The Bar Towel

For beer & cooking stuff - dishes you have cooked, beers you like to cook with...

What are cooking right at this moment and how's it going? Any amazing discoveries?

(Be a great way to share ideas, or plan out something you want to try to make.)

I'll report back after tomorrow night... I have a big hunk of beef smothered in rub sitting in the fridge right now.

I'm not cooking much at all lately. Busy season at work and with my wife working nights and me rushing home after work to be with our two year old there just isn't much time for creative cooking. I got a recipe for beer and cheese dip a few days ago that I am pretty keen to try out. Mostly I am getting excited for the upcoming dinner at beerbistro... "Wintercity Celebration of Beer Dinner". Although my skills are nothing like the staff at the bistro I sure hope I pick up some good beer cooking ideas or at least some good pairings I can try again myself later. Not much info on the website yet but they said the menu should have been posted last week so I expect it will be announced soon. I've never been to anything like this before and am very excited. Anyone else going?

Belgian wrote:For beer & cooking stuff - dishes you have cooked, beers you like to cook with...

What are cooking right at this moment and how's it going? Any amazing discoveries?

(Be a great way to share ideas, or plan out something you want to try to make.)

Cooked a big pan of chili and added a bottle of Yukon Midnight Sun Espresso stout. Yummy

Torontoblue wrote: Cooked a big pan of chili and added a bottle of Yukon Midnight Sun Espresso stout. Yummy

Sounds tasty! I should try a turkey & bean chili using maybe a chocolate stout or something. (Kind of a molé effect?)

A couple times I got a fantastic Bison Carbonnade Flamande using belgian strong ales... but if I can pry myself away from the Trosi Pistoles one time I want to try a sour ale like Petrus.

stewed some veggies in 10w30 and got them nice and caramelized with some cayenne and basil, then threw that on top of spinich spegatti and tomato sauce.

I don't do much of the cooking around here, though I did make an awesome Chocolate Cream Pie last Sunday. I didn't make it with beer though.

Hmm - Chocolate Cream Stout Pie?

Here's the recipe for a gingerbread stout cake that I make a couple times a year, most recently for the company holiday potluck. I usually use St Ambroise Oatmeal Stout. The result is very similar to the ginger stout cake I used to get at Smokeless Joes - not sure if they still have it.

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Originally from Real Beer & Good Eats by Bruce Aidells.

Rick Rodgers, an accomplished baker and New York food writer, gave us this recipe for some of the most delightful gingerbread we've ever tried. It's great cold and keeps well, but if you can be organized to serve it warm, it rises to new heights. Try it with a bit of whipped cream flavored with a little Stout (about 1 tablespoon per 1 cup whipping cream with sugar to taste) and some crushed candied ginger (about 1 teaspoon). Serve it with some of the Stout used in the recipe: Sierra Nevada Stout or Hart Sphinx Stout from Washington.

* Butter and flour for the baking pan
* 2.5 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons powdered ginger
* 2 teaspoons cinnamon
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 0.5 teaspoon crushed cloves
* 0.5 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
* 1.25 cups packed light brown sugar
* 2 large eggs at room temperature
* 1 cup molasses
* 0.75 cups stout, flat, at room temperature Confectioners' sugar (icing sugar) for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter and flour well a 12-cup fluted cake pan, such as a Bundt pan. Sift together all the dry ingredients.

Using a hand-held mixer set to high, beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light in texture, about 1 minute. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the molasses (the batter may look curdled at this stage - don't worry). Lower the mixer speed to medium. Beat in the flour mixture, one third at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Beat in the stout.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 50-60 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire cake rack for 10 minutes, then unmold onto the rack. Eat warm or cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Serves 8-12.

Belgian wrote:

Torontoblue wrote: Cooked a big pan of chili and added a bottle of Yukon Midnight Sun Espresso stout. Yummy

Sounds tasty! I should try a turkey & bean chili using maybe a chocolate stout or something. (Kind of a molé effect?)

A couple times I got a fantastic Bison Carbonnade Flamande using belgian strong ales... but if I can pry myself away from the Trosi Pistoles one time I want to try a sour ale like Petrus.

Where are you mofos getting Trois Pistoles???

^ Beer store has Trois Pistiles, JM. ^

Bobsy wrote:
My advice to you is to not spend too much on a dutch oven. While Staub and Le Creuset have the names and the fancy price tags, they do not substantially outperform far cheaper brands. Get a cheap dutch oven and a kick-ass chef's knife or heavy saute pan... far better ROI.

Though I hear some dutch ovens have a better enamel finish & are less prone to chipping and wear.

Batali and Lodge Enameled are Chinese made & reviews are mixed. (One good chip and you can toss 'er out.)

I'm looking at theAGA 6-quart from England, which costs 170 over here and quality is probably equal to Creuset. The flat iron lid stays hot - you can flip it over to serve food in.

Yeah be great to get a nice big covered Saute, though for now the Dutch Oven may do the trick!

My favorite knife is not stainless - 99% of the time I use the Lee Valley Peasant Chef's Knife, and maintain it with the carbide sharper. - this knife keeps an incredibly sharp blade even if I don't sharpen it each time. Removing skin from raw fish is a breeze.

Enameled cast iron: while they have the heat density of cast iron, they don't behave the same stick wise (assuming a well seasoned cast iron). You need both. I've generally bought at Homesense and have had no problems - use them all the time. I'll post hte brands of the ones I have later on. I agree tho - the cruset has such a premium price on them, that you can buy 3 cheap ones for the same price.

Knives, a whole other story. I love carbon steel, but it's easy to have them rust, especially if you have a party and someone else does hte dishes and doesn't dry them immediately I'm sure Jan Primus can comment - he's the knife man.

I tossed some Charlevoix Simcoe IPA into my pan of mushrooms tonight, pretty tasty.

markaberrant wrote:I tossed some Charlevoix Simcoe IPA into my pan of mushrooms tonight, pretty tasty.

See, I knew there was a way to make their beer taste good. Cheers!

Making pulled pork today and for a larf I poured in some Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar. In ten hours I will let you all know how it turned out!

a colleague of mine chucked a bison brisket, some onions, garlic and herbs into a slow cooker along with 2 bottles of brooklyn black chocolate stout and a little bit of stock. melt in your mouth.