declare independence from boring potato salads this July 4th!

Brewhouse Potato Salad with Bacon

Only the first day of July and already I'm bored with the usual cook-out side dishes... until now. I wanted to create a really good potato salad with a tasty beer-based dressing and so I did a bit of research. After some tweaking I came up with my very own Brewhouse Potato Salad: slightly sweet with a touch of bacon-y goodness; the perfect accompaniment to sausages and grilled pork or chicken... and a cold one, of course!

To begin, scrub 2 pounds of red-skinned new potatoes and cut into quarters. Cook in boiling water until just tender, about 10 to 15 minutes depending on the size of the potato pieces.

While potatoes are cooking, cook 6 slices of bacon in a skillet until done. Drain off all but 1 tablespoon of bacon grease. Set aside the bacon on paper towels to drain. When cool, crumble the bacon into bits.

In the 1 tablespoon of reserved bacon fat, saute 1 medium onion, minced

then add:

1 cup beer

3 tablespoons malt vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

Boil mixture for 5 minutes until slightly reduced, then remove from heat and whisk in:

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

(honey mustard also works well; I used Sierra Nevada's Spicy Brown Porter Mustard)

4 tablespoons mild olive oil

When potatoes are cooked and drained, add:

1/4 cup minced parsley

2 green onions, white parts and part of light green, sliced thinly

Toss potato mixture with the dressing, 1/2 to 3/4 more teaspoons sugar (to taste), salt and black pepper to taste, and the crumbled cooked bacon.

Let salad sit for a while for the flavors to blend; Brewhouse Potato Salad with Bacon is best served lightly chilled or at room temperature.

Love bacon? Now you can even wear it!

beer - not just for breakfast anymore!

The National Pork Producers Council declares October "National Pork Month" (or "Porktober" as some like to call it). The Lonesome Road kitchen could not let this momentous culinary event go by without at least one porcine preparation. It was hard to narrow it down, but a tasty barbecue sauce will win almost every time.

This Beer and Molasses Barbecue Sauce by silvergami superman, beer aficionado, Team Bacon! compadre and all-around great guy Allegro Arts has just the right combination of things we like on our gravel road outside of prison town: beer, a touch of garlic, full sweet flavor - and NO KETCHUP.

Mr. Arts recommends using a darker beer like a Sam Adams porter or cream stout, or even a good hoppy beer like an IPA. Here on The Road, we used a Sam Adams Octoberfest with terrific results.

This recipe makes quite a bit of sauce so you can either sauce up anything that moves or freeze some for another day!

Combine:

• Two 12 oz. bottles of beer (one for you, one for the sauce)
• 1/2 cup dark molasses
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• One 12-ounce bottle chili sauce (Mr. Arts recommends Heinz; on the Lonesome Road we used Homade, probably because I love the cute little round jar.)
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 clove garlic (finely diced)
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground sage
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder (like Colman's)

In a saucepan, pour in 1-1/2 cups of beer.

Add the remaining ingredients and simmer over medium/low heat to reduce it to about half of the original volume, about an hour; drink the remaining beer while you wait for the sauce to thicken. When done, the sauce should be sticky but still runny.

To use, baste repeatedly over meat while grilling to build up a caramelized coating.

Mr. Arts recommends this for pork and chicken (check out the pork chop, above!), and I'm thinking that this would make a tasty and different dipping sauce - and would probably be fantastic mixed in with some baked beans.

To see more of AllegroArts, check out these links:

Allegro Arts/Etsy

Allegro Arts/Big Cartel

The Allegro Art, Life and Beer Blog

Above: amazing "silvergami" fine silver jewelry by Allegro Arts.