Perfect Pair: Maple-Roasted Turkey with Beer and Wine

Pete and I basting the turkey.

Spoil yourself on Thanksgiving with an organic turkey from Ayrshire Farm and pairings from Francis Ford Coppola Winery, 3 Stars Brewing Company and Ommegang.  I tested out the menu recently and this turkey is the best I've ever had.  Try the recipe on Thanksgiving and you'll be in heaven!  (This recipe is best made with friends when there is no Coronavirus while sipping beer and wine.)  I am blessed an thankful to have such wonderful friends and family.  Cheers!

Perfect Pair: Mushroom, Sausage and Spinach Bread Pudding with Wine and Beer

Try this recipe instead of stuffing this year.  It was a big hit at my pre-Thanksgiving feast.  This is one of my favorites that I love during the holidays!  Our local pairing suggestions work perfectly.  Enjoy!

Thinking of Drinking: SAVOR is Back on May 17th! What's on the Menu?

It’s baaaack! The Nation’s Premier Craft Beer and Food Pairing Event, SAVOR, presented by the Brewers Association (BA), will take place in Washington DC again this year on May 17th at the National Building Museum!

Cheers to Beer: Let It Rye’d Hazy Rye IPA Exclusively at MGM National Harbor

Head out to MGM to sip some on some delicious Flying Dog, which is brewed right in Frederick, Maryland. Flying Dog is most known for its craft brews, artistic bottles, edgy beer names and delicious off-the-wall beer flavors to try. 

Top 5 Beers at SAVOR

Recently, 90 small and independent craft brewers came together in Washington D.C. to serve up their best beers. On it’s 11th year put on by The Brewers Association, the event served over 180 beers alongside incredible food pairings prepared by some of D.C.’s finest chefs.

First Taste: Sam '76

Source: Sam Adams website

By: Ian McGinnity

I recently returned from a year living in Russia, where the craft beer scene has exploded. Every town from Moscow to Smolensk, from Kazan to Irkutsk is dotted with bustling watering holes stocked with draught craft beer brewed in and sourced from the former Soviet Union. While this is a titillating development for Russians (and those of us popping in and out occasionally), the retail beer scene lags far behind. Humble corner bodegas and lavish high-end grocery stores alike tend to sell the same humdrum selection of light lagers and dark ales, with the occasional German pilsner thrown in for good measure. If you're looking for variety there, well, then, bad luck, chum.

World Of Beer: New Menu

Prosciutto & Spiced Apple Flatbread

By Claire Goldman

World of Beer is a nationwide franchise with three locations in Northern Virginia.  Our local WOBs have rolled out new food and beer to flatter the flavors of Fall and Winter.  Dishes are perfectly paired with IPAs from Stone brewery, dry ciders, porters and more.  Our local WOB locations have beer lists curated by Katie Sullivan, beer lover and Manager of the Arlington location.  WOB is a great place for casual dining, catching one of their live music or gaming nights and watching sports.

SAVOR Craft Beer & Food Experience: 2016 Top 5 Beers

Claire & Lauren with Luke Trautwein, Brewers Association Art Director

 By Claire Goldman & Lauren DeSantis

SAVOR American Craft Been & Food Experience is an annual event put on by The Brewers Association.  This event brings craft brewers from around the country to Washington, DC beer lovers.  At SAVOR every kriek, tripel, stout and ale is paired with food for a complete tasting experience.  Lauren and I tasted a lot of beers and bites that night but have narrowed down our favorites to a top five list (below in no particular order).

Cheers to Beer: Blue Duck Tavern

By Lauren Rosalanko

The Blue Duck Tavern welcomes their newest addition, Sophie Slesinger, a cheese specialist. Prior to working at The Blue Duck Tavern Slesinger worked as cheesemonger at GCDC in Washington, DC. Throughout the evening I was able to sample five of the seasonal cheeses offered this spring at The Blue Duck Tavern with three beer pairings. While having wine paired with cheese is more typical the three different beers perfectly complemented the cheese tastings, offering a new spin on alcohol and food pairings.

Cheers to Beer: Pumpkin Beers, Part II

By: Laurie Wallin

Capital Cooking Contributor

Ready to find out the winner of the blind pumpkin beer tasting? This post will reveal the winner by counting down the top 5 pumpkin beers as ranked by our tasters.

