Cooking with Beer
Beer is food, created from water, cereal grain, hops and yeast. It has been around since before written history and has been a staple food in man’s diet for thousands of years. Beers flavor profile covers a far wider range than say, wine. Wines are limited by their short range of flavor and acidity. To date there are more than 250,000 different types of beer on the world market. In short, there is a beer to go with any food. Beer can enhance spices and bring out the hidden or round the strong flavor in food.
It takes a bit of experimentation to find out what goes best but the first and foremost rule is to know your beer as well as you know your food, take notes and have fun! Because of the hops, beer it is naturally bitter. In beer, the sweet residual sugar from the malt marries well with the bitterness. Likewise, sweet foods such as onion are perfect with beer. Bitterness also help to balance rich creamy dishes, a great example is beer cheese soup.
BEER ONIONS 1 Tablespoon Butter 1 Larger sweet Onion sliced 1 Clove of Garlic minced 2 or 3 ounces of your favorite Mushroom sliced 1 cup of Amber styled Beer
In a fry pan melt the butter over medium heat and add the garlic and onion. Cook until the onion begins to caramelize and add the mushrooms and cook until tender. Deglaze the pan with the beer and reduce the heat to a simmer for an additional five minutes. And serve as a side dish.
Robust and malty beers suit well with beef and game or as a marinade to helps to tenderize and refine their taste. Stouts and porters with their rich roasted and chocolate characters pare great with chocolate cake to ice cream. With acidic, vinegary, citrus, and mustard beer can complement and balance these dishes. Chicken and fish work well with sweet, fruity and tangy beers.
If you love to cook, you’ll love to cook with beer. Get to know your beers as well as you know your food. Do some research and find some beers that will pare well with your favorite foods.
These recipes are fun and very easy to make, I have developed them over the years to meet my life style, relaxed and easy going. You won’t need a lot of fancy cookware to make these dishes and most of them could be made outside on the grill while you sit and drink a beer.
BEER CHEESE SOUP
The type of beer I recommend with this soup is either a Bavarian or German styled wheat beer or any type of Hefe Weisen. It also works well with a mild to medium bitter pale to amber beer such as a Domestic to St. Arnold’s Amber.
INGREDIENTS 1 Onion finely chopped 2 Cloves of Garlic minced 1 Tablespoon of Butter 2 to 3 Carrot sliced 3 to 4 Stalks of Celery Chopped 1 Large Potato pealed and diced 2 cooked and sliced Andouille Sausage 12 ounces of Chicken Broth 12 to 24 ounces of Beer (enough to cover other ingredients) 2 cups of Half and Half 2 Cups of shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese 3 Tablespoons of Corn Starch Salt and Pepper to taste
Chop and dice onion, carrots, garlic, potato, celery, and Andouiile sausage. In a large soup kettle melt the butter and add in the garlic and onion until translucent. Add the potato, celery, carrot, and Andouille sausage and cook over medium heat for five minutes. Add chicken broth and beer and bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Mix together the corn starch and half and half until completely incorporated and stir into soup kettle after which add the cheese and stir until it begins to simmer. Salt and pepper to taste.
BEER BRATS
In Wisconsin this is a favorite for tail gating to ice fishing. It is easy and delicious! This is the easiest way to serve any style of sausage from hot dogs to Andouille. This is great for easy entertaining outside on the grill or inside on the stove top. When it comes to the beer the sky’s the limit! I have done this recipe with Pabst Blue Ribbon to Duck-Rabbit Porter. I suggest you should mix it up and have some fun, there is no wrong beer for this one. When ever I do this recipe I make sure to make extra so I can have left-overs the next day, they are so good!
INGREDIENTS 24 to 36 ounces of beer (enough to cover all ingredients in the pan) 1 package of your favorite sausage 1 large or 2 small onion cut diagonally 2 to 4 cloves of garlic Bratwurst Buns if required
In a large sauce pan add in your beer and put over medium heat. Slice your onion diagonally and mince the garlic and add them to the pan. On top of that place in the sausage. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove the sausage and grill or pan fry until golden brown, put the sausage back into the pan and hold over low heat for an additional five to ten minutes.
Slice the bratwurst bun down the middle, place one of the sausages in the bun and top with some of the onion. Or serve it German-style,(no bun).
BEER N'BEEF STEW
I have been cooking since the time I could burn myself on the stove. This recipe came from my childhood and has been revised somewhat over the years.
INGREDIENTS 2 pounds lean stewing beef (cubed ) 3 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons flour 2 chopped Onion 2 to 3 cloves minced Garlic ½ cup of Tomato Juice 16 to 24 ounces of beer 2 cups chopped Carrots (4 to 6 Carrots) 1 cup chopped Celery (3 to 5 stalks) ½ Teaspoon thyme A couple splashes of Tabasco Salt and Pepper to taste
Melt the butter in the pan and add the cubed beef and cook over medium high heat until meat is browned and beginning to caramelize the bottom of the pan. Add in the onion and garlic and continue cooking until the onion is translucent. Add the carrot and celery and thyme and cook for an additional five minutes.
Stir in Beer until the meat and veggies are completely covered plus an inch. Add tomato juice and Tabasco and bring to a boil. Bring heat down to a low simmer and cook for an additional 2 hours.
BEER BACON SHRIMP
This one is just plan fun, easy and taste so good. It has two of my favorite foods, bacon and beer. It takes a bit of time with the marinade so allow yourself the time. I like to prepare the shrimp and marinade in the morning and let it do it’s thing in the fridge while I am at work or doing things around town. For the marinade allow at least three hours or up to eight. The beer I like to use for this is malty, bitter and hoppy. American IPA is my favorite but you can mix it up a bit, try a good American Barley Wine.
