St. Patrick’s Day deserves Irish food, and Irish food deserves Irish beer. Not to be poured into a glass next to your plate, although that is a good idea, too. I’m thinking more of what is becoming a slow-moving but notable trend: cooking with beer.
Beer is an ideal ingredient in food: It has more flavor than water, pairs well with both meat and vegetables and packs a lot of complexity in every drop. The only downside is that it tends to be bitter, but there are ways around that — often involving the judicious use of just a bit of sugar — if you want to use beer to bring out the fullest potential of your favorite dishes, savory and sweet. Ireland, of course, is one of the great beer-brewing nations of the world. Cooking Irish food with Irish beer is — well, it’s magically delicious.
When you think of Irish beer, you probably first think of Guinness; it may well be the single product most identified with the Emerald Isle. It has been around since 1759, and its taste, color and even the way it feels in the mouth are instantly recognized around the world. Even the head — the foam that rises to the top when you pour it — is unique. It has such a strong structure that, theoretically, you can place a bottle cap on the top and it won’t sink into the glass. And if a bartender draws a shamrock into the head as he pours it, you should (again, theoretically) still be able to see it when you have finished your pint. I have tried both of these experiments. They both worked. There are other stouts, and even other stouts from Ireland, but if you are going to be cooking with it, you might as well go with Guinness. It’s Guinness. It’s iconic. It’s special.
As the beef slowly simmers in the beer, it takes on an unusual richness, while the Guinness loses its beery qualities. Very few other ingredients go into the pot — just a couple of onions, a carrot or two, a clove of garlic, thyme and tomato paste.
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
2 pounds lean stewing beef
3 tablespoons oil, divided
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Salt and pepper
Cayenne pepper
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
1 large garlic clove, crushed (optional)
2 tablespoons tomato paste, dissolved in 4 tablespoons water
1 ¼ cups (10 ounces) Guinness
¾ cup carrots, cut into chunks
Sprig of thyme
Chopped parsley
1. Trim the meat of any fat or gristle, cut into 2-inch cubes and toss them in a bowl with 1 tablespoon oil. In a large bowl, season the flour with salt, pepper and a pinch or two of cayenne pepper. Toss the meat in this mixture.
2. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a wide skillet on high heat. Brown the meat on all sides. Add the onions, crushed garlic and tomato paste to the pan, cover, and cook gently for about 5 minutes.
3. Transfer the contents of the pan to a Dutch oven, and pour some of the Guinness into the skillet. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the caramelized meat juices in the pan. Pour onto the meat with the remaining Guinness; add the carrots and thyme. Stir, taste and add a little more salt if necessary.
4. Cover and simmer very gently until the meat is tender, 2 to 3 hours. The stew may be cooked on top of the stove or in the oven at 300 degrees. Remove thyme, taste and correct the seasoning.
5. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with boiled or mashed potatoes. Recipe from “Irish Traditional Cooking” by Darina Allen
Lazy Irish Beer Bread is so ludicrously fast and easy it does not deserve to be called bread. Bread should take some effort, at least. But you can make this one, start to finish, in an hour. And most enticing of all, it is made from just three ingredients: self-rising flour, sugar and Irish beer or any beer of your choosing.
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
2 ½ cups self-rising flour, see note
12 ounces beer, room temperature (we used Harp)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Note: This recipe will only work with self-rising flour. Do not use all-purpose flour.
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat inside of a loaf pan with butter or nonstick spray.
2. Hand mix all ingredients only until well-mixed. Do not use a beater or mixer.
3. Pour batter into loaf pan. Bake 45 minutes. Recipe from Food.com.
Mr. Guinness’ Cake originated in an advertisement for Guinness some years ago. According to Darina Allen, author of “Irish Traditional Cooking,” the ad read, “Over the past couple of centuries, our beer has acquired a modest reputation, but our cake is still little known. This seems a pity, for one enthusiast has described it as like eating dreams.” And so it is, if you dream of eating fruitcake. This is better than any ordinary fruitcake, and the cake was reduced to crumbs almost immediately after I put it out to be sampled.
Yield: 8 to 12 servings
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons soft brown sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 level teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 2/3 cups raisins
1 ⅔ cups golden raisins
⅔ cup mixed candied fruit, see note
¾ to 1 cup chopped walnuts
8 to 12 tablespoons Guinness, divided
Note: Candied fruit is what goes inside fruitcakes. It can be hard to find when it is not the holiday season. You can substitute dried cherries or dried blueberries, dried pineapple (which is what we used), chopped dates, dried cranberries or more raisins.
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and grease a 7-inch (or 8-inch or 9-inch) round cake pan. Cut out a round piece of parchment paper, place in the bottom and grease it, too.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light. Gradually beat in the eggs. Sift the flour and pumpkin pie spice together, then fold into the mixture. Add the raisins, golden raisins, candied fruit and walnuts. Stir 4 tablespoons of the Guinness into the mixture and mix to a soft dropping consistency.
3. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour. Reduce heat to 300 degrees and continue baking 1 ½ hours more. Let cool.
4. Remove from cake pan. Turn cake over and prick base of cake all over with a skewer. Spoon the remaining 4 to 8 tablespoons of Guinness over the base of the cake. Wrap in waxed paper and keep cake for 1 week before eating. Recipe from “Irish Traditional Cooking” by Darina Allen