Well, this wouldn’t be the first time that the Patriots have shut down a high powered offense lead by Kurt Warner. Of course this Patriots team isn’t quite like the 2001 team, but hopefully on Sunday it will be close enough.

In the spirit of close enough, Arizona isn’t exactly Mexico, but today on the Buffet Table its close enough.

Patriots Daily Buffet Table Mole Chicken Enchiladas

Moles are a family of traditional Mexican sauces. The one most people know is guacamole, avacado mole. For this recipe we’ll use a poblano mole. Poblano mole is made with chocolate, nuts, spices, salt, garlic and any number of other ingredients.

Moles take a long time to simmer and come together. I don’t have the time to do that during Patriots season and I doubt you do either, so we will be using a jarred mole. These are available in the Mexican aisle of any large supermarket.

Serves 6

1 jar Mole Sauce, it will either say Mole or Poblano mole
12 ounces water, beer or other liquid
3 pounds chicken tenderloins
12 tortillas
1.5 tsp garlic powder
1.5 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
Olive oil
Onion – sliced
Lettuce – chopped
Tomato – sliced
12 ounces shredded mozzarella, queso fresco would be more authentic but it is harder to find
Other: disposable aluminum pan

Combine the garlic powder, paprika, cayenne and salt. Sprinkle the chicken tenderloins with the spice mix.

Heat one side of the grill to hot, 400 degrees. Coat the aluminum pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Empty the jar of mole into the aluminum pan, mix with the water and allow the mole to melt over indirect heat. This can take up to 30 minutes depending on the mole and how well you mix it with the water.

Once the mole has melted, grill the chicken tenderloins, 4 minutes per side. Remove from heat. Add them to the pan with the mole and coat.

Coat the onion slices with olive oil and place them over direct heat. Cook for 4 minutes, flipping the onions halfway through.

Now remove the pan filled with the mole, and turn the heat on for all of your grill. Lay out the tortillas and allow to warm through. They’ll take 3 minutes, 90 seconds per side.

Fill each tortilla with 2 chicken tenderloins and roll them up. Place the rolled tortillas into the pan, place them close enough to the sides and each other so that the tortillas will not unroll.

Once all of the tortillas and chicken have been rolled, sprinkle the pan with the mozzarella cheese (or the queso fresco if you can find some). Allow to heat until the cheese has melted.

Plate with the chopped lettuce, sliced onions, and sliced tomatoes for toppings.

Time for a Drink!

To go with our Mexican enchiladas we’ll be drinking one of the Mexican beer styles, the Vienna Lager. Why is a Mexican beer style named after a city in Austria? That’s because the style originated in Austria, where it has almost died out. German and Austrian brewers who had settled and started breweries in Mexico never stopped brewing Vienna Lagers and they kept the style alive.

Vienna Lager is one of my favorite beer styles. It is incredibly drinkable. It is neither too hoppy and bitter, nor too sweet and malty. It isn’t too light or too heavy in flavor, too strong or too weak in alcohol percentage. Vienna Lager is one of the great balanced beers in the world.

Expect this balance to continue throughout the beer. Carbonation is moderate. Flavors range towards toasted and bready malt flavors rather than heavier roasted or sweet.

Hops are present, but not in an overwhelming way, and those that are there are from the spicy and floral ‘noble’ varieties.

The most widely available Vienna Lager is Sam Adams Boston Lager. Not all sources agree, as some list Boston Lager as a Pilsner. It does split the styles as its color is as dark as a Vienna Lager, but it has the level of bitterness usually found in a Pilsner. It is still close enough to style to get an idea of what a Vienna Lager is about. Sam Adams did make a truer to style version, simply called Vienna Lager, up to a few years ago but it has been phased out.

Smuttynose Portsmouth Lager is closer to style and a great beer. Also from New England is Pennichuck 2-6-0 (PDF). 

Blue Point Brewing from Long Island offers Toasted Lager. They do not list it as a Vienna Lager, but although some of the ingredients aren’t traditional for a Vienna, I believe it belongs in the style.

The two most widely distributed Mexican options are Dos Equis Amber and Negra Modelo They share a few common characteristics, such as tending towards the sweet side of the style and having useless websites. Drinking a Sam Adams Boston Lager and a Negra Modelo will show you the entire breadth of Vienna Lagers.

Chef’s ‘Buffet Table’ appears before every Patriots home game on Patriots Daily. He can be reached at feedback@patriotsdaily.com.

Oh crap, I think I just hurt Hines Ward’s feelings. He’s crying now, but I’ll probably get blindsided later. Hines is tough that way. The Steelers haven’t been to Foxborough since the Patriot Place Mall opened. I hope for Hines’ sake he stays away. The Bass Pro is full of taxidermy – Hines wouldn’t be able to take the sight of those deer, foxes and wolves stuffed as decorations. Ben Roethlisbledsoe, on the other hand, should take a trip over – they have all sorts of four wheelers, power boats and other things he could drive fast and crash into something.

C’mon, Ben, what are you chicken? Dare you to drive that ATV through the Christmas Tree Shoppe.

Speaking of chicken. We’ll be making our take on a Pittsburgh favorite this weekend, a Cambodian chicken shish kebab. Invented by the owners of Cambod-Ican Kitchen, an American-Cambodian fusion restaurant, this dish drove their business from a single truck to a full fledged restaurant.

Innovation from Pittsburgh? I’m glad it hasn’t made its way onto the football field.

Cambodian Chicken Shish Kebab

3-4 pounds chicken thighs and drumsticks
2 green peppers, cut into slices
2 onions, sliced
1 tbs. sweet curry powder
1 cup coconut milk
1 tbs. sugar, Cambodian palm sugar would be the most authentic choice, brown sugar will work
1 tbs. sesame oil
1 tbs. rice wine vinegar
Juice of 1 lime
Peel from 1 lime
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4 loaves pita bread

Blend all ingredients except the chicken, pita, onions and peppers. Cut the chicken from the bones, cut into 1″ to 1.5″ square pieces. Marinade the chicken overnight.

Skewer the chicken pieces, alternating with pepper and onion slices, being careful not to skewer your hand in the process. If you are using wooden skewers soak them in water first. Grill the chicken for 10-12 minutes, turning 3-4 times as each side browns.

