RECIPE FILE with Great Lakes Brewing Company and Petit Soleil Catering

Rock Finley, chef, Great Lakes Brewing Company

Recipes from the Great Lakes Brewing Company

Now celebrating its 20-year anniversary, Great Lakes Brewing Company helped ignite the local-beer revival. The brewery’s much-lauded, award-winning beers have been the ideal accompaniment to a successful brewpub, where chef and brewmaster work together to devise menus. As delightful visions of Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts began to whet our appetites, we called upon Great Lakes chef Rock Finley and brewmaster Luke Purcell to create two holiday menus that illustrate the elegance a few choice bottles of beer may bring to your dinner table this festive season. Cheers!

THANKSGIVING MENU:

*Amuse Bouche: Smoked salmon with cream cheese and roasted red peppers on Asiago beer bread
Serve with Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold Lager

Soup: Tomato and okra stew
Serve with Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ale

Salad: Mixed greens with grilled, julienned winter squash and fresh herb vinaigrette
Serve with Great Lakes Oktoberfest Lager

*Entrée: Roasted pork loin with pecan-honey glaze, mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables
Serve with Great Lakes Eliot Ness Amber Lager

Dessert: Sweet potato casserole
Serve with Great Lakes Christmas Ale

Smoked salmon with cream cheese and roasted red peppers
on Asiago beer bread

*Smoked salmon with cream cheese and roasted red peppers on Asiago beer bread
(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces smoked salmon
• 8 slices beer bread (sliced thin)
• 16 slivers roasted red peppers
• 8 tablespoons cream cheese
• 4 teaspoons Asiago cheese

Directions: Toast bread under oven broiler, add Asiago cheese and allow to melt. Spread cream cheese on toasted bread, add smoked salmon and top with roasted red peppers.

* Roasted pork loin with pecanhoney glaze, mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables
(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 4 French-cut pork loin chops or 8-ounce boneless center-cut pork chops
• 4 cups honey
• 4 cups chopped pecans
• 32 ounces Eliot Ness Amber Lager

Roasted pork loin with pecanhoney glaze, mashed potatoes
and seasonal vegetables

Directions for pork loin: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Season chops to taste with salt and pepper, and roast approximately 20 minutes. Meanwhile, bring honey, chopped pecans and Eliot Ness Amber Lager to a boil in a saucepan, reduce heat and allow to simmer for approximately 20 minutes. Glaze cooked chops with honey, pecan and Eliot Ness sauce.

CHRISTMAS MENU

*Amuse Bouche: Bacon-wrapped shrimp with tangy cranberry reduction
Serve with Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold Lager

Soup: Butternut squash and ginger bisque
Serve with Great Lakes Eliot Ness Amber Lager

Salad: Apple and fennel salad
Serve with Great Lakes Barrel Select Pils

*Entrée: Herb-crusted airline chicken breast with mustard ale sauce, wild rice and seasonal vegetables
Serve with Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ale

Dessert: Apple strudel with caramel sauce
Serve with Great Lakes Christmas Ale

Bacon-wrapped shrimp with tangy cranberry reduction

*Bacon-wrapped shrimp with tangy cranberry reduction
(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp
• 1 pound fresh or frozen cranberries
• ¼ cup white wine vinegar
• 8 ounces Dortmunder Gold Lager
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ cup fresh ginger
• 3 tablespoons garlic-chile sauce (such as Sriracha)
• Mixed greens for garnish

Directions: Bring all ingredients (except shrimp) to a boil, stirring well, until reduced by approximately one quarter. Wrap shrimp in bacon and grill until cooked, about seven minutes. Spread reduction on plate, add mixed greens for garnish and prop bacon wrapped shrimp on greens.

Herb-crusted airline chicken breast with mustard ale sauce, wild rice and seasonal vegetables

*Herb-crusted airline chicken breast with mustard ale sauce, wild rice and seasonal vegetables
(Serves 4)

• 5 pounds fresh Gerber Amish-raised airline chicken breasts
• 4 cups bread crumbs
• 3 cups fresh herbs (parsley, chives, sage)

Directions for chicken: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover chicken breasts in bread crumb/herb mixture and bake in oven for 20 minutes.

