In Search of the Perfect Pancake

Reportedly Kenny Shopsin is the inspiration for the Soup Nazi character portrayed in a Seinfeld episode. He is renowned for his freshly made soups and the strict rules that govern dining his restaurant. Shopsin also has a reputation for making great pancakes.

To me, pancakes are the ultimate comfort food when cooked properly. Unfortunately I’ve eaten many pancakes that are too cakey, chewy, puffy or thin. So I was eager to read Shopsin’s book, “Eat Me, The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin“, to learn his pancake secrets.

He gives a great description of what the the perfect pancake should be:

 

light, with a nice brown, almost fried exterior, and so airy that if you really looked close at them, you would find that they’re not really there. They’re really just air bound with a pancake.

Shopsin believes a well-oiled and properly heated griddle is the most important element in making pancakes. The lack of such a griddle in most homes is why homemade pancakes often fall short of the mark.   The second most important factor is handling the batter which is another reason why pancakes made by professional line cooks taste better than homemade.

What we actually eat, the batter,  is the least important element.  According to Shopsin if you have a proper griddle and cooking technique, you could use a boxed mix or frozen batter and your pancakes will taste as good as his.   His batter recipe?  It’s Aunt Jemima’s.   Many a customer must have been shocked to learn the pancakes they loved started as a block of frozen mass produced batter.

In true Pancake Nazi form, to those that question his philosophy, he questions the worthiness of pancakes:

They are flour and milk drowned in butter and some form of sugar.  As far as food value, you might as well take Crisco, whip it up with powdered sugar, and spread it on your face.

If you don’t like it, No Pancakes for You!

Homebrewing made (way too) easy

The Big & Easy Bottle Brew

Allen Aue who owns Squashed Grapes, a wine and beer making store two doors down from JJ Brewsky’s, gave me this bottle of Big & Easy Bottle Brew for Christmas.    Now I consider myself well-read on all things beer but 2 liter bottles filled with wort with a yeast pill strapped on had not hit my radar screen.  Allen tells me he discovered these on a trip to Toronto a few months ago and has been selling them since shortly thereafter.  

My bottle was an amber lager.   He also sells a Mexican Lager.  Not exactly styles for the beer snob but I was curious to try.   The “brewing” process begins by removing the cap, dropping in the yeast pill and resealing with a special breathable cap that is attached.   After placing in a cool, dry place, the beer ferments for a period of your chosing which the label recommends two weeks.

This seemed entirely too short so I let it lager for four weeks.   A good inch of sediment rested at the bottom of the bottle as a removed it from the lagering closet.  After a couple days of refrigeration, I finally tasted my creation.   The bottle is perched near the sink in the photo for a reason.  The taste was what one would expect for a fizzy, American lager.  But it was still beer.  That I brewed.

 

The question is what market exists for this type of homebrewing “kit”.   The over-simplified brewing process does not give any insight to how beer is really brewed.  Allen reports that these sold briskly during the Holidays.   This seems like the perfect novelty gift for the beer lover.   Other than a novelty, I suppose those looking to save a few bucks on their American Lager purchases may be interested.   It is after all bottled wort so using in it in food I suppose is an option.   I’ve always wanted to try a fresh wort reduction over pancakes but I doubt the bottled version would come close in flavor.

For a more authentic but easy homebrewing experience,  I recommend mead which can be competently brewed using the ingredients shown above.   In this month’s Beer Advocate magazine,  Drew Beechum makes a great case for making mead at home:

No grains to crush, no long mash or boil, just a little hot water, some honey and yeast.

His mead recipe adds pureed dates and date molasses to the honey.  We have some great honey being produced in Ventura County in the Heritage Valley near Fillmore.    The plentiful orange blossoms and diverse wildflowers of the valley produce some of the country’s best honey.  Island Brewing of Carpinteria used Fillmore honey in its Avocado Honey Blonde  they make in the fall for the Avocado Festival.

I will be securing 12 pounds of Fillmore honey from Bennett’s Farm for an upcoming mead making party at Squashed Grapes using Drew’s date mead recipe.  Mead needs 8 to 10 months to ferment so the plan is to uncork our mead during the holidays when mulled mead is popular.  Mulled mead is flavored with spices (and sometimes various fruits) and warmed, traditionally by having a hot poker plunged in it.

Look for the Mead Making Party annoucement soon!

The Hidden Gems of Naval Base Ventura County

 

Capt. Conners and I on a bluff overlooking the base. Unfortunately a rain squall rolled in and obscured the dramatic view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Naval Base Ventura County (comprised of the former Pt Mugu and Port Hueneme Naval Bases) to most locals has been nothing more than a walled-off military installation open to the public once a year for its annual air show.    The base’s CO, Capt. Brad “Brick” Conners has made a point of allowing civilians to experience some of the unique amenities of the base.   I was offered the opportunity to tour the base with Capt Conners on a recent rainy Friday afternoon.   Visiting Radio Tower Beach was on the top of my list of “must sees”.

