Chez Jeff

Equipment comes to The South Plains Project

2012-01-29T03:25:00.000-08:00

Phil & Julienne Munts's old mill farmhouse in Arrie

Haik Avanesian

I got a call Thursday that the truck with my equipment would be on the overnight ferry from Germany and the driver would be in Trelleborg early Friday morning. When I got to the farmhouse in Arrie at 8:00 am, he was waiting for me. Last week I was there with Thomas Fransson and Haik Avanesian to tour the possible location for 'The South Plains Brewing Company'.

Haik is a chef from Copenhagen I've worked with for many years.

Thomas works at the Malmö Brew-house and runs a national syndicated radio program for artisan craft brewers.

Thomas Fransson

Thomas is also the one that got me to enter the competition in August 2011 when my IPA took the bronze medal. Also he has been just a tremendous wealth of knowledge for me starting up this brewery.

We found some Polish guys with a forklift at a scaffolding company that would unload my truck for a little cash & beer. So the polish forklift driver managed to unload the kettle (500 kilos/1100 lbs) and the hot liquor tank from me and the German truck driver (neither spoke English or Swedish) when I looked down to see oil and water running out of the bottom of the forklift. The 40 year old forklift had broken a axle. The Polish guy went for help and me and the German truck driver muscled the 3 fermenters and the mash-tun off the truck and I managed to lollygag them into the garage..The German truck left and I had my tanks in the garage and the kettle sitting outside.. I then borrowed a pallet jack and jacked it up under the kettle and as hard as I tried, I couldn't move it. And the Polish guys came back and we couldn't move it. Finally I found a old Swedish farmer up the road and after a hour, he came with a ancient Volvo tractor with small fork-blades and was able to put the kettle in the garage. Only took me fours hours but I got it done. Everyone was happy with cash & beer. I feel like I've made a huge accomplishment getting my equipment here.

1200 liter kettle with hydraulic hand crank

South Plains Project Update

2012-01-21T12:50:00.000-08:00

A year ago I had never heard of a steam generator, now I need one. This is the most expensive piece of equipment I've bought, 3320 Euro (29,000 SEK or $4300) with the optional condensation recovery tank. I decided to buy new because I was a little nervous of buying a used thinking it could blow up. The Maxi 60 by Ghidini, just outside Milano, Italy can put out 5 bar of pressure and has a output of 55 liters steam using a 60kW fuse that can give me 51,700 kCal/hour or 81-83 Kg/hour. In short, it ROCKS! I'll be able to power my 1200 liter kettle and 650 liter Hot Liquor Tank and use a steam gun for cleaning. I need one more piece of equipment now, the brazed plate heat exchanger and I've found one I like for a good price, I just need to get the company to build me one and then I have everything for The South Plains Project.

Jennie Liwander's father's 60th birthday party

2012-01-21T12:26:00.000-08:00

I wanted to write about a very nice menu I did for Jennie Liwander's father's 60th birthday party, he loves gourmet food so they hired me for the evening. I started the menu with a seared scallop, on a bed of lemon braised greens with créme fraiche, then gratineed with a wine wine cream sauce & parmesan over it. It's a wonderful starter and sets the tone for the evening. Second course was Lobster Bisque, I made a fond from the shells and used real Canadian lobsters. The father said it was the best bisque he had ever had.Next was one of my favorites, Monk-fish... I do this monk-fish in a way that is first poached in fish bouillon with herbs, then taken out and sauteed in brown butter with shallots & herbs and sliced so it's brown and green on the outside and white & moist in the center, served on lightly sauteed root veggies and served with a tangy white butter sauce on a bed of sweet polenta....many people have told me it's the best fish dish they've ever had. After they cleansed the palate with a raspberry sorbet, the main course was fresh Irish Lamb Chops, seared then roasted and rested ½ hour so they are completely pink and very moist. They were served with eggplant caviar, thats eggplant roasted with garlic and thyme, pureed and filled in the roasted eggplant and baked with parmesan, also a cranberry chutney, Pomme Dauphinois Gratin potatoes and a black truffle sauce. For dessert they had the Gateau Basque, a vanilla bean cookie dough filled with a rich dark cherry-rum filling, served with a red fruits sauce and I make some decorative caramel. It was excellent, and I'll quote Jennie Liwander who said:

Hej Jeff!

Vill bara tacka för en underbar middag! Vi njuter fortfarande av minnet av den utsökta maten och de goda vinerna. Småbråkar om vilken rätt som egentligen var godast....:-)!

Stort tack!

Jennie

which translated from Swedish means:

Hi Jeff!

Just want to thank you for a wonderful dinner! We still enjoy the memory of the delicious food and good wines. Small arguing about which course was actually taste the best ....:-)!

Many thanks!

Jennie

The South Plains Project

2012-01-09T13:06:00.000-08:00

It's been a long process since one year ago I decided to launch this microbrewery myself. I have changed ideas, purpose and the scope of this project countless times. After one year of saving & saving (thank you Icopal) I am finally as of this week purchasing my brewery equipment. I spent about 75,000 crowns ( $11,000) on five pieces of equipment. Most are 20-30 years old, I found them used in southern Germany. First my brew kettle:

It's a 1200 liter (317 gallons), steam jacketed stainless steel kettle with a hydraulic pump that can tilt it, mainly for cleaning, it has a conical bottom with a valve. Next my mash tun:

I bought a used 1150 liter agitator vessel that I will modify to use as my mash tun. I'll put in 125 kg of grains and 600 liters of water at the right temperature to get a perfect conversion of malt starch to malt sugar. The agitator propeller helps to keep the grains turning for a better conversion. The fermenting vessels:

I bought three of these to start with. I can use them for primary & secondary fermentation. They hold 900 liters and up to 3 bar pressure but I will fit it with a pressure relief valve I can control at say, ½ bar and keep my beer naturally carbonated. They have a really cool hatch in the top so I can dry hop. And lastly, the Hot Liquor Tank. Funny name, it's actually a hot water tank but that's what it's called in brewery terminology.

