by Patriots Daily Kitchen Staff

Rex ain’t ascared. Rex been hearing from experts for years. Rex’s Doctor says his good cholesterol should beat his bad cholesterol. No sir. Every year Rex’s bad cholesterol beats his “good” cholesterol. 275 to 3 last year. Shows what experts know.

So no, Rex ain’t afraid of what the experts say.

Lets go eat a goddamned snack!

I don’t know why, but when I think of Rex Ryan I think “jerk”. Jerk seasoning that is.

Rex is a jerk burgers

oops

Rex’s jerk burgers

Serves 6 to 8

2 pounds 80% ground beef – do not use anything leaner for burgers, they’ll be dry
1 medium onion, diced
1 jalapeno, diced
1 medium red pepper, diced
1 large egg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup commercial Jerk sauce
1 pack burger rolls
6 to 8 slices cheddar cheese

Crack the egg into a large mixing bowl. Add 1/3 of the seasonings and meat. Mix well. Once it’s mixed add another 1/3 of the ingredients and repeat. You can just add everything at once if you’d like. I think it’s easier to mix and make the burgers more consistent to do it in separate steps.

If you have a burger press go ahead and use it to make the patties. Otherwise we can form them by hand. Break off a chunk of burger meat from the bowl and roll it into a big meatball. Once that is done start to press it into a patty between your palms. When it’s done press your thumb into the top to make an indentation. The indentation will prevent the burger from curving up as it cooks. These can be made the day before gameday and refrigerated overnight. Doing this will just make the flavors blend together more.

Heres a simple trick on determining the burger size for people. Picture their hand from the wrist to the 1st knuckle. Make the patty the size and thickness of that full palm.

The FDA recommends cooking for 6 minutes per side. Thats going to get you a medium well burger. Cook for a shorter amount of time if you like your burger less done. If you’re cooking enough burgers one will probably end up falling through the grill onto the burners or coals, that one is well done. Whatever time you decide to cook per side, halfway through the cooking turn the burger 1/3 of a turn.
Do the same thing once you flip the burger over. This gives you the classic crossed grill marks and more grilled flavor. The last turn is also a good time to put cheese onto the burger.

Consider topping with a pineapple salsa.

What to Drink?

We were all set to have the most Rex Ryanish drink ever invented. But then the Man decided to ban Four Loko. Sadly they were just too refreshing and full of energy

Rex loved the Cranberry Lemonade almost as much as the Blue.

Oh well, I guess we’ll have to look at all the winter mix packs coming out.

He’Brew Vertical Jewbelation Pack is a unique presentation. It contains 8 anniversary beers, one each of the 8th through 14th anniversary special releases, and the 8th is a mix of those 7 different beers. Bear in mind that these aren’t average strength beers, the alcohol percentage is equal to it’s year, so from 8% for the 8th anniversary to 14% for the 14th anniversary. Did I mention these are 22 ounce bottles? The menorah wont be the only thing to stay lit for 8 days.

You also find a glass and some candles to make your own beer bottle menorah.

Sam Adams has revamped their winter classics pack. Out is the cranberry lambic that no one likes. Well, Pete King probably likes it, but he’s stupid.

Old favorites like Boston Lager, Winter Lager, Holiday Porter and the Winter Warmer Old Fezziwig are still there. The new beers are Chocolate Bock available in 12 ounce bottles for the first time, and the former Spring Seasonal White Ale.

A lot of people complained when Sam discontinued the white ale so they’ll be happy with this move. It is replacing the oddly placed Coastal Wheat.

Chocolate Bock is fairly chocolatey but it isn’t as overpowering as the Harpoon Chocolate Stout. 5.9% ABV

Winter Lager seems to have been toned down this year. It’s a little lower in alcohol, by about half a percentage point, and the spices seem less over the  top. Overall a good change to the beer.

In about a month Sam Adams will introduce a brand new mixpack called American Originals.

It is set to include Boston Lager, Irish Red, Scotch Ale, the former spring seasonal White Ale, the current spring seasonal Noble Pils and the new Revolutionary Rye.

Sounds like an excellent mix pack. Even if the name “American Originals” doesn’t really apply to a pack with Austrian, Irish, Scottish, Belgian and German/Czech beer styles. The Revolutionary Rye isn’t based on a traditional style, so I guess it is the original.

Harpoon’s Wintry Mix pack includes that Chocolate Stout, the cinnamon bomb Winter Warmer, IPA, Munich Dark, UFO Hefeweizen and Harpoon Belgian Pale Ale. A few of those beers were listed over the past few weeks, and the Munich Dark will be coming up soon. This pack is a good way to try a lot of their beers including two that aren’t for everyone – the Chocolate Stout and Winter Warmer without having to buy a whole six pack.

Personal favorite Troegs Brewing calls their sampler pack Anthology and right now it’s the Fall/Winter Anthology. Unlike most, this pack has only 4 varities. Dreamweaver Wheat, Pale Ale, Hopback Amber and the seasonal Javahead Stout.

HopBack Amber is excellent, a hoppier version of the style than most amber ales. And the Javahead Stout is a good winter beer. Being a strong 7.5% coffee oatmeal stout.

Magic Hat has renamed their winter pack to “Winterland”, it’s another pack with 4 different beers instead of 6. You’ll still find their flagship #9. Along with the winter seasonal Howl a black lager. Odd Notion Winter ’10 a red ale with rye and hibiscus. And the current seasonal IPA Encore a good IPA made a bit different by being brewed with wheat.

Magic Hat beers aren’t all winners but it’s nice to see a seasonal pack that is made up of 75% seasonal beers. The Encore IPA is very good.

Saranac 12 beers of winter features two new beers this year. The website appears to be still showing the 2009 pack. What you’ll find is India Copper Ale which was very good, similar to the highly rated Founders Centennial IPA. It is a darker version of an IPA. Bohemian Pilsner fits that style well and was very drinkable. Big Moose Ale is a good American Pale Ale. Rye IPA is another good IPA, this one with some added spiciness from the rye. Lake Effect Lager was a good version of a German Dunkel. Finally Vanilla Stout was a sweet dessert like roasty vanilla beer.

Smuttynose puts out one mixpack all year, but changes the 4th beer as the seasons change.

You’ll find Finestkind IPA, Old Brown Dog, Shoals Pale Ale and the current seasonal Winter Ale.

Winter Ale is a Belgian Dubbel but on the low end for alcohol for that style. 5.1% ABV.

The best mix pack is of course a pack of Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. 12 bottles of IPA perfection. OK, so it isn’t a mix pack, but when you have one beer that is so good why waste time mixing anything else in?

The packaging is a little different this year, with the subtitle “Fresh Hop Ale”. For years people have been finding non-existent spices in Celebration Ale, so the brewery added that “Fresh Hop Ale” to reinforce the fact it’s an IPA and not a beery spice cabinet.

If you really want a mix pack get some Sierra Nevada Pale Ale as well. Then drink side by side so you can compare and contrast the little and big brother.