Baking with Beer Part 2: Beer Bread

In the words of Homer (the fat yellow cartoon dude, not the blind ancient greek dude) "MMMM BEEER!"

I love beer. There are so many different tasty varieties to explore, and on top of that, its great to bake with! The bubbles in the beer help the dough rise, so there’s no need to mess with yeast. You can use all those yummy beer flavors to make all different kinds of tasty baked goods. I am particularly fond of this recipe from Cooking Light magazine because you can used different types of beer and different add-ins to make beer breads from around the world. To make all American beer bread, stick to the base recipe with Bud and monetary jack. Add some manchego cheese and Dos Equis (hey, it rhymes!) and, HOLA!, you’ve got Mexican beer bread. Got some Peroni and sausage? Bon Journo, Italian beer bread! I’ve tried the Mexican and American versions and both are superbly delicious and surprisingly low in fat/calories. In the future I might experiment with some more flavor combos. What about Blue Moon and some orange zest? Sounds like I just came up with the idea for a future blog post.

Beer Bread

From Cooking Light Magazine pictures by Amanda

Yield

16 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 13.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 3 cups) All-Purpose is essential! I used bread flour once and the bread didn’t rise enough and was very dense.

• 3 tablespoons sugar

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

• 1 (12-ounce) bottle lager-style beer (such as Budweiser) I used Yuengling

• Cooking spray

• 2 tablespoons melted butter, divided

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Heat oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion to pan; cook 10 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Stir in pepper and garlic; cook 1 minute.

3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk; make a well in center of mixture. Add onion mixture, cheese, and beer to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

4. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5–inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Drizzle 1 tablespoon butter over batter. Bake at 375° for 35 minutes. Drizzle remaining 1 tablespoon butter over batter. Bake an additional 25 minutes or until deep golden brown and a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Once again I failed to take a good picture of the final product because I got so excited that I ate it :)

Apple-Cheddar Beer Bread: Substitute 1/2 cup minced shallots for onion. Place 1/2 cup shredded peeled Gala apple in paper towels; squeeze until barely moist. Cook shallots and apple in oil over medium heat for 7 minutes. Substitute 1 cup shredded extrasharp white cheddar cheese for Monterey Jack. Substitute 1 (12-ounce) bottle hard cider for lager. Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

Manchego-Jalapeño Beer Bread: Substitute 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions and 1/4 cup finely chopped jalapeño pepper for onion; cook over medium heat for 3 minutes. Substitute 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Manchego cheese for Monterey Jack cheese. Substitute 1 (12-ounce) bottle Mexican beer (such as Dos Equis) for lager-style beer. Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 slice).

Sopressata-Asiago Beer Bread: Substitute 1/2 cup minced shallots and 2 tablespoons chopped green onions for onion. Substitute 3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded Asiago cheese for Monterey Jack cheese. Substitute 1 (12-ounce) bottle Italian lager beer (such as Peroni) for lager-style beer. Stir 2 ounces finely chopped Sopressata salami into batter. Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 slice).

Moussaka: Funny Name, Yummy Food

Every summer St. Constatine and Hellen Greek Orthodox Church in Newport News has an AWESOME Greek Festival. I have fond memories of sneaking Izzy (the family dog) in the back of the tent so I could chow down on some awesomely good eats! Gyros, slovaki, spanikopita, baklava and those little honey donuts that I don't remember the name of. But what about those Greek cravings during non-festival times? I have the recipe for you. I make the most FANTASTIC Mossakka. I pronounce it (moose-ahhh-kaaaa) but I could be wrong.

If you aren't familiar with Mossakka, it's kind of like a combination of eggplant parmesan and lasagna, but of course with Greek flavors. This particular recipe is actually quite time consuming but tastes better than any Mossaka I've ever had.