It holds 650 liters and has multiple inlets and outlets and is heated by a steam generator via a inner coil. I'll use it for multiple purposes but mainly to heat the water to sparge (rinse) my mash, Right as I was ready to purchase, the Euro dropped and so the conversion was a great rate for me, saving me alot of money. The equipment is going on a truck this week and on it's way to Sweden

The South Plains Project- 'Circulating the Mash Tun Wort'

2011-11-06T07:52:00.000-08:00

In designing this brewery I'm looking to use the latest in technology to create a maximum efficiency system to convert malt starch into malt sugar. Normally in a brewery, the grains are put in a large bin and by adding hot water to a certain temperature, they create a conversion from malt starch to malt sugar, the sweet liquid, called wort, can then be fermented into beer. Depending on how you obtain that conversion greatly effects the efficiency of the conversion. Many artisan brewers have efficiency ratings of 70-80%. This is often done by loading a large kettle with grains and heated water, and stabilizing the temperature at say 68 degrees Celsius, for one hour while continuously stirring the grains so they don't burn. Here's a drawing of how I perceive the HERMS system will work.

I'm trying to design a system that uses a concept called Heat Exchanged Recirculating Mash System or HERMS for short and the theory goes like this...

The 630 liter Hot Liquor Tank with circulating coil

The March Pump

the Mash Tun and Hot Liquor (hot water) tank are combined to circulate the liquid wort through a heat exchanger coil located in the Hot Liquor Tank using the using the March pump to keep the liquid wort temperature constant at 68 degrees Celsius. I have a thermostat attached to flip the March pump off and on to keep the temperature constant. The Hot Liquor Tank is powered by the Ghidini Steam Compressor. So as the pump recirculates the wort at a constant temperature, I get a excellent conversion efficiency ratio, usually around 98 %

The 670 liter Mash Tun

Then by turning a valve, I pump the wort into the Boiling Kettle and sparge (rinse) the mash with hot water to collect the remaining sugars and later also pump those into the kettle.

Desserts

2011-10-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

I'v been doing desserts every year now for the American Womens Club annual meeting, this year I did my Seven Fruit Tart and served it with a Moelleux au Cholcolat, made with Valrhona chocolate, it has a warm chocolate ganache center that melts when the dark chocolate souffle rises and runs out like a rich sauce. I served it with a Grand Marnier Chantilly Cream. It was quite a hit!

The South Plains Project

2011-10-24T14:04:00.000-07:00

A simple floor plan design for the South Plains Brewery

The South Plains Project

2011-10-23T06:12:00.000-07:00

I am currently in the midst of building a microbrewery. What a enormous project! I have been shopping for months online, searching for used tanks and kettle to build this within my meager budget. When I finally found a large kettle, I just thought I would get a gas burner. Then I emailed Kal at 'The Electric Brewery' in Canada to ask about heating element inserts. He said for my volume, 500+ liters, the only way to go is to power a steam jacketed kettle with a steam generator. Here's a photo of the steam jacketed kettle I found, used in Germany.

This would work perfectly for me. It has a 550 liter capacity, can tip with a hand crank, a valve in the bottom, and a operating pressure of 1 bar steam. I could bring 550 liters liquid to a boil in 30 minutes. Cost: 1460 euro, 13360 Swedish Crowns or $2000. Less than one fifth of what it sold for new.
Then I needed to find a steam generator (last week I had never heard of it, now I needed one) so after endless Google searches I found a small company in Denmark that could sell me a small steam generator. Cost: 6600 euro, 60,000 sek or $9000. I must say, I was shocked at the price. I'm sure it's absolutely worth it and that's what they go for but it wasn't in my budget. Here's a photo of the Maxi 60 steam generator.

Then I noticed the name...'Ghidini' and thought, doesn't that sound Italian so I went on Google Italy and after some searching and translation, I found a site for Ghidini and after numerous emails was able to negotiate a price for 2500 euro, 22,800 sek or $3500. Now suddenly it was within my range, with a huge saving from my first estimate!

AWC Regional Conference

2011-09-20T12:12:00.000-07:00

I recently did appetizers and desserts for the American Womens Club regional meeting. The menu was simple but elegant

Smoked salmon crepes of herbs & fresh cheese

Pork filet, roasted potatoes, feta, cukes, ruccola

Wild mushrooms on puff pastry hearts

Goat cheese, sundried tomato pesto

Gateau Basque ( Cherries & rum in vanilla bean cookie dough)

Auteuil ( White chocolate-anise mousse, genoise biscuit, raspberries)

Strawberry Napoleon

I got a wonderful comment from Kara Fairchild after the party I'd like to share

Hi Jeff,

I just had to send a note to you about your food at the regional. I have been member o f the AWC of Malmö for about a year, but didn't get to a club event that you catered. Then, I moved back to Göteborg. So, the regional was actually the first time I tasted your cooking. It's...CRAVABLE. I am a foodie. I am also a vegetarian. The canapes and the desserts (I didn't try the white chocolate cake because I suspected gelatin (could be wrong, of course. Hope not though because it looked to die for and I would hate to think I missed out on it!) were some of the best foods I have ever had in Sweden. Suburb. Someone across the table from me said that the pork canape was the best thing she had even tasted. The smell of meat doesn't do much for me anymore, but even *I*, a seasoned veggie, have to admit that the smell and sight of the pork was making me salivate. Then I took a bite of my own food and the pork was a mere memory! =) More than anything, and I can not stress this enough, I walked away feeling totally satisfied with the food that I had been served. Anyway, that is all I really wanted to say. You did such a fabulous job on the food!

