The Session #47 - Cooking With Beer

Wow, has it really been that long since I last participated in The Session?

The January Session is hosted by the folks at Beer 47. For this month's topic they chose "Cooking With Beer."

We all know beer is great for drinking but what about using it as an ingredient in cooking? Wine is used as an ingredient for numerous dishes and recipes yet beer seems to be under utilized in cooking. However, with the rise in popularity of craft beer and advocacy from the likes of The Homebrew Chef, I think this trend is slowly changing. For the month of January, Beer 47 will be hosting The Session #47 and encouraging beer bloggers from all over the internet to discuss Cooking with Beer.

For my long-overdue entry, I decided to create a virtual Session meal based on recipes featured in the past on Musings Over a Pint.

We'll start off our meal with an appetizer, Red Pepper Crostini and Olivada, served with Heavy Seas Red Sky at Night. Technically the beer is not an ingredient in the food, however the trio of crostini, olivada, and the Saison Ale go together to make a single dish. In fact, when the seasonal Red Sky at Night is available we quite often serve this exact combination. When something works, why change it?

For the main course we're serving Slow Cooked Pale Ale Spicy Beef. This simple recipe has become a staple in our household. It's a crock pot recipe, so it is easy to prepare and it especially fitting for those days when we know we'll be needing a quick dinner that evening. The ingredients are things we typically have on hand. Certainly there's always a Pale Ale in the fridge! We've served the spicy beef to guests on numerous occasions and it does not disappoint. I've even taken the leftovers on a sandwich to work the next day. Serve with a nice Pale Ale.

What's a meal without a dessert? For dessert I've selected Beeramisu, which Colleen first made for our Christmas dinner. The recipe is an amalgamation of Tiramisu recipes, and inspired by a dessert tried at Mad Fox recently.  I expect we'll be serving this version of Beeramisu often. The dessert is made a little in advance to allow the flavors to blend, but should be enjoyed within a day. Leaving it to sit in fridge for more than a day causes the beer flavor to fade, and the Kahlúa and rum flavors to strengthen which changes the flavor, not for the best. I recommend a good dark roasted coffee to go along with dessert.

So that's our meal for this edition of The Session. I hope you enjoyed your stay.

Update, January 16: The Session roundup has been posted at Beer 47.