Moussaka

from the Dean & Deluca Cookbook with comments by Amanda

serves 8 2/3 of a recipe is perfect for 3 people, but you might as well make the whole thing because the leftovers are so good

3 pounds eggplant

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon course salt

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Greek extra virgin Olive oil I used italian EVOO, no big deal

3 cups minced yellow onions

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic

1 pound ground lamb

1/4 cup white wine

14- ounce can tomatoes in puree I used diced and it worked fine

1 bay leaf

1 cinnamon stick

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried oregano

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 3 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup flour

5 cups milk heated to almost boiling

1 teaspoon of white pepper

1 1/4 cup freshly made bread crumbs

6 tablespoons freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano You can use regular parmesan, but luckily I had the good stuff on hand

1. Slice eggplant into 1/4-inch rounds and place on sheet pans. Using 1 tablespoon of coarse salt, sprinkle salt on each side of eggplant. Set aside to "sweat" for 30 minutes. Sweating and (later) frying the eggplant takes extra time but it is essential to getting the eggplant to have that meaty texture.

2. In a large saucepan (non-stick works best here) heat 1/4 cup of olive oil over moderate heat, and add onions, garlic, and 1 teaspoon of coarse salt. Cook, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes,

3. Increase heat to high, and add the ground lamb. Break up lamb with wooden spoon as it cooks. Cook until well browned, about 10 minutes. Removed as much fat from the pan as possible.

4. Add white wine and cook for 3 minutes scraping bottom of pan to loosen brown bits. Reduce eat to low and add tomatoes, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, thyme, oregano, nutmeg, and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir well, breaking up tomatoes with wooden spoon. Simmer gently for 30 minutes, add chopped parsley, mix well, and turn off heat.

5. Heat a large skillet over moderately high heat and very lightly coat the bottom with olive oil. When oil is hot, dry eggplant slices well and saute in batches until well browned about 4 minutes for side. (If it is necessary to add more oil to the skillet, add sparingly, as eggplant absorbs oil easily. Do not crowd the skillet.) Set aside cooked eggplant.

6. In a medium saucepan (yep, you need to dirty more dishes, woo!) melt 1/2 cup of butter over moderate heat. Add flour 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking well after each addition. Cook roux gently, whisking constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes, without letting color change. Add hot milk slowly, whisking constantly, and cook over low heat, whisking frequently, for about 20 minutes or until the sauce has the consistency of very thick cream. Season with 2 teaspoons coarse salt and white pepper.

7. Preheat oven to 350. Sprinkle 1.3 cup of the bread crumbs on the bottom of an 11 inch by 9 inch by 1 1/2 inch pan/ Next, layer half the eggplant slices over the bread crumbs. Spread lamb mixture evenly over the eggplant. Cover with 3 tablespoons of the Parmigiano-Reggiano and 1/4 cup of the bread crubs. Add the remaining eggplant slices, then top with the bechamel sauce. Sprinl;e with remaining cheese and bread crumbs. Dot with remaining butter.

8. Bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes. Before serving, brown moussaka under the boiler for 3-4 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes. Cut into squares and serve.

Ta-Da!

Baking with Beer Part 1: Beer Pecan Rolls

This recipe is from the food blog of food blogs, Serious Eats. Now, blogging about recipes I find on recipe websites, magazines, and cookbooks is one thing, but blogging about a recipe that was already blogged about always makes me feel alittle sketchy. So, I am making it crystal clear I AM NOT THE FIRST PERSON TO POST ABOUT THIS! See the original post here.

However, I do have something to say/ an improvement to make. This recipe was probably converted from metric measurements without much care. If you checked out the original post, you might have noticed my comment, which at the time of posting has remained unanswered, I guess because it’s a huge blog and an old post.

I noted in my comment that the recipe says 1 ½ tablespoon, which is kind of a weird way to measure stuff (I don’t have a tool to measure ½ tablespoon ) but easy enough to figure out (3 teaspoons in a tablespoon so 2 ½ teaspoons). But then ¼ tablespoon? Oww, my head hurts trying to figure that one out. It was easy enough with a calculator, but I don’t think I should need to get out the calculator when I’m cooking, especially breakfast.

If this was a recipe for a sauce or something, I would just guestimate by filling up my tablespoon measurerer ¼ full, but this is baking! Being off by a little bit on the salt can most certainly affect that outcome of your food.

