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| Freshly harvested Cascade Hops |
Hops are not what you think of as something to eat and are more commonly used as a bittering agent in the production of beer. Since one of my favorite types of beer is an extremely hoppy IPA it got me thinking about how it might translate as a flavoring in food preparation. I decided to experiment. I'll tell you now that you DON'T want to eat one of these flowers raw. They are indescribably bitter. I did a couple experimental dishes and this is what I've learned.
My first experiment was a batch of chicken and dumplings. I wanted something fairly simple to make tasting the hops easier. I was worried they might get lost if I seasoned too heavily. That was a mistake. I added five or so hop buds to the stew as it simmered. The dish picked up a distinct hop flavor - pleasant at first, but as the stew reduced the buds started to deteriorate and broke apart making them irretrievable. Biting into one of these chunks was not pleasant. That being said it did impart a nice flavor - bitter, but pleasant. The leftovers were gross. Hops sitting overnight in the dish made it inedible as the flavors melded and the bitterness increased. Lesson learned - use it, but use moderation and remove them when you get what you want from them. Much in the way Bay leaves are used in soup. One interesting thing I noticed was the meat didn't pick up the bitterness the way the liquid components did. In future experiments I'll experiment using them as a component for a brine.
This led me to get thinking more about the hop flavor and what I like to pair with a strong IPA. Mexican and Indian cuisines were what first came to mind but my cupboard was bare for such dishes. I had sweet paprika, chicken breasts, chicken stock, yellow onions, mushrooms, garlic, and celery. A Goulash was born! Apologies for not having a picture of the plated finished dish... it was so delicious we ate it all!
Ingredients:
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1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 t kosher salt
1/4 t ground black pepper
2 large chicken breasts (trimmed and cut into 1" chunks
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2 T olive oil
3 med yellow onions (sliced thin pole to pole)
3 T sweet paprika
2 fresh cascade hops
1/2 t ground cumin
1/8 t ground ginger
1/8 t ground cinnamon
6 large cremini mushrooms (cut in eighths - I prefer big chunks)
2 ribs celery (diced)
3-5 cloves garlic (sliced)
pinch salt
2 cups chicken stock
Method:
1. In a large bowl combine flour, salt and black pepper. Pat chicken chunks dry and add to bowl. Toss chicken to coat all sides evenly with flour mixture. Remove chicken from excess flour mixture and set aside.
2. In a large saute pan heat oil over med-hi til a small piece of onion sizzles on contact. Add remaining onion to pan and saute to coat onions evenly with oil. Immediately add paprika, hops, cumin, ginger, and cinnamon, stirring to coat everything and mix the spices evenly. Continue saute until onions begin to release their moistue and have had time to caramelize a bit. You want the mixture to caramelize but not get too dry. Add the mushrooms, celery, garlic, and a pinch of salt. Again, toss to coat everything evenly and return to heat.
3. When the mushrooms begin to release their liquids, add the chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce to simmer. Add the floured chicken chunks and stir to coat. Simmer gently for 10 min and remove the hops. Continue to simmer until chicken is done and liquids have reduced to the desired consistency. (Thicken with beurre-manie if needed).
This is great served over rice and paired with wilted greens. Although this is chicken the paprika makes a nice pairing with a bold red wine.
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