It’s fall, football’s back, the foliage is just about to pop and since chances are you’re still finding yourself at home more often than not, it’s just the right time to try something you might not have attempted: cooking… with beer!
From a beer-brined app to a beer battered classic and finishing with a robust dessert, these three recipes from Lost Worlds, Royal Bliss and Suffolk Punch are easy to follow and a great way to elevate your tailgate, especially from home.
Now, could cooking with beer prompt you to enter the wide world of homebrewing? It’s quite possible. Homebrewing is also a proven path to the realm of professional brewing – where perhaps one day someone could be cooking with – your beer.
Royal Bliss’s Beer Brined Chicken Wings
Ingredients:
2 cups cold water
2 cups Blair’s Blonde Ale
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup kosher salt
Combine cold water, salt and sugar in a bowl and whisk until dissolved. Slowly add beer and whisk until incorporated. Pour over chicken until fully submerged. Brine in a covered container for 24–48 hours in refrigerator. Prior to cooking, rinse and dry chicken when removing from brine.
Suffolk Punch Brewing’s fish & chips
Ingredients:
3 qts Suffolk Punch Blue Daisy Pilsner
3 qts AP flour
4 eggs
4 tsp baking powder
3 tsp baking soda
4 tsp kosher salt
3 tbsp curry powder
Combine all dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Add beer and eggs and mix until fully homogenized. Pat fish of choice dry (Suffolk Punch uses flounder). Dip fillet into batter and let excess batter drip off. Deep fry at 350 degrees until golden brown.
Lost World Brewing’s Side Quest Cupcakes
Ingredients:
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
¼ cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup oil*
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup Lost Worlds Trek Porter, warmed**
1 Tablespoon vinegar
Preheat oven to 350*F. Line cavities of a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease very thoroughly. Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a large bowl, mixing thoroughly with a slotted wooden spoon or whisk. Add the oil, vanilla, Lost Worlds Trek Porter and vinegar. Stir just until no lumps remain. Fill the muffin cups ⅔ full with batter and bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean or with only a few moist crumbs. Let cupcakes cool in pan for 5 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely.
*Coconut oil complements the other flavors in the cake, but any neutral oil will work.
** The warm beer dissolves cocoa powder much more easily, resulting in less risk of overmixing.
For the Icing:
1 cup shortening or unsalted butter
Pinch salt
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
4 cups confectioner’s sugar
3-4 Tablespoons Lost Worlds Euchre Golden Ale, room temperature
With a handheld or stand mixer, beat shortening or butter with salt on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla, confectioner’s sugar, and 3 Tablespoons of the Lost Worlds Euchre Golden Ale; beat on low for 30 seconds, then increase speed to medium-high and beat for a full 2 minutes. You can add more confectioner’s sugar, one tablespoon at a time, if icing is too thin; or more beer, one teaspoon at a time, if icing is too stiff. Spread or pipe onto cooled cupcakes and enjoy!