Cooking With Beer
By: Aimee Wortman
I don’t know about everyone else, but other than “Beer Can Chicken” or some “beer battered fish”, I don’t use beer in cooking. Beer is most definitely consumed during cooking (sometimes more than should be), but used as an actual ingredient to cook with? No, not really.
But I was curious to know if it could really be used in cooking, and in what ways? So, I went a-Googling. What I found out was that I was not the only one with this intriguing thought. The Food Network says “Beer adds a rich, earthy flavor to soups and stews that makes them taste like they've been simmering for hours. Beers with a sweet or nutty taste can add depth to desserts.” They have a great list of recipes to try based on the type of beer you want to use for cooking (wheat beer, pale ale, stout, porter).
The Taste of Home has 30 recipes that use beer which include the beer can chicken and beer battered fish, but it also has a recipe for Chocolate Guinness Cake (Yum!). However, the most exciting recipe that I came across requires no actual cooking, and I can’t wait to give it a try. It's Beer Push-up Pops. Yes, that’s right, frozen beer on a stick! It sounds like the ultimate adult treat for our inner child.
This weekend’s forecast is calling for temperatures in the upper 90’s and I imagine I'll need a beer push pop to get me through the heat. Just in case you can imagine it as well, here is the recipe. Enjoy!