Grab a piece of pita bread, and pull off the kebab pieces into it to make a sandwich.

If you want extra sauce, either reserve some of the marinade, or pour the marinade you used into a pot and boil for a few minutes to pasteurize.

Time for a drink!

We’re moving from new Pittsburgh to old Pittsburgh for our beer this week. Iron City, the official beer of Pittsburgh, has seen many ups and downs since 1861. It keeps on surviving and keeps on innovating. This was the first beer offered in aluminum bottles. Before that it was the first beer packaged with twist-off caps.

Iron City falls into a beer style with many names. You may see it listed as an American Lager. American Macro Lager is a more accurate name. Finally, in marketing speak these are known as retro lagers. Retro lagers used to be large regional or national brands. The retros were unable to compete as Bud, Miller and Coors expanded through advertising and takeovers. The age of large regional breweries was ending as we moved to a national system. Some of these regional companies did survive in a smaller capacity, or by consolidating. Keeping to themselves in their home markets.

Now as Bud is being bought by a European/South American conglomerate, Miller is owned by a South African corporation, and Coors joined Molson and then teamed up with the Miller-South African corporation. It is these old regional breweries along with some of the larger craft breweries that are finding themselves to be the largest American owned brewers.

From an American Macro Lager we can expect a light body, very low bitterness, high carbonation and easy drinkability. These are the beers that are just made for drinking. They’re great for drinking with foods that have a lot of contrasting flavors, like our Cambodian chicken. The retro Lager will not get in the way of whatever you are eating. What it will do is clear out your taste buds with its high carbonation.

It also won’t burn a hole in your wallet. Six packs of Iron City cost $4.70 at the store I go to. Big spenders can get a 30 pack for $19.99.

There are a number of Retro lagers available. My favorite is Narragansett. If you’re from New England and the macro lager is your style of beer, then this should be in your fridge.

The Pabst/G. Heilman Company owns a large percentage of the remaining retro lagers. This marketing company bought many of the unused brands from the companies that originally took them over, from their namesake Pabst Blue Ribbon to the namesake of the Patriots old home stadium, Schaefer. From the onomatopoeically named Blatz and Schlitz to Stroh’s, Piel’s and Ice Cube’s favorite St. Ides. There is a good chance that any other retros you’ll find are made by some subdivision of the Pabst marketing company, and brewed under contract in a Miller facility. In a touch of irony, quite possibly a facility originally owned by the retro brand before it was bought and sold by Miller to Pabst.

Chef’s ‘Buffet Table’ appears before every Patriots home game on Patriots Daily. He can be reached at feedback@patriotsdaily.com.

A legendary figure makes a return to Foxborough today. A legendary figure that retired, a figure that touched every team and every fan in some way. A legendary figure from a land of cheese and odd Germanic accents.

Entire training camps were affected by the loss of this legend – nay, an entire league was affected by the loss of this legend. Suddenly when all seemed lost, this legendary figure decided to return to us. And instead of returning miles and miles away, this legend decided to set up shop in New York.

Of course I am talking about the folding of the NFL Europa developmental league. Who could forget this past offseason when we lost NFL Europa! All was not  lost – as part of the closure, the NFL relocated the Amsterdam Admirals to New York, replacing the Jets. Jets fans finally have something to believe in.

For some reason the NFL has decided to cover up this story. Usually Goodell loves attention, so I’m not sure why he’s trying to hide the folding of the Jets. We at the Buffet Table welcome our new Dutch rivals, the New Amsterdam Jets. I am sure they will provide a greater challenge than we’re used to seeing from  the New York Jets, and competition is what sport is all about. That is nothing to be embarrassed about, Commish! Come on out and take credit! Awwwllright Jets fans!!!

For such a momentous occasion the Patriots Daily Buffet Table will give Thanks. Tis’ the season for Cranberry Glazed Turkey Breast.

Vaderlanders Dagelijks Buffet Tafel Turkey
Serves 4

2 pound Turkey breast – boned
Butchers twine or metal shishkebob skewers
1 can of cranberry sauce
1 bottle beer (see below)
Dried sage – to taste
1 orange (optional)

You can buy the turkey breast boned and pre-rolled at most grocery stores. Many also sell 1/2 and full breasts prepared in the same manner as a chicken breast. We don’t want skinless for these, try to get one with some fat on it.Since we’ll be cooking indirectly over a medium-hot 350 degree grill, place a disposable pan under the turkey to catch the drippings.

Open the can of cranberry sauce and slice into rounds. It would be best to do this ahead of time. Put the turkey breast into the disposable pan and surround with the cranberry sauce. Add water or beer. The cranberry sauce will melt as the grill warms, and mixed with the drippings from the turkey, it will make a glaze. Sprinkle the sage over the sauce and turkey. Optionally add a few orange slices to the pan as well.

Depending on your grill and the size of the turkey breast this will take 45-90 minutes to cook. The wide range is due to the indirect cooking method. So make sure you keep the lid closed apart from when it’s time to glaze or check the bird to see if it is done. Opening the lid will let out most of the heat trapped inside the grill.

Time for a drink!

When matching a beverage to poultry, the sauce and preparation are more important than the protein. As long as it isn’t one of the fattier or gamier birds such as goose or duck, poultry is a blank slate. There is a reason people say everything tastes like chicken.

What is most important here will be the sweetness, fruitiness, and tartness from the cranberries and possibly the oranges, along with the earthiness and spicy flavors from the sage.

The turkey will go great with a Pumpkin ale. Pumpkin ales may seem like a modern style, but pumpkins were actually used to brew beer in the seventeen hundreds. The pumpkin ales we have today are just a rebirth of this traditional style. There is even a recipe for Pumpkin Ale found in George Washington’s journals.

The base beer can vary, usually in the amber or brown ale range. Some pumpkin beers can be based on a lighter style, and some are based on Porters and Stouts. In general they are fruity, earthy ales, with toasted and roasted notes. Some of the beers follow more of a Pumpkin pie formula with nutmeg, cinnamon, clove and other fall baking spices. Other examples will use actual fresh or canned pumpkin for their sugar and flavor contribution to the beer. Either way Pumpkin Pie or Pumpkin will have a flavor similarity when eating food reminiscent of Thanksgiving.

