eG Cook-Off #69: Cooking with Beer

[David Ross]

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?

Yes, I have a language known only to myself.  Of course, my cooking brethren read right through it. All of the above in terms of how the dough was treated.  Pizza dough, I suppose, is like bread, or chili, or beer.  Any manner of styles yet one to suit individual tastes.

[Smithy]

The additional information about the pizza dough is valuable to this novice baker, so I thank Anna N and David Ross both.

Last night, with snow(!) drifting lazily from the skies, I warmed the kitchen with bratwurst braised in apricot wheat beer from a local brewery. This beer has an apricot aroma and flavor that is noticeable but not as in-your-face as the citrus found in some hefewiezens. The bratwursts came from a local meat market. I browned the brats, then deglazed the pan with the apricot wheat beer and clapped a lid on the pan to finish the brats. Once they were done, I boiled the sauce down to a nice brown-honey syrup perfect to drizzle over the brats...and right on down, in an eyeblink, to a dark hard streak on the bottom of the pan. What I could scrape up tasted good: sweet, beery, caramely and sausagey together. It tasted great globbed onto the sausage. The golden misty beer and the golden browned bratwursts complimented each other nicely, with a subtle hint of fruit: enough to augment the food, not enough to shout "Hey! There's fruit in the bratwurst!"

I was too busy trying to save the sauce to get photos, but now that I've tested this beer and method there will be better opportunities.

[David Ross]

The additional information about the pizza dough is valuable to this novice baker, so I thank Anna N and David Ross both.

Last night, with snow(!) drifting lazily from the skies, I warmed the kitchen with bratwurst braised in apricot wheat beer from a local brewery. This beer has an apricot aroma and flavor that is noticeable but not as in-your-face as the citrus found in some hefewiezens. The bratwursts came from a local meat market. I browned the brats, then deglazed the pan with the apricot wheat beer and clapped a lid on the pan to finish the brats. Once they were done, I boiled the sauce down to a nice brown-honey syrup perfect to drizzle over the brats...and right on down, in an eyeblink, to a dark hard streak on the bottom of the pan. What I could scrape up tasted good: sweet, beery, caramely and sausagey together. It tasted great globbed onto the sausage. The golden misty beer and the golden browned bratwursts complimented each other nicely, with a subtle hint of fruit: enough to augment the food, not enough to shout "Hey! There's fruit in the bratwurst!"

I was too busy trying to save the sauce to get photos, but now that I've tested this beer and method there will be better opportunities.

The perfect marriage of beer into cooking.  I'm going to try that this weekend with the other two beer dishes I'm planning. 

[suzilightning]

On the stove right now is Greek Tavern Chicken from Bruce Aidells and Dennis Kelly's Real Beer and Good Eats.  It calls for a light lager and Johnnybird came up with a Molson light that was a few years old.  So far it is smelling amazing...just hope it doesn't attract a bear!!!

 

Have GOT to incorporate beer into my pizza crust.

 

I'm planning on trying out the new grill this weekend with a London broil and, from the same book Warm Potato Salad with Beer Dressing and MAYBE Rick's Beer Baked Beans.

 

I'm also interested in a lemon and beer marinade for fish and/or chicken as we are starting to focus more on fish and seafood....veges next!!!!!!

Edited May 22, 2015 by suzilightning (log)

[radtek]

I made the Guinness stout ginger cake!

 

Thought it would be jarringly sweet but it is not. Forgot about salt but fantastic regardless. Also was concerned at how loose the batter seemed but the cake/bread baked up just fine with a clean toothpick test.

 

Wonder if the recipe could handle reducing the 3/4 cup of oil to one half?

[David Ross]

I made the Guinness stout ginger cake!

 

Thought it would be jarringly sweet but it is not. Forgot about salt but fantastic regardless. Also was concerned at how loose the batter seemed but the cake/bread baked up just fine with a clean toothpick test.

 

Wonder if the recipe could handle reducing the 3/4 cup of oil to one half?

