Monthly Archives: November 2013

Nov 20 2013
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BBQ, Beans, Beef, Pork, Restaurant Review

BBQ Joint Review Follow Up: Sugarfire Smokehouse

Fifteen years ago today I was a college sophomore, and my roommate and I (and two other guys) were initiated into our social fraternity. He and I live in STL and try to get together for lunch / dinner / beer / etc. every November 20th. Today it was a return to SugarFire Smokehouse.

Well-written menu

Well-written menu

Bright red posterboard grabbed my attention. The food description kept it.

One side? My ass. I’ll be having the Firewalker, plus the brisket chili (oh my god) AND an order of the polenta cakes with pork belly and cheddar (oh my flippin god).

Lunch

Lunch. EPIC lunch.

Brisket Chili – Wonder of wonders. I need to make this. Peppers, onions, huge chunks and shreds of brisket, thin sauce, chickpeas(?), a bunch of other great stuff.

Polenta Cakes – With cheddar and pork belly. Oodles of pork belly chunks, and well-mingled cheesiness. I love polenta, and this was awesome.

Firewalker – Pepper jack gravy is a new thing for me. So are flaming hot cheetos onion rings. All together, mushed with bread and hot sauce and, oh yeah, a load of pulled pork. It was as messy and gluttonous and epic as you might think. Not healthy. Worth every calorie.

Well played, SugarFire.

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Nov 20 2013
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Beer

Pumpkin Beer Bread

No, I’m not dead. I just haven’t posted in nearly two months due to work schedule, weekend hecticness (when I should be grilling/smoking), and a serious salad-and-beer diet. I have done some BBQ and beer-related things in the meantime. A few weeks ago on Halloween, I made pumpkin beer bread.

Beer and bread - together at last

Beer and bread – together at last

Scrolling around Deadspin, I came across an article about pumpkin beer bread and how it wasn’t quite as awesome as the author had hoped.

I’ve made beer bread twice. First, I used PBR and over-stirred, so it didn’t really rise. Second, I made one with Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat and it was pretty good. I love pumpkin bread and I love pumpkin beer, so why not give this a shot?

The recipe calls for 2.5 cups flour, 1 tbsp baking powder, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt to be mixed up, and then a 12 oz beer to be slowly mixed into the dry ingredients. Simple enough.

Slowly stirred...

Slowly stirred…

It all went into a greased loaf pan and headed to the oven at 375 for 45 minutes.

Bake for 45 minutes... good enough time to drink more pumpkin beers

Bake for 45 minutes… good enough time to drink more pumpkin beers

I chose the O’Fallon Pumpkin Beer, not just because it’s a delicious local beer, but because it’s a CANNED pumpkin beer. I had to walk around the neighborhood in the dark, so bottles are a no-no.

45 minutes and 3 beers later

45 minutes and 3 beers later

It smelled pumpkin-y, but I have to agree with the Foodspin author that it didn’t really taste pumpkin-y. Instead, it was just a really tasty soda bread that had a super-subtle hint of pumpkin.

Finished product

Finished product

This bread demands being served warm with ample butter and a side of pumpkin beer. Anyway, a good way to ingest super-dense calories. Happy (belated) Halloween.

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