For mustard ale sauce:

• 36 ounces Burning River Pale Ale
• 30 ounces water
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 2 quarts heavy cream
• 1 cup whole grain mustard
• 1 cup Dijon mustard
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1 cup water

Directions: Heat first five ingredients over medium-high heat until reduced by half. Add heavy cream to reduction and continue to reduce, stirring often. Add mustards to above reduction and continue to reduce. Meanwhile, mix cornstarch and water in a bowl and stir to create slurry. Reduce reduction to a simmer, and slowly stir in slurry, stirring constantly until reaching desired consistency. Remove from heat and serve immediately over chicken or on the side.

Recipes from Chef Ben Fambrough, Petit Soleil Catering

Ben Fambrough, former executive chef at Sans Souci restaurant and current owner/executive chef of Petit Soleil catering, is one of the region’s foremost culinary talents. He’s also a big fan of Great Lakes Brewing Company and its beers. Combine his gastronomic acumen and a penchant for GLBC brew, and you get two sensational holiday menus. Enjoy!

THANKSGIVING MENU:

• First Course: *Pumpkin-Dortmunder chowder
• Second Course: *Roasted turkey breast and sausages brined with Commodore Perry IPA
• Third Course: Baked Apples with Burning River caramel sauce

Ben Fambrough, current owner/executive chef of Petit Soleil catering

*Pumpkin-Dortmunder Chowder
(Serves four to six)

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 3 ounces pancetta, finely diced
• 1 small pie pumpkin, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 1 medium Yukon gold potato, medium dice
• 1 medium shallot, peeled and sliced
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• 1 pinch ground grains of paradise (may sub black pepper)
• 1 small clove garlic, whole
• 1 sprig sage
• 1 sprig thyme
• 1 bottle Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold Lager
• Chicken stock as needed
• Kosher salt to taste
• Garnish: smoked duck breast, toasted pumpkin seed and crème fraîche

Directions: In a small stock pot, heat the canola oil and pancetta over medium heat. When the pancetta begins to crisp, add the pumpkin, potato, shallot, grains of paradise and ground cloves. Stir to combine well, and cook over medium flame until the shallot and pumpkin begin to slightly caramelize. Add the garlic, sage and thyme and stir to combine. Add the Dortmunder and enough stock to just cover the pumpkin. Cover and simmer until fork tender. Remove the sage and thyme. Puree with an immersion or countertop blender until perfectly smooth, adding hot stock as necessary to adjust the consistency. Season to taste with kosher salt. Ladle into bowls and garnish with sliced, smoked duck breast, crème fraîche and toasted pumpkin seeds.

*Roasted Turkey Breast and Sausages Brined with Commodore Perry IPA
(Serves six)

Ingredients:

• 4 cups fresh cold water
• 1½ cups kosher salt
• 1½ cups brown sugar
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 5 whole allspice
• 3 bay leaves
• 6 bottles Great Lakes Commodore Perry IPA
• 2 apples, peeled and chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 small turkey
• 6 links pork sausage (4 cups mixed chopped onion, celery and carrot (mirepoix) or a roasting rack)

Directions: Gently heat the water with kosher salt and brown sugar until dissolved. Remove from heat. In a large, non-reactive pot or plastic container, combine the sugar/salt solution with the Commodore Perry, chopped apples, onion, cinnamon stick, allspice and bay leaves. Submerge the turkey and sausage in the brine. Store refrigerated for 24 hours.

Remove turkey and sausages, and discard the brine. Rinse the turkey under cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Place the turkey and sausages on the mirepoix or a roasting rack and roast in a 400-degree oven for 20 minutes. Turn down the heat to 300, removing the sausages as soon as they are done and browned. Baste the turkey every 20 minutes during the cooking process, until the internal temperature (taken from the thickest part of the thigh with an instant read thermometer) reaches 160 degrees. Allow the turkey to rest for a minimum of 10 minutes before carving. Reheat the sausages in the oven. Use the roasting pan to make gravy, if desired.

