Enjoying the benefits of still having homegrown garden tomatoes by making some homemade pizza in the wood-fired brick oven: homemade tomato sauce, garden fresh basil, and melted mozzarella combined to make an excellent meal to enjoy with a crisp beer on a late summer evening.
With the annual glut of ripe tomatoes from the garden comes the task of processing them into tomato sauce. While it can be a hot and messy endeavor, delicious meals like this are only possible because of the garden fresh sauce; and once combined with: homemade spinach fettuccine, thick slices of home baked bread, and an appropriate beer pairing, the sauce really has its chance to shine!
When the summer temperature is too hot to justify turning on the oven (and heating up the house), it’s a good time to load the brick oven with wood and make some homemade pizza!
This wood fired, brick oven pizza, was made with ingredients fresh from the garden including: tomatoes, banana peppers, basil, and oregano! Served with an IPA for that classic summer flavor.
Time to fire up the charcoal grill and slap a slab of steak on there to celebrate National French Fry Day (July 13th) with a beer pairing meal of Steak and Fries! Homemade, thick cut, spiced, duck fat, french fries sprinkled with a dusting of cheese were just the thing to stand up to the wood grilled steak topped with herb-spiced, caramelized onions. With this meal, a Flanders style oud bruin sour beer was selected due to its slightly sweet malt undertone complementing the caramelized meat and onions; while the mild tartness helped to refresh and clean the palate in between bites of the rich and succulent flavors.
This dessert beer pairing was a great way to finish off a summertime meal! The lemon butter helped to brighten up the heavier, darker, flavors present in the beer, while the toasted coconut essence in the Madeleine paired well with the tropical porter.
Beer battered fish and chips served in a newspaper cone with home baked potato “fries”.
Since today is National Lobster Day, there was a great excuse to fire up the wood fired brick oven and try out a few crustacean topped pizzas! A well-chilled India Pale Lager (IPL) was a delicious pairing for the pizza since it provided a crisp, clean, and refreshing, hop flavor without the aggressive bitterness (think stronger IPAs) that would have drowned out the delicate sweetness of the lobster meat.
There’s not much that can beat the first bite into a crisp summertime BLT sandwich made with garden tomatoes fresh off the vine; unless, of course, you upgrade to a duck bacon BLT (DBLT): with a warm, fresh home baked roll, home cured and smoked duck bacon, home baked potato “fries”, and of course an appropriate beer pairing to complete the meal!
Potato, bacon, and garden fresh basil combine for the main flavors in this soup; great for rainy days in early summer!
It’s always a good time for beer and pizza; and this homemade broccoli and prosciutto pairing was no exception! Even though it was a little hot outside, it felt good to fire up the wood fired backyard brick oven and try out a few more pizza topping combinations!