Think of cooking with beer as more than sticking a 12-ounce can of Bud up a chicken’s ass, putting it on the grill and waiting for the bird to reach a nice golden brown. (But then again, the simplicity of this practice is so darn appealing).
We (and I mean you and me) will be looking at moving beyond just beer to kick-up a food recipe. Get inspired and think of all the components of beer; dried malt extract, malt syrup, yeast, grains, and even the more abstract items such as maltose…and beyond!
Put on an apron, grab a beer, and let’s get started.
You might recall an earlier post about the Rustico Restaurant in Alexandria, VA and its problems selling beer popsicles. The Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control says the “beersicles” run afoul of rules governing the serving and pouring of beer.
I’ve also noticed an unusual amount of hits on this blog for anything pertaining to Miller’s Chelada-styled Chill beer…and that got me thinking.
So what I’ve down is taken the idea and the interest in Miller Chill and put them together for my version of a Chelada Pop.
Chelada Pops ala Bob
1 12-ounce bottle of Miller Chill
1/4 teaspoon of finely grated lime zest
Juice from one small lime
3 packets of Splenda (or 3 teaspoons of sugar) or more to taste
2-3 drops of green food coloring
Pour Miller Chill into container, add the remaining ingredients and stir. Using frozen treat containers (I found mine at the local Jewel Store in the “Seasonal” section), pour the liquid into the containers. Don’t fill to the top since the liquid will expand as it freezes. Don’t worry if you find the liquid a bit too sweet. It should be. As the Chelada Pop freezes, the sweetness will become muted and will balance out.
Put the Chelada Pops into the freezer overnight and enjoy.
Since I’m cutting back on the carbs and calories, my 4-pack of Chelada Pops comes out to 2.38 carbs and 26.5 calories each. Of course, this depends on the size of the containers you use, but hey…how can you go wrong?
With an annointment from The Wall Street Journal, Miller continues to roll out the 110-calorie Miller Chill to the last third of its marketing area. National saturation should be complete by early July.
Beer (& More In Food) made earlier note of Miller’s newest beer here.
I’d like to feature videos here of beer related food recipes from household cooks to beer professionals. If you have a video segment of 10 minutes or less, drop me a line and I’ll arrange to put it up on the site; plugs for your products or business can be included.
If you run over 10 minutes, I’ll probably have to do some editing in order to keep viewers interested. You know how some beer drinkers can be! In addition, a few pictures would be nice and a detailed recipe (ingredients, procedure) and a few comments.
If you’re from a brewery or brewpub but don’t have time to make a video, no problem. Send a detailed recipe, two bottles of whatever beer is called for in your recipe, and some promo material that I can include in the posting. I’ll make the video; you take the applause. If you want to send some additional stuff to be included in the posting, please feel free to send me whatever.
At the end of each month, I’ll throw the name of all video participants on file into a hat. The winner will receive a FREE signed copy of Beer & Food: An American History, a $24.95 value. The site is currently getting 5,000 + hits a month. If you’re a brewery or pub, take advantage of picking up some FREE publicity and promoting YOUR business! There are NO strings attached
I put this recipe under “Food That Demands To Be Paired With Beer.”
Sauerkraut has a long history, including as a staple for Revolutionary War soldiers — both sides. But other ethnic groups ate it too: during the winter of 1775/76, British forces in Boston allotted 1/2 pound of Sauerkraut per man and week; in neighboring Rhode Island a soldier was to get as much as 2 pounds per week. Their Sauerkraut was shipped all the way from England and Ireland, but it was of course available in America too, where the Continental Congress in July 1777, ordered the Board of War to procure Sauerkraut for the soldiers of the Continental forces.
Sauerkraut was also stored on ships during the 1700s as a preventative against scurvy and probably washed down with “Ship’s Beere.”
As my mother-in-law points out in the video, sauerkeraut is good for you. Fresh, raw cabbage is very rich in Vitamin C; one cup or 200 grams contains a whole day’s supply. Sauerkraut, which is also an excellent source of Vitamin K, has about half as much Vitamin C as raw kraut. Sauerkraut is also rich in cruciferous phytochemicals, long known for their disease-fighting powers. Recent research has shown moreover that the process of fermentation of the raw kraut produces a substance called isothiocynates, which prevent cancer growth, particularly in the breast, colon, lung, and liver.
Our Recipe:
20 lbs. raw cabbage, chopped thin. You can also downsize this by working in 5 lb. increments.
3 level tablespoons kosher salt per 5 lbs. of raw cabbage
For each 5 lbs. raw cabbage (per layer), you can add
1/2 teaspoon of caraway seeds
1/4 small green apple, peeled and seeded and finely chopped
2-4 dried juniper berries
1 medium-sized carrot, peeled and finely chopped
Method:
In a clean and sterilized food grade plastic container (with lid), layer in 5 lbs. of raw cabbage.