Kara

A Brief Summary and The South Plains Project

2011-09-16T04:27:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened since I wrote my last blog. My partner who I had planned to open my microbrewery backed out because he was worried it was too risky. I however felt I had a superior product and felt quite confident that my beer could sell. So I decided to do it by myself. I added a bifirma, a second company under my existing business and called the company 'South Plains Brewing Company', the region I'm in , söderslätt, means south plains in English, anyway, I liked the sound of it. I have arranged to rent a small workshop on a farm, it's set up like a kitchen, previously used to smoke fish so it's a perfect place for me to set up equipment, fermenters & tanks.However, I needed a way to finance my equipment so I took a full time job running a company's restaurant, Icopal, located in the port of Malmö, doing a international/Swedish menu daily. I do breakfast & lunch for 30-60 people everyday. It's been working out great for me. Since then I've been purchasing equipment every month. This month I'm purchasing two 600 liter fermenters from Germany, they are very cool with a floating lid that hermetically seals.
Here's a photo... It looks small but is actually pretty large, 72x150 cm.

So I expect to be producing 1200 liters a month by Christmas, and I am

very excited about it. Last month I entered a competition for microbreweries
and Artisan craft brewers here in southern Sweden, and I had been sick and didn't think I would be able to go but ended up going anyway. I had a booth with two kegs, my Pale Ale & my Imperial IPA. I gave out about 200 10ml
samples and at the end of the night, much to my surprise, I won.My IPA took the bronze medal. I know everyone always liked it but I never expected

to win the competition. Here's the label I made for the competition. The IBU figure is the level of bitterness, this amber ale is very bitter, a fairly high alcohol percent, 8%, with a wonderful floral hoppy aftertaste, very well balanced, completely organic, a absolutely fabulous beer!

Designing labels

2011-01-05T03:48:00.000-08:00

I met with Tomas Dahlgren, our graphics designer last night at the Green Lion Pub to discuss text and design for labels. He designed the labels you saw on the previous blog. Of course, all of these things are always changing, but right now we are planning to start with five ales and do a occasional lager that changes.

Tomas Dahlgren's Windmill

Each bottle will be similar in design with the logo of the windmill and farm at the bottom of the bottle, next to it is alcohol volume and size, ex. 33cl, then on the top is a logo to represent each beer, the name of the beer and then I have to write a brief description/story about the beer. This is still a work in progress, but here's what I've come up with so far:

Bohemian Pilsner

This classic style of beer comes from Bohemia, once the crossroads of medieval Europe. A pale golden color, the distinctive flavor comes from the noble Saaz hops which gives it a pronounced floral boquet and a lingering rounded bitterness, with a dense, long lasting creamy white head. We salute Josef Groll for creating this golden lager in 1842.

Bohemian Coat of Arms from the 1912 Olympics

logo-something to represent Bohemia...perhaps the coat of arms like historic lion with crown banner

Black Sheep Porter

A dark & malty ale with characteristics of molasses & coffee, this ale was made famous in the 1700's by the workers who carried baggage to the ships in London and would bring a fresh pint to the sailors, hence the name 'Porter'.

logo- the black sheep

Post Colonial IPA

For beer warriors who accept the challenge,this highly hopped amber ale will assault your tastebuds on the very first sip, and persist in hoppiness to the bitter end. This style was made famous when the English ships transporting kegs of ale to the colony of India, the beer would always go sour. So they tripled the hops, raising the acidity, hence the name 'India Pale Ale'

logo- a english cutter ship or clipper

South Plains Pale Ale

Brewed in the style of California artisan Pale Ale, the color is darkish yellow to copper tinge, this is a moderately bitter ale and has a strong hoppy floral boquet, with hints of citrus and melon.

logo- a sachet of grains, or a raised hand holding the grains

TLB Golden Bitter

Rich in color of straw to light gold, this very bitter ale gets it's unusual flavor from a blend of the highly acidic 'Pacific Gem Hop' (15.1% alpha acids) and the mild Noble German hop, Spalter, giving this bitter a complex wood or oak flavor with hints of blackberries.

logo- something to imply clean like snow or waterfall, maybe the pond

Altbier

A copper colored, cool fermented, cold conditioned, clean tasting, with a mild hop presence, a firm creamy head, a medium body and a slightly sweet-dry finish. Alt means old, an allusion to the old style of brewing, in contrast to the new beer, the lager style which was invented in Bavaria in the 16th century, which is now the most popular brew in the world. Before that, Altbier was just 'bier'.

logo-something old, perhaps a monestary

Red Sky Marzen

This lager is the historic forerunner to the Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich. A rich German malty aroma and flavor, but the finish is relativly dry. The color is a dark gold to orange and red hues. Our Marzen is cold conditioned for a minimum of 60 days, creating a smooth, clean and rather rich malty lager.

logo-red sunset?

