eG Cook-Off #69: Cooking with Beer

[Smithy]

Shelby, that looks good.  I hadn't heard of wiper before, and had to look it up.  Please tell more about the texture and flavor.  I'm guessing firm and mild?

[Shelby]

Shelby, that looks good.  I hadn't heard of wiper before, and had to look it up.  Please tell more about the texture and flavor.  I'm guessing firm and mild?

You're exactly spot on!  It's not "fishy" at all.  Very clean tasting.

[David Ross]

This is the Alaskan Brewing Smoked Porter I used with the beef cheeks.  Vintage 2013.  The label notes "enjoy it now or age it for several years."

 

[Smithy]

One of our local brewpubs makes a nice Apricot Wheat Ale, and I'm planning to bring some home - for both cooking and drinking.  I keep thinking that chicken and apricot are a nice combination, and plan to muddle around with that flavor combination.  What else (proteins or vegetables) does apricot flatter? If anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears.

[David Ross]

I need some advice for my next dish.  Last night I did seared sea scallops with a pea puree.  That's it, plain and simple.  What about adding a buerre blanc flavored with beer?  What type of beer?

[kayb]

One of our local brewpubs makes a nice Apricot Wheat Ale, and I'm planning to bring some home - for both cooking and drinking.  I keep thinking that chicken and apricot are a nice combination, and plan to muddle around with that flavor combination.  What else (proteins or vegetables) does apricot flatter? If anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears.

I'd say pork. I love pork with peaches, and the apricot flavor profile is similar. Pork tenderloin?

[Smithy]

I'd say pork. I love pork with peaches, and the apricot flavor profile is similar. Pork tenderloin?

It happens I have some smoked pork tenderloin...hmm.  Can you think of any reason a smoky flavor would interfere?  Right now it sounds outstanding.

[heidih]

David - with the clean sweet flavors of peas and scallop I think the sauce could be a nice  counter. I am not a beer person at all - but from a flavor standpoint I imagine something light and fruity? - versus anything too strong, grainy or bitter

[Anna N]

This is the Alaskan Brewing Smoked Porter I used with the beef cheeks.  Vintage 2013.  The label notes "enjoy it now or age it for several years."

 

IMG_0682.JPG

Interesting. Don't think I've ever heard of a beer that ages well. But then I have led a sheltered life.

[Mjx]

Guinness Stout Ginger Cake:

 

 

It goes fast.

[radtek]

Got a link to the recipe?

[Mjx]

Got a link to the recipe?

 

Certainly! http://noblepig.com/2009/12/guinness-stout-ginger-cake/ (and, in case you're curious, I believe that the recipe in the Oregonian from which she says she adapted this is http://www.oregonlive.com/mix/index.ssf/dessert-recipes/ginger_barleywine_cake.html)

 

A few notes: I prefer to weigh my flour, and for this recipe, I use 283g; the recipe does not include salt, but is much better with the addition of 1/2 teaspoon of salt; where it says to use a large saucepan for the stout+molasses mixture, make sure it is really large, err on the side of 'too big', since this stuff foams up lik mad when you add the baking soda (I transfer the mixture to a huge metal bowl, then add the baking soda, since the only pot large nough in our kitchen is a colossal stock pot).

[radtek]

Thanks!!!

[David Ross]

Pizza dough, made with ale, is proofing right now.  We'll see..............................

[ChrisTaylor]

 

The cook-off inspired me to get around to making the beeramisu from Chris Badenoch's cookbook. Badenoch was a one-time contestant on the Australian version of Master Chef. The dish is simple: layered mascarpone mousse and espresso/chocolate stout-soaked sponge fingers. I used Young's Double Chocolate Stout. Dig my high class presentation. The end result was ... okay. Inferior to the classic. I'm not sure if it was my incompetence, the ingredients themselves or some combination thereof but the bottom layer of beeramisu tends to get a little liquid-y. And once I realised just how absorbent sponge fingers were I made a point of squeezing out the excess coffee and beer.

[gulfporter]

My beer-based recipes are a tad more pedestrian: 

 

Beer-can chicken on the grill.

Shrimp boil with beer.

[liuzhou]

I may have posted this before in another thread. It is something I make about twice a year.

 

Duck braised in Belgian Kriek Iambic beer, with garlic and chilli peppers. The sour cherry flavour seems to go well with the duck, to my taste buds.

 

 

 

Served with rice or potato and veg of choice.

Edited May 17, 2015 by liuzhou (log)

[David Ross]

My beer-based recipes are a tad more pedestrian: 

 

Beer-can chicken on the grill.

