Octsnowber!

Yes you are reading that correctly, I did not say October, I said Octsnowber. Yesterday it snowed......in October.....seriously?

However, all complaining about early snow aside, it put a thought in my head to make meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Doesn't that sound awesome? Snowy night, a little rain mixed in, whipping winds, and a hot plate of meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Mmmmmmmmm!

But now we come to my dilemma. Not 2 minutes had passed after I got this idea than I had 2 ideas of how to cook them. Do I make regular meatloaf with IPA mashed potatoes? Or do I make regular mashed potatoes with Stout or Porter meatloaf? Do you see how hard this decision is? So the only logical solution is to make both for different dinners. Meatloaf is never a bad idea in the winter and luckily (gulp) we should have a long cold one for me to try these.

So which one would you like to read about first? IPA mashed potatoes? Or Porter or Stout meatloaf? Comment below and don't forget to follow me on Twitter @bierqueen.

Cous cous time!

We eat a lot of rice a roni in my house. By a lot I mean way more rice a roni that any people should actually consume. But what can I do? It cooks up in 15 minutes, goes with whatever I'm making and it's always on sale. Then recently a friend expressed some concern over the amount of rice a roni we consume, and mentioned cous cous as an alternative. Cous cous! Of course! It cooks up in 5 minutes and can take on any flavor you want pretty much. So tonight was Moroccan spiced pork with Rare Vos cous cous.

Rare Vos is beer that comes to us from Ommegang brewery in Cooperstown, NY. It has a slightly floral aroma, similar to orange blossoms, with a mellow caramel malt flavor and a fruity yeasty flavor. I thought it would go well with the spices on the pork.

So following the package directions on the cous cous I replaced the cup of water with a cup of beer. And that was it. Sometimes it's as simple as that, just replacing one liquid with beer. I will say that while this beer is excellent to drink, next time I will use a different one. One thing I have noticed is that when you are cooking with beer it needs to have a strong flavor to come through. Oh well, at least it wasn't as bad as that first batch of sugarless muffins.

So farewell until next time and don't forget to follow me on Twitter @bierqueen.

Cooking on Sunday, eating on Tuesday!

Why is it that when the weather turns cold, we want hearty soul warming meals? Whatever the reason is on Sunday I had a yen for shepherd's pie. Now I can't take full credit for this one, the basic recipe was given to me by my future mother in law, I just tweaked it.






The most important thing I can tell you is, you CANNOT eat this the day you make it. I have found that beef dishes are, in general, better the next day. With this one, it is a hard and fast rule. The Guinness can give the beef a nice rich flavor due to the coffee and very slight chocolate notes. Guinness is also almost hop free and has a nice roasty smell and taste. Believe me when I say that you do not want to eat this the day you make it. While the Guinness has a wonderful flavor while you are drinking it, it can be bitter in this if you don't give it time to sit.

Now that you have hopefully not been scared away, let's talk recipe. As I did, feel fee to try it once and then tweak it to your taste.

Guinness Shepherd Pie

Ingredients
2 pound bottom round
2 bag frozen vegetables (classic is what mine are called)
2 packets of classic brown gravy mix
4 pack of Guinness - in cans (very important it is not in bottle)
salt
pepper
onion powder
garlic powder
Worcestershire sauce
6 large Idaho potatoes
1 chicken bouillon cube
4 tablespoons of butter

Start with the bottom round. You can buy pre-ground beef if you like, but I definitely do not recommend it. I started grinding my own meat a couple of years ago and I find the flavor is so much better. Not to mention how much cleaner any cut of steak is compared to pre-ground beef. But to each his own. So back to the cooking!

Take the bottom round and cut it into half in strips, and then into even sized cubes. Depending on the size of your food processor you may need to do this multiple times, put the beef in an even layer on the bottom of the food processor and pulse 8 - 10 times until the beef is crumbly looking. Season with salt and pepper, then add in 1 tablespoon of garlic powder, 2 tablespoons of onion powder, and 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce. Mix well and get ready to cook this.

