Welcome to the holidays! ‘Tis the season of shopping, gifts and parties. I'm sure you're familiar with the "BYOB Leftover" phenomenon - your guests all contribute to your holiday party by bringing along a 12-pack of their favorite beer and then leave you with the leftovers after the party. I'm all for cracking open a cold one by the fire, but I have some other more creative ideas for using up that leftover brew.
Cooking with Beer
Beer makes a great ingredient in a lot of recipes. Here are a couple of my favorites, perfect for using up leftover holiday beer. I'd recommend making them both and dipping the bread in the chili.
Beer Bread (from www.cooksrecipes.com)
3 cups self-rising flour
12 oz. Bells Winter White, Hacker-Pschorr or another amber-colored beer
3 Tbsp. sugar
Combine ingredients and mix thoroughly. Place in well-greased bread pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.
Game-Day Chili (from www.cooksrecipes.com)
2 pounds ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
3 to 4 garlic cloves, minced
2 (15 oz.) cans pinto beans, rinsed and drained
3 (8 oz.) cans tomato sauce
1 (12 oz.) bottle Leinenkugel's Creamy Dark, Capital Brown Ale, Samuel Adams Winter Lager or another dark beer
1 (14 ½ oz.) can beef broth
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
1 (4.5 oz.) can chopped green chilies
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 to 2 tsp. ground red pepper
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. hot sauce
Cook first 3 ingredients in a large pot over medium heat, stirring until meat crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain well. Combine meat mixture, beans, and next 11 ingredients in pot; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 3 hours or until thickened. Makes 6 to 8 servings.
Beer Tasting
If you have a variety of beers leftover after a party, throw another party! Make the second party a beer tasting where the point is to appreciate the subtle flavors of many different beers.
Look at and smell the beer. Take a small sip to get an initial taste. Try to determine unique tastes and ingredients through each of these steps. Most importantly, compare the tastes of different types of beer to examine both the subtle and drastic differences between beverages. This can be a great way for friends to experience new and different beers and to use up the stock left over from any holiday gathering.