Is it nice on its own or did you add a scoop of ice cream or dollop of whipped cream?

[radtek]

Plain on its own!

 

Edited May 23, 2015 by radtek (log)

[David Ross]

That looks wonderful. I'm trying a new take on fried onion rings tonight with a beer batter.

[Chris Hennes]

For the last several weeks I've been letting Rick Bayless's new More Mexican Everyday guide my menu planning, and tonight's dinner is his riff on "beer can chicken." It starts with a can of beer (for drinking) and a bottle of beer for both refilling the can and making a glaze:

 

 

The can is emptied, the top cut off, refilled with half the bottle of Negra Modelo plus some seasonings, and a chicken propped atop it:

 

 

The remaining beer and seasoning mix is then reduced to make a glaze:

 

 

 

The chicken is roasting right now.

[David Ross]

That my friend is going to be delicious.

[Chris Hennes]

Here is the chicken before glazing:

 

And after glazing but before the final roast:

 

After the final roast:

 

Once the chicken comes out of the oven, the can is emptied into the vegetables and reduced to coat:

 

The chicken rests...

 

And the final meal:

 

Honestly the best part was the beer-and-chicken-dripping glazed potatoes. Amazing stuff.

[David Ross]

Like huckleberry pie, Copper River salmon "candy" and asparagus with prosciutto and honeydew sorbet, I usually only make fried onion rings once a year when these beautiful ingredients bless us up here in the Pacific Northwest.  Once a year when the Walla Walla sweets are in season.  Walla Walla has become a trendy Northwest destination--all sorts of funky restaurants have opened and new vineyards seem to open every year.  Yet Walla Walla's most famous agricultural product is the Walla Walla sweet, a big, beefy, sweet onion that lends itself quite well to deep frying in a cloak of beer batter,  (My Mother went to Whitman College in Walla Walla and she often raved about the "Walla Walla Sweet Onion Sandwich."  Thick slices of onion on white bread, no mayo).

 

Recently I found this wonderful fried chicken dry batter mix at the local Korean grocery store.  It's got a serious blend of black pepper and garlic and just takes equal parts dry mix to liquid.  I have to admit that I cut the top off the package for two reasons--to pour out the mix of course, but also to cover the name, "Mr. Hung" Fried Chicken Batter Mix.  To who they refer to as Mr. Hung I am not sure, but it makes an incredibly crisp, flavorful batter when mixed with beer.

 

Staying local and seasonal, I chose this beer-

 

This is the "Twilight Summer Ale" from Deschutes Brewery of Bend, Oregon.  The tasting notes are "select malts and a heady dose of bold Amarillo hops deliver full-on flavor and crafted nuance in a spry summer-style ale."  Was I taking a risk pairing a pretty front-on ale with black pepper and garlic mix and the somewhat delicate flavor of sweet onion?  After all, I was making "onion" rings not crispy beet batter bits.

 

I have to say I have become fairly experienced with the deep fryer.  It's a bit intimidating at first, but really quite easy to master and you're not dealing with a lot of ingredients or prep.  I sliced the onions in thick, about 1/2" slices, then let them sit in buttermilk in the fridge for about two hours.  Then dredged in just the dry batter mix, then into the batter itself, a 50-50 blend of the dry mix and the Twilight Summer Ale.

 

I recently switched from canola to sunflower oil for deep-frying.  (With the exception of potatoes which I fry in.............beef tallow).  The sunflower oil seems to hold up under heat a bit better than canola and always delivers a very crisp item.  After about 4 minutes in 350 oil, we have-

 

Success!  The measure, in part, of a good onion ring is texture.  It must be crispy and hold up crispy, never going soggy even when touching a paper napkin.  More so, the batter mix should never just fall off.  It must cloak the slice of onion.  The buttermilk to dry mix to batter process helped.