Fridhem Gaard's Doppelbock

A extremley strong malty dark lager with a very low hop aroma and bitterness, the color ranges from medium to dark brown with ruby highlights. A bavarian speciality, there is evidence that it was first brewed illegally by the Paulaner monks on April 2nd, 1751, the names day of their patron saint, St. Francis of Paula.

logo- Monks?, big fat or ugly monks

Dutch Lager??(name)

I need a name for this one, it's kind of like a Grolsh or Heineken

Then on the back label we have 'My Story'...thats a tough one to write third person, but I'm working on it.Also I put a little on the quality control with this..

'A hand crafted ale, brewed in the tradition of the Reinheitsgebot, or German Beer Purity Law of 1487 in which we only use water, barley, hops & yeast and are completly organic and natural, free of any additives'

Then at the bottom of the bottle there is a batch number I fill in and a place I sign it...........approved by me.

Overall it was a good night with Tomas, he liked the things I had written and we talked about many possibilities. We talked about a great many thing, tasting different ales, surprised by how expensive they were...95 kr. (about$14) for a 33cl beer and wondering what I should price mine at. So now I'm struggling with labels & names & descriptions, Funny how life changes!

South Plains Organic Brewing Company

2011-01-03T14:02:00.000-08:00

For those of you that don't know, I am in the midst of opening a micro-brewery. You may remember one year ago I posted a recipe for a English ale. Well my friend Anders Paulsson, who owns the Fridhem Gaard farm that the restaurant 'Three Lily Buds' is located, that I write so much about, thought my beer was absolutly fantastic, thought I should enter it in competitions and ultimately convinced me to open this brewery to sell to restaurants, bars, pubs, and the state run alcohol store, Systembolaget. We felt we had a niche by brewing organic since that is so popular here and there is almost no organic beer for sale here. Also there are so many Ecological/Organic restaurants here that can't find organic beers, at least not locally, so that means they have a carbon footprint which kind of defeats the whole purpose. So we started talking to the authorites last summer to determine what it would take to open and start selling & serving. A woman flew down from the Swedish Public Heath and we met, she had a great many questions and inside I expected to run up against a wall of bureaucracy, but to my complete surprise, she gave us her blessing. She had a list of things we needed to do, and we were able to complete that list and to make a long story short, we got final approval and can now (after we get all the tax regulations in order) brew beer in the restaurant, sell it on tap in the restaurant, and I can sell it to other places. Of course, I still have to order grains & hops..brew it...bottle it...so it may be some time until it actually happens, but at least I feel like were there! Where I can make the beer, Anders is connected and networked. He can make things happen while I would struggle with them. A example is the labels. He had a graphic designer named Tomas Dalgren create them, I think they are absolutly wonderful! To date I have made about 20 experimental batches, 15 of them excellent so we plan to open with six. That will be...

Bohemian Pilsner

Pale Ale

Golden Bitter

IPA

Altbier

Porter

We plan on starting small and buying some larger equipment in the spring. At first we thought we would name it 'Paulson & Brown Organic Brewing Company' but now have thought to have it be 'South Plains Organic Brewing Company' and P&B will be one of several labels under it. The area we are in is called south plains (söderslätt in swedish). Thats my update on the microbrewery for now....chao!

Photos by Alex Wayne from our opening night

2010-12-25T12:51:00.000-08:00

The Amuse Bouche was a caramelized fig, filled with a fresh fois gras terrine, drizzled with a port wine reduction.

The Seared Yellowfin Tuna is quite colorful as it sits on the root salad.

For the 'Carribe au Chocolat', I drizzled it with a mirror chocolate glaze and served it with candied fennel, a raspberry coulis and caramel decor.

The charming ambiance of 'Three Lily Buds', a restored Swedish farmhouse filled with South African art.

Exquisite artworks fill the restaurant, as you dine on a table made in a mosaic of broken ostrich shells.

I pull out every other bone on the rack to create a double lamb chop that stands up on the plate.

The Bleu d'Auvergne tart is a perfect marriage of the salty cheese, crunchy pear, tangy vinaigrette & baby greens.

The Black Truffle Custard was cooked in a eggshell and served in a egg cup with a potato-green onion chip.

The service, the wines, the menu, the ambiance, everything was perfect!

Three Lily Buds

2010-12-13T03:11:00.000-08:00

On November 20th, 2010, we finally opened 'Three Lily Buds' as a regular restaurant.It was a very exciting evening and everything was perfect!I prepared a menu and as one guest told me it was 'beyond fantastic!' This menu went for 995 kr/$150 per person and we were fully booked!

Menu from our opening night

Apérifif

Amuse Bouche

Black Truffle Custard with Shallot Confit

Seared Yellowfin Tuna with a five peppercorn crust, Lemongrass Sauce

Medley of Shellfish in a Miso Consomme

Bleu d 'Auvergne Tart, Pear & Baby Greens

Sorbet

Irish Lamb Chop, Ratatouille, Pomme Dauphine Gratin

Chef's Selection of French Cheeses & Fruit

Carribe au Chocolat,

a Dark Chocolate-Ganache Mousse, Raspberry Coulis, Almond Genoise

Artisan Candies & Chocolates

2010-01-29T09:04:00.003-08:00

Recipe: English Red Ale

2009-12-22T13:13:00.000-08:00

I have been brewing my own beers for about 20 years now. I brew every lind of beer you can think of, and many you could never imagine. For my first recipe, we're going to do a simple Ale. In Sweden I ordered my supplies from http://www.humle.se/

