Ryan and I drove out to Cambridge last night to have dinner and drinks at Cambridge Brewing Co, a brewpub that features local ingredients, making for some really fresh and creative dishes.
Usually when I go out to brewpubs, I’ll get a sampler selection of different beers, but we decided to just pick out a few pints that struck our interest. I started out with the Audacity of Hops, a Belgian Double I.P.A. Piercing hops and a big, ripe fruitness, this beer was extremely delicious and bitterly memorable.
We split a fruit/cheese plate for an appetizer. There were a few other vegetarian options. Nachos with a veggie chili, salads and gazpacho. But I’m a sucker for smelly, moldy cheese. A blue and a goat, with some tomato jam, black berries and a little almond salad with the freshest almonds I’ve ever encountered.
For dinner, I had a red bean and bulghur wheat burger with spicy ketchup and gouda. Finally, a housemade veggie burger with some friggin’ character. And decent ingredients. Not just frozen mixed vegetables, binded together with lentils and cornmeal.
My second beer was the Arquebus summer barleywine. Brewed with local honey and white grapes, this 14%-er was almost like dessert. Loved it.
I supposed I have to talk about the smoothie now. This might be my new favorite breakfast drink/smoothie in general. General Smoothie..reporting for duty. Yeah, it’s so light and frothy. I originally thought I wouldn’t like too much cantaloupe flavor, but it blends perfectly with the orange and mango. Almost like a creamsicle. The recipe made about 4 big cups worth. I drank around 3 of them. Oh, and this is also the beginning of my intent to recreate everything from my Commonsense Guide cookbook, because I swear that this book can do no wrong.
Energy Fruit Smoothie
Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking: A Commonsense Guide
1/2 cantaloupe
1 mango
2 tbs. muesli
1 tb. honey
1 tb. malted milk powder
1/3 cup Greek-style honey-flavored yogurt
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup almond milk
Peel the cantaloupe and scoop out the seeds. Roughly chop the flesh and place in a blender.
Slice the cheeks off the mango and scoop the flesh out of the skin (I’m loving the horrific imagery of this recipe). Place in the blender.
Add the muesli and blend for 20 seconds, or until smooth. Add the honey, malted milk powder and yogurt and blend for another 10 seconds.
Pour in the orange juice and almond milk. Blend for another 30 seconds, until smooth and foamy. Pour into glasses and serve.
Homebrewed & Stewed 