INGREDIENTS 1 pound of raw, pealed, butterflyed shrimp (24 to 28) 12 ounces of Beer 3 to 4 minced cloves of Garlic 1 Tablespoon of your favorite hot sauce (Tabasco is mine) 1 Tablespoon of Fresh graded Ginger 1 Teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
Mix all ingredients together in a sealable bowl or even a large zip lock bag. Add 1 pound of pealed and butterflyed raw shrimp (24 to 28). Seal and let it sit in the fridge for three to eight hours.
12 to 14 slices of bacon (bacon will be cut in half so equal to the half amount of the shrimp). 6 to 8 Bamboo skewers soaked in water (15 to 25 minutes).
Cut the bacon slices in half, wrap each shrimp with a piece of bacon and put on to the skewer, between 4 to 6 bacon wrapped shrimp per skewer. Drizzle both sides with the olive oil.
There are two thing we wish to accomplish, we don’t want to over cook the shrimp and we want crisp bacon, this means HOT grill! 2 to 4 minutes each side. You can serve with BBQ sauce but they are great alone.
KRAUT N'PORK
This one takes me back home no matter where I am. Note; for all of you “Beer Snobs” don’t knock it until you try it. We are using Pabst Blue Ribbon with this one, but as always it is up to you, mix it up baby! Heck, Lone Star would be great also!
INGREDIENTS 2 Chopped Onion 3 minced cloves of Garlic ½ head of Cabbage sliced diagonally 3 Potatoes cut into quarters or sixths depending on the size of the Potato. 24 ounces of sauerkraut 2 to 3 pounds of Pork 36 to 48 ounces of Beer
Mix chopped onion and minced garlic together, in a large pan layer 1/3rd pork, onion/garlic, sauerkraut, potato and cabbage and repeat until you are out of ingredients. Fill with beer until the ingredients are covered. Put on low heat and cook for 3 hours. Salt and pepper to taste.
MARINADE for RIBS
Who doesn’t like ribs!? I developed this recipe because I found if you want really good ribs, make them yourself! For this rib recipe you are going to need two days, one for the marinade and one for cooking, drinking beer, and enjoying your ribs.
INGREDIENTS 24 ounces of your favorite beer (You can’t go wrong with this, domestic lager to imperial stout, go for it!) 4 ounces Malt Vinegar 4 ounces Lemon Juice 4 ounces Worcestershire Sauce 1 TBSPN. Dijon Mustard 1 TBSPN. Onion Powder 1 TBSPN. Garlic Powder 1 tspn. Ground Black Pepper 1 tspn. Season Salt 1 TBSPN. Liquid Smoke (Trust me on this, it is O.K.)
Marinade your ribs for 24 hours, no more and no less.
Cook to your preference. Personally I will either slow cook them in a smoker for 6 to 8 hours at 170 degrees, less the foil, or in the oven at 300 degree for 2 hours, with the foil.
If you are using your oven remove ribs from the marinade and place on a large sheet of aluminum foil enough to double wrap your precious ribs up. If you have more than one rack, separate and wrap as the first. Put on a cookie sheet and place in the oven at 300 degrees for 2 hours. If you have a smoker, you know what to do.
The aluminum foil job is to retain the juices from cooking. Afte r the two hours remove the ribs from the oven, keep them wrapped with the foil and let them rest for 30 to 45 minutes. In a sauce pan drain the liquid from the foil and simmer over low heat. When the simmer begins, add in ¼ cup dark brown sugar and dissolve. Now each time I have done this things have varied, if the juice is too thick add more beer, if it is too thin let it cook down.
After the sauce is to the point you like it, pour over the ribs and devour!
BEER BEAN CHILI
This recipe will take two days to prepare but it is definitely worth it. I developed this recipe over the years, and it is a combination of chilies I have enjoyed across the US. The beer to use in this recipe should have a low to medium body with low hop bitterness. There will be some reduction involved, and a beer with a large malt and hop profile may over power the balance of the chili.
INGREDIENTS (DAY ONE) 1 pound of dry Pinto Beans 6 12 ounce BEERS 14 ounces of chicken or vegetable broth
Clean and sort beans in a colander while rinsing over cold water. In a large pot, (6 to 8 quart), pour in broth, all six beers and begin to boil. Add the beans to the pot and boil for two minutes. Cover with lid and let cool to room temperature, (approximately 2 to 3 hours), and place in the refrigerator over night.
DAY TWO 2 large sweet onions (chopped) 4 cloves of garlic (minced) 4 tablespoons of olive oil 1 pound of chopped meat (chicken, pork, beef, venison, turkey) 1 jalapeno pepper minced, (seeded for mild chili) ½ teaspoon of celery salt 1/3 cup chili powder 1 teaspoon dry oregano 1 dash of mustard powder 1 dash of cinnamon 1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon ground black pepper 1 6 ounce can of tomato paste
Remove the bean and beer mixture from the refrigerator and begin to slowly heat over low heat. When it begins to simmer mix in the tomato paste until incorporated. In a separate pot of the same size add the olive oil and heat over high until it begins to smoke. Add in meat and cook until brown. Then add onion, garlic, jalapeno, salt and pepper and cook until the onions are translucent. At that point add in the celery salt, chili powder, oregano, mustard powder, and cinnamon and cook for one minute. Ladle over the top the beer and beans and simmer for 2 hours covered. Remove the lid and let simmer until thickened stirring every 10 to15 minutes. This may take an additional 2 to 3 hours. Before serving salt and season to taste.