In October of last year NBVC hosted a surf contest on Radio Towers beach which is considered one of the best surf spots in California.   Attendance was triple what was expected as word spread about this pristine stretch of beach opening to the public.   The next contest is scheduled for August 22nd in what promises to become a popular annual event, the first and only surf contest on a U.S. Naval base.

A rare stretch of pristine beach in So Cal.

Surf was light this day

The base also contains the largest saltwater wetlands remaining in Southern California.   The wetlands draw a variety of rarely seen wildlife to the area including migratory birds and sea lions. 

A few sea lions resting on an wetland beach

Which brings me to the most unexpectedly cool part of tour: a little bar near the bachelor living quarters at Point Mugu.   With a missle hanging from the ceiling, paintings of fighter jets and various sqaudron plaques and stickers on the walls, the place immediately reminded me of the classic bar scene from “Top Gun”.  I’m sure the place is ordinary by military standards but to this bar-owning civilian it was a very cool, very authentic joint.   There is certainly no bar like it in Ventura County. 

Bar amenities include dart board, pool table, TV, jukebox, hanging missle

There's a great sense of pride and honor on the walls.

 Capt. Conners will be retiring from the Navy at the end of February.   Word is that the incoming CO will continue Capt. Conners legacy of connecting the base to the surrounding community and creating opportunities for the public to experience the hidden gems of NBVC.

Sierra Nevada Beer Camps Continue

Since my trip to Beer Camp #1 in May, Sierra Nevada has hosted Beer Camps #2 and #3.  Beernews.org wrote a nice article about the program which has now produced a Saison (Sierra S8ZON) and a Double Red (Hop Secret 393) along with our Imperial Pilsner (Sierra Super 7).   The Sierra Nevada Pilot Brewery is a great place to experiment as is evident in the styles campers have selected; none of the styles have been brewed by Sierra Nevada (at least not for public consumption). 

S8ZON is interesting because we were told in Beer Camp #1 that we could not use adjuncts since Sierra Nevada doesn’t use them in their beers.  This may explain Head R&D Brewer Scott Jenning’s reaction to the coriander, orange peel, and white pepper thrown into the boil.   From a Washington Post article on Saisons which quotes camper Dave Alexander, the owner of the Brickskeller in D.C.:

“The head brewer was freaking out,” says Alexander. “He had never done a spiced beer before.” Specifically, there was concern that white pepper — a third condiment added to the mix — would dominate the flavor.

Some of  the reviews on Beer Advocate do describe a peppery taste along with the expected fruitiness from the Belgian yeast, giving the beer and overall rating of B.  Sierra Super 7 has Beer Advocate rating of A- (hey, a little camp rivalry never hurt).   Hop Secret 393 just went at tap at Hermosa Beach’s Bugaloo Cafe over the weekend and has yet to be reviewed.  Early reviewers have given it an A.  The beer uses an experimental hop which was labeled simply 393. 

The great thing about these camps is that you have pretty much free reign over Sierra Nevada’s trove of malt and hops.  For Super 7, we were able to use Southern Cross and Muteuka hops from New Zealand which were in Sierra Nevada’s Southern Hemishpere Harvest Ale.

I am now hearing talk of a future “Reunion Camp” with alumni of previous camps.   Sign me up now.  Until then, my advice to future Beer Campers: come up with name without a number in it!

More Beer vs Wine Duels Expected in 2009

Early last year I received a DVD from Stone Brewing with a documentary on Stone’s first Beer vs Wine dinner.  Not only was it very entertaining (beer barely won) but it inspired me to look into hosting such an event in Ventura County.   In April I read two great books that frame the arguments well: “He Said Beer, She Said Wine” and “Grape vs. Grain“.   Then I debated Seana Weaver from Weaver Wines on the subject on her radio show in June.   Despite all this talk, I was unable to put anything together for 2008.

Now the January 09 issue of Restaurant Business Magazine includes Beer vs Wine Dinners in their list of 50 Great Ideas for 2009 specifically citing Stone’s annual event:

Challenging the accepted notion that wine is the best beverage to pair with fine food, a Beer vs Wine competition tasting dinner has become a popular event at El Bizcocho at the Rancho Bernardo Inn of San Diego.   For the past two years, Greg Koch of Stone Brewing Company has curated a selection of artisanal  beers that face off against premium wines chosen by sommelier Eric Brehm.   During the event, diners sip, savor and keep score, noting their pairing preference for each dish from Chef Steven Roja’s multi-course menu.

