co. from New Zealand called Portamarillo using tamarillos roasted over their Pohutukawa wood (the New Zealand Christmas... View Article
When I began thinking about the flavors, textures and elements of these ingredients, the question of “what can I do” kept repeating itself. To play up the nostalgic plate memory of the maple syrup touching the now soggy bacon and overlaying the complexity of coffee, I used maple, pork belly and porter as a base... View Article
This is a variation on a couple of standards we use here at Higgins. Starting with Garret’s ingredient list I selected a braise of pork belly that’s quite popular and then used our curried vegetable ragout (one of our vegan dishes) as a base for the succulent pork. To tie it together I wanted a... View Article
When I saw the list of ingredients I had two initial thoughts. First was the classic bistro salad of frisee with bacon and a poached egg and the second was another bistro classic cassoulet. The salad was the basis for the Brussels sprouts portion of the dish and the white bean flan and crispy belly... View Article