The recipe should say ¾ of a teaspoon, and no, I don’t have a ¾ teaspoon measuring spoon either, but I DO have a ½ teaspoon and a ¼ teaspoon. And that’s math even I can do: ½ + ¼ = 3/4 teaspoon!

Anyway, my big issue with Serious Eats, and I guess food blogs in general, is that everyone comments and says "oh sounds great" "I can't wait to make this" but who actually makes it? I DO!

Beer Bread Pecan Rolls

- serves at least 6 -
Adapted from Home Cookin' by Julia Sneed. and adapted AGAIN from Serious Eats blogger Maggie Hoffman by Amanda

Ingredients

For the cinnamon filling:
4 or 5 strips bacon (optional)
1/2 cup raw pecan halves or pieces
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves
5 tablespoons butter, melted (you may not use all of this)

For the dough:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder *1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons *
1/4 tablespoons salt *1/2 teaspoon plus 1/4 teaspoon*
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 twelve-ounce bottle Abita Pecan Ale (or other nut brown or pumpkin ale), at room temperature

For the caramel topping:
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3/4 cup raw pecan halves or pieces

Procedure

1. Remove beer from the fridge to bring to room temperature. You can run it under warm tap water until it doesn't feel too cold. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar until well blended. Add beer and stir with a wooden spoon until a moist dough is formed. Flour your hands and a kneading surface well, then knead, adding a small amount of flour as needed, until dough doesn't stick to the board.

2. If you're making the bacon variation, cook the bacon slowly in a cast iron skillet (11 inches is ideal) to render out as much fat as possible. When crisp, remove bacon from pan and let cool on a paper towel. Crumble bacon. Add pecans to the pan (with remaining bacon grease) and toss, toasting lightly until fragrant. Remove nuts from pan with a spoon and set aside with the bacon.

Note: If you're not using bacon, toast the nuts in a dry cast iron skillet (11" is ideal) until fragrant, then set aside as above.

3. In a mixing bowl, mix remaining dry ingredients (brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves) for cinnamon filling until blended.

4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Flour surface and rolling pin and roll dough out to 1/2-inch thickness. Brush melted butter over the rolled-out dough. (You may not use all of it.) Sprinkle cinnamon filling over dough and top with the toasted pecans and crumbled bacon if using. Roll up like a log.

5. In the same cast iron pan, melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter with remaining brown sugar to make the caramel topping. Stir until dissolved. Add remaining raw pecans and distribute caramel evenly over the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat.

6. Cut cinnamon-roll log into coinlike slices about 1 1/2 inches thick. Place each roll into pan on top of the caramel topping, starting in the center and working outward in concentric circles until pan is full. Brush roll tops lightly with butter and bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes (rolls will brown slightly.) I would tend more toward the 25 minutes if you like yours gooey. Place a round platter on top of pan and invert rolls onto platter so caramel topping is on top. Serve immediately.

Final verdict? These are delicious, and I made them without the bacon. They tasted a little dry when they came out of the oven, but when I wrapped one in a damp paper towel and reheated it the next day it was moist and heavenly. Next time I will cut down on the cooking time a tiny bit. I forgot how much fun making a huge doughy mess can be, I will definitely bake some more after this.

The beer I used, I'm curious to try this recipe with pumpkin beer.

I baked them in a small pan so they all baked together. You can pull them apart pretty easily, if you bake them in a bigger pan they won't all stick together like that.

I made a satisfactory mess if I do say so myself :)

New Year, Old Favorite: Buffalo Chicken Chili

I first found this recipe in Rachael Ray magazine a few years ago and now its one of my favorites. It's easy to serve to a crowd, it's healthy, taste great, and makes awesome leftovers. Only downside is it requires lots of chopping, but I love chopping, so for me there is no downside.

