Barbecuing with Beer
In the heat of summer, there is not much better than opening a cold beer and firing up the barbecue to make dinner and eat outside. However, barbecue and beer don’t always have to be two separate things — beer can be used as an ingredient in all sorts of barbecue recipes.
Barbecue can be defined as a style of food, a gathering, or a cooking method. Across the following pages is a collection of some of my favorite recipes that meet all of these criteria — each is intended to be cooked outside, shared with friends, and smoked or grilled with beer. Often, when firing up the smoker or grill, I try to make something extra for later in the week. Sometimes it’s a pan of sea salt, smoked over hardwood for as many hours as whatever else is cooking, so that when they come out they are dark brown morsels, perfectly fit for sprinkling over scallops or pasta later. Sometimes it’s a couple whole eggplants, smoked in their skins until soft, so that when they cool the pulp can be blended with cream cheese for a dip. Cobs of corn grilled with a hint of char, to make a fire-roasted corn chowder from. A pan of tomatoes, onions and peppers, blended into a smoky salsa. The possibilities are endless, just as summer feels on the hottest days. So keep the heat out of the house, fire up the grill and invite your favorite people over to share a delicious homebrew or two.
Candied Smoked Salmon (with IPA)
Ingredients
3–4 lbs. (1.4–1.8 kg) fillet of salmon
10 oz. (283 g) kosher salt
10 oz. (283 g) brown sugar
1 oz. (28 g) coarse ground black pepper
1 bottle IPA (reserve 2 Tbsp.)
2⁄3 cup maple syrup
Step by Step
1. Mix the salt, pepper, and brown sugar together.
2. Cut Salmon into 1-inch (2.5-cm) strips (skin on), toss them well with the seasoning, and then place into an airtight dish. Pour extra seasoning over them so that they are surrounded by it on all sides and refrigerate for an hour. The cure will pull liquid from the salmon to create a syrup.
3. Remove salmon from syrup and rinse in IPA (easiest to put it in a bowl and dip salmon slices). Then pat salmon dry and put the salmon on a drying rack skin side down. Let this air dry overnight if possible, or at least for a couple of hours, uncovered in the fridge.
4. Put salmon in a smoker. I like to use mesquite or applewood chips, and keep the smoker’s temperature low, around 200 °F (93 °C).
5. Mix maple syrup and reserved (2 Tbsp.) IPA. Every hour, brush the salmon with maple syrup mixture. Do this several times, until salmon is nice and dry and not absorbing syrup, usually about 3 times (3–4 hours).
6. Pull salmon out of smoker, baste one last time with any remaining syrup, and cool to room temperature. I like to peel the skin off at this point. Keep refrigerated or frozen, if you don’t eat it all right then and there!
Grilled Rabbit Skewers & Veggies (with Light Lager)
Ingredients for rabbit beer brine
1 orange
1 small red onion (sliced)
1⁄4 cup garlic cloves
3 cups water
1⁄4 cup salt
4 cups light lager
2 cups ice
Ingredients for mustard beer glaze
1⁄2 cup mayonnaise (optional, but this helps sauce adhere better to skewers since beer thins it)
1⁄2 cup honey
1⁄2 cup yellow mustard
2 oz. (59 mL) lager
1 Tbsp. minced ginger
1 Tbsp. whole grain mustard
1⁄2 tsp. salt
Ingredients for Skewers
1 rabbit
8 oz. (227 g) bacon, pre-cooked until still soft but done through (too crispy and it won’t stay on skewer)
1 red bell pepper
1 large red onion
Optional additions (zucchini, pineapple . . . any additions turn this from a simple appetizer into more of a meal)
Step by Step
1. Make the brine the day before. Bring water to a boil with sliced orange, red onion, garlic, and salt. Simmer until there is only about 1 cup of liquid left. Remove from heat and then pour in beer and ice.
2. Debone rabbit, cutting leg meat and loins into 1.5-inch (3.8-cm) chunks (or desired size for skewers). Add rabbit meat to brine and refrigerate covered for 24 hours.
3. On barbecue day, mix ingredients for the mustard beer glaze together with a whisk or immersion blender until smooth.
4. Chop veggies into bite size pieces large enough to stay on skewers (about 1-inch/2.5-cm each).
5. Preheat the grill to 350–375 °F (177–191 °C).
6. Thread veggies and rabbit chunks alternating onto skewers (preferably metal, or pre-soak wood skewers over night). Season skewers with salt and pepper.
