Cooking with Guinness on Saint Patty's Day!

When my friend Alicia asked if I would be making something 'deliciously green' for Saint Patty's Day, I knew that I had to step up to the plate. Since Irish food is not my forté, my first thought was to put an Italian spin on a traditional dish. Instead of ham and cabbage, I was thinking broccoli rabe and pancetta. No doubt a delicious combination (and something that I could eat any day of the year), but I wanted it to be a bit more authentic for the occasion. I decided to go back to my St. Patty's day expertise...Guinness beer. 

Like all other stout beers, Guinness can be put to many uses, far beyond the day's toasting beverage of choice. Bernice Torregrossa, of The Galveston County Daily News, gives a perfect description of the many uses of stouts:  "Stout beer, made with darkly roasted barley and malt, is a versatile cooking ingredient. Its fermentation makes it a substitute for yeast in breads, the full-bodied taste adds depth to stews and soups, and the slightly bitter finish intensifies the flavor of chocolate in desserts."

With this in mind, I started to search out Guinness recipes on the web, and with just a few clicks came across huggingthecoast.com, which offers 22 Guinness recipes! The first recipe listed, Gourmet Guinness Burgers with Guinness Barbecue Sauce (courtesy of inspiredtaste.net), jumped out at me immediately. Burgers, which are a standard pub item, married with the flavor of Guinness...perfect!

I followed the recipe, step by step. No doubt, this is a great dish to celebrate the day! The richness of the beer really plays well with the beef, and gives the perfect kick to the sauce. It's the sauce that really blew me away with this burger. Even cooked at medium-well, this was one of the juiciest burgers that I've had in a long time. I would almost put this in a salisbury steak category, served on a toasty bun.

Guinness Burgers (4 burgers)

1 pound minced beef (80% lean, 20% fat)

1 egg, whisked

¼ cup Stout beer (Guinness)

1 Tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for brushing the grill

2 teaspoons mustard (Coleman’s Mustard)

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

4 burger buns

Toppings: Guinness BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese, arugula, tomatoes and red onion

Preheat the grill or pan to medium.

Add beer, olive oil, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper to the beef then lightly mix with a fork. Do not over mix.

Separate the mixture into four portions, then lightly roll each portion into a ball and press down to make a burger patty.

Once preheated, lightly brush the grill with olive oil and place each burger patty down onto the oiled grill. Leave the patties for 4 minutes then flip and cook for another 4-5 minutes or desired doneness (4-5 minutes on each side should be cooked to medium).

Remove the patties from the grill and assemble each burger with desired toppings

Guinness BBQ Sauce (makes about 2 cups)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, small dice

1/4 cup molasses

1 12 ounce can stout beer (Guinness)

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 can tomato puree (small can)

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

In a medium saucepan over medium heat add the olive oil and saute the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes.

 Add the molasses, beer, vinegar and tomato puree then stir to combine.

Add all of the spices and allow the sauce to simmer on the stove for about 20-25 minutes until it has reduced into a thick glossy BBQ sauce.

While simmering, keep an eye on the sauce and stir occasionally.

Special thanks to inspiredtaste.net, for allowing me to run their recipe on my blog.

Now that we've finished up with dinner, let's continue with the Guinness celebration as Emma Caperelli Loerky shares with us her recipe for Guinness Ice Cream!

This is the sixth recipe that I've submitted to Cucina Domenico, and the fact that this is the third time I'm using beer as a key ingredient is not lost on me. But St. Patty's Day is upon us and so that is my excuse this time (do we really need an excuse to cook/bake with beer anyway?). Next time I'll try to branch out and use a different type of booze. For now, let's get back to the beer. 

This past summer, after typing Guinness Beer in a Google search, I accidentally discovered that there are a plethora of recipes for ice cream using this dark, malty, bitter beer. I instantly knew I wanted to try it and began to search through the recipes for the one that sounded the most appealing to me. The problem was, I liked something about almost all of them. Some used chocolate as an accompaniment, others used molasses. There were a few that chose to use the beer as the main focus without any additional flavors. 

The recipe that appeared to suit my taste the most was the one taken from here: http://www.boston.com/ae/food/articles/2006/01/18/guinness_ice_cream/. It had a nice mix of beer and molasses and not too many egg yolks. What it didn't have was chocolate and pretzels, which seemed mandatory in my opinion. I pretty much followed this recipe exactly. The only modifications I made were adding some chocolate covered pretzels at the end of churning my ice cream, omitting the vanilla extract, and, in it's place, using a whole vanilla bean instead of just half. I bought milk chocolate covered pretzels thinking it would make my life a little easier, but, after some thought, I decided to coat them again using dark chocolate. Why? Because I was afraid that if I didn't coat them a second time, they would become mushy once mixed with the ice cream. Well, that and I thought that the dark chocolate would be a nice touch, and it was. The salt on the pretzels made for a nice contrast as well. If this seems too daunting, feel free to skip this step all together. Just bash up some store bought chocolate covered pretzels and be done with it. 