Southern Tier Brewing of Lakewood, NY has gone from a solid brewery to one of the most innovative American breweries in a few short years. This week we’ll be drinking their Pumking Imperial Pumpkin Ale. It’s a pumpkin pie in a glass, with graham cracker, pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg flavors. A very good beer from a brewery that makes a lot of very good beers.

A second from New York is Saranac Pumpkin Ale. Saranac lists this one as having 5.4% alcohol by volume. Spiced with pumpkin, cinammon, allspice, cloves, ginger and vanilla.

A few New England breweries also get into the Pumpkin beer game. Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale is one of the lightest colored examples. It is also probably the most balanced and drinkable of the lot. This one won’t burn you out from spice overload.

Shipyard Pumpkinhead takes the pumpkin ale in a different direction. They start with a base wheat beer. Pumpkin pie starts with a wheat crust so why not.

Pumpkin beers based on dark ales are well represented on Cape Ann. Stone Cat Pumpkin from Mercury Brewing in Ipswich is based on a porter. Cape Ann Fisherman’s Pumpkin Stout comes from Cape Ann Brewing in Gloucester. Obviously based on the Stout style. From these two beers expect pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice flavors, and in addition they will have the chocolate, coffee, and roast flavors of a stout or porter.

Otter Creek/Wolaver’s has a new pumpkin beer this year. Will Stevens’ Organic Pumpkin Ale. Will Stevens being the farmer that grows the pumpkins. It is organic, but we try to not hold that against beer at the Buffet Table.

As we’re talking about a beer brewed with an uncommon ingredient it would be a surprise if Dogfish Head Brewing didn’t make a pumpkin beer. They do not disappoint with their Punkin Ale. Being Dogfish Head, this one is off centered even for an off center style. The addition of brown sugar bumps the alcohol by volume up to 7%.

Those are some of the best Pumpkin beers on the market. This is a style that most brewpubs will feature during the season. I’ve already seen Pumpkin Porters, Pumpkin Amber Ales and even a Pumpkin Hefeweizen. So if you have a brewpub close by, check it out and see what they have. Cambridge Brewing Company  in Cambridge, MA has two on currently. Gourd of the Rings, a pumpkin Saison, and Great Pumpkin Ale.

Chef’s ‘Buffet Table’ appears before every Patriots home game on Patriots Daily. He can be reached at feedback@patriotsdaily.com.

This week the Patriots are facing the Bills for first place in the AFC East and the always important head-to-head tiebreaker. The Bills were the only AFC East opponent not to undergo any major changes this offseason. Well, that’s not entirely true; it turns out the Bills will be playing one of their home games in Toronto this year and every other season until 2012.

So lace up your skates, grab a hockey stick, and start practicing your “ehs” and “aboots” as the Buffet Table welcomes the Bills’ new Canadian overlords.

We’re not terribly sure if they still are The ‘Bills’. All Canadian Football teams are named the Roughriders. Or if they will only be playing to three downs, or getting called for too many men penalties every time they line up 12. What we do know is at the Buffet Table we’ll be taking our inspiration from the Bills new Canadian home.

Cider Brined Canadian ‘Bacon’ Pork Loin

Canadian Bacon, the leanest element of the Bacon-Canadian Bacon-Mexican Bacon Food Pyramid is called back bacon in the rest of the world. It is made from the pork loin and cured.

We’ll be using that same cut of meat, but we’ll be brining it in Cider and spices resulting in a juicy moist roast.

Brine
Apple Cider 2 quarts
Apple Cider Vinegar 1/4 cup
Salt 1/2 cup
Peppercorns (10) cracked
All spice berries (10) cracked
Cumin, teaspoon

Pork loin
Get a 2 to 3 pound pork loin
alternate – boneless or bone-in chops

There is no need to use hard apple cider in the brine, apple cider or apple juice will be cheaper and work just as well.

Mix all brine ingredients in a large container. Add pork loin, and put a dinner plate on top to hold the pork loin under the surface of the brine. Cover and place in refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours. Do not leave the meat in the brine for more than 24 hours. If the meat is brined too long it will be too salty. The purpose of a brine is not to make meat saltier; it is to force the brined meat to hold onto more moisture than it normally would.

Pressed for time? Then just cut the loin into 1/2″ chops or buy pre-cut loin chops instead of a full loin. They’ll marinade more quickly. It won’t be the same as the long process, but it will still be good.

For the full loin we will cook over indirect heat, medium hot-350 degrees. For chops, heat the grill to the same temperature but cook over direct heat.

Direct cooked chops will take 6-8 minutes per side. The loin will take 90 minutes to 2 hours. When done the meat will be white and the juices will run clear.

Time for a drink!

The Bills’ old home in Upstate New York used to be one of the largest cider making areas of the United States. Cider, or as we call it now Hard Cider, used to be the most popular alcoholic beverage in the United States. They weren’t growing apples back in the Colonial days just to eat them. Why bother eating something that you could turn into alcohol? Alcohol doesn’t go bad and can be stored for a long time.

Hard cider comes in different forms. It can range from still to highly carbonated, from low 4-5% alcohol by volume all the way up into wine range at 10%+ ABV. Low ABV versions tend to be sweeter, while the high alcohol versions can be very dry.

The balance in a cider is maintained by the same elements in wine. Unlike beer there is no bitterness, so the alcohol, residual sweetness, acidity, and tannins have to be in balance.

Common Cider is the simplest of the ciders. A low alcohol cider made with culinary apples, tannin and balance come from the use of crab apples. Culinary apples are those we would use for eating or baking:  Macintosh, Red Delicious, etc. New England style cider has a higher level of acidity due to the apples grown in New England, alcohol is increased by the use of sugars (white, brown, molasses) or honey. English cider has a higher amount of tannins than Common and New England owing to the English cider apples used. French Ciders are usually sweet, the fermentation is usually stopped early, or the cider is sweetened post-fermentation with unfermented apple juice. Finally Perry is a type of Cider made from pear juice instead of apple juice.