 

Served with homemade preserved lemon mayonnaise garnished with capers and chives.  And the flavor?  Crispy of course, sweet onion and both the flavor and a hint of the hoppy beer.  Not a thirst-quenching rush of beer but definitely beer flavor. 

 

 

[Okanagancook]

You're killing me. I absolutely love onion rings. On the ingredient list of the package, does it say what kind of flour they use....rice flower? I am curious about the 'season' for the walla wall as. Why now. Are they hauled out of cold storage?

[David Ross]

You're killing me. I absolutely love onion rings. On the ingredient list of the package, does it say what kind of flour they use....rice flower? I am curious about the 'season' for the walla wall as. Why now. Are they hauled out of cold storage?

If you go to the Walla Walla Sweet site, http://sweetonions.org/, they say the onions are "available" mid-June through late July.  They are planted in September and harvested the following summer. 

 

The ingredients in the dry mix are wheat flour, cornstarch, baking powder, garlic powder, black pepper powder and msg.

[Smithy]

That looks outstanding, David! I picked up a deep fryer at an estate sale this weekend. I think I'll have to try onion rings soon, using your tips. I have a bagful of fresh Vidalia onions. They're also quite sweet. Aside from regional pride, do you think the Walla Walla onions are significantly different from other sweet onion varieties?

I refreshed my sourdough starter today in two ways: the classic way (equal weights of flour, water and starter) and substituting the apricot wheat ale noted earlier for the water. As I write this, both starters are looking quite lively. I plan to bake tomorrow using the beer-refreshed starter, and see whether the flavor comes through.

[David Ross]

The sweet onions I used came from Mexico.  I didn't think they had much onion or sweet flavor, certainly not as much flavor as the Walla Walla's.

[Smithy]

My most recent attempt seemed like a good idea at the time.

We had a package of smoked pork tenderloin from our most recent visit to Llano, Texas. I've been saving it for a special occasion. The Beer Cook-off seemed like just such an occasion.

A smoked pork tenderloin sounded too strong to stand up to the delicate fruity flavors of the apricot wheat beer I last used. It needed something more muscular.

Moose Drool Brown Ale is a heavy, dark, slightly sweet - malty? - brown ale from the Big Sky Brewery in Missoula, Montana. It doesn't quite taste like stout, but it has that sort of body, with a hint of chocolate at the finish. I thought it might compliment smoked meat nicely.

The elements of the dish: chopped onions, diced potatoes, butter and oil for a slight browning, and the beer as the deglazing and cooking liquid. The tenderloin was already fully cooked, so it needed no more heat than enough to warm and brown.

Meanwhile, I'd set up sourdough loaves using a starter inoculated with the apricot wheat beer. They look good, don't they?

The practiced eye can probably tell that they were overrisen before baking. The slices looked like biscotti. The flavor was good, but I couldn't detect any apricot. That's what I get for not studying up on beer-batter loaves.

Dinner:

It doesn't look bad. It didn't taste bad. It just didn't give any hint of beer in the meal. The smoked pork tenderloin sounded delicate to us, but once out of its package it asserted its smoky porky salty nature like tartan at a ballroom dance. The muscular beer quite failed to assert itself.

This leads me to wonder: what beer is a good compliment to ham? I don't think the smoke is the issue; I think curing salts overwhelm the rest.

[David Ross]

I remember that beer from years ago, but in the drinking arena.  I think you bring up a good point about the string flavors in the pork.  My initial assumption was that if there was a heavy smoke that alone would subdue the beer flavor, but then if the pork was cured with salt and smoked, the salt flavor would have definitely made a difference in shutting out the beer. I think just about any ale would be a pansy next to that pork.

[radtek]

IMO Moose Drool isn't really that assertive for a Brown ale and any Apricot enhanced beer usually is too delicate and fugitive to be of much use... 

 

For some reason apricot and beer brings images of Trifle to mind. Might shine there.