Guinness Ice Cream w/ Chocolate Covered Pretzels

Adapted from The Boston Globe

Ingredients

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise 

1 cup whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup Guinness Stout 

2 tbsp plus 2 tsp molasses

4 egg yolks

About a half cup chocolate covered pretzel pieces 

Directions

I modified the way you make the custard using techniques I learned from the book, Frozen Desserts, by Williams-Sonoma. 

In a medium bowl, whisk the yolks and 1/2 cup of cream together vigorously until blended.

In a small saucepan, whisk together the stout and molasses. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once it comes to a boil, remove from heat. 

Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into a medium saucepan. Add the bean, milk, sugar and remaining 1/2 cup of cream to the saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon. Once the mixture simmers, turn off the heat. 

Temper the yolks by whisking the eggs with one hand while adding about one-fourth of the warm cream mixture in a slow, steady stream. Slowly pour the warmed yolk mixture back into the pan, whisking until well blended. 

Slowly whisk the beer mixture into the cream mixture and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for about 6 minutes, or until the mixture coats the back of the wooden spoon. It should barely come to a simmer. Do not let it come to a boil so as not to curdle the eggs. 

Using a fine mesh strainer set over a medium bowl, strain the custard. 

Fill a large bowl halfway with ice cubes and fill with enough water to just cover the ice cubes. Place the bowl with the custard on top of the larger bowl with the ice cubes. Allow the mixture to cool, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.  

Once cooled, remove the custard from the ice-water bath. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard so that a "skin" doesn't form, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours. 

According to your ice cream maker's directions, churn the custard, adding the chocolate covered pretzels during the last few minutes.

Cooking with Beer

Over the past few years, I have started to develop a taste and understanding for quality beers. Along with it has come the appreciation of pairing a good beer with food. Just as you would choose which wine to serve with you meal, a nice beer selection can often help accentuate the flavors of just about any dish. It's not uncommon for me to now consider what beer to order or serve before selecting or preparing my main course. Needless to say, I was very excited when my sister-in-law (a.k.a. my SIL) gave me a cookbook full of beer-based recipes. We're talking way more than just a hot dog beer boil here, people. Just as you would select the proper oil or vinegar as a liquid base, the style of beer that you use can help bring out a sweet maltiness to a sauce or a hoppy essence to a marinade. I'll be sure to share some recipes with you as I experiment with this book. Thank you SIL!

This week, my good friend Emma shares with us her own beer-infused recipe...Gluten-Free Beer Battered Onion Rings! Just the combination of beer and home-made onion rings alone is enough to make my mouth water. But to put the two together? Genius!!!

Also featured this week is a delectable recipe from the one and only Una Mamma Italiana, as she shares with us her recipe for Italian Herb Beer Bread. Be sure to check out the Una Mamma Italiana blog for this and many more creative and tasty dishes.

Mangia and enjoy!



GLUTEN-FREE BEER BATTERED ONION RINGS
By Emma Caperelli Loerky

A few weeks ago my husband celebrated his birthday. When I asked him how he'd like to spend his day, he immediately spewed off a dinner and dessert menu. The menu consisted of filet mignon, sauteed mushrooms, Caesar salad, onion rings, and for dessert he asked for a key lime pie. Since my husband has Celiac disease, I knew I'd need to make some adjustments, but I felt that all of the things on the menu seemed pretty doable. I had a recipe for Caesar dressing that I had been wanting to try (no dairy and no raw egg), gluten-free croutons couldn't be that hard (they weren't and they were delicious!), I've made mushrooms countless times, and my husband is in charge of grilling the steaks. Even the pie, without the dairy and gluten, didn't faze me. But the thought of making onion rings made me cringe.

You see, a few months ago I attempted to make gluten-free onion rings without success. They were greasy and gritty and I was in no rush to try my hand at making them again. However, being someone who adores onion rings, I completely understood how they would make this pretty basic dinner seem special, so I decided to try again. Am I glad I did! My experience making them this time was so much better than the last and the results were spectacular. Aside from the onion rings at my favorite BBQ joint, these were the best I've had. No lie.