The recipe goes as follows,

5 kilos/11 lbs cracked pale 2-row malt

1 kilo/2.2 lbs cracked crystal malt

12 liters/3.2 gallons water, heated to 75*c/167*f

additional 10 l/2½ gal. water heated to 75*c/167*f

100 g/ 3.5 oz Fuggles hops

100 g/ 3.5oz Goldings hops

Wyeast #1099 Whitbread Ale Yeast

I'll walk you through the steps,

Step 1-Mash

5 kilos/11 lbs cracked pale 2-row malt

1 kilo/2.2 lbs cracked crystal malt

12 liters/3.2 gallons water, heated to 75*c/167*f

Take a ice chest and lay a 1 m/3 ft square pc of cheesecloth in it then put your grains in and add your heated water. Stir well and you want to stabilize your temp at 68-70'c/155-158*f. Close tight, lay a blanket over it and let set 1½ hours. During this process you will convert the malt starch to malt sugar.

Note* The range for converting malt is between 65-71*c/150-160*f. At 65*c/150*f you convert more fermentable sugars which give you a lighter beer, like a pilsner, and converting at 71*c/160*f you get more fermentable sugars and some unfermentable sugars which add to a slight sweetness and more body, like a amber-dark ale.

Step 2-Sparge

Take hold of the cheesecloth and slowly lift it up, letting all the sweet malty liquid drain off, this is called wort. Put something under the grainsack, a rack or a colander to support it while the grains drip. Take a syphon hose and siphon the wort into a large pot ( by large I mean 30 l/ 6 gal.)

*Note: I have seen some people take a old keg and cut the top off to use as a pot and boil it on a gas burner in the backyard.

Take a additional 10 l/2½ gal. water heated to 75*c/167*f and pour this onto the grainsack in the ice chest again to rinse off all the sugars. This process is called a sparge. Let set 5 minutes, stirring, and then siphon off the remaining wort.

Step 3-Boil

Bring all the wort to a boil and add: 100 g/ 3.5 oz Fuggles hops

60 g/ 2 oz goldings hops

Let this continue on a full boil for 1 hour.

Turn off the heat and.. then add: 30 g/ 1 oz. goldings hops

Let it set in a cool place for 1 hour to cool down. Keep it far away from any vinegar or fruit that could bring in a wild yeast and sour your beer.

Step 4-Fermentation

Make a solution of 4 l/1 gal water with 4 tbsp household beach. From now on, rinse everything you use with this, and then with clean water, just to keep things sanitary. Siphon your wort, through a screen, into a 30 L/6 gal glass, plastic or ceramic container.
Note: For our recipe, our goal is to make 25 l/5 gal so add some water to bring it up to the right volume.
Toss in your remaining 20 g/3/4 oz golding hops for a floral aroma. Pitch in Wyeast #1099, Whitbread Ale Yeast after the wort has cooled to at least 20-24*c/70-75*f. Cover with a top & clean towel or fit a rubber stopper with a 1/4 inch line that seals the vessel and goes to a small bucket of the water-bleach solution. As the beer ferments, the sugar will ferment to alcohol, releasing gasses, and if you have the rubber stopper it will continue to bubble until fermentation is complete. Fermentation at room temperature should take 4-6 days.

Step 5-Bottling

Siphon off the liquid through a screen and a cotton towel, being careful to leave the sediment behind.

Note: The sediment you leave behind is a active yeast culture and perfect to pour anther batch of wort on to start another batch. Or you can take a small amount in a jar and save it, up to a month in your refrigerater

Note: Some people use Irish moss or gelatine to clarify bthe beer, I leave it natural, it's a little cloudy in the beginning, but it will clarify after a few weeks, leaving a little sediment in the bottom.

Take 1 cup brown sugar & 1 cup water, bring to a boil and cool. Mix this in your uncarbonated beer. Mix it very well and siphon into bottles and cap, being as clean as possible. I buy 1 liter bottles at Ikea with self locking swing top (Grolsch style). Let the bottle set in room temperature for 10 days before opening. The brown sugar will produce a secondary fermentation in the bottle but now the gasses can't escape, thus your beer is carbonated. Enjoy!

Backaskolan Christmas Buffet Menu

2009-12-19T14:16:00.000-08:00

Nouveau Waldorf Salad with Apples, Walnuts & Gorgonzola

Nouveau Waldorf Sallad med Äpplen, Valnötter & Gorgonzola

Tiger Prawns, Baby Octopus, Crayfish marinated with Ginger & Lavender, Baby Greens

Tigerräkor, Bläckfisk, Kräftor marinerad med Ingefära & Lavendel med Fyra Olika Sallader

Coquilles St Jacques Florentine

Pilgrimsmusslor med Spinat Florentine

Cranberry-Pecan Chutney

Tranbär-Pecan Chutney

Lemon-Caper Sauce

Citron-Caper Sås

Millefeuille of Smoked Trout

Millefeuille av Rökt Forell

Slaney Farms, Fresh Irish Lamb Chops, Fresh Herbs

Slaney Farms, Färska Irländska Lammkotletter, Färska Örter

Thyme Roasted Potatoes with Feta, Turkish Olives, Cucumber & Olive Oil

Timjan Rostad Potatis med Fetaost,Turkiska Oliver, Gurka och Olivolja

Fresh Norwegian Salmon Filet, Oven Baked

Färsk Norsk Lax Filet, Ugnsbakat

Pappardelle Alfredo with Winter Vegetables

Pappardelle Alfredo med Vinter Grönsaker

Range Free Fresh French Turkey

Ekologisk Färsk Fransk Kalkon

Black Truffle Risotto

Svart Tryffel Risotto

Gateau Basque, (a rich cherry-rum filling with vanilla bean crust)