You can find ciders of these types at some New England vineyards. Nashoba Valley Winery sells examples of almost all types that they label as wines.

Commercial ciders that we’ll find in liquor stores will be closest to the Common Cider style.

Woodchuck Draft Cider from Vermont has a few styles available. In 6 packs and mixed 12 packs. Woodchuck Amber and Woodchuck Dark & Dry are similar. With Amber having white sugar added post fermentation, and Dark & Dry getting brown sugar. Woodchuck Granny Smith Cider, is unsweetened and is more tart due to the apples used. Woodchuck pear cider is in the Perry style listed above.

Cider Jack is the most commonly available cider. It is made by the same company that produces Woodchuck.

Harpoon Brewery brought a cider to market last year. Harpoon Cider is an unsweetened slightly tart cider.

Boston Beer Company, makers of Sam Adams, puts out a line of ciders under the name Hard Core Cider Company (no website). Their Hard Core Crisp Cider is similar to the Harpoon Cider, but is 5.5% alcohol by volume instead of 4%.

For imports, Kopparberg of Sweden produces a good Cider and Perry. Both are 4.5% alcohol by volume. Bulmer’s of Ireland imports their cider under the name Magner’s to the US.

The Dynasty starts tonight! Oh Ricky Proehl, you raconteur you, such a quick wit. It’s appropriate that this game is being played so close to Halloween. Seven years later St. Louis still hasn’t recovered from the trick that replaced their treat.

This Rams team is horrible, they’ve been the  worst team in the league over the past two years. OK, they’ve got some competition with Detroit and Cincinnati for that title, but still seeing the Rams on the schedule this week is a nice Halloween treat for Pats fans.

Seriously, between San Diego and Denver the past couple of weeks, and looking ahead and seeing Indy and the Bills in the next two. This is the kind of break my nerves need.

The lead up to the game should even be good. I’m sure the 2001 Super Bowl will be replayed in the media all week. Despite the fact that there are hardly any key figures from that Rams team still around. Isaac Bruce, Mike Martz, Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk and others have all moved on or retired.

If you miss those old Rams, and miss the old Patriots that beat up the ‘Greatest Show on Turf’ then just watch the NFL network leading up to the game. I’m sure Marshall will be on there running his mouth about the Patriots. See it’s not so bad, at least 7 years later our team still won, and the Rams are still bitter about it.

What other changes have hit St. Louis? Read on and find out. First, we need some food.

Patriots Daily Buffet Table Lamb Chops (Serves 6)

3 pounds Lamb rib chops
4 tablespoons Mild Curry Paste
1 bottle Belgian Pale Ale or Strong Pale Ale

Mix curry paste and beer into a marinade. Marinade lamb chops for at least one hour. You can use any type of lamb chops, but I prefer rib chops as they’re smaller and soak up more marinade than a larger chop will. Being smaller they also cook quicker.

Cook the lamb over a medium grill – 300 degrees, lamb is usually cooked to a medium-rare doneness. Rib chops will only take 4-5 minutes per side. 8 to 9 minutes total. Again, this is for the smaller rib chops, with a larger chop you will be cooking them for 12-16 minutes.

That’s all there is to it. Lamb has a reputation of being hard to cook, but it’s very easy. Don’t overcook it and it will taste great.

Time for a drink!

Our friends in St. Louis thought losing the Super Bowl and their Dynasty to the Patriots was a huge blow. Little did they know that the biggest dynasty in town, the Anheuser Busch brewing company, would be sold a few years later to a bunch of Belgians.

That’s unlucky for St. Louis, but lucky for the Buffet Table as now we have a reason to drink some Belgian beers. We’ll be concentrating on three of the numerous Belgian beer styles. Truly, you can not put Belgian beers within style categories, each one seems to be it’s own style. But people have tried, and we’ll go with those styles that have been established.

The three we’re drinking are Belgian Pale Ales, Belgian Strong Pale Ales and Belgian India Pale Ales.

Belgian Pale Ales were brewed to compete with the pilsners that were becoming more popular in Belgium post World War 2. They are similar to American and British pale ales. Tending to be less hoppy and bitter than their Ameri-Anglo cousins but with the addition of spice characteristics.

Belgian Strong Pale Ales are bigger, more alcoholic, spicier and more flavorful partner to the Belgian Pale Ale. At least in a relative sense, they are not necessarily hoppier than a Belgian Pale Ale. After WW2 Belgium imposed duties on spirits, and the sale of spirits in bars and taverns was also restricted. Brewers took advantage of the market created by these laws, and created higher alcohol beers like the Belgian Strong Pale.

Belgian India Pale Ales are usually as strong as a Belgian Strong Pale Ale but they are hopped to the level of an American IPA or Double IPA. This style was just invented in the last few years, as Belgian brewers got a taste of the big American IPAs. Hopping is usually done with European hops, although some brewers use American hops in their Belgian IPAs.

All three styles are bready, toasty, fruity and spicy. They have a fairly high carbonation level that cuts through the fat and spice of the lamb chops. A good combination as they will contrast with certain parts of our lamb while complementing others.

The prime Belgian Pale Ale is Orval. Everything else in the style has to be judged against it. Translating to valley of gold, this 6.9% ABV pale ale is golden. It carries a history of a magical fish returning a lost wedding ring to a princess. In gratitude the princess founded the monastery that still stands next to the fountain where she lost her ring. Interesting story, but I don’t know how anyone came up with it before the brewery was built. It must have taken a few Orval beers to invent the Orval backstory. This was also how Tully Banta-Cain recovered his lost Super Bowl ring.

Another good example from Belgium is De Dolle Oeral Bier. No magical fish behind this one, just a good beer. Another from Belgium is Cuvee de Ranke from De Ranke.

In the Belgian Strong Pale Ale style, the most famous is Duvel. Translating to ‘Devil’ this beer is a tweak at the religiously named monastery brewed beers in its range. At 8.5% this is a strong beer, but it doesn’t seem to be that high when you’re drinking it. Be careful as it can sneak up at you, another reason behind the devilish name.

