Dave

Burger. A true story.

Food, Recipes No Responses »
Jan 132010

Something for the foodies out there.

It’s a much appreciated burger recipe that I, your resident chef de cuisine, Chef David, have offered to share with all of our visitors.  This recipe is all about following the proper directions because any inconsistency will result in failure.  So, if you’re ready for the tastiest, JUICIEST, and most scrumptious burger you have ever had, please read on.

Serves 4.

1 1/2 lb. 80/20 ground beef.

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1-1 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper (depending on your preference)

1 tablespoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

2 oz. teriyaki sauce

Procedure:

Combine all ingredients just until mixed.  Divide into 4 equal portions.  Form tight 1 inch thick patties.  Now…take your thumb and create a crater into the center of one side of the burger about a 1/2 inch deep.  The burger will widen just a little.  Just tighten it up again by pressing the sides together with both hands.  You should have a nice plump burger, but be sure to keep it as even as possible on the sides surrounding the crater.  Refrigerate for at least 30 mins.

Heat your grill to around 400 degres-425 degrees.  Make sure your grill is clean and oiled.  The key to these burgers is a hot grill.  If using charcoal make sure to spread the coals evenly along the bottom of the grill.  There should only be one layer of coals.

After 30 minutes…time to cook.

Place the burgers evenly spread on the grill, try to avoid total direct heat, but be sure the grill is hot.  If these burgers do not sizzle when you set them on the grill, then it is not hot enough.  Close lid and cook for 5-6 minutes.  Lift lid and flip burgers.  Don’t play around with them.  Just flip and move on.  Close lid.  Cook for another 5-6 minutes for a good medium cooked burger. (add cheese if you want.  recommend muenster cheese or provolone.  these are good melting cheeses)

Now…be careful!  I am telling you.  These burgers have been known to retain all of their tasty juices and explode into your mouth when taking your bites.  I’m serious.  So delicious though. Yum.  Also…I know a lot of you love to put mustard and catsup or ketchup on your burgers.  Trust me…YOU DO NOT NEED TO.  But…to each his own.  I suggest trying the burger before adding any condiments.  Do what ya do partna!

Some beer recommendations:

Black Diamond Belgian Ale

Bridgeport Pintail Ale

Goose Island Blonde

Red Hook Blonde Ale

See the trend?  A nice refreshing ale will compliment this burger nicely and not overpower your pallet when devouring this meaty chunk of love.  Save your IPA’s and Porters for after your burger.

Hope you guys enjoy!

So long, suckers!

Posted by Dave at 10:40 am

"Any fries come with that shake?"

Reviews 5 Responses »
Jan 112010

The “short-beer”,  as it is known to some,  is like a vanilla milkshake in your mouth.  The combination of “Licor 43″ (Cuarenta Y Tres), a spanish liqueur flavored with vanilla and various aromatic herbs, and a splash of heavy cream is as much a delight to savor in your mouth as it is to adore visually.

The name short-beer obviously refers to the similiarity of a frothy mug of suds waiting to be guzzled by the burley, hardworking, man’s man. (Not any of us by the way)

There isn’t much to the “shot.” 1 oz. of “43″ and approximately 1 tablespoon of heavy cream.  Pours easy and consumed quite easily.  A yummy taste of vanilla heaven.  A sure way to intoxicate your female of choice at the local and non local pub.  A few of these ”McShots” and she’s sure to be making you breakfast the next morning. And when I say this I’m referring to the fact that getting laid is quite possible if you play your cards right.  Now…I just want to clarify “playing your cards right.”  C’mon fellas!  You gotta treat these women with the uttermost respect.  That is how you get your pickle tickled.  A gentleman is always sought after.  So, lets review. 4-5 short-beers, gentle, urbane behavior, and of course…MONEY TO PAY FOR THE DRINKS!!!  That, my friends, is the key.

I encourage all of you to sample this delicious shot of vanilla goodness.  But remember…drink your beer and eat you steaks!  So long, suckers!

Posted by Dave at 10:28 pm

Christmas

Uncategorized 2 Responses »
Dec 132009

Christmas is coming.

Posted by Dave at 5:23 pm

Just a quick thought...

Uncategorized No Responses »
Jul 242009

I recall a quote that inspired me throughout my adolescence. “You may run like Mays, but you hit like shit.” Lou Brock, Major League.
Mr. Lou Brock made it abruptly known to Willie Mays Hayes that just because he did one thing well did not make up for what he did not do so well. I appreciate the honesty used by Lou. I understand his reasoning and why he had to approach Willie the way he did. What I learned from this is that no matter how good you may think you are at something, if you are honest enough with yourself, you can always seek improvement.

