Cooking with beer... and cooking with BEER!

Been away for a while, thanks to a crazy work schedule that severely limited my time for both drinking and cooking.  Got to enjoy both yesterday though, so here goes!  I'm probably the only person I know who has more booze in the pantry than in the liquor cabinet, but both liquor and beer can make great additions to recipes.  One of my go to "easy" dinners is penne alla vodka, and believe me it is delicious, looks fancy, and a ten year old could probably make it.  Bourbon and rum can make great additions to grilling sauces, and I've even used Jagermeister when a recipe called for anise extract!

Beer, however, comes in so many varieties that the right beer can spice up almost any dish.  For hot chili, I like to use a hoppy beer like Sweetwater 420 or an IPA, which enhances the spiciness.  For a sweeter, milder chili though, I use Guinness or some kind of porter, which tends to mellow out the spices.  The chocolate and coffee malts add a touch of sweetness too.  Try Guiness or a similar beer in beef stew- you won't be disappointed!  Next time you make burgers, mix in a healthy dose of you favorite beer- adds a good flavor, and helps keep the patties from falling apart on the grill.  One caveat- DO NOT use, for lack of a better word, "skunky" beers like Heineken for cooking.  This seems like kind of a no-brainer to me, but don't say I didn't warn you.

So yesterday I planned to work on sauces and seasonings for the Pourhouse menu, but then also volunteered to cook dinner for some friends as well.  Thank god I had a bottle of Rogue John John Ale in the fridge, just waiting for such a kitchen adventure.  I love to cook, especially when I get to cook for others, and one of my favorite times to enjoy a good beer is while preparing a good meal! For those who don't know, the John John Ale is a batch of the Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar (one of my all-time favorite beers!) that they age in rum casks.  This was my first time trying it, and overall, it was good but not spectacular.  Poured nice, but could have been a little more full-bodied.  Not vastly different from the regular HBN, just a bit spicier finish, which I suppose is imparted from the rum casks.  Still, an enjoyable beer.

On the Pourhouse menu yesterday was Bourbon BBQ sauce, Cajun and blackening dry rubs, and a lemon pepper dry rub.  For the dinner, I was making mushroom soup and French Dip stromboli with garlic aioli (hey, that rhymes!) and red wine Au Jus.  I surprised myself by being able to cook all of these things at the same time and not burn anything or injure myself!  The BBQ sauce turned out great- sweet, smoky, just a little spicy.  Today I plan to find something to put it on, but considering that I couldn't stop "tasting" it while it was simmering, I'm pretty pleased with my first effort.  Ditto for the dry rubs- they smell good, but are yet untested.  My friends really enjoyed the mushroom soup (thanks Mom and Dad for that recipe!), and the stromboli turned out well too.  All in all, a fun experiment!

I'll part with one of my favorite recipes- even though it doesn't use beer!

Penne alla Vodka
2 cups uncooked penne pasta
1/4 pound pancetta
2T butter
1/3 cup vodka (use a mid-shelf brand like Smirnoff- the stuff in the plastic bottle with the Russian on the front will make your sauce bitter!)
1/2 cup heavy cream (I use fat-free half and half instead and can't tell the difference)
1 1/2 cups marinara sauce (I use Emeril's Homestyle Marinara)
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Grated parmesean cheese

Prepare the penne according to box directions.  While it's cookng, make the sauce:
Saute the pancetta in butter until crispy.  Do not drain!  Add the vodka and simmer about 3 minutes.  Stir in the cream and then the marinara.  Add salt and pepper to taste, and simmer another 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Toss with cooked pasta and top with grated parm.  YUM!!
* For a variation, I like to use italian sausage (just make sure you get the kind that's already fully cooked!)and spinach or chicken and asparagus instead of the pancetta.  The directions don't change- just make sure that if you're using chicken it's cooked through before you add the vodka.  Enjoy!