Get a sautee (or frying) pan screaming hot and brown the beef in batches so it all gets that great sear. After the beef is cooked, put it into a clean bowl and set aside while we work on the gravy. Following package directions make the classic brown gravy mix, only substitute Guinness for the water. That should take about a can ad a half. After the gravy has thickened, add 1 cup of the frozen vegetables (more if you want) and set aside. Take the beef and pour it back into a hot pan and add the leftover Guinness. Simmer until the Guinness is mostly gone, and stir in the gravy/vegetable mixture. Pour this into a 9x11 baking dish, cool, cover, and put in the fridge at least overnight! Don't cheat or you will be sorry.

A day or two later, however long you can resist, it is time to finish the dish and enjoy. Start by peeling the potatoes and cutting into even sized pieces. Put into a pot and cover with water until the potatoes are covered and then give it another inch of water. Cover the pot and turn the heat on high. Turn your oven to 400 degrees to start pre-heating and remove the shepherds pie from the fridge. Boil until the potatoes are almost done. Add in one bouillon cube and cook until potatoes are done and bouillon is melted. Remove one cup of the broth and set aside. Drain the potatoes and put them back in the hot pot. Add salt, pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, 4 tablespoons of butter, and the cup of broth. Mash until all is incorporated. Scoop the potatoes on top of the beef/gravy/vegetable mixture and pop into the oven. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until the beef mixture is bubbling and the potatoes are brown on top. Scoop onto a plate and enjoy!

The best part of this is that it freezes well w/o the potatoes and is great as leftovers. Now that I've done this however, I think I need to revisit this idea of a beer cheddar nacho sauce. Or maybe I'll try some beer marinated ribs. What do you think? You can post your ideas on the bottom or hit me up on Twitter @ bierqueen. Happy eating!

Muffin Time....Part 2

SUCCESS! It's amazing what reading and following a recipe will do. :) This time I read the recipe carefully, set out all of my ingredients and followed everything. They are awesome! The muffins are moist, with a little hint of the beer, and a nice crunch from the cinnamon sugar on top.

I did have to switch out beer though. When I went back to the store for the Pumking, it was all sold out. I'm not surprised, it's a very good beer. Luckily for me I had a backup plan and went with Dogfishead Punkin Ale. This beer is a full bodied brown ale that is brewed with actual pumpkin meat, along with wonderful spices and organic brown sugar. While it doesn't have the same pumpkin bread type flavor that Pumking brought to the table, the spice and the fact that it tastes like pumpkin were a real asset.

So try number 2 is a rousing success and now the recipe for all of you to try. I took the Pioneer Woman's pumpkin spice muffin recipe and substituted the condensed milk with the beer. I used the same amount both times that I tried the recipe. And while I know I talked about football food with beer, it's gotten a little chilly outside and I think I need to make Guinness shepherd's pie. Sounds good right? Well you will have to wait for the recipe until next time. As promised here is the link for the pumpkin muffin recipe -  http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/10/moist-pumpkin-spice-muffins-with-cream-cheese-frosting/

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @bierqueen and good luck with your muffins! 

Almost Muffin Time.....again!

Whew, what a week! After the week I've had, it is time for some cookin!

After posting the blog last Sunday about that disaster of a muffin, I decided to re-read the recipe. Well, this is a shining example of why I cook and I don't bake. I should have read the recipe twice because as it turns out I left out sugar from the mix. I thought that the recipe called for only a cinnamon/sugar mixture on top and I was very, very wrong.

So after that GIANT user error, I am re-making the muffins. This time I really think they are going to turn out great. I have all the ingredients, except the beer. We drank the rest of that last week after I measured out what I needed for the muffins. So I'll buy another bottle (or 2) of that and it's off to the ovens for me.

