What Can I Make With Beer
Whenever I think of cooking with beer, my recipes always lean toward bratwurst and sausage. I just naturally equate beer with bratwurst and sausage, and that’s where I get stuck. I know beer adds a really nice tangy flavor to recipes and a nice extra little background flavor, but what sorts of dishes other than sausage dishes can you use beer as an ingredient?
Of course, if I never found another recipe that uses beer, I could probably live quite happily for the rest of my life with my “Kielbasa and Sauerkraut Skillet” recipe. Give this a try the next time you have some really hearty appetites to satisfy!
Kielbasa and Sauerkraut Skillet
1 ring of Kielbasa
8 medium potatoes (I like Yukon Gold) peeled and cut one lengthwise
1 jar “Barrel” Sauerkraut (Gundelsheim) You can use any brand, but this is tender and sweeter than most
1 12 oz bottle/can of your favorite beer
salt and pepper potatoes to taste
optional: sprinkle or two of caraway seeds
Get out your big, heavy cast iron skillet, put just a bit of oil in, slice Kielbasa into chunks at angles and lightly brown over medium high heat. When Kielbasa is brown, move to the edges and arrange potatoes in the center and season with a little salt and pepper. Cover with entire jar of sauerkraut, sprinkle on some caraway seeds if you wish (good for the digestion), and pour the beer carefully over the whole thing. Cover skillet with tin foil top, poking two or three slots in the top for steam. Bring up to a boil, and turn down to simmer nice and slow. You’ll want to let this cook for about 1 hour so all the flavors combine. Dinner’s on!
That’s a pretty basic beer recipe, but it’s sure yummy! But if you’ve used beer in other imaginative cooking I’d love to hear about it.
Make all your favorite restaurant dishes at home with the Copy Cat Cookbook.
January 15th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
You can make a terrific, tangy cheese sauce for welsh rarebit, mac and cheese, to spoon over baked potatoes or steamed broccoli… etceteras. Start with a blond roux (equal parts butter and flour) and flavorings such as cuminseed, paprika, dry mustard, cayenne… whatever you like best. When it is smooth and just barely beginning to color, add some lager, a few tablespoons at a time, and small cubes of whatever cheese you have on hand. Cheddar is best, but monterrey jack, gouda, swiss, gruyere, all work fine. A combination is fine too, I use up all my old cheese this way. Keep adding cheese and beer and stirring constantly until you have a thick, smooth sauce. You can add fresh herbs at this point if you feel like it.
February 25th, 2009 at 6:45 am
Oh great, Thanks.
April 14th, 2009 at 3:17 am
Cook mussels with beer instead of white wine. Much better!
April 14th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
You can use it to broil alot of meats like fish or chicken as well or stick it up inside a turkey to get some different flavors.
April 24th, 2009 at 8:40 am
Thank you Eat and Stay! I cook many things with beer, but never ever thought of mussels. Mussels are one of our favorite fun-foods, have cooked them often, so this is a great idea. Again, thanks!
May 7th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
This recipe is new to me. I think it is a good idea to use beer in a recipe. I am wondering about the taste. Well, good job for posting this information. Thank you for sharing!