Sprinkle 3 level tablespoons of salt over each 5 lb. layer, and if desired, add caraway seeds, apple, juniper berries, and/or carrot. Repeat for each 5 lbs. Sofija likes to skip everything (caraway, apple, etc.) except the necessary salt and pour about a 1/2 cup of fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice over the last layer of cabbage. I think this helps quicken the fermentation.
Make sure you FIRMLY PACK each layer. I actually pound it down with my fist and pretend it’s a book critic.
After adding your final 5 lb. layer of raw cabbage, cover with a sturdy plate that covers all the cabbage. If there’s any on the side of the fermenter, push the pieces back down under the plate. Take a weight (or brick) enclosed in a sealed plastic bag and place on plate. Cover. If you’re going to use a fermenter as I have, put in an air trap and fill it with a little vodka.
Keep at room temperature and in about 48 hours, you should see liquid in the container. The salt draws out the water from the cabbage and sets up wild fermentation. The salt actually helps to inhibit any mold as the cabbage begins to ferment. After a few more days, check to see if there’s any foam on top of the liquid. If so, use a clean spoon to remove.
Place fermenter in a cooler area, about 65 F or so.
Depending on how sour you want the kraut, you can let it go 2 weeks to a month. Taste to make sure. If the kraut is a bit salty, before you prepare it for the table, you can drain and store the liquid and thoroughly rinse the kraut. Then very gradually, keep adding back some of the liquid to taste.
Serve hot or cold. While we customarily seem to always cook sauerkraut, it’s excellent served as a cold side dish and is actually more healthy in this form. If you go “cold,” start enjoying in 7-10 days. Lotta crunch and really fresh tasting. Its amazing what lactobacilli can do, that is, aside from ruining beer or making Belgian brewers wealthy.
Beer & Food: An American History has a detailed explanation of how corn met up with American beer. If you push all the bogus history aside, you’ll see that the brewing of an all-malt product is a relatively new practice. But for all of you who think corn added to beer is a capital crime, how about adding beer to corn? Corn meal, that is, for these tasty beer battered corn dogs.
Be sure to check out the video version of this recipe in my video collection to the right.
Liquid Ingredients
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup pilsner beer
1 large egg
And The Rest
8-pack of hot dogs
Wooden skewers
2 cups of more of cooking oil (I used a Crisco-clone and was terrified that the Chicago Trans-Fat Police might come and kick down my door).
Method
Mix the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. In a seperate dish, beat together the egg, beer, and buttermilk until frothy. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients and blend until batter thickens. Wait 5 more minutes for the batter to set up, if necessary.
Skewer hot dogs. Heat oil to 350F. Pour batter mix into a tall glass. Dunk one dog at a time into batter mix, swirl, lift and let excess batter drip off back into the glass. Lay the battered dogs (just a few at a time) down into the oil and turn until they are golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels. Dip with some German-style mustard and enjoy with…well, I think just about any beer will do with this treat!
Crust Ingredients
From 12 o’ clock, clockwise:
18.5 oz German chocolate cake mix
1 egg
1 stick melted butter
1/2 crushed pretzel sticks
Making the Crust Preheat your oven to 350 F. Add all the crust ingredients into a bowl and beat on slow with a mixer until the crust begins to form a ball. Take a 9″ x 13″ pan (Pyrex works well since it won’t over brown the crust) and spray well with vegetable spray. Dump out crust into pan and work it into a uniform base. Place in pre-heated oven for 15 minutes. Cool 1/2 hour. Crust should be somewhat dry in appearance.
Filling Ingredients
From 12 o’ clock, clockwise:
3/4 cup pecans
1 cup flaked unsweetened coconut
1 1/4 cups rinsed and well drained kraut
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/8 cup cane sugar + 1/8 cup light dry unhopped malt extract, combined
1/2 cup dark corn syrup + 1/2 cup light unhopped malt extract syrup, combined
2 eggs
1 cup butterscotch chips
Making the Filling
Combine all ingredients into a bowl and beat on slow until well blended. Pour filling on top of cooled crust and spread evenly. Bake at 350 F for 35 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 300 F and bake an additional 10 minutes.Remove from oven and after 10 minutes, work a knife around the edges to loosen from the cookware. Cool another hour and then cut into brownie-sized pieces.
Beer Recommendations
This dessert is extremely sweet and needs a beer that can stand up and counter the sweetness of the bars. Think stout, especially a coffee or bourbon stout, an IPA or a dark lager. Stay away from beers with a sweet profile.