Gateau Basque (rik körsbär-rom fyllning med vaniljstång deg)

Autueil,
(white chocolate, star anise mousse, filled with raspberry jam, an almond genoise, cognac syrup)

Autueil,
(vit choklad-star anis mousse, fylld med hallonsylt, en mandel genoise, cognac sirap)

Americans Celebrate Thanksgiving in Southern Sweden

2009-12-09T13:13:00.000-08:00

For the past three years I have done Thanksgiving dinner for 'The American Women's Club', Malmö Chapter. This particular meal is probably my favorite of all the holidays. Maybe it's the childhood memories, or the fellowship with family & friends or just a great meal and now since I have been living abroad, I feel a sense of patriotism and it's a part of my American culture I want to share with my wife & children. This year I opened the dinner up to 'Democrats Abroad' and 'International Christian Fellowship' to bring in a few more Americans. I had about 50 altogether, mostly Americans with Swedish wives or husbands and their little bi-cultural children. I did a traditional Thanksgiving menu, perhaps leaning a little to the gourmet side, but thats my nature. I put a photos slideshow up on the gadget bar. It was a great day of celebration & fellowship with friends & family, the only thing missing was throwing a football outside afterwards, but this far in the northern hemisphere it's dark outside by 3:30pm.

A grand night in oldtown Ystad

2009-12-08T13:00:00.000-08:00

I recently did a very nice menu for a party on oldtown Ystad, hosted by Ray Rau and his lovely wife Maria. Ray is American and has been in Sweden 20+ years. His children, from teenager to mid 20's, are a wonderful blend of Swedish and American cultures, switching from perfect English to perfect Swedish in mid-sentence. They recently moved down from Stockholm and bought one of those fabulous old houses in the centrum. Now in Ystad the churches date back to the 1200's and most of the old houses are from the 1500's, and Ale's Stones, not far away goes back to 600AD. Anyway, Ray & Maria have a absolutely gorgeous home, 3 floors of 4 meter ceilings, like stepping into a museum, but with a comfortable and personal touch. The house sits at the end of a street, next to a park with people strolling. I had come in contact with them through 'Democrats Abroad, Skane Chapter' and Ray was turning 50, and he is quite a excellent cook and was planning on doing the party himself but the guest list had

swelled to 30, and he brought me in to take over. We had talked earlier about some cooking lessons, but in the end I recommended buying 'The Professional Chef', a textbook from The Culinary Institute of America to study and practice the techniques and we could talk later. Since then I have been inspired to start doing instructional cooking videos and posting them on my blog & youtube. For the menu, we started with a gratin of tiger prawns and scallops, on the spinach florentine, this has become one of my signature dishes, and as always, the dish is so impressive served with a crisp white wine. Next we had the seared yellow fin tuna with a five peppercorn crust...smoked & burnt on the outside, raw in the center, served with a spicy mango salsa and the super-fine sweet cream polenta. This dish is always a crowd pleaser! After we cleansed the palette with a cactus sorbet, we went to lamb chops with a herb crust, seared & roasted medium rare, they were cooked to perfection! I served them with a Perigueux sauce, pomme dauphine potatoes, veggies and baby greens with truffle oil. For dessert, I served the 'Moelleux au Chocolat', thats a heavy dark chocolate soufflé, filled with dark chocolate ganache that melts while it's baking and it's served warm so the warm melted ganache runs out of the middle of the cake. I served it with two sauces, a raspberry coulis & a white chocolate sauce. We brought in two professional waiters to serve, everything went flawlessly, the menu and the party were a great success! Often with parties in Sweden they have printed song sheets and sing songs between courses, give speeches, do a roast on the guest of honor, or just toast & drink lots of schnapps. At one point in between courses I looked up and saw a professional classical violinist giving a solo performance from the corner of the room. So Ray Rau turned 50 with style, it was definitely a grand night to remember!

Ann & Richard Carlsson's Dinnerparty at TLB

2009-12-07T15:20:00.000-08:00

November is always a very busy month for me. I would like to tell you a little of a few dinnerparties I did. The first was a five course menu for Ann & Richard Carlsson. The venue was 'Three Lily Buds', just outside Vellinge in southern Sweden. Take a look at the video I posted on the gadget bar.They started with a Aperitif of Calvados & Cremant. I like to make the first course very special, a dish that really gets their attention and my 'Coquilles St. Jacque Florentine' is one that all my customers consistently rave about. I pair it with a cold, crisp white wine and the combination is heavenly! Also such a fabulous first course really sets the mood for the evening. The soup was 'Potage Agnes Morrell', the leeks & shallots pureed into a creamy velouté, served with a crunchy parmesan crouton and drizzled with a 30 year old Port. Next came a poached filet of monkfish, that I then baste with brown butter & fresh herbs, I make a super fine sweet cream polenta & lightly sauté julienned carrots, parsley root, red beets & cilantro and circle the dish with a rosemary buerre blanc.The root veggies really stand out with purple, orange, white with green specks. Ann Carlsson said it was absolutely the best she had ever tasted! We cleansed the palate with a cactus sorbet then had roasted breast of guinea hen , black truffle risotto, cranberry-pistachio chutney, carrot-celeryroot-saffron mousse with a peregeuex sauce. Dessert was Tocqueville, of course named after Alexis de, best known for his writings of 'Democracy in America' (1835), anyway, this was his favorite, A dark chocolate mousse, spiced shortbread, caramelized apples with a Calvados syrup. Everyone was very happy with the menu, which is of course such a complement to me!