[Toliver]

For my family's Memorial Day BBQ, we cooked hamburgers and brats. The brats were first simmered in beer with chunks of onion. Once they were cooked, my brother put them on the grill to mark them up and give them a nice smokey flavor. The brats were delicious.

[David Ross]

Last week at a local restaurant they served a fantastic appetizer of fresh pretzels with a warm beer cheese sauce.  I've always loved beer cheese soup, so why not take a try at homemade pretzels with beer cheese dipping sauce?  My first attempt at making pretzel rolls wasn't bad for a rookie effort, but I need some help from our pretzel bakers.  The crust didn't have a deep-brown color.  Texture good and chewy and a yeasty flavor, just didn't hit the color spectrum on my first try.

 

For the beer cheese sauce, I used the Ninkasi Brewing Company Spring Reign Ale that I had used for the beer-battered onion rings.  Interesting how the character of the beer changed from being used in a batter to being cooked in a beer cheese sauce.  In a very good way in terms of flavor, the beer turned bitter, with a pronounced flavor and scent of malt and yeast.  I don't think the bitterness would suit everyone's tastes but I thought it worked well with sharp cheddar cheese.

 

Pimento Beer Cheese Dipping Sauce-

1/4 cup butter

2 tbsp. chopped shallot

1/4 cup flour

1 12oz. bottle of beer

1 cup milk

2 tsp. Tabasco hot sauce

1 tbsp. canned, chopped red pimento

2 cups grated sharp cheddar

1/3 cup chopped green onion

Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

 

Heat the butter in a saucepan and add the shallot.  Saute until the shallot is soft, then add the flour and stir to make a roux.  Don't let the roux cook too long, this isn't a traditional dark brown roux.  Once the butter and flour and combined, add the beer.  Let the mixture come to a low boil and add the milk.  Once the sauce thickens, add the Tabasco, pimento and cheddar and stir the sauce until it is smooth.  Reduce the heat to low, then stir in the chopped green onions.  Season with salt and pepper and serve with warm pretzel rolls or soft pretzels.

 

 

[David Ross]

What about beer in sweet dishes like ice cream, cookies or paired with fruit?

[Smithy]

What about beer in sweet dishes like cream, cookies or paired with fruit?

I've had chocolate stout layer cake that was to die for, but I haven't tried making it myself. If anyone has a recipe that would be a good launching point, I'd like to see it.

[David Ross]

Trust me folks, the moniker "Moderator of a Cook-Off" in no way includes the title of Michelin-Star Chef.  And how. 

 

Right now the ice cream, with a dark beer, is in the Cuisinart ice cream maker.  I'll let it chill overnight in the freezer to set and then tomorrow compose the other elements of the dish: bittersweet chocolate sauce with Cointreau (orange), the ice cream made with this wonderful beer and toasted, chopped hazelnuts, candied orange peel, hazelnut tuiles and fresh raspberries.  It's really more of a hazelnut dish, but speaks of the Northwest.  We are one of the largest producers of "filberts" (the chi-chi term being hazelnuts) and more artisan beers than I will ever get through my kitchen.  Wish me luck.

 

This is the "Hazelnut Brown Nectar" Ale from Rogue Ales, (Newport, Oregon). The label is wonderful, "A nutty twist to a traditional European Brown Ale. Dark brown in color with a hazelnut aroma, a rich nutty flavor and a smooth malty finish."  Now this is just fantastic, "14 ingredients: 2-row, Munich, (I'm thinking the hops), C-15, C-75, C-120, kiln coffee, Brown and Rogue Farms Dare and Risk Malts, Rogue Farms Revolution and independent hops, hazelnut extract, free range coastal water and pacman yeast."

 

I was under the impression all the waters flowing out of mountain streams into Oregon coastal waters are "free," but I'm just a cook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[radtek]

I made the Guinness bread again except with Real Ale "Commissar" Russian Imperial Stout. Was good but not as. 

 

One cup of coffee and a slice of this sweet bread will tide me through a half-marathon of walking without hunger. Some powerful stuff.