Beer in the Kitchen

Lately, beer and food pairing has been all the rage in the culinary world.  I personally love taking the time to do a good beer/food pairing, because there’s nothing better in the world than combining food and drink.  If I’m going to be serving a hot or spicy food, I generally like to serve a crisp beer like a pilsner or a German beer.  If I’m going to be serving a richer/heavier food, I generally will pair that food with a lager or an ale.
One other way I like to use beer in the kitchen is to actually cook with it!  Beer is a great way to enhance your dishes and add flavor at the same time.  Beer makes a great emergency marinade, because it really soaks into the protein and makes the meat taste like it has been soaking for hours.  Because of the hops in beer, you’ll be able to transfer over a sweet but earthy flavor to your food.
Another great way to use beer is to use it as the base of a batter.  When you do this, your batter won’t be as heavy and will crisp with more ease.  This is due to the carbonation in the beer, which will help keep the batter extremely light and easy to work with.
If you’re interested in learning more about pairing food and beer, sign up for my Beer and Food Pairing Class on Saturday, October 11th from 7:00 – 9:30 PM.  For more information, click here.