Brasserie d’Achouffe brings out La Chouffe.  This one is brewed by gnomes. If the magical fish wasn’t enough to warn you that these beers can be strong, let the magical smurfs making La Chouffe be a second warning.

A final entry from Belgium is Affligem Blond. No devils, lawn ornaments or koi involved with this one.

Looking around the US, we don’t have any mystical creatures making beer, but we still have good examples of the Belgian Strong Pale Ale. Allagash  in Portland, Maine makes Allagash Grand Cru. Brooklyn Brewery offers Brooklyn Brewery Local 1.

In the Belgian IPA Style, De Ranke again shows up, this time with De Ranke XX Bitter. Brasserie D’Achouffe’s crazy gnomes also got a hold of a bag of hops and a thesaurus and offer Houblon Chouffe Doebbelen IPA Triple.  Urthel counters with Urthel Hop-It, brewed of course by gnomes again. Different gnomes though, these are bald and don’t wear hats. Kind of like the snorks instead of the smurfs.

Again for good beers without the fairy tales we have to turn to America. Allagash again helps out with Hugh Malone. Sales help support Organic farming, but don’t hold that against it.

Sixpoint Craft Ales, also from Brooklyn, NY doesn’t mess around with fancy names. Their Belgian IPA is just called Sixpoint Belgian IPA.

There you have it, one of the families of Belgian Beer styles. Some will be harder to find than others, but you should be able to find some Belgian Pale Ales, Strong Pale Ales, and IPAs at most well stocked liquor stores.

The NFL scheduled the Broncos to play at Foxboro? It seems that the Broncos and the Patriots play every year, and that they play in Denver. I’m not sure what happened here, but I’m glad the Pats aren’t out in Denver for once.

There is a lot to like about the Denver. The mayor is a brewer. There is easy access to all the skiing, hiking, and rafting that anyone could ever want. The city streets suddenly switch from North-South, East-West to diagonal for some reason. Coors Field is not only a great place to watch a baseball game, but the Red Sox won a World Series on that field. I like just about everything about Denver, except for the Broncos.

No matter what their record is, games against the Broncos worry me more than a 700 point drop on Wall Street. This is a Monday night game to boot, no normal Sunday at 1 game this week. So we’ll be going big with both our food and drink. Just as the Broncos are often a tough matchup for the Patriots, we’ll be making a big burger that is a tough matchup and would overwhelm most beers.

Patriots Daily Buffet Table Gorgonzola Burgers

Serves 6

2 pounds 80% ground chuck
grill seasoning (garlic, pepper, salt, cumin)
6 ounces gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1 egg

The Patriots Daily Buffet Table Burger process was covered in the Patriots-Steelers game last season. But here we’ll repeat it.

Crack the egg into a large mixing bowl. Add 1/3 of the cheese, seasonings, and meat. Mix well. Once it’s mixed add another 1/3 of the ingredients and repeat. You can just add everything at once if you’d like. I think it’s easier to mix and make the burgers more consistent to do it in separate steps.

If you have a burger press, go ahead and use it to make the patties. Otherwise we can form them by hand. Break off a chunk of burger meat from the bowl and roll it into a big meatball. Once that’s done start to press it into a patty between your palms. When it’s done press your thumb into the top, this will prevent the burger from curving up as it cooks. These can be made the day before game day and refrigerated overnight. Doing this will just make the flavors blend together more.

Here’s a simple trick on determining the burger size for people. Picture their hand from the wrist to the 1st knuckle. Make the patty the size and thickness of that full palm. This works when I’m cooking for a collection of male and female friends.

The FDA recommends cooking for 6 minutes per side. That’s going to  get you a medium well burger. Cook for a shorter amount of time if you like your burger less done. If you’re cooking enough burgers one will probably end up falling through the grill onto the burners or coals, that one is well done. Whatever time you decide to cook per side, halfway through the cooking  turn the burger 1/3 of a turn. Do the same thing once you flip the burger over. This gives you the classic crossed grill marks and more grilled flavor. The last turn is also a good time to put cheese onto the burger.

Time for a drink!

This week we’ll be drinking one of the biggest beer styles, the American Double IPA. Or as some prefer, the Imperial IPA.  It’s a Monday night game, I hope you all took Tuesday off. If you don’t respect the Double IPA you’ll need a day off, because these go to eleven.

Double IPA was invented by Vinnie Cilurzo, brewer/owner of Russian River Brewing Company. A happy mistake after he mistakenly put too much malt into a batch of India Pale Ale. To make up for the 50% increase in malt he doubled the amount of hops going into the beer. The Double IPA may be a San Diego invention but it has been taken up by craft brewers across the country. Lucky for us, as Russian River is not yet distributed to the East Coast.

Double IPA is among the most extreme styles in brewing. Featuring more malt, more hops, more flavor and more alcohol compared to the standard American IPA. American IPA, the style Double IPA grew out of is at the top of the scale in it’s own right. Double IPAs have to be paired with strong robust food, and we have a food big enough to stand up to them in our burgers.

All Double IPAs will be weighed towards the hoppy side. The only question is how far they go towards hop overload. If a beer was of a similar size to a Double IPA, but was balanced between hops and malts then that would be an American Barleywine.

The high alcohol will cut through the fat from the beef and cheese in the burger. The large amount of malt and hops used to brew these beers will complement but not be overwhelmed by the sharp and pungent Gorgonzola cheese. A smaller beer just wouldn’t stand up and would be left tasteless.

Colorado breweries have taken to the Double IPA as much as any region. Avery brings us Avery Maharaja. It’s a big 9.8% citrus and pine flavored entry in their Dictator series. Great Divide counters with Hercules Double IPA. It is a bit smaller at 9.1% ABV and 85 IBU, but smaller in a relative sense only. Hercules is also maltier than Maharaja. Boulder Brewing brings Mojo Risin’ Double IPA, the biggest of our Colorado Double IPA’s at 10.5% ABV.

There are not many Double IPAs produced year round and currently available from New England breweries.

One of the few is Blonde Hop Monster, from Paper City Brewery in Holyoke, MA. It is very hoppy and weighs in at 8.5% ABV.

Harpoon has recently released their Leviathan series. A rotating series of beers stronger than their normal year round brews. The current one just so happens to be Leviathan Imperial IPA.