Count on the results tomorrow and don't forget to follow me on Twitter @bierqueen. Wish me luck!

It's Muffin Time....Part 1

After a long but moderately successful day of looking at wedding venues, I was ready for some baking and some football. So I roused myself to get up and after a quick tweak to my fantasy football team it was off to the store to gather ingredients. I was extremely optimistic while I was busy baking and finally they were out of the oven, cooled and ready to eat!

Results? They were a total disaster! :( I found a recipe that sounded good, and substituted the Pumpking for the liquid. They smelled amazing while they were cooking and they looked great when I pulled them out of the oven. They tasted super bland. Definitely not enough sugar in the recipe, and I did not add enough cinnamon or nutmeg to the mix. I tried  grating in cinnamon and nutmeg, and now not only do my arms hurt from grating, I have terrible muffins. Next time I use ground cinnamon and nutmeg.

So my next project is officially on hold until I re-make these muffins. I know they can be good. The consistency and texture were great! I just need to find a different recipe. So comment your suggestions below or tweet me @BierQueen. Until next time I will be browsing the web for muffin recipes!

It's on!

Tomorrow is going to be a looooong day We get started looking at wedding venues at 11:30 in the morning and we don't stop until 5:45 in the evening. The good news is that this is going to double the amount of places we've looked at so far. The bad news? We are both going to be exhausted, but hopefully still happy!

Even if we don't find a place to get married tomorrow, I have Sunday baking to look forward to. I'll get up early in the morning and gather ingredients for the muffins and then straight home to bake. After my (hopefully) successful baking mission it will be on to some football!

Which gets me thinking. It would be pretty awesome to have some people over for football. It also provides an excellent opportunity to cook with beer. I mean what goes better with beer than a football party? If you can think of something better you are welcome to let me know about it. I could do a couple different types of wings.Or maybe nachos with a beer cheddar sauce?  Yeah, I am going to have to definitely make this happen.

Any thoughts on bar food you would like to see beer'd up? Hit me up in the comments section or follow me on Twitter @bierqueen! Let's go Big Blue!

Muffins

Muffins have been weighing heavily on my mind. I think it's because it's starting to feel like fall, and fall means baked goods to me. Even though I don't bake much, fall always make me want to. Since muffins have been on my mind and this blog is all about cooking with beer, I think I am going to have to act on my beer breakfast muffins. My first thought was blueberry since that is my favorite muffin. But the season being fall blueberry beer is going to be difficult to find. So I think I have settled on a pumpkin spice muffin with some kind of nuts, maybe walnuts. So this Sunday is muffin time! I am going to pick out my pumpkin beer ( I am currently leaning toward pumpking or dogfish punkin) and bake the muffins. Tomorrow I'll go into research mode and read up on the different flavor profiles for the different pumpkin beers and I'll come up with the right one I'm sure. As always if you have any suggestions put them in the comment section and don't forget to follow me on Twitter @bierqueen. Happy experimenting!

Manic Monday

Well Columbus day is no holiday for me so off to work I went. It is usual for me to work late, and today was no exception, so I didn't get a chance to experiment with any dishes today. Instead the lovely people who work at the chinese food establishment provided our dinner. Lucky for me, my guy doesn't mind take out. (Which is good since we eat it A-LOT!) 

Since I didn't get a chance to cook, I thought I would take this time to provide some cooking with beer basics. For this I turn to the book Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher. This is one of the future hubby's brewing books but it has a great chart in the back about food and beer pairings. I thought I would share some of them with in the hopes that it inspires you to experiment a little of your own! 

A few ways you can use beer is to replace the liquid in the recipe with beer. You could try this with rice, bread, or even cake! You also use it to deglaze pans when you are cooking on the stove. Instead of wasting those tasty bits on the bottom of the pan, deglaze with some beer for some added yumminess to any dish. 