Posted by Dave at 12:02 am

The Campfire Brewery send two of it's own to the French Culinary Institute

Beer Doings, News 1 Response »
Apr 082009

The French Culinary Institute, located in the SoHo section of downtown Manhattan has accepted Chris and Dave into their Classic Culinary Arts program.  These two knuckleheads will start their culinary education May 4th of this year and hopefully learn a thing or two.

The CCA  program consists of nine consecutive months of “Total Immersion” training.  What this means is that it is 100% hands on beginning on the first day.  I recommend that you take a look at their website for any other information you may be curious about.  www.frenchculinary.com

Chris and Dave, along with Greg, have high hopes of one day opening their restaurant and in-house brewery.  I guess this is just one part of the puzzle that needs to be completed.  With Chris and Dave graduating from Culinary school it is sure to add to their credentials when applying for that million dollar loan in the future.

I want to go on record now and say this.  Beer in the food industry will soon be what wine is in the food industry now, and in years passed.  I believe that in the past ten years the growth of the homebrewing industry has increased beyond measure.  Not only hombrewing hounds like us and others like us have evolved, but it has had an influence on the mass producers of the world as well.  Beer is the new wine!  Here’s  just a little piece of fascinating information. A year ago  I took my girlfriend out to a pretty nice and well established restaurant.  I of course, along with my partners,  are always curious about the beer list in any new place we go to for dinner.  When the server came and asked us what kind of wine we would like, I asked for the beer list.  The server said, “We have Budweiser, Bud Light, Heineken, Amstel Light, and Guinness.”  I had a Guinness.  About two weeks ago we were at the restaurant again.  We were seated and the server came to us right away with two lists.  One was for wine, one was for beer.  The selection of beer had greatly improved and I ordered a local pale ale.  To my amazement that wasn’t the only change for this place.  I began reading the menu and it had recommendations of beer and wine for a select set of dishes on their menu.  How amazing is that?  Beer is no longer wine’s ugly cousin.  It is not just the drink of the hardworking construction men of any-town USA.  It is rapidly earning it’s respect in the food industry.

Our goal is to exploit this opportunity.  Bring it to the forefront and run with it.  We are beer and food lovers.  What could be wrong about our goals?  We are definitely going in the right direction and there will be no turning back.  Little baby steps and a whole lot of hope.  Soon, maybe you might be asking for the beer list in our restaurant.

Posted by Dave at 3:46 am

Forced Publication by David Cardone

Rants 1 Response »
Dec 152008

Have you ever wanted to be the “talk of the town” or the “big man on campus?”  That’s good, but I hardly care.  This has nothing to do with you egotistical, love me, hug me, touch me  fanatics.  In fact it has nothing to do with you bastards at all.  Haha!  I’m one of those bastards!  Here’s where I am going.

Having an idea, a goal, a dream is always the first stepping stone into acheiving what you just know will make you happy.  Your dreams could be a threesome in the play boy mansion, or a corner office in the financial district of NYC.  That is fine.  But what do you do?  How do I get there?  Is it worth trying for?  You stop reading this post.  You ask for directions.  And the answer is yes.  Ok…anything making sense to you?  Not at all?  Good.  People!  Including myself and my partners. (not sexual partners…not that there is anything wrong with that)  I feel the biggest set back in conquering ones goals is that person.  It is your own inability to grab the bull by the horns and take charge of your own future.  Everything is possible.  Not ANYTHING. EVERYTHING!  You have to go after it.  Do not set aside time for your goals, set aside time  for bathing, pooping, and pampering.  Well…you get me right?  Prioritize.  Make your goals the forefront of what you have to do.  You have to.  I once saw this evangelist on TV many years ago.  I hate those guys, but this gentleman crook said something very true.  Now before I continue I want to  put out a disclaimer.  I am not promoting or denying religion.  You can use the words devil and his “favorite word” as a metaphor for the things in life you feel are hindering you from acheiving your dreams.  The gentleman said this, “The devils favorite word is tomorrow.”  Do you undestand?  Stop telling yourself you have time to accomplish things in your life later on.  Puting things off does not help you at all.  Are you tired, scared, lonely?  Who cares?  The human body can take an incredible beating.  Not only physically, but mentally.  Challenge yourself.  Isn’t it worth it?

I guess this was not only a pitching of advice to the dozens of people out there visiting this site, but a stone cold slap to my face as well.  I need to grab the bulls horns.  I need to do things today.  I need to challenge myself.  So that’s what must be done.  Dreams are one thing, reality is totally different.  I’m tired of dreaming.  Good luck.

