Tag Archives: cooking with beer

2009: The year for cooking with beer?

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I apologize for the unintended poetry, but it’s already looking like “cooking with beer” is a definite trend for 2009.

Here’s my evidence:

  • My wife loves her Food Network, and she has noticed a pronounced increase in scenarios where beer is an ingredient
  • Some people who know a thing or three about beer have made it one of their key predictions (Brookston Beer Bulletin, The Brew Site)
  • Mainstream (i.e., non-beer-focused) publications are writing about it (Pottstown Mercury)
  • The National Beer Wholesalers Association have created a site, Taste of Beer, to focus attention on cooking with beer and pairing beer and food
  • My wife made a delicious beer bread over the weekend

All right, so that last isn’t exactly “evidence”. I have, however, used beer to cook the meat for chili for years. Which is also a good thing, since cooking with beer may help prevent cancer.

So, while I don’t normally go in for the whole “Resolution” thing at the beginning of the year, I think I’d like to try my hand at more cooking, especially using beer as an ingredient.

Got a favorite recipe? Share in the comments or send to al (at) hop-talk (dot) com.

Old Chub French Onion Soup

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From Ron’s kitchen, adapted from A.B. and others…

Old Chub French Onion Soup
Prep/cook time: All day (at least 3 hours)
Servings: 8

Ingredients

  • 4 lbs onions (yellow, sweet, red… whatever)
  • 3 TBSP butter
  • 12 oz Old Chub Scottish Ale (or any dark, robust, sweet beer)
  • 6 oz white wine
  • about 30-40 oz broth made up of:
    - 10 oz canned beef consume
    - 20 oz beef broth (or chicken)
    - 10 oz apple cider (A.B. recommends unfiltered)
    (amount depends on how thick you like it, and you can even do all beef broth if you like)
  • Bay leaf
  • 1 TBSP Parsley (or sprigs of fresh would be better)
  • 1 1/2 tsp thyme (or sprigs of fresh would be better)
  • kosher salt and pepper
  • splash of Cognac (optional)
  • 1 loaf bread (country style or french bread)
  • 1 cup cheese, shredded/grated (I prefer a combo 75% Mozzarella and 25% Gruyere)
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Trim off ends of onions then half lengthwise. Remove peel and slice into semi-circle strips
  3. Melt butter in dutch oven, add onions and kosher salt. (about 1 1/2 tsp salt) Stir to coat onions in butter. Cover and place in oven for 1 hour. After 1st hour, scrape & stir, return to oven with lid open a crack. After about 1/2 hour, scrape & stir again. Check every 15  minutes, scraping and stirring until onions are dark mahogany. Do not worry about burning.
  4. Remove from oven, add beer and wine (enough to cover) and turn heat to high reducing the liquid to a syrup. Add broth/consume/cider & herbs and simmer 15-20 mins, or put in crock pot on warm until you are ready to eat.
  5. Place oven rack in top 1/3 and heat broiler.
  6. Cut country bread in rounds to fit in mouth of oven safe soup crocks. Place bread slices on baking sheet and put under broiler for 1 minute.
  7. Season soup with salt & pepper (and Cognac). (remove herb sprigs). Ladle into each soup crock leaving about an inch then cover with bread toasted side down and then cover with cheese. Broil crock for about 1-2 minutes until cheese is melted and golden.