Autumn in Sweden

2009-10-17T16:11:00.000-07:00

Last week I was out with my boys picking wild elderberries to make jelly and sauces for my desserts and I must say....I love autumn in Sweden. Growing up in California, we never really had the four seasons. The brilliant colors of red , orange & yellow never cease to amaze me. I often dream of menus to correspond the colors of my courses with the colors of the season. Or sometimes I have my courses run through the seasons. Start with spring, something fresh & crunchy, perhaps with flowers, perhaps baby zucchini with a large yellow blossom. Then go to summer, do something with berries. I do a three color veggie mousse, say carrots, peas & celery root in layers in a bread mold. Then when you slice it in a triangle it has nice colors of orange, green & white centered on a plate with some baby greens, a raspberry vinaigrette and some fresh raspberries...now that would fit my concept for a theme of summer colors. Autumn could be pink slices of roe deer filet, eggplant tart or roasted pumpkin and of course dessert would have to be white like winter with no fruit. Finding good fresh fruit in the winter in Sweden reminds me of my French girlfriends in Paris...unreliable and usually only available on weekends.

I've been quite busy lately. Not long ago I did a very nice menu for Peter Uhlemann and a group of executives from Handelsbanken at Three Lily Buds. We started with a Millefeuille of Smoked Trout served with a sweet red onion crème fraîche and a black sesame sauce. That was very popular! After we cleansed the palette with a mango sorbet we went to the main course with medallions of veal, gratin potatoes, a celery-pea mousse (white & green stand out on the plate), cranberry chutney, baby greens with truffle oil & grand venuer sauce. Dessert was a medley of of rich dark chocolate. Most people have never tasted food of the caliber I do. It's often a eye-opening experience.

The next week I did sweet petit-fours for 30 for the American Womens Club annual meeting in Malmö. I did a nice assortment............Crème Brulée Tart, Auteuil, Napoleons with Candied Fennel, Gateau Basque, Caribe au Chocolat.

Here's my crème brûlée tart, except for with petit fours I cut it in small squares, about two bites. I usually set it on a spiced shortbread and if it's plated, serve it with a fruit coulis.

Then two days later I did the exact same menu for a parents meeting at my boys elementary school for 30 again. I found one of the best marketing techniques is whenever the is a large gathering, volunteer to bring desserts and then pass out my cards. Once they have tasted what I do, I have them. Sure enough, the next day one of the parents called to order desserts for a party at The Malmö Concert House. I did two large Auteuil & a large Carribe au Chocolat (see right) The party was for the director of Musik i Syd in Kristianstad and by coincidence I had done their Christmas Party last year. We had a very nice menu with Duck Breast & Caramelized Figs and then for dessert, I dressed up the director in one of my chef coats and taught him to flame cherries in front of everyone. It was alot of fun! I was quite sure he would remember me.

Over the summer I did many large parties but three of my favorites were 1) a celebration of their marriage and long relationship for Nanna Grønbech Pedersen ( a fabulous artist, I'll put a link on the sidebar) & Søren Larsen on the island of Thurø. 2) a wedding for Helena Hansen at the Malmö Canoe Club. 3) A 40 year birthday party for Jens & Isabelle Olsson. The menus I did for all three were similar a lttle similar. When I do these menus, I truly love the food I am doing. It's like I'm giving them a gift of love, a deliberate act of love, a servants heart in a sense. Even though I'm being paid for it, I still feel a sense of fulfillment & satisfaction. Thats why I love what I'm doing!

I regularly need to fine tune my culinary skills, and what better way than to practice on my friends. Last weekend I did a very nice menu...we started off with a black truffle custard served in a eggshell, seared tuna with mango salsa& sweet polenta, cream of pea soup with grilled tiger prawns, guinea hen breast with fettuccine alfredo, roasted eggplant caviar, figs caramelized in port wine & perigueux sauce. Dessert was moelleux au chocolat, that warm nutty chocolate soufflé that when you cut it warm melted ganache runs out. Everything went very well that night... for wines we started off with Poully Fumé, then went with a rosé, Reserve de Bonnet Rosé Merlot Cabernet Franc and then went to a nice Bourgogne, the Hautes Côtes de Nuits Les Dames de Vergy and after finished with 15 yr aged armagnac.

The last night I did my gourmet version of Mexican food. Growing up in California, I always loved Mexican food. But living in Sweden, good Mexican food is impossible to get...so I have to make my own. I roasted some long thin Hungarian chiles and stuffed them with gouda cheese¨. Then I separate egg white & yolks, beat the whites and fold in the yolks and fry the chilies in this....a perfect Chilé Relleno!...For Chimichangas, I slow cook veak till it falls apart and blend it with my homemade chipotle sauce & cheese and use that to fill a flour tortilla and fry that. Those I serve with crème fraîche and salsa fresca. Main course was Chile Colorado, pork slow cooked with red chilies & tomatoes until it's tender and the sauce is thick & rich. Combine that with Spanish Rice and Cuban style black beans with cumin, garlic and ice cold Coronas and I'm thinking I'm back in Ensenada with salt on the back of my thumb and I keep dropping my lime!

