Mainely Martha

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day and surviving Mother Nature’s wicked sense of humor, dumping a blizzard on us this week; cooking with Guinness is in order. Aside from the rich earthy flavor, the stout can add depth and richness to a slew of recipes; it is also the added comfort of eating your beer!

A little Guinness goes a long way…both in cooking and baking. The more the stout is reduced, the stronger, more intense the flavor will be. In fact, as I was skimming through recipes years ago and saw Guinness as the key ingredient in one, I had to try it. The recipe was for ribs and they were a hit. Yes, I am sure the seasoning I coated the ribs in and the sauce they were later smothered in attributed to the recipe’s success. The fact that the ribs boiled in a pot of Guinness for hours added both flavor and tenderness to the meat. As a result, it became obvious how the stout and other beers can boost recipes and have cooked and baked with it ever since. And while there is such a depth to stout, more and more brews are being created all around us to expand our palette and thus expanding the vast amount of flavors to create new recipes or enhance old ones. And while I do not stray too far from Guinness for ribs, I have substituted on occasion with a brown ale or porter. Even if these darker, heavier drafts are not typically drafts that appeal to you to drink (why I don’t know), try not to be discouraged to try them in food.

A safe test for any beer recipe is beer bread. This is a recipe that you can try time and time again with a variety of beers and each time you will gain a new flavor. While I love brown ales I may defer to an IPA or Gose in a beer bread to change things up. And if you like (or love in my case) steamers, try steaming them with beer; trust me, you’ll never go back. Finally, let’s not forget beer can chicken. Good news is that there are great micro-brews that come in cans now, so don’t sell the chicken short by using Bud. Embrace the bounty of brews that we have available and get that flavor into your cooking and baking.

Cheers to beer…it makes good food!