Cheers to Beer: Pumpkin Beers, Part I

By: Laurie Wallin

Capital Cooking Contributor

Thanksgiving is fast arriving, and pumpkin is everywhere – pies, pasta, and beers! Pumpkin beers have exploded onto the scene recently – but there are now so many, it’s hard to choose. Capital Cooking set out to rank pumpkin beers by holding a blind tasting. 10 beers were selected, including Aleworks Pumpkin Ale, Southern Tier Pumking, Dogfish Head Punkin’ Ale, Flying Dog The Fear, Heavy Seas The Greater Pumpkin, Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale, Wild Wolf Brewing Company Howling Pumpkin, New Belgium Pumpkick, Devils Backbone Pumpkin Hunter and Ithaca Beer Company Country Pumpkin.  To keep the tasting fair, all chosen beers for this tasting were categorized as “Pumpkin Ale.”

A Thanksgiving Menu With Pairings

Thanksgiving is almost here. You can't beat the never ending supply of comfort food during the holidays. I'm thankful for that!

Perfect Pair: Crabs and Beer

By: Laurie Wallin

Capital Cooking Contributor

Summer brings sunshine, warm temperatures, and beloved traditions enjoyed during this carefree, lively season.

Junetoberfest Beer Dinner at Big Buns

By:  Jennifer Duff
Capital Cooking Contributor

Summertime means picnics, barbecues and beer.  So why not enjoy it without having to lift a finger at Big Buns' summer beer dinner series.  Throughout the summer, Big Buns is hosting three, five course dinners paired with delicious craft brews in a casual patio dining experience.

Book Review - Capital Beer

By Tom Natan, Capital Cooking Contributor

Beer is a very old beverage.  It was brewed in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, and some of the earliest writings in existence refer to it.  Today, beer has found new life with craft brewers making what they like -- and forcing the big national breweries to go beyond the lowest common denominator of the light lagers that took over the U.S. in the mid-20th century.

The Presidents Day Beer Fest

A three day weekend deserves a celebration and Drink the District has you covered with The Presidents Day Beer Fest.  This beer tasting event at Dock 5 at Union Market offers unlimited tastings of over 50 beers, in addition to unlimited full pours of two select beers, food trucks, and live entertainment.  Beers on tap at the event include Rogue, Devils Backbone Brew Co, DC Brau, Port City Brewing, Sweetwater Brewing, and Lost Rhino Brewing Co.

Overview: DuClaw Brewing Company

By:  Jennifer Duff

Capital Cooking Contributor

Good beer and good food can be hard to find, especially if you live outside the District.  But for all you Maryland residents, look no further – DuClaw Brewing Company just revamped it’s menu and is offering a “gastropub” experience closer to your front door.  DuClaw Brewing Company is the #1 craft brewery in Maryland with restaurant locations in Baltimore, Bel Air, Bowie and Anne Arundel.  And they just stepped up their game by pairing new, seasonal fare with their delicious handcrafted brews.  We had the opportunity to go try the new menu items created by Chef Giovanni Leopardi and they did not disappoint.  

Experience the ‘Thrill of the Grill’ as Capital Cooking takes on the Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ Festival

Join Lauren DeSantis, host of Capital Cooking and author of the Capital Cooking Cookbook, as she teams up with Heath Hall and Brett Thompson of Pork Barrel BBQ to present the “Thrill of the Grill” on Saturday, June 19th at 1 p.m. at the Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ Festival. Learn the art of grilling shrimp and pepper skewers, peaches topped with homemade mascarpone cream and vegetable ratatouille.

As seen on ABC’s Shark Tank, and most recently on Fox and Friends, Pork Barrel BBQ is fast becoming one of the nation’s favorite barbecue sauces and spice rubs. Pork Barrel BBQ’s products will be used exclusively throughout the demonstration.

All of the recipes featured in the demo can be found in the Capital Cooking Cookbook, which will be for sale after the demonstration. Festival guests will also have the opportunity to meet Lauren and have their copy of the cookbook signed.

The best things of summer all rolled into one weekend, the Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ Festival returns to National Harbor for its 2010 tour. From June 18th-19th, visitors will enjoy over 60 beers, 40 Bourbons, and enough barbecue to last the entire summer. The festival has made some improvements from last year, including more bars and more tent space. Designated drivers will receive a discounted entry ticket of $20. In addition, kids 12 and younger are free; however, this is not a child-focused event. For more information about the Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ Festival, please visit http://www.beerandbourbon.com/.

Capital Cooking is the first television show of its kind and now airs in more than 20 million households on Dish Network through CoLours TV. Capital Cooking highlights cooking traditions of regional cuisine from all areas of the country as well as international dishes. Throughout the series, DeSantis will incorporate entertaining tips into the shows, will cook with local chefs, and will demonstrate how to make recipes with ingredients that viewers can find at local grocery stores and farmers’ markets. Visit www.captialcookingshow.com for more information on upcoming events and http://captialcookingshow.blogspot.com/ for daily updates.
Photo by Shauna Alexander