Hi Kossacks, welcome to What's For Dinner. What's For Dinner here tonight is -- Beer! Later I'll get to some recipes using beer as an ingredient, but let's start with choosing a fine beer to go with your meal.
Many of us were raised with the understanding that wine is part of the fine dining experience. That's partly because "fine dining" in the US is generally based in French cuisine, and French cuisine naturally is based in flavors that match with their excellent wines. [And partly because of wine marketing.] Beer was the working man's drink, suited for simpler foods and more casual settings. Everyone heard the basic mantra "red wine with meat, white wine with fish"; writers and enthusiasts can go on endlessly about more specific pairings.
But wine drinkers quickly learn that some foods don't match as well with wine as French and Italian cuisines. The red peppers of Mexican and Caribbean food, and ginger and the other spices of Asia, just aren't wine-friendly. Restaurants serving these cuisines often serve them with beers imported from the homeland - and we learn that beer cuts through the spiciness and enhances the food quite well.
Times change. Spicy ethnic foods are no longer limited to casual restaurants, and beer is no longer limited to the light lagers that most Americans still drink. The US today has the best selection of flavorful and diverse beers available anywhere, many of them brewed here, and chefs are learning to match that wide range of flavors to gourmet food at high-end restaurants. In San Francisco for example, Chef Bruce Paton of the Cathedral Hill Hotel offers beer recommendations for the dishes, holds special beer dinners several times a year, and even markets himself as a "beer chef". America's guru of fine beer and food is probably brewer Garret Oliver of Brooklyn Brewing, and most of the ideas I'll share below are from his columns in Celebrator Beer News.
So what are the rules? Well, it's exactly like picking a wine. There is one and only one iron-clad rule: Drink what you like. Whether it's me or a snooty tuxedo-clad French sommelier, we give advice based on what we like and what experience has taught us that other people generally like. But only you know what you like. I'm offering guidelines not rules, and trying not to get all beer snobby at you.
As with wine, start with the general idea of matching lighter flavors such as fish with pale beers, and heavier or darker beers with meats and stronger flavors. There are interesting exceptions of course - oysters with stout are a classic pairing, though I've never tried it myself.
But here's the key difference between beer and wine. Wine has pleasant flavors that can complement foods, but beer has the same kinds of flavors that the foods do. Beer is, basically, a cooked food product. Grain (barley, wheat or rye) is malted, then dried, and then sometimes roasted. This roasting creates the colors and complex flavors of darker beers -- flavors that are very much the same as those of roasted meats and vegetables. Any beer darker than a pilsner has at least a little of some kind of roasted malt in the recipe. Then the grain is mashed with hot water, and the resulting sugary liquid is boiled - giving yet another set of "cooked" flavors. This similarity of flavors means that beer has a special affinity for any kind of grilled or roasted food. For all the details you could ever want about this, our resident food scientist Translator wrote a fine diary about the "Maillard" reactions that create these flavors, when proteins and carbohydrates are heated.
OK, on to some ideas.
Starting simple, pale lager is just about the most food-friendly beverage there is. You really can't go wrong with a pilsner or helles. Great with anything spicy, whether Mexican, Jamaican, Indian or Thai. Great with most of the seafood dishes you might otherwise drink white wine with. Great with the fatty sausages and roasted meats of their Germanic roots. American commercial lager fits in here of course, although if that's your favorite you might try something more flavorful of the same style such as Pilsner Urquell or Spaten Helles. Hefeweizen is also a fine match to almost anything (if I had to subsist on only one kind of beer it would be Franziskaner hefeweizen).
As I said above, roasted malts really fit well with grilled food. Whatever kind of beast is on your bbq, a pale ale or amber ale is going to hit the spot. Or a marzen - the stuff quaffed by the gallon at Oktoberfest, washing down thousands of roast chickens. And not just meat; grilled squash, mushrooms or veggie-burgers share the same Maillard flavors. Depending on the flavorings try brown ale or dark lager. If it's very spicy stick to pale lager, to my tastes red pepper and roasted malt don't work. For something like a steak that you'd pair with the fullest-bodied varieties of red wine, go to big flavorful beers, like porter, stout or IPA.
There are also unusual beers that can match perfectly with certain foods. I would have forgotten this specific example, but Cordelia Lear mentioned it in last Saturday's WFD:
Stone's Smoked Porter to go with the slow-smoked baby back ribs
Smoked beer can be even harder to find than good 'cue though. Alaskan Smoked Porter is probably the best known; the canonical version is Echt Schlenkerla Rauchbier from Germany.
This may surprise you if you aren't a beer snob, but -- dessert is beer time too! Remember those "Maillard" reactions? The darkest roasted malts acquire flavors remarkably similar to other dark roasted vegetable products - such as cacao beans. Porter or stout is a wonderful match with chocolate. Some brewers emphasize this by adding chocolate to the beer, for example Rogue Chocolate stout, Lagunitas Cappuccino Porter, Young's Double Chocolate stout. But just about any brew of this style will give you chocolate and coffee flavors naturally.
Belgian fruit lambics can also be a great dessert drink. These exotic and expensive brews are aged for a couple of years and usually described as more like wine than beer. The good ones (I like Boon Kriek) are rather sour with a complex flavor from the fruit and their local wild yeasts. [I don't like the less expensive Lindeman's brand, which is pleasant enough but lacking in both sourness and complexity.]
Now let's cook with beer. In a lot of ways this is just like cooking with wine; the acidic liquid helps tenderize meat as well as adding flavor. Just about any ale will enhance braised meat dishes. Cooking with the beer you intend to drink with the meal is always a good plan. One warning - avoid extremely hoppy IPAs because cooking will intensify the bitterness.