It turns out wine won in 2008, so this year’s event will be the tiebreaker.   I may have found my final inspiration.  Look for an annoucement soon and for a beer vs wine dinner near you.

Fridays on Cask

After drinking the great cask shown above of Sierra Nevada’s 28th Annivesary Ale last week,  we excited about the return of Firestone Walker’s Double Barrel on cask this Friday Aug 1.   The first cask of DBA received many raves as the cask conditioning  really complements the barrel fermentation system used to make the beer.   Not that the Sierra Anniversary on Cask wasn’t tasty.  It had nice hop aroma and taste initially which faded to very balanced and drinkable IPA.

Appearance on “Lots More To Eat”

Lisa McKinnon of the Ventura County Star wrote a nice piece this week about our cask beer and her web vlog ”Lots More to Eat” covers us tapping our firkin of Telegraph Bourbon Barrel Porter, the origin of  Sierra Super 7 and our hop vines (from rhizomes dug up from Sierra Nevada’s compost pile).

Click here If video doesn’t play: “Fridays on Cask“,

 

 

 

 

Sierra Super 7 – First Tasting Notes

As the tap handle design above shows, “Super” has been added to name of our Imperial Pilsner brewed during Beer Camp #1.   Steve Grossman has sampled the beer and passed along these tasting notes:

“It is quite full bodied with a dry finish.  Has the “grainy” malt character that we were striving for.  The impression on the palate is one of richness.  The flavors are very “clean” (no noticeable heat or fusel oil characteristics from the alcohol).  The color is pale straw.  The beer has a very nice (and pronounced) hop character with a lingering hop finish – definitely on the hoppy side.  I like it quite a bit.  It will be even zippier when it is fully carbonated.”

 Scott Jennings forwarded some analytical data notes as the beer sat in the tank last week (note the 7′s):

BU -                              46 IBU              Almost got that one, I’ll get a final after filtration…BU measurement varies a little each time, so it could be different next check…maybe a 47!!

Color –                          7 EBC               Nailed that one

Original gravity -            17.2 Plato         The second pump in was higher

Final gravity –                3.05 Plato         That’s as low as it would go…the yeast really struggled in the end

Alcohol -                       7.77 v/v            Nailed that one…I’m not joking…

Sierra 7 – Update

Since my last post, there have been a few developments on the progress of Sierra 7 toward our taps.  On May 7th (of course) the lager was dry hopped with 7 pounds of strissel spalt and 7 pounds of saaz hops which works out to .7lbs per barrel.  Scott reports that tank gravity was very close to 7.0 Plato when the beer was transferred to dry hops.

This week we got a report from the pilot brewery that the beer was lagering nicely and would continue to improve with time.  “The longer the better”, according to Scott.  With that and superstition in mind, it looks like the beer will racked on…….. 7/7!  If everything goes as planned, look for Sierra 7 on tap at JJ Brewsky’s that night.

The Making of Sierra 7 – Day 2

Day 2 of Beer Camp began in the early morning of May 2 at Sierra Nevada’s Pilot Brewery.   Scott Jennings, R&D Head Brewer, started the day with interesting news: our first 10 barrel batch would be the 77th brewed in the Pilot Brewery and we would be using Fermenting Tank #7 to lager the beer.   After a discussion about the superstitious nature of brewers and realizing that the date (5/2) added to 7, our team of seven knew the name of our 7.7 percent brew would have to change.   The name “Sierra 7″ seemed to add an aura to the morning as we headed to milling room to begin making our beer. 

I had the honor of adding the first bucket of Pale malt into the mill. 

The milled malt gets transfered to the mash tun where hot water is added.

 The mash swirls around the bottom of the tun, separating sugars and starches from the grain.

Scott discusses how to assess clarity of the wort.

Wort is drawn off and sampled.  After trying this sweet mixture,  we realize why the malted milk shakes served in Sierra Nevada’s Restaurant taste so good.  A wort reduction served over pancakes surfaces as a potential new brunch menu item at JJ Brewsky’s.

 Nothing like checking the wort boil in the early morning.

 Gathering the Magnum hops to be added to the boil.

The lager yeast is added and the process of turning wort to beer begins.

 Fermentation Tank #7, where Sierra 7 will lager for 4 weeks.   JJ Brewsky’s will be one of only two places to obtain a pint of this special beer.

After the beer was transfered to the fermentation tank, we watched the computer monitor display showing the tank cooling to 43 degrees.  Our day of brewing was finished.  We were blessed that the Northern California Master Brewers Association meeting was being held at Sierra Nevada’s Big Room.   We were allowed to drop in on a interesting presentation on Flavor Perception by Professor Jean-Xavier Guinard of UC Davis.  I decided to buy 10 raffle tickets for a drawing for various swag donated by brewers in attendance.   To my amazement, one of the ten tickets was numbered 777!