White Beer Cookies

Anyone who knows me can vouch for the fact that I love beer. I also love food, which is unsurprising, seeing that I write this blog, spend time writing local restaurant reviews (shameless plug: check us out at www.grgrub.com) and am working on starting my own personal chef business. So when the opportunity comes up for me to combine two of my passions, I jump on it. 

These cookies are a perfect mash-up of food and beer. I got a message from my friend, Shelley, one night, saying that she was watching a cooking show and they were making beer cookies. I was intrigued. So I searched out a recipe and resolved to try them out. A couple of weeks later, I was looking for inspiration for my dish to pass at a birthday party for another beer fanatic friend. Beer cookies to the rescue!  I have no great love of baking, but the process for these cookies was relatively simple and I was pleased with how they turned out. Even better, they were a huge hit at the party. My only regret is that I didn't make more of them. The birthday gal's father even cracked a joke about whether or not I'd laced the cookies with some "herbal refreshment" because they were addictive! Rest assured, the only ingredients in the cookies are legal ones.

The rundown:

• Flavor/texture: The cookies were more cake-y than crunchy, but they were very good. They were a bit like fancy sugar cookies, without being overly sweet. I loved how I could definitely taste the beer, but it didn't overpower the other ingredients.
• Difficulty: Pretty easy and straightforward.  I was a little impatient while waiting for the beer to reduce. Taking two bottles down to 1/3 cup takes awhile.
• Pros: It's an unusual twist for both beer and cookies. They turned out great and even friends who aren't beer-centric enjoyed them.
• Cons: The recipe yields two dozen cookies, which isn't much. If you're making them for a group, I highly recommend making more than one batch. The recipe would not be well suited for just doubling up, since reducing four bottles of beer would take forever. Make separate batches instead.
• Misc.: The one caveat about this recipe is that you must choose a white beer. Don't substitute for another style, or it won't work. I went with Bell's Brewery Winter White. In this method, the beer is brewed with coriander and orange. Those flavors are echoed in the dough and icing, which pulls everything together. Reducing the beer intensely concentrates the flavors. If you use something that is too dark or has heavy hops, it will turn into a bitter mess. Use orange blossom honey if you can. It's a great complement to the orange base in the beer and frosting. Also, I omitted the milk in the frosting and just used orange juice instead.
• Repeat Performance: I can see myself making these for other special occasions.

White Beer Cookies

Food Network, Sean LaFond

Cookies:

2 bottles (12 oz. each) Belgian White style beer

5 tbsp honey

1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temp

1 1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 large egg

1/2 vanilla extract

1 large orange, zested

2 tbsp ground coriander

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

Icing:

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tbsp orange juice

1 tbsp milk

1 orange (peel off strips of zest with a bar zester for garnish)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put the beer and honey to a medium saucepan and reduce over medium heat until you have about 1/3 cup of liquid. You may occasionally have to skim the foam off the top of the beer. You will know you have hit 1/3 of a cup of liquid as the liquid will suddenly begin to aggressively foam due to the high concentration of sugar (This looks different from foaming due to carbon dioxide, the bubbles are much larger with the sugar foaming). Let this reduction cool to room temperature.

In a mixer, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg and blend thoroughly. Then add the vanilla, orange zest, coriander and beer reduction and blend again. Mix the flour and baking soda together then slowly add to the batter. The batter will be somewhat more loose than regular cookie dough.
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Scoop mounds of cookies onto an aluminum cookie sheet lined with parchment. Make sure you do not overcrowd the cookies; you should be able to fit about 12 cookies on a half sheet pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden.
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Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet until they are cool enough (about 10 minutes) to transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Using the icing ingredients, whisk the vanilla into the sugar. Mix the orange juice and milk together. Add milk and orange juice mixture to the sugar, a little bit at a time, until you reach the consistency of a thick paste. Put a dollop of icing on each cool cookie and spread it over the top. Put a small piece of orange zest on the top, if desired. Let the icing harden to desired hardness and serve.

Bottoms up!



This little piggy went to market...

I admit that I'm not a huge fan of pork in general.  For some reason, it just never tops my list of favorites.  However, this recipe is pretty close to changing my mind. The dry rub combined with beer braising makes for intensely flavorful and tender meat.  Let the rub sit on the meat as long as possible, in order for the best flavor. I used a bottle of Founders Dirty Bastard as the beer for the braising liquid. The sauce itself is more like a sweet/spicy combo, rather than a barbecue flavor.  I like my pulled pork messy, so I usually double up on the sauce. You might need to add extra beer to the pan juices for this. The recipe makes a huge amount of pulled pork, but it freezes well.  I like to serve it with a good cheese (I used muenster this time) on toasted onion rolls.  Sweet potato fries and a salad round it out for a great meal. 