There are a few different versions of this recipe available online, but beware, some of them nix the beer! Shocking I know. Beer is not only my favorite beverage, but also one of my favorite ingredients to cook with, beer bread, beer cinnamon rolls, beer chicken... but that's another post. Here is the version of the recipe I use, with a few tips I have learned from making this several times.

Buffalo Chicken Chili

Original Recipe by Rachael Ray, modified by Amanda

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon EVOO

2 tablespoons butter

2 pounds ground chicken Turkey works just as well and you can't taste much of a difference

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 celery ribs, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped You can use canned jalapenos if you have those on hand

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

6 ounces of beer

1 15 ounce can of tomato sauce

1/4 cup cayenne pepper hot sauce I use Frank's Buffalo Wing Sauce and it's the right amount of spice for me. Remember you can always add more (leave the wing sauce out so diners can have more if they want) but you can't take it away. Once I accidentally used the Frank's Extra Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce and it about killed me (I'm a pansy).

Blue cheese (for garnish)

1 box jiffy corn bread mix and stuff to make it (1 egg, some milk)

1. Heat a medium dutch oven over high heat. Add olive oil, 1 turn of the pan, and butter and melt together.

2. Add the chicken and cook, breaking up the meat for 6 minutes.

3. Add the garlic, celery, onion, carrot and jalapeno. Season with salt, pepper, cumin and coriander and cook for 5 minutes.

4. Add the beer and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Concentrate the flavor of the beer by reducing the mixture over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.

5. Stir in the hot sauce and the tomato sauce. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.

6. Bake up the cornbread. Follow the recipe on the box.

7. Serve with blue cheese crumbles on top and side of cornbread.

This is what French chefs call a mirepoix or "holy trinity". Carrot, onion, and celery form the basis not only for the Buffalo Chicken Chili, but for many French dishes. In New Orleans, the carrot is replaced with green bell pepper for yummy creole foods like gumbo.

Oh, and did I mention leftovers? How about Buffalo Chicken Nachos? Just top some chips with leftover chili, cheese, salsa, and bake. Top that with your favorite nacho fixings (jalapenos, lettuce, tomato, guacamole, sour cream) and enjoy.

The Feast of the Seven Fish: Italian Seafood with a Side of All American Freedom!

My Grandma (Grammy) will be quick to tell you, “I’m Italian and I’m from Pittsburgh.” Both statements are a stretch. She has never lived in Italy nor Pittsburgh. She lives in a small town outside of the city, and both of her parents are Italian.

Nevertheless, this year my family celebrated the Feast of the Seven Fish. In the Catholic tradition, Christmas Eve is a time of fasting, so eating meat is out. I find it a little contradictory to have a feast on a day of fast, but I‘m not one to turn down a feast. If you can’t eat pigs or cows or chickens, you might as well eat as many types of fish as possible.

Like Grammy, the Feast of the Seven Fish presents itself as 100% Italian. A quick Google search revealed that the origins of the Feast are debatable. It is widely celebrated in Pittsburgh and other areas with large Italian immigrant populations. Walking into Dellalo (an Italian grocery store) on Christmas Eve will quickly clue you to the number of Italian Americans who practice the tradition. On December 24th attendants direct traffic outside, and after a few minutes inside you will feel like you are in an episode of Everyday Italian with Giada DeLaurentiis on Food Network. Store workers shout “Fresh baked bread great for bru-sket-a!” “Sale on Par-me-san-a!” . Even my Grammy asked where to find the “Cal-i-mar” (which was sold out by the way, sold out of squid…interesting). Apparently in the walls of the store you are required to use the Italian pronunciations. But do Italians really celebrate the Feast of the Seven Fish?

Italians (the ones from Italy, not the American ones) usually eat fish on Christmas Eve since the Catholic church forbids eating meat on that day, but Seven Fish is much more strongly rooted in the United States then in Italy. I tried to tell this to my Grammy but she wouldn’t hear any of it. Oh well, I don’t care where it came from, because eating seafood, drinking wine, and reuniting with family doesn’t need to be authentically Italian to be enjoyed. I asked Grammy what she remembered about Seven Fish dinners when she was a kid, and she said it was “even better than Christmas”. I might have to agree.