Well these are all great ideas (I bet you're thinking that aren't you?), but what kind of beer should I use? Well now you have asked an excellent question. Radical Brewing has some answers for you on that as well. You should begin by thinking of what flavors you would like to have in your overall dish. Do you want some toastiness or maybe something acidic. Do you want something with a little smoke to it or would you prefer some sweetness? If toasty is the name of your game, you might want to check out a Brown Ale. These usually have a soft complex toastiness that I think would be lovely in a gravy. Want something acidic? Try a  Flanders sour brown.These tend to be sharply acidic with a complex and fruity aroma. Perhaps deglazing a pan after pan roasting some pork chops? Do you like a little smokey flavor? Then a rauchbier is the bier for you! These are characterized with a sweetness that has a mellow beechwood smoke. This screams, put me in a chocolate walnut cake (or brownie). Is sweet more your style? Then a doppelbock is what you are looking for. These tend to be rich and sweet, perfect for basting! Who wants a ham? Me, I do! 

So happy cooking (or experimenting at least), and don't forget to folly me on Twitter @BierQueen.

Sunday Football

Football Sunday is one of my favorite days. I think I could literally live the rest of my lift eating hot wings, popcorn, chips and dip, and of course drinking beer. Since eating that all the time would make me look like I was carrying a keg under my shirt, it is a special treat for football Sunday. I love having people over, or heading to a local bar for some cheering, snacks, and a good brew.

However on Friday I had oral surgery and since eating things with texture is unfortunately going to be out for a few days I decided this Sunday we wouldn't have snacks beyond some pretzels. So that works in theory, but about halfway through the first quarter I realized that football Sunday just isn't the same without snacks and if I couldn't eat them, ok. At least my wonderful husband-to-be could. So I ran to the store and picked up a few things and raced home to have everything ready before halftime was over (luckily we live really close to the store). 

So when I got home I took some boneless pork chops and cut them into strips and pounded them thin. I sprinkled them with a little salt and set them aside. I then took McCormick's seafood beer batter mix and measured out a cup. I added 1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder and 2 tablespoons of pork rub to the dry mix. Then I mixed in 2/3 of a cup of Miller High Life. I was going to use a craft beer that my honey brewed or even a pumpkin beer I had, but I figured nobody was going to drink this one so I might as well fry it. I heated 2 cups of vegetable oil and when it was nice and hot I coated a few pork fingers at a time and fried them up. As they were done I set them aside to drain the grease and I served them with Jack Daniels BBQ sauce and buffalo sauce. I thought they smelled amazing and he ate them up without talking so I know they were good. 

The great thing about something like the McCormick's beer batter is that it is such a great blank canvas. You can literally add any blend of herbs or spices that you like and any beer you have in your fridge or that you pick up. I think next time I make it I'll try seasoning the batter with a pumpkin beer and some cinnamon and clove in the batter. And I'll serve it with a spicy sweet sauce. Now I just have to figure out which sauce. 

Don't forget to follow me on twitter @BierQueen, and tell me what you like to serve on Football Sunday!

Welcome

Hello to all of you who will hopefully one day read this blog. I am calling myself the Bier Queen because my future husband is the Bier King. He is a home brewer and is extremely passionate about all things beer. And while he is excellent at brewing beer, he prefers to eat rather than cook. Thus it falls to me to prepare our meals, which I love to do. I learned early on that anything cooked with beer is automatically a big win with him. Since he does so much to make me happy, I figured that cooking as much as I can with beer is the least I can do to repay him. 

We are only a few months into the process of planning our wedding and I can already tell that this is going to be a fun and stressful process. Since I love to cook and I love to make him happy, I thought a great way to take a break from planning would be to try out recipes with beer and blogging about it.

So welcome to my journey of at least now until the wedding of cooking with beer. I will try some recipes that I find as well as some that I make up. You are also welcome to submit anything you would like to see someone else try to make, and if I am able to fit it in, I will make it. So thank you for reading and hopefully it is a fun ride!