7. Place skewers onto the grill, let cook 2–3 minutes, then flip. Brush mustard sauce onto cooked sides of skewers, coating well. Cook another couple of minutes, continuing to turn and brush until veggies are cooked and meat is done through.
8. Remove from grill and serve warm.
Smoked Pork in Beer Broth (with Amber Ale)
Ingredients
1 pork shoulder (6–8 lbs./2.7–3.6 kg, ideally)1⁄2 cup salt
1⁄2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp. smoked paprika
1 Tbsp. onion powder
1 Tbsp. cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1⁄2 cup amber beer
1⁄2 cup BBQ sauce
Step by Step
1. Mix together spices, rub them all over the pork until heavily coated. Place pork onto a pan with shallow sides. This can be done ahead and refrigerated until time to smoke, or you can let it rest at room temperature for up to an hour as you preheat the smoker.
2. Set smoker to 225 °F (107 °C), and when pre-heated, put pork inside. Smoke for at least 12 hours. After 12 hours, check internal temperature; it should be at least 190 °F (88 °C). A large shoulder could take a couple extra hours.
3. When finished, let rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
4. Make the BBQ beer broth by mixing a half-cup of your favorite BBQ sauce and half-cup amber beer.
5. Cut pork shoulder into chunks and for immediate serving toss in a bowl with the broth (or put into a crock pot for gatherings to keep hot).
Vanilla Porter Glazed Duck & Eggplant (with Porter)
Ingredients
1⁄3 cup porter
3 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. sugar
1⁄2 tsp. white pepper
1⁄2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. vanilla paste (or extract if paste is not available)
4 duck breasts
2–3 eggplants, sliced into half if slender or 8 strips lengthwise if large
2 Tbsp. kosher salt
Step by Step
1. Preheat the grill with coals to about 375 °F (190 °C). Keep coals to 1⁄3–1⁄2 of grill so you have hot areas and cooler areas.
2. Mix first 6 ingredients together, stirring gently to blend into a syrupy consistency.
3. Sprinkle half of the salt onto eggplants, let sit for a few minutes: They should emit liquid, let it drain off but do not rinse.
4. Score the skin of the duck breasts with a crosshatch pattern, and season skin side with the remaining 1 Tbsp. salt.
5. Place duck breasts skin side down onto the hot side of the grill, watching carefully as they will drip fat and ignite flames. I prefer the skin a bit crispy and charred, so I baste them with the syrup and move them around in the hot areas for a few minutes until the skin is well browned and crisp, then flip them onto a medium heat area and continue basting regularly.
6. Lay eggplants into high heat area, and begin basting them as well. Turn them regularly and continue basting until they also have a good amount of char and tenderness to them, then you can move them onto a clean side plate.
7. Check temperature of the duck breasts. At 135 °F (57 °C) they are medium-rare, or cook to your preferred doneness.
8. Serve Duck sliced thinly with the eggplant, sticky rice and/or
a salad.
Barbecued Buckle Cake with Berries (with Sour Ale or Fruit Lambic)
Ingredients
1 1⁄2 cup flour
1 cup sugar
3⁄4 tsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1⁄4 tsp. nutmeg
6 Tbsp. melted butter
1⁄4 cup cream
1⁄4 cup sour ale or fruit lambic
1 large egg
1 1⁄2 cup raspberries or other seasonal fruit (divided)
3 Tbsp. coarse sugar, such as demerera or turbinado
Step by Step
1. Pre-heat grill to 350 °F (177 °C), give or take 25 °F (13 °C). Make a cool spot to one side of coals/flames so that the cake can bake without being directly over flames.
2. Mix flour, sugar, salt, nutmeg, and baking powder well.
3. Dump butter into dry mixture and stir well with a fork until a crumbly texture with pea-sized clumps is formed.
4. Stir in cream, beer, and egg just until a smooth batter is formed.
5. Divide into greased shallow baking dishes, or one 9×9-inch (23×23-cm) pan. Press 1 cup of berries into cake. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
6. Place cake into grill, away from direct flame. Keep grill as close to 350 °F (177 °C) as possible. If temperature is kept even, cake should take about 35–40 minutes. When checking, turn dish so that sides cook evenly. Cake is done when the edges are puffed and golden, and the center is firm.
7. Top with ice cream or whipped cream, and remaining berries. Enjoy with a glass of sour ale.