You can also find Double IPAs at local brewpubs – the Alchemist in Waterbury, VT brews a number of different ones. As does Willimantic Brewing Company in Willimantic, CT.

The lack of bottled New England Double IPAs doesn’t mean we have a shortage of options. Many breweries send their examples to New England.

Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA, the big brother of 60 minute IPA, may be the most widely available Double IPA. This is the one I tried with the burger and it went great; the two together were better than either was on their own.

A number of Double IPAs make the trip from California, including: Hop 15 from Port Brewing;  Ruination IPA from Stone Brewing; and Moylans Moylander Double IPA and Hopsickle Imperial Ale.

Southern Tier Brewing of Lakewood, NY has greatly expanded their line in the past few years. Both their Hoppe and Unearthly IPA are good Double IPAs. Another up and coming brewery is Hoppin’ Frog from Akron, Ohio. Their Mean Manalishi Double IPA fits in with any of these other beers.

Patriots versus Dolphins this week, as we’re treated to our second AFC East matchup of the season. It’s been a busy off season for the fishies. Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor are gone. Bill Parcells is now the GM in Miami. Or at least he was when this was written. Ol’ Tuna doesn’t like to stick around for long. So while Bill may no longer be shopping for the groceries in Miami, the Buffet Table is still preparing for this game.

We’ll be shopping for MahiMahi this week. Also known as Dolphinfish, MahiMahi are fast growing but short lived fish. They’re a lot like the Dolphins, they start off every season fast but then fade down the stretch.

It’s an easy fish to cook. Like most fast growing and short lived fish, it does not have a strong fishy flavor. It’s a fish that people who think they don’t like fish should try. It cooks quickly enough that Parcells should still be in Miami if he was there when you first put the MahiMahi on the grill.

Bill Parcells’ Frequent Shopper Card MahiMahi (serves 6)

Ingredients:
MahiMahi filets, 2.5 to 3 pounds

Rub:
1/2 cup dark spiced rum
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 habanero pepper
1 mango

Other:
Vegetable oil

Chop habanero and mango, add spice and rum. Marinade Mahimahi for at least 30 minutes. When chopping habanero you should use gloves, or hold the pepper with a plastic bag. The capacin from this one can be absobred by your skin. From there you can easily transfer it to your eyes.

Using a paper towel coated with vegetable oil and a pair of tongs. Rub down your grill grate. This will help keep the fish from sticking, as you will not moving the fish too early. If you have a fish basket for the grill you can use that instead.

As the fish cooks brush with the remaining rum. Be careful when applying the rum; if you’re using an overproof rum it will flare. It will burn out quickly so you don’t have to move the fish away.

Over a medium-hot grill this will take 4-5 minutes on the first side, and 3-4 on the other side. But your main clue will be when the fish flakes. If you can flake it with a fork and the fish is white in color, then it’s ready.

Time for a drink!

Munich Octoberfest just started yesterday, how could we drink anything else? Octoberfest or Maerzen style beer parallels the NFL season. It’s traditionally brewed in the spring right around the time of the NFL Draft, and then it will sit and wait in caves over the summer unwilling to come out of hiding until the fall. Just like the Buffet Table Kitchen Staff!

It is a malty beer, a bigger more robust version of the Vienna Lager. The finish is dry despite the medium body and high malt presence. Hops should be almost imperceptible in the aroma, with just a little more in the flavor. Malt flavors are layered, as European malts made to a variety of toast with different methods are usually present in the recipe. German law limits the alcohol to about 5.6% alcohol by volume, but American versions usually run higher.

Octoberfest style beer will taste great with our fish. The malty flavor of octoberfest will blend well with the natural sweetness of the fish. The roasted Munich malt that typifies this beer style will also find a pair in the caramelized rub. As Octoberfest is not a hoppy beer, we don’t have to worry about bitterness clashing with the spices used for the fish.

If we were serving a freshwater fish with a lighter sauce, a lighter lager would be a better match. But when we have a salt water fish served with a bigger sauce we need the heavier Octoberfest. Octoberfest’s bigger body, and higher alcohol are a better match.

Fish is a popular choice at the original Octoberfest in Munich. Each year almost 85,000 pounds of fish are consumed. That is the equivalent of a full size adult humpback whale. If you’re concerned about a whale not being a fish, try drinking some octoberfest and then you won’t care.

It takes a lot of food to go with the 1.8 million gallons of beer served. It’s easy to go through that much beer when the traditional Octoberfest glass the Maß or Mass holds almost 3 beers at a time.

We covered the history of Octoberfest and pointed out a number of Octoberfest beers in last year’s Buffet Table against the Bills. Here we’ll cover some of those we missed.

From Massachusetts we have Berkshire Octoberfest. A big example at 6.8% ABV. Opa Opa Steak House in Southampton hasn’t released their Opafest in bottles yet, but it can be found in growlers at some liquor stores. A growler is a half gallon glass jug filled either with draft beer from a tap, or in this case filled as if it was a giant bottle on a special bottling line.

Casco Bay Brewing in Maine produces an Octoberfest in the authentic lager style, the only lager they produce in their range of ales.

Pennichuck Brewing from New Hampshire has released their Big O Oktoberfest in bottles for the first time this year. Don’t be put off by the similarly named personality on the Mighty Wurlitzer.

High Falls has redesigned their J.W. Dundee line as Dundee’s. They’ve also added an Octoberfest this season.

From Pennsylvania, most likely America’s biggest lager producing region, Stoudt’s Brewing brings us their Fest.

Harder to find, but as good as any listed here, are a pair from Wisconsin. Sprecher Oktoberfest and Lakefront Oktoberfest. Lakefront has some of the best beer labels I’ve ever seen.

From Germany, check out Paulaner Octoberfest, Hacker-Pschorr Octoberfest and Spaten Octoberfest.

The greatest is Von Wolfhausen Festbier (no website), the greatest beer in the world ever. I normally do not buy a lot of imported beer as it is rarely as fresh as local beer. Octoberfest is an exception, because it is a seasonal product so you can be sure of getting a fresh beer. These four are from the few breweries who are allowed to operate a tent at Octoberfest.

