Your Recipes, Our Beers!
For this installment of my WhichCraft blog, I asked you to submit your own home recipes involving beer, and I got some really wonderful submissions. These six were my personal favorites.
All of these recipes utilize beers that you can purchase at the store individually, or buy the 6 pack that corresponds with the blog.
I’ll start with a delightful dessert recipe from my friend Anastacia Kelly, part of The Beerists Podcast, and beer buyer for The Whip In.
Berry Berliner Weiss Cupcakes
Ingredients:
1 cup Gasthaus & Gosebrauerei Bayerischer Bahnhof Berliner Weiss
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring 1 cup beer and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add beer and butter mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.
For the frosting:
1 cup berries
4 oz cream cheese
4 oz soft goat cheese
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Muddle berries of your choice with a squeeze of lemon juice and a tablespoon of sugar.
With an electric mixer, blend cream cheese with goat cheese, vanilla extract, and sugar.
Slowly add heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form, stopping occasionally to scrape the bowl.
Add your muddled berries and chill until cool and stiff.
Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.
Voila!
Will’s Beer Stew
This recipe comes from my cousin Will Urban in Oklahoma City.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large dived onion
4 crushed garlic cloves
2 lbs ground turkey
28 oz crushed tomatoes
10 oz corn
15 oz rinsed kidney beans
1/3 cup honey
2 diced poblano peppers
3 tablespoons chili powder
3 tablespoons pepper sauce
3 beef bouillon cubes
1-2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 bottle Left Hand Milk Stout
Directions:
Sautee onion in oil. Add Garlic. Brown slightly. Add turkey to skillet and cook until no longer pink. Drain fat. Put all ingredients into a crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 10 hours.
Sounds yummy! Thanks cuz!
Potato & Leek Soup with Adelbert’s Dancin’ Monks
This recipe comes from Sarah Haney, who works for Adelbert’s, and is a member of the Pink Boots Society, an organization for women in the beer industry.
*can make vegetarian or meaty! You pick!
Ingredients:
2 leeks – white part only
3-5 small potatoes, diced
1 small red onion or half a large one
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon marjoram
1/2-1 jalapeño (half or no seeds)
1/3 cup Dancin’ Monks Dubbel Ale
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter or ghee
Pinch salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
Slice leek white stalk in half and cut into slices. Break apart and rinse in a strainer to remove dirt. Add oil and ghee to a medium heat skillet. Add onion and leek. Stir and sauté until soft (2-3 min). Add broth and potatoes; bring to a boil for a few min then take down to a simmer and add herbs. Simmer for 20 min. Turn off heat and allow to cool for a few min. Use and immersion blender or ladle into a blender. Blend until smooth. Eat as is or top with turkey sausage or a slice of crust bread!
Lambic Sorbet
This recipe was sent in by Sandra Trucksis. Sandra writes:
This summer I wanted a fun but interesting dessert option for my vegan friends, and ended up making sour cherry lambic sorbet. The recipe is originally from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams out of Ohio, but you can adapt the fruits and the lambic for all sorts of combinations.
Ingredients:
18 oz or 3 cups pitted stone fruit, like sour cherries (sour is better in my opinion), peaches, nectarines…
3/4 cup simple syrup (I make my own by boiling down equal parts white sugar and water to a syrup consistency)
1 cup lambic beer (you can do cherry with cherry, or mix it up)*
Directions:
In a blender, puree the fruit until smooth – very smooth as it will affect the consistency of the sorbet. If you want chunks you can add them separately later!), the simple syrup and the beer. Pour the sorbet base into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. (If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can do what I used to, and chuck it in a tupperware, make sure it’s airtight with something like duct tape, and then place that tupperware into a larger tupperware filled with ice and salt, tape that shut and shake it like a polaroid picture for 25 minutes or so before putting it in the freezer. I do not recommend this as it is a pain in the butt, but desperate times). Pack the partially-frozen sorbet into the container you’ll be storing it in in the freezer. Freeze until completely firm, 4 hours.
Bonus: Since it’s a frozen recipe you are technically also imbibing alcohol by eating dessert.
*For this 6 pack, I’ve selected Petrus Aged Red
Awesome! Thanks, Sandra!
