El Jefe of the Weiss

To feed the in-laws the other day, I thought of goulash, and not just because there's some Hungarian in that Gerencher family. I wanted to reprise the knockout dish I made for some Canadian friends of Kristen a couple of years ago, a great kitchen success that included the salad of wilted red cabbage, all off recipes from Wallsé, which is a fave of New York musician and gourmand James Roe, whom I met through Paul Festa and is how I'm a few degrees off Kevin Bacon.

Quick highlights before I bump off to bed: It was a little different this time, and it probably was because I added the juice of half a lemon at the end, as directed. (Don't remember adding that the first time around.) Or was it the can of beef stock? Though I'm still thinking about that slight sourness, almost everyone went back for more. Nuking it the second day, I finished it with a small, small corner of butter, and for me that did the trick.

Some impromptu shopping at the New World Market on Geary brought out the perfect pairing for the goulash: a dark wheat beer from Bavarian State Brewery Weihenstephaner. Cloudy, yeasty, caramelly and from the world's oldest brewery to boot. So it says right there on the label, "seit 1040." Maybe I'll get one during tax time.