Welcome back to another season at the Buffet Table. The Pats are kicking off this season against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs are best known for performing in the best season of “Hard Knocks” that will ever be filmed. I looked it up, and they also play football in the NFL. It turns out Herm Edwards isn’t just a motivational speaker and coiner of phrases, but he also coaches in the NFL. Herm puts on a great pre-season tv show, but it doesn’t carry into the season. He’s only 2-5 playing to win the game in the first week.

Just like Herm, we at the Buffet Table are still stuck in the summer. Labor Day came too early this year – September 1st come on, that’s almost the earliest it could be. Before we get into the cold weather menus and beverages we’re going to enjoy this final weekend in the sun. Put on your black socks with Crocs, fire up the grill and fill the cooler. The Patriots are finally playing again.

Kansas City is well known for barbeque, but barbeque takes hours to make properly and you don’t have that much time when tailgating. We need a sauce that we can add to our food to give it that Kansas City type feel.

A Kansas City style BBQ sauce is easy enough. It’s a sweet tomato based sauce. Adding a KC Chiefs signature was the tough part. I wasn’t sure what to add so I called up Herm Edwards. We met at 4 a.m., scaled the fence at Arrowhead stadium and headed to his office.

Herm got out some poster board, markers and glitter. Instead of helping me out with this recipe he started drawing a sign. I pressed him for food advice but he seemed to have forgotten why we were there. The sign was pretty nice, but I wouldn’t put it into BBQ sauce.

That’s when I noticed the package of Fig Newtons. Only by opening the package of cookies was I able to stir Herm from drawing time.

“It’s just a reminder to me of my days back in college when you didn’t have very much money and all we had around the place to eat was Fig Newtons,” Edwards said. “Sometimes that was breakfast, lunch and dinner. One thing about a Fig Newton, it will fill you up.”

“I always told myself, no matter what happens, if you have Fig Newtons in the refrigerator, you’ll never go hungry. Since then, I’ve always had them. They are a reminder to me of where I came from. If something happens in the world and there’s total chaos, I know one thing, my family will be fine because we’ll still have Fig Newtons.”

I walked out confused but also inspired. I don’t know what figs have to do with anything, but I know they taste good and that Herm Edwards is planning for the apocalypse by always keeping a package around. If it’s good enough for Herm then it’s good enough for the Buffet Table.

Herm Edwards Fig BBQ sauce

A sweet Kansas City type BBQ sauce, good for seafood and chicken. The sauce can be prepared before gameday and stored refrigerated, or made on gameday. Serves 4.

Ingredients:

sauce:

3 cups ketchup
2 large figs
1 bottle steak sauce (10-12 ounces)
1 bottle beer (see beer section below)
1 cup apple juice
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder

shrimp:

2 pounds U-10 or U-12 shrimp

other:

6 to 12 wood or steel skewers

A ripe fig is a lot like a ripe pear. You want it to yield to pressure, but not be soft. They should be plump and unblemished, but the color will change from yellow to green to purple depending on the type of fig your store has. All figs are sweet and taste great when grilled, so don’t worry about the type.

Cut the figs in half lengthwise and scoop out the fruit with a spoon. Chop the fruit finely. You can substitute 1/2 cup of fig preserves if you cannot find or do not want to work with fresh figs.

Add all ingredients in a pot and heat to a simmer over low heat. The honey will blend easier if heated for a short time in a microwave before hand. Or if added to the sauce after the sauce has warmed.

Keeping with our ‘Summer can’t be over yet theme’ we’re going to cook some shrimp with this sauce. We last cooked shrimp for the Jacksonville playoff game. We will use the same U-10 or U-12 shrimp for this as they’re the best for grilling.

Skewer the shrimp on both the head and tail side, they’ll be in half circle shapes. You can also add quick cooking vegetables, such as quartered bell peppers. Alternate the vegetables with the shrimp on the skewer.

Shrimp cook very quickly, only taking one to three minutes per side. Herm Edwards has his own clock management coach because of his many clock management disasters. We don’t have to go to that extreme, just don’t walk away from the grill as the shrimp are cooking. Brush with the BBQ sauce as you grill.

Time for a drink!

This week we’ll cover the summer beers available from New England breweries. You can still find these on the shelves, and you might even find some on sale.

Unlike most weeks where we cover one beer style, summer beer does not have a singular style. There are a range of beers released as summer beers. Usually they have a few things in common – they’re light, crisp and refreshing. Hefeweizens, American Wheat Ales, Belgian Wits, light ales such as Kolsch, and light lagers such as Pilsner make up most of the summer offerings.

Light beers like these pair well with seafood. Their light taste and crispness matching well with the gentle flavor and sweetness in the seafood. These beers still have enough flavor to take on the sweet sauce we’re using but they won’t overpower the shrimp.

The most available of all summer beers is Sam Adams Summer Ale. This beer, flavored with citrus zest and grains of paradise (an old fashioned pepper substitute) fits in between the American Wheat Ale and Belgian Wit beer styles.

Another tweener is Summer Weizen from Smuttynose. This beer features the malts common to a German Hefeweizen but uses a Belgian Wit yeast.

One of my favorites in the Kolsch style is Geary’s Summer Ale. It is a heavyweight in the summer beer division at 6% ABV. The label changes every year, drawn by the winner of a design contest held at the Maine College of Art. The winning artist also receives a scholarship.

A lighter offering in the Kolsch style is Harpoon Summer Beer.

Even lighter, in the blonde ale style Anheuser-Busch offers Beach Bum Blonde Ale. A blonde ale is similar to a kolsch but lighter with American instead of Continental ingredients. You’ll find little mention of this beer on the A-B websites as they’re repositioning their craft-like beers under the Michelob label.

From the Hefeweizen category the always excellent Berkshire Brewery brings us Hefeweizen. Full of banana and clove aroma and flavor it’s a true German style Hefe.

This time of year Long Trail brewing company has 3 beers that would all work as summer beers. Their summer seasonal is Belgian White and it joins 2 year round beers: Blackbeary wheat, a fruit flavored wheat beer and former summer seasonal; and Hefeweizen a former limited edition beer.