CHRISTMAS MENU

• First Course: *White ale lobster and cod a la Nage
• Second Course: *Porter-lacquered lamb with eggplant and roasted shallots
• Third Course: *Spiced Christmas Ale ice cream

*White Ale Lobster and Cod a la Nage
(Serves four)

Ingredients:

• 4 each 1 ¼-pound live Maine lobster
• 4 ounces cod
• 1 ½ bottles Great Lakes Holy Moses White Ale
• 1 teaspoon toasted coriander seed, lightly crushed
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
• 4 tablespoons finely diced (1/8-inch) mixed celery, carrot and onion (mirepoix)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and diced
• 2 drops real vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon thyme leaves and flowers, picked fresh
• 4 basil leaves, cut into fine threads

Directions: Cut the lobster with shears and extract the meat from the shell. Reserve the shells for another use. Clean and trim the raw lobster into slices on the bias about ¼-inch thick. Similarly clean and slice the cod. Bring the Holy Moses to a simmer with the orange zest, coriander seed and kosher salt in a shallow pan. Reduce the heat and poach the lobster and cod at 180 degrees until just done. Remove the lobster and cod from the beer and keep just warm. Strain the liquid through a fine meshed strainer or cheesecloth into a small sauce pan. Poach the finely minced vegetables in the beer until just crisp tender. Carefully whisk in the chilled butter and add the vanilla. Mound the lobster and cod into warmed soup plates and sprinkle with the thyme and basil. Divide the beer broth into the serving dishes by gently spooning it over the lobster and cod.

*Great Lakes Porter Lacquered Lamb
(Serves four)

Ingredients:

• 2 each 8-bone rack of lamb, frenched and trimmed (half-rack per portion)
• 2 bottles Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter
• 1 teaspoon coarse ground black peppercorns
• 3 tablespoons organic molasses, divided
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 4 whole allspice
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 4 shallots, peeled
• 1 eggplant

Directions: Combine the Porter, peppercorns, 2 tablespoons molasses, cinnamon and allspice for a marinade. Marinate carrots and lamb overnight in a non-reactive container or plastic.

Remove both the lamb and carrots from marinade and dry with paper towels, reserving marinade. Season the lamb with kosher salt and black pepper and sear in a hot pan until well-browned on all sides. Add the carrots and shallots to the pan and allow to caramelize. Remove carrots to a shallow roasting pan and place the lamb on top. Place the shallots around and add the marinade to the pan (reserving ½ cup for the eggplant). Roast in a 375-degree oven until the desired doneness, basting the lamb frequently with the juices. Remove the shallots and lamb from the pan and allow the lamb to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

While resting the lamb, strain the pan juices, discarding the carrots and removing any fat. Return this liquid to the stove, add the remaining tablespoon of molasses and reduce to a glaze. Brush this glaze over the lamb before serving.

For the eggplant: Slice eggplant into discs that are 1-inch thick. Sprinkle these with salt and rest for 15 minutes. Dry the slices of moisture with paper towels. Heat a large sauté pan over medium high heat with olive oil just to cover the bottom of the pan. Cook the eggplant in the hot oil, turning only when a deep brown. When the second side browns sufficiently, add the reserved ½ cup of marinade. Turn the eggplant slices again and simmer until tender. A small drizzle of the glaze over each dinner plate makes for a nice garnish. Sautéed black Tuscan kale makes an excellent side to the lamb and eggplant.

*Spiced Christmas Ale Ice Cream
(serves four)

• 1 bottle Great Lakes Christmas Ale
• 1 ½ cup heavy cream
• ½ cup milk
• 6 egg yolks
• 6 ounces sugar
• 1 teaspoon warm mixed spices (allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove)

Reduce the Christmas Ale to half its volume in a small sauce pan. In a larger sauce pan, combine the cream and milk and bring this mixture to a simmer. Add the reduced beer and turn off the heat. In a mixing bowl whisk together the yolks, sugar and spice mixture. Temper this mixture into the hot cream by whisking a small amount of the cream (approximately 2 ounces) into the yolks, then slowly whisking the warmed yolks back into the hot cream. Cook over a medium-low flame, whisking until the custard reaches 180 degrees (yolks will curdle in cream at 185 degrees) and is thick. Chill this custard over ice. When properly chilled, use an ice cream machine and the manufacturer’s instructions to freeze the custard. Serve with crisp cookies (ginger snaps would be an excellent choice).

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