The chef should of course test the beer before cooking to make sure it's good. :)
Beef and dark ale are one of those perfect matches, with infinite variations. In Belgium it's Carbonnade, in Ireland Beef with Guinness, at my local brewpub pot roast with their Porter. Here's the Irish version.
Beef Stew with Guinness
from: The Complete Book of Irish Country Cooking by Darina Allen, online at about.com
The Guinness stout beer not only helps tenderize the beef, it also gives a rich malty flavor to this chunky stew. It is also flavored with onions, carrots, garlic, and thyme. The stew may be made on the stove-top or oven.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients:
* 2 pounds lean stewing beef
* 3 Tablespoons oil
* 2 Tablespoons flour
* Salt and freshly ground pepper and a pinch of cayenne
* 2 large onions, coarsely chopped
* 1 large clove garlic, crushed (optional)
* 2 Tablespoons tomato puree, dissolved in 4 tablespoons water
* 1-1/4 cups Guinness stout beer
* 2 cups carrots, cut into chunks
* Sprig of thyme
Preparation:
Trim the beef of any fat or gristle, cut into cubes of 2 inches (5cm) and toss them in a bowl with 1 tablespoon oil. Season the flour with salt, freshly ground pepper and a pinch or two of cayenne. Toss the meat in the mixture.
Heat the remaining oil in a wide frying pan over a high heat. Brown the meat on all sides. Add the onions, crushed garlic, and tomato puree to the pan, cover and cook gently for about 5 minutes.
Transfer the contents of the pan to a casserole, and pour some of the Guinness beer into the frying pan. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the caramelized meat juices on the pan.
Pour onto the meat with the remaining Guinness; add the carrots and the thyme. Stir, taste, and add a little more salt if necessary.
Cover with the lid of the casserole and simmer very gently until the meat is tender -- 2 to 3 hours. The stew may be cooked on top of the stove or in a low oven at 300 degrees F. Taste and correct the seasoning. Scatter with lots of chopped parsley.
A modern American recipe featuring beer quickly became a classic: Beer Can Chicken. Basically you roast the chicken vertically, legs pointed down, cavity impaled on an open can of beer. This is usually done in a large kettle BBQ.
Beer Can Chicken
from Derrick Riches at about.com, and you should check out his very complete instructions with pictures. I will summarize.
Ingredients:
* 1 whole 5 to 6 pound chicken
* 1 can of beer
* 1 cup spice rub
Before we get started:
* Make sure that the can of beer fits inside the chicken. You don't want to fight with this issue over a live fire.
* Make sure that the place you are going to place this bird is tall enough for a chicken to sit up in. You don't want to lower the lid on your grill only to find that the chicken doesn't fit.
Remove the top from the can with a can opener, remove half the beer (that part's always easy), add half the spice rub to the beer. Or use any empty aluminum can with 6 oz of beer, wine, stock, or any kind of flavored liquid. [My suggestion would be Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.] Put the chicken's cavity down onto the can. Rub the rest of the spices onto the chicken, place it (vertically, not spilling the beer) on the grill, cover and roast. Go see his recipe for how long.
This delicious soup is sort of an English version of the classic French onion soup, with beer replacing some of the beef stock. I think this came from Bon Appetit magazine.
Beer Soup with Stilton
serves 8
Ingredients:
* ¼ cup unsalted butter
* 4 large onions, thinly sliced
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
* 4 cups beef stock
* 4 cups dark beer (brown ale or Bass pale ale)
* 1 baguette, cut into ½-inch thick slices
* ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
* ½ pound Stilton cheese, crumbled
Melt ¼ cup butter in heavy large saucepan over low heat. Add onions. Season with pepper. Cover pan tightly and cook until onions are very soft, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Remove lid, increase heat to medium and cook until onions are dark golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes.
Add stock and beer and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Arrange bread slices on a large cookie sheet. Brush with melted butter. Bake until crisp and golden brown, about 10 minutes.
Preheat broiler. Place 3 toasted baguette slices in the bottom of each of 8 1½-cup individual ovenproof soup bowls. Bring soup to boil. Ladle soup over bread. Sprinkle cheese over soup. Broil until cheese bubbles, about 2 minutes. Serve immediately.
And for anyone who thought I was kidding, here's a beer dessert.
Chocolate Stout Cupcakes
(from Food Network)
Ingredients
* 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa, plus more for dusting finished cupcakes
* 2 cups sugar
* 2 cups all-purposeflour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* Pinch fine salt
* 1 bottle stout beer (recommended: Guinness)
* 1 stick butter, melted
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 3 large eggs
* 3/4 cup sour cream
* 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened at room temperature
* 3/4 to 1 cup heavy cream
* 1 (1-pound) box confectioners' sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt.
In another medium mixing bowl, combine the stout, melted butter, and vanilla. Beat in eggs, 1 at time. Mix in sour cream until thoroughly combined and smooth. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet mixture.
Lightly grease 24 muffin tins. Divide the batter equally between muffin tins, filling each 3/4 full. Bake for about 12 minutes and then rotate the pans. Bake another 12 to 13 minutes until risen, nicely domed, and set in the middle but still soft and tender. Cool before turning out.
To make the icing:
In a medium bowl with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the heavy cream. On low speed, slowly mix in the confectioners' sugar until incorporated and smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. Icing can be made several hours ahead and kept covered and chilled.
Top each cupcake with a heap of frosting and dust with cocoa.