Stout Chili
Joel Lunsford submitted this recipe for beer chili. He says he prefers to make it with a stout. I like to cook with oatmeal or milk stouts, because they don’t become overly bitter when they reduce. In this case, I’ve opted for Convict Hill Oatmeal Stout.
Ingredients:
1.5 lbs ground beef (can substitute ground turkey)
1 bottle of Convict Hill
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
2 cans diced tomato
2 cans diced tomato with chilies
2 packets chili seasoning (I do 1 hot and 1 mild)
Directions:
Brown the beef or turkey in a frying pan. Start a crock-pot on high heat and add the browned meat. Drain and rinse the beans and add to the crock-pot. Add the tomatoes and chili seasoning. Add the beer last and stir ingredients together. If necessary, add water so that liquid covers all ingredients. Let cook on high for 4 hours, stirring occasionally. Serve over biscuits and enjoy. This recipe usually makes enough to serve 8 regular people or 3-4 very hungry people.
Hans’ Dogs
This recipe comes from Rob Lee, my coworker at WhichCraft. He uses Hans’ Pils three ways in this German sausage recipe. The following makes three franks.
Ingredients:
3 pounds uncooked sausages, such as sweet or hot Italian sausages, bratwurst, chorizo, linguica, or any other sausages you prefer
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons sugar
3 can Hans’ Pils
3 links of your favorite sausage
3 crusty buns (pretzel buns are excellent)
Directions:
Add onions and garlic to a hot skillet with a pinch of salt and brown slightly. Add sugar and deglaze the pan with Hans’. Continue to add Hans’ when the beer in the skillet evaporates. Cook until the onions are very tender and well-caramelized, and remove them to another container.
Prick each sausage a half-dozen times with a needle or pin stuck in a cork. Place the sausages on top and add beer and water to cover (the ratio should be about 3 parts beer to 1 part water). Place the pan over medium heat and gradually bring the liquid to a simmer, not a rapid boil. Poach the sausages until half-cooked, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer the sausages to a rack on a baking sheet to drain or drain in a colander. Separate the sausages into links. Set up the grill for direct grilling and preheat to medium-high. When ready to cook, brush and oil the grill grate. Lightly brush the sausages on all sides with oil and place on the hot grate. Grill until the casings are crisp and nicely browned and the sausages are cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes per side. Transfer the sausages to plates or a platter and let rest for 3 minutes.
For the beer mustard:
1/2 cup black mustard seeds
1/2 cup yellow mustard seeds
1 1/2 cups malt vinegar
2 cups Hans’
5 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground allspice
3/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 cup dry ground mustard
In a medium bowl, combine the black and yellow mustard seeds with the vinegar and 1 1/2 cups of the beer. Cover and refrigerate overnight. In a medium saucepan, combine the remaining 1/2 cup of the beer with the honey, brown sugar, salt, allspice and turmeric and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, transfer to a blender and let cool. Add the ground mustard and the mustard seeds with their soaking liquid to the blender and puree. Transfer the mustard to a glass jar. Cover and refrigerate overnight before serving.
For the beer cheese:
Ingredients:
12 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 (12 ounce) can of Hans’
5 ounces evaporated milk
1 tablespoon beer mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon hot sauce
Kosher salt, to taste
Directions:
Toss cheese with cornstarch in a medium bowl; set aside. Whisk together beer, milk, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until gently steaming, whisking frequently to prevent scorching. When beer mixture is warm, add cheese, stirring until completely melted, bubbling slightly, and thickened. Stir in hot sauce and season with salt to taste; serve immediately.
To assemble dogs, put them in the bun, pile high with caramelized onions, mustard, and beer cheese, and enjoy your Hans’ four ways!
Blood and Honey Bread
This last recipe is for a quick and easy beer bread, and it was submitted by Austin musician Maurice Chammah.
Ingredients:
3 cups of self-rising flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 bottle of Blood and Honey
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Knead dough until it maintains a level of elasticity when stretched. Pile batter into bread pan, or shape into pretzels on a cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Serve with beer mustard or beer cheese.
Beer Salad
And from Nathan Scott Holman… Our runner-up:
Ingredients:
One can beer
One medium-rare steak
Directions:
Consume.