The key is to have everything set up and ready to go. You want to make sure you have your oven preheated to 200 degrees (to keep the cooked onion rings warm while you are frying up the rest), a wire rack lined with paper towels close by, as well as a cookie sheet to transfer the freshly fried rings to the oven on. Oh, and lets not forget the batter and the onions themselves. It needs to be sort of an assembly line. Once that is accomplished, you want to make sure that you have your oil at the perfect temperature. If your oil isn't hot enough, they will end up greasy and inedible. If it is too hot, they will burn QUICKLY. Even at the right temperature, these cook very fast, so you don't want to let them out of your sight for very long. The time it takes you to transfer the rings to the oven is about all I would allow myself to be away from the frying pan. I used a cooking/candy thermometer to make sure that my oil was at the perfect frying temperature (365 degrees).  



I almost forgot to mention the dipping sauce, which complimented the onion rings perfectly. In a nutshell - MAKE IT! Do yourself a favor though, double the recipe. I certainly will next time. 

Both recipes are adapted from http://www.glutenfreecookingschool.com/archives/lazy-mans-beer-battered-onion-rings/ 


Ingredients
1 Large Vidalia onion (or other sweet onion)

Approximately 2 cups soy milk

2 tbsp lemon juice
**Note: If you aren't lactose intolerant, omit the soy milk and lemons and use buttermilk.



1 1/2 cups brown rice flour 

1 tsp salt
about
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp canola oil 

2 eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup Redbridge Beer **(This is the amount the original recipe calls for, however, I had to add at least and additional 1/4 cup, possibly 1/2 cup more in order to get the right consistency. Unfortunately, I didn't measure exactly how much I added. Start off with the recommended amount and slowly add more beer until it's a nice thick consistency, similar to a pancake batter.)


Vegetable oil (for frying) 



Directions
Mix together the lemon juice and soy milk and let stand while you slice the onions into rings about 1/2 inch wide. Soak the onions in the soy milk mixture (or buttermilk) for about an hour in the fridge. Make the beer batter by mixing all remaining ingredients, adding as much beer as described above. Let the batter rest in the fridge while the onions soak. 



After about an hour, heat enough vegetable oil to coat a large frying pan (or cast iron skillet) by about 1 inch. The temperature should read 365 degrees on a thermometer. Drain the onions in a colander while waiting for the oil to come to temperature. When the oil is ready, dip the onion rings, one at a time, into the batter and gently lower them into the hot oil. Do not overcrowd the pan. After approximately 3 minutes, flip the rings and cook on the other side for about another 3 minutes. They should be a light golden color when finished. Transfer the rings to a wire rack lined with paper towels to drain the excess oil and sprinkle with additional salt while they are still hot. Repeat with the remaining onions, keeping the cooked onion rings warm in the oven.


Creamy Wasabi Dipping Sauce 




Ingredients
1/4 cup mayonnaise 

1/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt (I couldn't find plain soy yogurt, so I just used 1/2 cup mayonnaise)
2 heaping tsp ketchup
1 heaping tsp tomato paste 

1 tsp Wasabi paste (I used a bit more) 

Dash of Tabasco sauce (This was a last minute addition made my me but can be omitted) 

Salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste



Mix all ingredients together thoroughly and enjoy.

ITALIAN HERB BEER BREAD

By Una Mamma Italiana

Most simple Italian recipes stem from the poor regions of Italy, where they cooked with whatever foods grew regionally. I'm talking about authentic Peasant Food, which happens to be my FAVORITE way to eat Italian. Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate gourmet Italian fare, but I grew up on the simple flavors of Italian cooking straight from the garden. This is one of those recipes.

Ingredients 

3 cups flour

1 Tbsp baking Powder

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp Italian Seasoning

2 tsp salt

12 z. beer

Directions

Mix all dry ingredients. Add the beer and stir (dough will be slightly wet, like a biscuit dough). Place dough in a well oiled loaf pan. Brush the top with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Once it comes out of the oven, brush the top with e.v.o.o. again and sprinkle with sea salt. Let cool for 10 minutes, then slice.

BONUS RECIPE!!!

As coincidence may have it, Una Mamma has also posted a tasty Onion Ring recipe this week on her blog. Since I was FINALLY able to put an end to her ongoing food challenge victories, I thought it would only be appropriate that I share with you the link to her Italian Fried Onion Rings as well. Enjoy!

Deck the Malts with Hops and Barley - The Holiday Beer Post!

'Tis the season for cheer, celebration and merriment, and holiday spirits are no doubt one of the key ingredients to a festive evening. While a good bottle of wine, a nice mixed drink, or a glass of spiked eggnog are among the top choices to fill your glass, Christmas beers have taken on a tradition of their own over the years. Being one who has come to appreciate the complexity and craftsmanship of a good beer, I get to enjoy this time of year as much as I did when I was a kid playing with my new toys.

