Cooking with Beer

Cheers! Your favorite brew is a surprisingly useful recipe ingredient.

From the darkest stouts to the lightest of summer ales, craft beers created at upstart breweries are undeniably popular. Beer lovers have grown increasingly curious about how to pair – and prepare – food with beer. Marinate and tenderize meat or caramelize vegetables using beer. Its carbonation makes the batter on fried foods light and crispy, and it helps to leaven baked goods, giving them a moist, tender texture. The alcohol acts as a solvent to break chemical bonds in other ingredients, intensifying the flavors we perceive from both the aroma and taste of food. Discover how deeply flavorful cooking with beer can be!

Recipes

Turkey Vatapa

Servings: 4 to 6. Prep time: 45 minutes; 30 minutes active (pictured above)

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

  • 1 cup diced yellow onion

  • 1⁄2cup diced green bell pepper

  • 3 cloves garlic, minced

  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh jalapeño pepper

  • 31⁄2cups diced tomatoes (1 28-ounce can)

  • 12 ounces lager beer

  • Salt

  • 3⁄4cup peanuts, ground fine in a food processor

  • 1 cup light coconut milk

  • 21⁄2cups cooked turkey, skin removed, chopped

  • Ground black pepper

  • 3 tablespoons minced parsley

  • 3 tablespoons minced cilantro

  • 1 lime, zest and juice

Directions

  1. In a large Dutch oven or stockpot, heat oil over medium-high heat.

  2. Add onion and bell pepper and saute for 5 minutes.

  3. Add the garlic, ginger and jalapeño and saute another few minutes.

  4. Stir in the diced tomatoes, beer and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Cover pot, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

  5. Add the ground peanuts, coconut milk and turkey. Stir and simmer, uncovered, for another 5 to 10 minutes.

  6. Add salt and pepper to taste and stir in the parsley, cilantro and lime zest and juice.