Posted by Dave at 5:30 pm

Step by Step. Although...we kind of tripped.

Beer Doings, English IPA, Equipment, Recipes 1 Response »
Sep 302008

It was a Saturday. The air was crisp. The tools, we had them. The brewers were there, ready to succeed. The grains waited patiently to be crushed. The hops awaited their bubble bath. And the water was…just not enough.

On an attempt to brew an English IPA, Saturday the 20th of September 2008 we ran into some dificulties. Although…we didn’t quite know until our first gravity reading. With ambitions to reach an efficiency at around 70%, we were incredibly puzzled as to why we were so off. Oh…and did I mention that after our boil we wound up with roughly 3.25 gallons of liquid when we started with 7 gallons? Crazy right?

So here we are. Standing around with a hydrometer, scratching our heads, and looking for holes in everything our liquid was in before, during, and after the entire process. We checked our schedule. Our notes. We even checked each other out! (wink) Moving on.

Here is the recipe:

8.0lbs. pale ale malt

2.0lbs. crystal malt 20L

1.0lb. caramunich (organic)

2oz. glacier (60 min)

2oz. willamette (10 min)

1.0lb clear candy sugar

1 London ale II (smack pack yeast)

2oz. Fuggles (dry, secondary)

(To salvage our brew we had to boil 1 gallon of water and add 1lb. f corn sugar to the beer before we set it up for fermentation. We ended up with about 4.25 gallons.)

After careful research and calibrations, Greg determined the problem. One was easily recognizable. The hops absorbed all the water! Why, even though our recipe called for just 7? I’ll tell you why. Greg had also determined that our equipment was faulty. It was not calibrated to our program. AND! To add some icing on top of this disaster, the buckets that were purchased through a commercial supplier were inaccurately calibrated!! How could they do such a thing? Especially when it comes down to brewing. Accuracy is top dog!

Greg has officially started calibrating all of our equipment and marking off water levels on our buckets so that we will have no future complications. Our goal now is precision. Treat it more as a science. Be aggressive, but careful. Most importantly, no matter what…we will always have fun.

Posted by Dave at 7:30 pm

Brewmasters?

Uncategorized No Responses »
May 012008

Posted by Dave at 10:15 pm

Dave reviews the real "Champagne of Beer." (Grotten Brown)

Belgian Strong Dark Ale, Brouwerij St. Bernardus, Reviews 1 Response »
Jan 022008

My first review for the new site is on what I call a “Cristal Beer.” When you think of Cristal you think of Jay-Z pouring his golden goblet high above the brim as sparkling, bubbling, highly priced champagne spills over onto the carpet and his entourage licks up any puddles of the high dollar pink champagne they can. OK…forget about Cristal. Grotten Brown fills my wine glass smoothly with a velvety fall. Piling high above my glass the head rose to an outstanding 4 fingertips with a consistency of beaten eggwhites and a tannish white color. I like it like that. The color is brown like a lipton tea bag left in a cup of hot water for too long. I want to say that about 15 minutes after the beer has calmed it resembles a glass of any dark sweet tea. Fitting true to it’s name, Grotten Brown is ABSOLUTELY a Brown Ale. When I first brought my glass of bubbling brew toward my nose I could pick up hints of roasted malts and faint sweetness, which I am pretty sure came from some sort of citrus or possibly chocolate. Great smelling beer, but I was pretty sure it was not going to be as enjoyable as the first few sips. When the first sip of brew hit my tounge I was quickly taken to NYC in Times Square on the stroke of midnight celebrating the New Year with that old fart Dick Clark! As a pluthera of bubbles stinging the tip of my tounge raced to and from the front and back of my mouth I was instantly surprised. I am definitely not against higher carbonation in beer, so I smiled when the first sip went down. It was exciting and made me want to drink more. However, I feel the same as Clubby when saying that the higher carbonation will take away from the flavors the beer has to offer. The beer had a roasted taste with a somewhat spicy kick. I can hardly taste the citrus, but is definitely prevelant on the “go down.” The medium bodied beer was prickly on my tounge for the first 2-3 seconds and slowly dissolved into a clean and refreshing swallow. Very satisfying. I am a fan of this wonderful Brown Ale. If you’re in the mood to drink quickly or sip on a very clean tasting and fun to drink beer then this Grotten Brown is for you. I am a fan for life and will always look for it in the local distributor. Maybe I’ll pop the cork on this beer next new year’s eve?

Posted by Dave at 11:24 pm
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