Before we go any further, I would like to say that I am not by any means a beer connoisseur. I just enjoy certain styles of beers that I have come to appreciate, and am able to b.s. my way through a beer conversation if needed. So to help make the most of this post, which I have been looking forward to writing for a while now, I will be referring to two of my most trusted sources. First, my good friend Matt Pesotski has offered some great words of wisdom. Matt not only has a great appreciation for all things beer, but is also partially responsible for introducing me to better beer. Second is one of my favorite books, Christmas Beer: The Cheeriest, Tastiest, and Most Unusual Holiday Brews, by Don Russell (aka Joe Sixpack). Mr. Russell is an award winning writer who has traveled the world in search of great beers and great stories. He is also a helluva a nice guy! His book is phenomenal, loaded with great stories, recipes and photos of every beer mentioned. The photos really comes in handy when you are searching a library bookcase-sized shelf at a specialty store for a specific bottle. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Christmas beers.

What is Christmas Beer?
From the wassails and solstice celebration ales of years past to wee heavies and barleywines of today, winter seasonals represent a huge category of beer. Winter warmers, also known as Christmas beer or holiday beer, are brewed with the intentions of celebrating both the holidays and the winter season. They are quite often laced with flavors and spices such as citrus, nutmeg, cloves, honey, extra hops and sweet malts. They also tend to have a higher alcohol content, which helps keep you warm on those blustery cold nights!

As Mr. Russle states in his book, Christmas beer is technically not a style. Unlike other recognizable beer styles such as a pilsner, bock or brown ale, the Christmas beer/winter warmer/holiday seasonal beers can't be defined by color, alcohol content, or flavor. There are no rules, no brewing guielines. They are whatever the brewer wants to make. The only criteria is that the beer must be special. It must be produced specifically for the holiday season and its packaging must reflect this. In essence, they are like little gifts, just waiting to be opened!

Here's what Matt had to offer, regarding the style of winter warmers: "Overall, winter is the beer season to go big. We’re not sitting in the back yard pounding crisp pilsners while listening to the Phillies on the radio or cooling off at a BBQ. It’s about sitting, sipping, and savoring. Hopefully, you’re not going anywhere, because we’re often talking about some high-octane stuff, and with the sweet flavors that are prevalent this time of year, it’s easy to go past your normal threshold, and in a hurry. Perhaps more than any other beer season, winter/holiday is the perfect time to stock up with variety. You won’t want a whole case of a lot of these if you’re just trying to fill your fridge, rather than plan for a party, so I like to get a few sixers, a variety case, or find someone to split a case with since it’s hard to get beer in bulk without getting 24 of the same beer."

These are some of my favorite beers....
If you are like me and you get caught up in presentation and labels, you will also have a lot of fun checking out the fun packaging, labels and bottles that fill up the shelves this time of year. Many of your holiday beers are packaged with catchy holiday-related names and characters. Elves have a reputation of being mischievous little buggers, so it is no surprise that the elf character has overtaken many a Christmas beer. There's the Rude Elf, the Bad Elf, the Really Bad Elf and the Criminally Bad Elf to name a few. But the elf that reigns supreme in my opinion is The Mad Elf, by Tröegs Brewing Company. It's a ruby colored Belgian strong dark ale, flavored with cherries, honey, ginger and clove spiciness. It also packs a walloping 11% alcohol volume...no wonder why the elf is so mad! Being that it has such a unique, flavorful taste, this is definitely one that sneaks up on you, very quickly. This may also explain why this is one of the most sought after beers in the northeast, as it moves very quickly off the shelves during this season. I suggest you share one of these with your friends, or plan to nestle in for the night if you are drinking alone!

As expected, Santa himself plays a major role in much of the holiday beer packaging. From classic Dickens-type images to cartoonish comical situations, Old Saint Nick is very well represented. One of my favorite Santa beers is St. Nikolaus Bock Bier, a malty, smooth, dark Munich-style lager by Pennsylvania Brewing Company. Though not as strong as Mad Elf, it does have a heavier alcohol content than your everyday beer, and serves well with a hearty winter's meal.

One of my seasonal stand-by's is anything by Samuel Adams. They've actually gained more of a reputation as of late for their seasonal offering as opposed to their flagship Boston Lager. The holiday season offers a nice variety of Sammy Adams brews. From their Winter Lager with wheat and spices and their Holiday Porter to their cinnamon and ginger spiced Old Fezziwig Ale, there is something for everyone to try. All three of these beers, along with a few other interesting offerings are available in a nice mixed case.