Beer Braised Pork Butt by Dave Lieberman

2 Tbsp salt
About 40 grinds (1 Tbsp) cracked black pepper
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp garlic powder
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground mustard seed
12 oz dark beer
4 cloves chopped garlic
5lb pork butt roast

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Rub all over both sides of the pork butt. Wrap the meat in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour and as long as overnight.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Unwrap pork and place in a roasting pan with sides at least 2 inches high. Cook 45 minutes until dark brown and carmelizing in places. Remove from oven.  Lower heat to 325 degrees. Pour beer over the top and add the chopped garlic around the pork. Cover with aluminum foil. Poke about 10 holes in the foil to vent. Cook the pork butt for 2 1/2 hours longer, or until it is tender enough to separate easily from the center bone.

Place the meat on a plate and pour the pan juice (there should be plenty) into a saucepan. To the pan juices, add:
1/2 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp whole grain Dijon mustard
3 Tbsp Worchestershire sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar

Bring to a simmer until reduced by half and thick, about 20 minutes.

While the sauce is boiling down, pull apart the pork with two forks. Pour the sauce over the pulled pork and work through until fully coated.

Grab a napkin and enjoy!

Cooking With Beer? Yes, Please!

This year I am determined to organize my recipes and cook more from my cookbooks. I have a pretty good collection of them and there are an amazing number of recipes that I haven’t even tried.  I often use recipes from web sites or the numerous cooking magazines that I subscribe to, sadly neglecting the cookbooks themselves.  So this week, I turned to the ultimate cooking tome; Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” for my inspiration. 

Those who know me in any capacity are well aware of my love for beer.  Fortunately, Michigan (and Grand Rapids in particular) has an abundance of local craft brewers, which takes my beer affinity to the level of near-obsession.  As a beer aficionado, I am drawn to recipes that list it among the ingredients. As I was browsing Julia’s collection, I came across Beef and Onions Braised in Beer.  It was a no-brainer! 

As always, when you cook with beer, make sure that you use something you would actually drink.  The alcohol cooks off, but the flavor intensifies during the cooking process.  If you don’t like it right out of the bottle, you won’t like it in your bowl either.  All beers are not created equal, so stick with the style of beer that the recipe calls for.  Using a porter in place of a pale ale will not give you good results.  Beer is like wine in that certain styles go better with certain foods. 

The recipe was quite simple and resulted in amazingly tender beef and a slightly tangy gravy, thanks to the addition of splash of vinegar at the end.  The beer really deepened the flavor of the gravy and was a nice twist.  I served it over lightly buttered egg noodles, which are a favorite of mine.  Perfect dinner on a gray winter’s day! 

Carbonnades a la Flamande (Beef and Onions Braised in Beer) by Julia Child

Serves 6

Heavy skillet

3-lb lean beef chuck roast

2-3 Tbsp olive oil

6 cups (1.5 lbs) sliced onions

Salt and pepper

4 cloves mashed garlic

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Cut the beef into slives about 2 by 4 inches across and 1/2 inch thick.  Dry meat on paper towels. Add oil to skillet and heat until oil is shimmering.  Brown the beef slices, a few at a time, then set them aside on a platter.

Reduce the heat to moderate. Stir the onions into the skillet, adding more oil if necessary, and brown the onions lightly for about 10 minutes.  Stir frequently. Remove from heat, season with salt and pepper, and stir in the garlic.

Dutch Oven or other cast iron deep baking dish

Salt and pepper

Arrange half of the browned beef in the dish and season lightly with salt and pepper.  Spread half of the onions over the beef.  Repeat with the rest of the beef and onions.

1 cup beef stock or beef bouillon

2-3 cups light beer (Pilsner or lager style)

2 Tbsp light brown sugar

1 large herb bouquet (6 parsley sprigs, 1 bay leaf, 1/2 tsp thyme tied with kitchen twine)

Heat the stock or bouillon in the browning skillet, scraping up the cooking juices and de-glazing your pan. Stir in the brown sugar. Pour it over the meat.  Add enough beer so that the meat/onions are barely covered. Bury the herbs among the meat. Bring the casserole to a simmer on top of the stove, then cover and place in the lower third of the the preheated oven. Keep at a very slow simmer for 2.5 hours, at the end of which time the meat should be fork-tender.

1/2 Tbsp cornstarch blended with 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar

Remove herb bouquet.  Drain the cooking liquid out of the baking dish into a saucepan. Skim off fat.  Add the starch and vinegar mixture to the cooking liquid and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary.  Pour sauce back over the meat.  Serve with parsley potatoes or buttered noodles.

Bon appetit!