Those are just a few of the hundreds of summer beers available. Head down to your favorite liquor store and browse the aisles. You’ll be sure to find a good, easy drinking, light and refreshing summer beer. These are great gateway beers for those new to craft beer, they have plenty of flavor but lack the strong and sometimes over the top characteristics of the stronger beer styles.

Herm quotes provided by KCChiefs.com.

Here we are again waiting for a Super Bowl to arrive. The fourth in seven years. Never forget how lucky we are to be watching this team at this time.

This time the Patriots are looking to be the first 19-0 team in NFL history. They’re looking to put up the true perfect season. They’re looking to put the 1972 Dolphins speaking engagement tour out of business.

We’re changing our approach at the Buffet Table this week. We plan our menus around tailgating and we’re faced with a few problems. Not many of you will be going to Arizona for the game. Even if you do go, the host cities always ban tailgating at the Super Bowl.

Luckily for us people like to make a celebration out of the Super Bowl. This Buffet Table is planned with gatherings small or large in mind.

We’ll be looking at food and beverage that is easy to prepare. Food and drink that is customizable to a variety of people. And importantly, food that can be handled pot luck style.

If you’re hosting a party why should you do all the work? If you’re going to a party bring something along and the host will appreciate it.

Speaking of helping out at a pot luck. BSMW regulars and family have contributed their personal recipes and beer choices to this Buffet Table.

Appetizers:

Jennifer Blisard’s Reuben Dip
A reuben sandwich turned into a dip. Delicious and its a tip of the cap to the Patriots NY opponents.
Thanks Jennifer.

Ingredients:
1 cup sauerkraut, drained
1 (8 oz.) cream cheese
1 (6 oz.) shredded Swiss cheese
6 ounces diced corned beef
2 tbsp. Thousand Island Dressing
Crackers, or cocktail rye bread

Preparation:
Drain and rinse sauerkraut, mix with cream cheese and Swiss cheese. Add diced corned beef and Thousand Island dressing.
Cover and heat on low in the crockpot, until cheeses are melted, stirring occasionally to blend all ingredients.

Serve warm.

Jennifer Blisard’s Pepperoni Pizza Dip:
Not one but 2 recipes from Jennifer. Don’t try passing these off as your own people. Give credit where it is due.

Ingredients:
1 8oz. package of cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. oregano
Pizza Sauce (not pasta sauce!)
Reserve:
1/2 cup chopped pepperoni
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup mozzarella

Preparation:
Mix all ingredients except the sauce in pyrex or metal baking pan. Cover with pizza sauce, approximately 1/2 cup.

Add on top the 1/2 cup chopped pepperoni, 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1/2 cup chopped green pepper

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes

Add 1/2 cup mozzarella and bake additional 5-10 minutes.

Serve with favorite crackers. Garden or vegetable crackers are really good with this.

Main Course:

Feejis’ Slider Bar
Small burgers offered with a variety of toppings. Each guest can customize to their own taste.

Ingredients:
Serves 4-5, the recipe can be easily multiplied
2 pounds Ground beef or turkey
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
small slider sized buns

Other:
Wax or parchment paper

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350

Mix the meat, egg and spices, roll into a big meatball. Lay out a piece of wax paper or parchment paper on a cutting board. Throw that giant meatball down like Brandon Jacobs fumbling the ball. Place another piece of wax paper on top of it and use a rolling pin to roll it out. Make sure you use the wax paper, without the paper, the meat will stick to the rolling pin.

Aim for 1/4″ thick and a generally square or rectangular shape. Thicker if you can only find thick rolls.

Take the paper off the top, cut it with a pizza cutter. Size the sliders so they’ll fit well on the rolls you get.

Use a spatula to transfer them to cookie sheets or glass pans. Place them in your 350 oven for 6-8 minutes, depending on doneness desired and the thickness you rolled the sliders out to. If you still have your grill out, you can grill them as well.

Lay out the huge pile of burgers, buns and toppings for people to serve themselves.

As for those toppings, do whatever you or your guests like. Request they bring over burger toppings. Sauteed onions, Mushrooms, peppers. The typical mustard, ketchup, lettuce, tomato. BBQ sauce, a few cheeses. Whatever you can think of.

Don’t forget the Half Smoke Chili from the Patriots-Redskins Buffet Table and the cheese sauce from the Patriots-Eagles Buffet Table.

Time for a drink!

So far on the Buffet Table we’ve profiled a particular beer style per week. With the variety of food we’re making, and with everyone having different beer preferences. We’re drinking the Boston Sports Media Watch/Patriots Daily Mix Pack.

Here’s old pal Joe Dokes and he brought Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA, some organic Wolavers, Pennichuck No. 5 and Geary’s Winter.

Theres TjM toting his favorite German import Becks.

Ed Hillel isn’t emptyhanded, thats a Smuttynose mix pack I spy. Great for watching games and taking hiking right Ed?

She’s sweet, but it looks like Suzy likes bitter beer. I can pick out those green labels from Sierra Nevada Pale Ale from across the room.

Everyone’s favorite crustacean lobstah is sporting Shipyard Prelude, Bar Harbor Real Ale and Coal Porter in his claws. Can you pop a top with those claws?

Feejis likes Coors Light and Killians with his sliders.

Someone needs to help Dan bring those in, what is that Sam Adams, Smithwick’s, Bud Light, and Michelob Light?

Hey! Chief made it up here, what do you have Magic Hat Circus Boy… weren’t you just saying you got burnt out on this and wished you had some way to get rid of it?

Looks like the Patriots Daily Round Table has let out, here comes Scott, and he’s carrying some Geary’s.

Lebron made it out as well. He loves his Colorado beers, but for football he brought some Moosehead. A good crisp Canadian lager, not too filling, but it still has great flavor.

This is a thirsty bunch, and they like a variety of frosty barley pops. If you don’t know what your guests like go out and buy a few variety packs. Sam Adams, Geary’s, Sea Dog, Harpoon, Redhook and countless others have 12 packs including 3,4 or 6 different beers.

That does it for the Patriots Buffet Table. You should have enough food and beverage to last you this offseason. See you all
next fall.

What are your Super Bowl food and drink plans? Let us know below in the comments.