Another winter's beer that I enjoy is Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale, a spiced winter warmer brewed with vanilla beans and aged in oak bourbon casks. Right off the bat, this beer gets some unnecessary flack because it's an Anheuser-Busch product, and not a craft brew. How in the world can one of the big beer companies make anything that tastes good? Well, give it a try and see for yourself...it's a nice, flavorful beer. Blue Moon gets a pass, right?

The last main holiday beer that I tend to enjoy most is Anchor Brewing's Our Special Ale, which is a spiced winter warmer that changes up both its label and recipe each year. Flavors such as ginger, evergreen, licorice and cooked fruit have all been part of past years recipes.

I realize that I have only scratched the surface of the vast variety of holiday and winter beers. There are countless incredible offerings from all over the United States and all over the world. So what I have done is set up a special discussion board on the Cucina Domenico facebook page. I encourage you to visit the board and offer up your favorite holiday beers, comments and suggestions. You can visit the board by clicking here.

To my friends who have helped me understand that there is more to life than Bud Light and Rolling Rock: Matt, John, Evan, Elisa, Deanna, Zack, Andrea, Abby, Alice, Conni, Steve, Paul, Brian, Barb, Craig, Tony, Dan, Jeff, Carl, Charlie (Cholly), Neumann, my brother Anthony, and of course Mr. Joe Sixpack....I raise a glass to you this season. And to all of my readers...Salute e la felicità!

For more information on these beers, you can visit beeradvocate.com

Chocolate Guinness Tarts

I came across this recipe while I was doing some reading on a beer web site. My first thought was 'beer, chocolate, pastry...everybody wins!' I made them this past weekend, and they didn't disappoint. The Guinness taste didn't really come through as much as I expected, but dark chocolate has a very powerful taste of its own, and you're only using 1/2 a cup of the beer. However, stout and chocolate compliment each other very well, so this combination makes total sense. What I would suggest for future servings, and I will be making these again, is to serve at a party, place the tarts on a big plate, and have a small cups of Guinness sitting next to it, so your friends can help themselves to a rich and tasty dessert.

CHOCOLATE GUINNESS TARTS

45 mini sweet fillo shells (found in the frozen food section)
Two 3.5oz good quality dark chocolate (min 70% cocoa solids)
7 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 egg yolks
1 whole egg
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup Guinness

Bring a pan of water to a gentle simmer and sit a heatproof bowl over the top - not allowing the water to come into contact with the bottom of the bowl. Break the chocolate into the bowl and add the butter and the beer. While the chocolate mixture is melting, whisk the eggs and the sugar until pale and smooth. When the chocolate has melted, stir the bowl to amalgamate the other ingredients, and then pour into the egg and sugar mixture. Stir well and pour into the shells. Bake in a pre-heated 425ºF oven for 4 minutes. Refrigerate overnight and serve.

Grillfest 2009, What's Serving Up Next and Beer!

Today I entered my version of Bobby Flay's Grilled Open Face Cheesesteaks into our street's annual Grillfest competition, adding some caramelized onions as a finishing touch. While I was very happy with the way that my entry turned out (even though the onions still have my house smelling like the corner of 9th and Passyunk), the coveted 'Golden Spatula' award went to our neighbor, Brian, for his incredible Pulled Pork, and rightfully so. However, everyone stepped up to the challenge and brought some amazing dishes. All entries had to be prepared on the grill, and they were all fantastic: Sesame Chicken, Salmon with Watermelon Salsa, Cheesesteak Stromboli, Peppers and Sausage, and Pork with Grilled Peaches. My neighbors really know how to cook, and it made for a great, fun day with lots of excellent food, screaming kids, and plenty of beer. A perfect way to end the summer!

With the grilling season coming to an unofficial close, I've been putting together a bunch of recipes to post on the blog over the next few months that I look forward to sharing with you. Along with Calamari and Peas, Lasagna Roll-Ups, Marinated Eggplant, Empanadas, and Steamed Dumplings I'm also planning to try out some recipes using some of my favorite fall spices and ingredients (pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc). So be sure to check back often!

Another sign for me that autumn is in the air is the arrival of the fall seasonal beers. I've really grown to enjoy the Oktoberfests, Pumpkin beers and various other harvest brews that make their way onto the shelves (and into my refrigerator) this time of year. In fact, I just stocked up on a nice variety of seasonals just the other day to hold me through the season. While I do not consider myself a connoisseur of beer in any way, I will attempt to post a quick recap on whatever new brews I get to try out this season. If you are interested in reading up on some good beer talk, be sure to visit Joe Sixpack's or the Philadelphia Exbeeriment's website. Great sites, great info, great beer.

Happy fall, y'all!