Magnus Ringmans Dinnerparty

2009-09-15T07:35:00.000-07:00

Not long ago, I did a fabulous menu for thirteen CEO's hosted by a major newspaper, Aftonbladet. The setting was in the majestic and colorful rolling hills of Skåne in southern Sweden. The location was a classic Swedish farmhouse, now completly restored & goes by the name of 'Three Lily Buds'. The interior is wonderfully designed with South African art, much of it created by the very talented South African artist Sally Arnold. They have delicious SA assorted olive oils, vinegars & wines. My recommendations, the Reyneke Cornerstone -06, a delicate fruity flavor, much like a fleurie, with hints of red fruit. Another favorite is the Reyneke Reserve -05 Shiraz, a full bodied bouquet, with hints of blackberries & pepper. Outside in the fields, a runway is cut out of the grass for light aircraft to land and taxi in. They have a wellness herbal spa in a greenhouse & a fabulous open air kitchen (my favorite), centered around a AGA stove for conferences or dinner parties. A unique experience!

So this was the environment for Magnus Ringmans dinnerparty. The customers have cocktails while I flame scallops in a starched white chef coat. The scallops recline on a bed of spinach florentine and are drizzled with a white wine cream sauce, served in their shells. The flavors of lemon, shallots & cream meld together with the seared scallop under a gratin. Second course is a warm blue cheese tart, served with crunchy sliced fresh pear, baby greens & vinaigrette. I like to use Bleu d'Auvergne, for a rich yet subtle flavor & the result is a perfect marriage of texture & flavors....rich & salty, crunchy sweet, peppery greens & tangy vinaigrette. As a young chef training in the 1980's, I was greatly influenced by two Masterchefs-Wolfgang Puck & Jeremiah Tower. The next course- Seared yellowfin tuna (raw in the center) with a 5 peppercorn crust with a julienned root salad & a Thai style lemongrass sauce. This dish was right out of the California cuisine genre, creating a fusion of cultures with Asian, seafood & fresh locally grown products. We cleansed the palette with cactus sorbet and went to the main course....a fresh Irish lamb chop, I pull out every other bone on the rack, I sear it & roast it and then cut a fat double chop, roll it in fresh herbs and lean it with one roasted bone standing straight up on the plate. The lamb was complemented with a Grand Venuer sauce, black cherry chutney, celery-root mousse with a touch of saffron and my ever-decadent pomme dauphine potatoes with a golden gratin. For dessert I created a cylinder of white chocolate-anise mousse, filled with fresh raspberries on a pistachio genoise soaked with cognac syrup and served with a fresh raspberry coulis. By the time the dessert was finished I had them on their feet cheering. Magnus told me thay all agreed it was the best menu they had ever had at a conference and many thought it was the best menu they had tasted ever! These are people that travel the world, stay in fine hotels, eat in fine restaurants. It was, simply put, the ultimate complement!

Reflections on Inspiration

2009-09-10T12:52:00.000-07:00

My culinary talents today are a direct accumulation of all my experiences throughout my life. One of the most profound was shopping on the Rue Mouffetard in Paris. I first heard of it while living in Colombia, reading Hemingways 'A Movable Feast'. He lived on the Place de la Contrescarpe, and would often stroll down the Rue Mouffetard for espresso or shopping. Then when I had my flat on Rue de Poissy in Paris, I learned I was only a few minutes walk to Hemingways old neighborhood. I was fascinated with open air markets of Paris. It was busy & bustleing, you had to push and elbow your way into a cloud of cigarette smoke to buy something while the vendors shouted out their wares. Le poissonnier would be holding a trout in one hand and a crayfish in the other, with a cigarette butt smoking from the corner of his mouth, while he yelled why his fruits de mer were absolutly the best you could possibly buy. Then a old women would push a greasy folded newspaper filled with salty pomme frites in your face while she smiled next to her vat of boiling oil. Strolling amongst the chaos, I was filled with hundreds of ideas, the possibilities were endless. My infinite inspiration and creativity was truely challenged. Back at the Hotel Ritz, I would spend hours discussing, examining & dissecting my culinary inspirations with the brilliant minds of Masterchefs Philip Moreau & Christof Bellet. There are moments in life when you experience a awakening, a profound enlightenment that changes the way you conceptualize the life that moves around you. For me, my morning walks down the hill of the Rue Mouffetard was definitely that experience. From then on I got to experiment with gastronomic delights on my friends with several courses in a dinner party, carefully matching wines with each course. It was a time to perfect my skills to excellence. My biggest problem was that after usually staying up late on friday nights, I would wake up late and halfway through my coffee have to run out the door, because in Paris all the markets close at 2pm and if you miss that, you can't shop until monday morning.

Custom Menus

2009-09-08T02:05:00.000-07:00

I often design a special menu for my clients, using fresh & local products, seasonal berries or wild mushrooms for example. I like the the idea of using natural, locally grown fresh ingredients to produce my dishes. I try to mostly prepare traditional french-international cooking on available ingredients including abundant seafood. Fresh vegetables, lightly cooked, and fresh fruits, berries, and herbs characterize my cuisine generally. I was influenced less by grand Parisian restaurants that served a predictable menu than by more modest establishments whose chefs visited the markets each day and invented the meal on the spot. La cuisine du marché, market cooking, relies on improvisation and experimentation and puts shopping on an equal footing with technique. While I worked with Dominic Fonseca at the Hotel Ritz, everyday we would look through the cellars of The Ritz kitchen and create a menu with whatever we had. Take a look at other menus I've done in the past.