I have to admit I was really looking forward to trying this one as IPA, or India Pale Ale, is one of my favorite styles of beer. [note: if anyone wants to bribe me Sam Smith's India Ale does the trick; actually anything by Sam Smith does the trick; aw heck pretty much any decent alcohol does the trick!]  Anyway it had a nice orange-copper color and left a nice thick head. For my taste I find that some brewers feel that an IPA is all about the bitterness and go completely over the top with the hops, which is not my cup of tea.  I really liked this brew because of its nice balance between the malty sweetness and the piney/resin bitterness from the hops.  Medium bodied and at 7.1% alcohol its the strongest of the bunch so far. 

Other reviews in the series are:  Old Scratch Amber Lager; Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale and Road Dog Porter.

Well another year gone by and  Fred Foodie is now two years old.  It seems like just yesterday that I wrote my first Happy Anniversary post.  I also took this time last year to look at my goals for the blog.  I am sad to say that I didn’t really meet them.  On the plus side that just means that I can recycle them for this year!  Blogging was admittedly irregular, often the casualty of work and family, but the blog now has 145 published posts.  That averages to one post every 5.03 days.  Not bad if I do say so myself.  So here’s to year three!

About as local as the topic of this next post gets is the fact that you can buy it on the internet and have it shipped to Frederick, but every once in a while I just have to mention something I come across that I love.  One of the most amazing condiments I have ever encountered is Casina Rossa Truffle and Salt.  Notice they call it truffle and salt.  That’s a good clue.  More than just salt infused with some truffle oil or flavoring, this product is sea salt from Abruzzo, Italy interspersed with flecks of genuine black truffles; about 5% the jar says.  Just open the jar and stick your nose in:  amazing.  Heck I could be quite happy just sniffing the jar, but put it on food and WOW.  So far we have enjoyed this on everything it has touched.  Some of the really high notes have been on buttered popcorn (oh the decadence!); in some olive oil as a dipping sauce for bread, and last night I had it on some steamed brussels sprouts.  I don’t know of anywhere that carries this locally but if you do let me know.  It seems like the sort of thing that they would carry at Firestone’s Market on Market.  I’ll have to check and if anyone knows please post.  At around $24 for a 3.5 oz jar it’s not cheap.  But considering the price of truffles it is not outrageous and would make a great stocking stuffer for the foodie in your life.

The other night Mrs. F and I were eating at Isabellas.  While I felt guilty not trying something new so I could report on it here, it was a very rare date night so I wanted to make sure there were no disappointments.   I have made no secret of my love for this place in the past (here  and here if you are interested)  and it lived up to my expectations as usual.  Of interest was that I saw on the menu that they are sourcing a lot of their meats locally.  The beef was grass-fed from Hedgeapple Farms and the pork was also from  a local producer.  The wholesaler which provides all their seafood was identified as well. The only thing missing was any mention of where the poultry originates.

As an aside we went on a Saturday night and the place was packed.  Could only get a seat at the bar where we enjoyed a nice big pitcher of sangria with our food.  They have a cool new system where they insert an enclosed ice core into the pitcher to keep the sangria cold without diluting it as the ice melts.

Continuing my tour of Flying Dog Brewery beers with their Road Dog Porter.  Nice dark mahogany color, with a creamy brown head.  Nice malty aroma.  Has a good malty flavor as well, with a hint of coffee.  Finishes with a touch of bitterness.  This struck me as a bit lighter than some other porters I have tasted but it was right up my alley.  I would definitely say this was my favorite out of the ones I have tasted so far.  At 6 % it is half a percent higher in alcohol than the others that I have tasted.

In case you are not keeping score here are the others:

Old Scratch Amber Lager; Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale

When I grow up I want to be a blog just like this one.  Seriously, this is a phenomenal blog that I read regularly even though I don’t do much in Howard County except drive through it.  This is a true labor of love, very informative and it shows.  A model for all wanna-be local food bloggers.  I always feel inferior after visiting here yet I still check it out regularly.

Heard on the grapevine that the Frederick Wine House one of my favorite, ok let’s be honest, my favorite wine store in Frederick County will be relocating.  They are going to move to a location in the new  shopping center off Route 26.   This will be the same location as where the Wegmans is going in.  Construction just started and the anticipated move is in early 2011 so they have some time.  I wish them all the best and am excited for their success.

P.S. Never been to a Wegmans.  What makes it so good and is it worth the hype?

Continuing in my series of Flying Dog Brewery beer tastings.  First of all let me state that lager is generally my least favorite beer style.  Probably because so many lagers are really pale and insipid wastes of caloric intake.  I really tend to be much more of an ale guy.  So with that in mind and trying to push aside my prejudice I uncapped some Old Scratch Amber Lager.  Like the name implies it has a nice amber color (duh!).  In fact it’s remarkably similar in color to the Classic Pale Ale.  Thats where the similaritites end.  It had a hint of malty sweetness on the nose.  A little heavier than the typical lager it had a good malty flavor with a touch of toasted, bready sweetness on the finish.  Very mild hops and almost no bitterness.   I have to say I really liked this one.  Much better than 99% of the lagers out there. A very fun  beer.

You’ve got to love having Top Chef in Vegas.  Where else are you going to have the bookmakers giving weekly odds on the contestants?  They are updated following the week nine restaurant wars episode and Bryan is still in fourth.  No surprise Kevin still holds the top spot.   I wish I had access to the betting.  It has occurred to me that in light of my promise I could hedge things at 5-1 odds for about $50.  Hmm …

Full odds and story  here.

EDIT:  Nice catch Shannon and thanks!  The actual new post-restaurant wars odds are here.  Now it looks like it will now cost me $55.56 to hedge.   If only I could.  Stupid federal anti-gambling laws.

Family traditions are funny.  Mrs. F brings  her family’s Halloween tradition of eating donuts and cider after pumpkin carving.  The kids love it, but I have to admit  the combination of cider and donuts always struck me as a little wierd.  However if she can accept Guy Fawkes Day I can certainly abide by this.  Besides what’s not to love about an excuse to eat donuts? This year we got our donuts from The Jefferson Pastry Shoppe.  Hands down at the top of the list as the best donuts I have ever had.  We sampled six different varieties and they were all spectacular.  Sometimes donuts can be super sweet and leave me feeling slightly nauseated.  Not these: they were the right balance of airy pastry and sweet sugary delight.   High notes were the peanut butter cream filled, the Bavarian cream and the glazed cake donuts, but honestly there wasn’t a clunker in the half-dozen.

Of course we couldn’t stop at a half dozen donuts- truly we couldn’t because we didn’t have any cash and they have a $10 minimum for charges!  So we also sampled the turtle pastries, chocolate croissant, and the apple-caramel crumb cake.  All extremely good.  Only minor quibble was that one corner of the crumb cake was overdone on the bottom which gave it a slightly bitter taste.  They also have a large selection of cakes, pies, bread and other dessert items.  This place is worth seeking out and we shall definitely return!

Previous hidden gems.