Shrimp boil with beer.

I'm sure they are not pedestrian and as delicious as any beer-cooked dish!

[David Ross]

I may have posted this before in another thread. It is something I make about twice a year.

 

Duck braised in Belgian Kriek Iambic beer, with garlic and chilli peppers. The sour cherry flavour seems to go well with the duck, to my taste buds.

 

 

 

Served with rice or potato and veg of choice.

That is mouth-watering delicious. 

[gfweb]

I need some advice for my next dish.  Last night I did seared sea scallops with a pea puree.  That's it, plain and simple.  What about adding a buerre blanc flavored with beer?  What type of beer?

 Peas + beer don't sound complimentary to me, but it might work.

[Smithy]

I need some advice for my next dish. Last night I did seared sea scallops with a pea puree. That's it, plain and simple. What about adding a buerre blanc flavored with beer? What type of beer?

I have two wildly disparate ideas:

1. something fairly light in flavor (especially on the hops) and slightly sweet...what about a honey weiss?

2. going still light on the hops but for a more intense flavor, would something like a sweetish porter work? It could be reduced down like a balsamic vinegar: different flavor profile, of course, but still intense, with a caramel note and color to offset the scallops and peas. Of course, the buerre might not be very blanc with this treatment.

[David Ross]

Those are great ideas and I'm glad I asked before diving in.  Scallops and beer might be a challenge indeed.

[David Ross]

My "pizza with a beer crust" was purely accidental, sort of.  I made a horrific pizza on Friday night--a sloppy, doughy mess of soggy crust under a gooey parmesan cream sauce, bitter with an IPA ale and studded with clams.  The worst clam pizza known to man. 

 

I couldn't sleep Friday night thinking about that mess--and how I could use beer in a pizza.  (I'm still pondering that idea of pairing beer with scallops, but it won't be on a pizza).  What about beer in my pizza dough?  Beer has natural yeast, so it should help the dough rise and I was pretty sure I'd gain some flavor notes of hops and malt.  We are lucky in the Pacific Northwest in the fact we have a number of quality artisanal breweries to choose from.  This is the "Spring Reign" American Pale Ale from Ninkasi Brewing Company of Eugene.  It's light, a bit sweet and has a hint of rose and apple fragrance.  I knew that the bold Guinness Stout I used with the beef cheeks would have been way too strong for a pizza dough.

 

 

I use a pizza dough recipe out of my cherished cookbook, "The Time Life Series Foods of the World--The Cooking of Italy."  Nearly 60 years old, these books never fail.  This recipe uses a lot of yeast.  A lot considering the amount of flour, and I knew adding beer instead of water would raise the yeast quotient.  To 4 1/2 tsp. dry yeast, add 1/4 cup warm water and a bit of sugar.  Let the dough blossom, then add a cup of warm beer. Add the liquid to a mixing bowl, then add a teaspoon of salt, 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, and 1/4 cup of olive oil. I suppose you could use Italian 00 flour, but I've never had a problem with basic all-purpose flour.  I do use flour milled locally here in Eastern, Washington that comes from the wheat fields off the lands we call the "Palouse."

 

After about two hours, we have this lovely risen dough-

 

 

I wanted to test just the dough first before crafting and baking a full pizza.  So brushed with olive oil, in a 550 oven about 8 minutes then a turn under the broiler, a shake of salt and pepper-

 

 

 

Bubbly isn't it?  That's what I love in a good pizza crust--bubbles of air that turn into crispy shells.  It's ugly, but it's crispy yet chewy.  (Almost as good as the vaunted crust at Pietro's Pizza in Salem, Oregon).  The crust had a hint of the flavors of the ale.  Not bold, just enough to raise the level of flavor from my normal pizza crust.

 

The pizza pizza was garnished with some bottled, fire-roasted garlic and tomato sauce, pepperoni, black olives, a good slug of olive oil and plenty of cheese.  Again in the 550 oven and turned under the broiler for a bit of char. Out of the oven and sprinkled with some fresh oregano and basil.

 

 

 

A good method for working beer into a pizza dough.  And an even better opportunity to serve a very cold glass of "Spring Reign" with your pizza.

 

 

[Anna N]

That looks amazing, David. I am guessing though that this is the Coles Notes version of the recipe. You kneaded the dough, allowed for a bulk fermentation and then presumably a second brief rise after you shaped the pie? Retarded? Yes? No?

[Chris Hennes]

The beans in tonight's Carne Asada Dinner were served in a beer broth. The bean cooking liquid was drained, then bacon and beer were added when it was time to reheat them to serve.