All of us want to have a cultural identity. Many Americans look to where their ancestors came from- Italy, Ireland, China, wherever. Sure, we might carry on some traditions that have roots in these cultures, but I’m no more Italian than the Pope is American. And what about those of us who are “mutts”? I’m a quarter Italian and a quarter Ukrainian on my Mom’s side, and my Dad’s side is such a mix there’s really no telling. Does this doom me to not having any cool traditions? No way!

Being an American is kind of like when you live in New York City all your life and never go in the Empire State Building. It’s there, but you don’t go in and appreciate it because its ALWAYS there and you start to take it for granted. Think of all the things that Americans do but other countries don’t: Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, the Wienermobile….just to name a few. My fellow Americans, if you find yourself looking for a cultural identity, no need to cling to a motherland you have little association with when you live in arguably the greatest country in the world. Whether you are Italian-American, Mexican-American or Di’Jabuti-American, don’t forget to appreciate the “American” part!

I went to pick up my Grandparents so I didn't get to do much cooking, I didn't even have a chance to get my coat off before I was handed a plate full of fish and a glass of wine.

I don't think Swedish Fish and Gold Fish Crackers count toward the 7, but it's the only "fish" my brother will eat.

More Soup For You!

I'm totally on a soup kick right now. I didn't plan on having three blogs in a row on the subject but, who doesn't love a warm bowl of comforting goodness when there's a chill in the air and snow on the ground? I found this recipe for Baked Potato Soup on AllRecipes.com. It's one of my favorite places for recipes online because there are tons of reviews, it crunches the numbers for you if you want to change the amount of servings, and if you register you can save your favorite recipes in a neat little recipe box. The recipe is just as easy as it is tasty.

Tortilla Soup: Holy Chipotle!

I spend a ton of time with the Food Network chefs. They come in to my home, tell me stories about the dishes they make, and I feel like I have a special relationship with each of then.

Rachael Ray was one of my favorites to begin with. Her food is fun, not overly complicated or fussy. I have a few go-to recipes that came from Rachael's kitchen.

Rach also gave* me her cookbook 365 Days No Repeats, and I must admit I made a few recipes from there and I don't love all of them. Some fell a little bit flat in the flavor department, so you have to take her recipes with a grain of salt (literally!). Don't skimp on any ingredient that adds flavor and definitely taste it and add more seasoning as needed.

I was browsing some of her recipes online when I saw this one: Chicken Tortilla Soup with Chipotle and Fire Roasted Tomatoes

First reaction, Yumm-O! Quick, get out the EVOO and the Official RR Garbage Bowl** and let's get cooking. Not that easy, I went to three different grocery stores until I finally found the star ingredient: chipotle in adob0. I had never used it before but seen it on Food Network many times. It kind of reminds me of roasted red peppers, but in a spicy brown adobo sauce. I was looking for a jar but it actually comes in a little can. I found it in the Mexican section at the Commissary at Fort Lee. The Commissary always has good international ingredients, probably because military families who have lived overseas have some diverse tastes. Sad news is, you have to have a military ID or be with someone who has one to make purchases.

Now that I had successfully hunted down the chipotles I was ready to get cooking! Once I had the soup going I realized without the toppings and chiles it was basically just some canned tomatoes and some poached chicken. Yumm-O? More like Lame-O! Those peppers better be good.

I started with one (Rach called for two) because I am a pansy when it comes to spicy stuff. Wow, the soup tasted awesome! I added a couple big spoonfuls of the adobo sauce and the spice level was perfect. The flavor sort of reminds me of cumin, smokey and flavorful but not overly hot. My whole family loved it. For a minute there my parents were actually happy that I am temporarily crashing their empty nest. You must try this recipe! And check back here to see what I decide to do with the rest of the chipotles in adobe!!

* OK, so maybe my mom gave it to me, but my story is more fun.

** I don't actually own the Official Rachel Ray Garbage Bowl, but I've seen them in stores and it makes me chuckle that someone would actually buy a garbage bowl.