Cooking with Beer: Slow Cooked Pulled Pork

We were having our End of Summer BBQ at work, even though San Diego didn't really have a summer this year. I needed a dish that would feed a small office (I decided 4.5 lb pork shoulder will work) and wouldn't require too much cooking time at work. This means time for the slow cooker.  I really like using slow cookers for the ease and the ability to make some very tender meat. But what they lack is being able to get a nice flavorful skin on the meat. So with this one I decide to throw the meat on the smoker for a few hours before serving.
Where does the beer come in. The beer is used in the slow cooker. I loosely used the BBQ Sauce recipe from the Homebrew Chef, Sean Paxton. I omitted the espresso for this one since I was using my Belgian Dubbel instead of stout. I also added enough beer to fill most of the slow cooker.

I set it on low for overnight cooking about 10 hours. It was a pretty great smell to wake up to. I got to work early and set up my electric water smoker.

I took the basically done pork shoulder and dried it of with paper towels. I then put a dry rub all over. I used the dry rub recipe from the Smoking Bottle blog (his pork recipe is here).

The pork was on the smoker for about 4 hours and it got just a bit of smoke. I would prefer more but for this case it worked pretty well. So all that is left is to grab 2 forks and start pulling. If cooked well this should take minimal effort. I then like to mix the cooked meat with my favorite BBQ sauce and serve that way. But for this work event I allowed people to put on their own BBQ sauce. I'm still working on making my own BBQ sauce that I like as much as Sweet Baby Ray's.

Cooking with Beer: Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

I guess the name could also be Pig with a Pig Jacket. I was just finishing up my keg of the Black California Common and wanted to cook a dish that would pair well. This was my first attempt at this dish so please read the next time suggestions at the bottom. So I went back and forth between braising the meat or slow roasting. I decided to roast it because I really wanted the drippings to flavor and cook my potatoes.

Recipe:

Pork Tenderloin or Loin

1/2 lb Bacon to wrap pork

Oil from browning meat

1/2 Onion to saute in pot after browning meat

2-3 Carrots chopped for Mirepoix

2-3 Stalks of Celery chopped for Mirepoix

~4 Potatoes sliced and roasted under the Pork

2 Dark Beers add to deglaze pan after Mirepoix and Roasting Pan

Wrap the tenderloin with as many bacon strips as needed. Using tongs, drop the loin into a hot dutch oven or large pot. Brown all the way around the piece of meat to get a nice crispness to the bacon. Meanwhile, set the oven to 375 F. And start slicing the potatoes, cut enough to fit along the bottom of your roasting dish. Also start cutting up the carrots, celery and onions. Add this Mirepoix to the pot after the pork is removed. Scrap as much goodness off the bottom as possible.
Put the pork into the oven, the only good way to know if pork is done is with a meat thermometer. You are aiming for 145 and with a 10 min rest it should creep up to 150-155.
Caramelize the Mirepoix and then deglaze with a nice dark, roasty beer. Let this simmer covered on low.

Turn the potatoes after about a half hour. And then they should be removed when they a suffienctly cooked through and have a nice crisp (45-60min).
When the pork is done set it on the cutting board and cover with foil. Take the roasting dish, remove the potatoes and hold it over a burner on your stove. With a stiff spoon or spatula deglaze the roasting pan with the other beer. Then add this to the other sauce pot. Here is where you have options, you can strain the gravy or blend it. I tried to blend it in the food processor and was not a big fan of the results.
After allowing the meat to rest for 10 min, slice and serve. And let your guests go crazy with the great beer pan gravy.

Tips for next time:
-Use a thicker pork loin (more juice for sauce and potatoes, plus easier to not overcook, more meat-same amount of work)
-Strain the pan gravy (could sub half the beer for beef stock (wife's suggestion))
-Use kitchen string to improve presentation (needed on thicker pork loin)

Cooking with Beer: Beer Brined Chicken

I was inspired to brine a bird after my Dad brined his turkey for the past Thanksgiving. It is amazing the amount of flavor that can be absorbed, plus the moisture and extra salt is a bonus. I promise once you brine you won't go back. It really doesn't take much time but it does require planning.

The science behind brining is simple, you have two different solutions 1.water in bird and 2.brining solution. The 2 solutions have a difference in salt concentration so in order to equal out, osmosis (liquid transfer) must occur. So the boring moisture in the bird is replaced with the flavorful brine. Plus it increase tenderness by denaturing protein due to the salt and helps preserve the meat.

The RECIPE:

• 1 chicken (size doesn't matter, but it does help if it can fit in a pot)

For Brine (Add to 2 qt pot, simmer for 10 minutes):

• 2 beers (use what you would drink with chicken or that would go well with the spices used in the recipe, I used a wheat beer but anything that isn't too dark/roast or hoppy (if you experiment, leave a comment)
• 1/2 cup fine grind sea salt (or 1 cup coarse grind Kosher salt)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 TBSP Thyme dried or 1 bunch/fistfull of fresh (easily foraged see post)
• 4 bay leaves (foraged)
• 2 twigs rosemary (or forage wild rosemary)
• 4 garlic cloves that should be diced
• 1 medium onion (choose your favorite type) also diced
• 2 lemons zest goes into boil and slices go directly into pot

After the Brine has been simmered add ice to fill the rest of pot. And then place the pot in the refrigerator for an hour or until cool. Put you chicken and lemons in any pot or ziploc that can hold it. Then pour the brine over the chicken and make sure it covers the chicken. If you don't have enough brine then top off with water or beer.Let the bird brine anywhere from 12 hours to 48 hours. Anymore may make the chicken too salty.

After proper soaking time, remove the bird, rinse and then pat dry. Preheat the oven to 350F and follow the time guidelines based on the size of your bird. To check if the bird is done insert thermometer into the inner thigh (close to, but not touching the thigh bone) it should read at least 165 F. Now take the bird out and wrap in foil and let it rest for 10 min. (very important or all the juice you brined in there will just gush out). Plus the bird will continue cooking to the proper temperature.

Eat with your favorite side dish (check for roast potatoes post using the drippings) and beer.
Additional ideas are smoking the bird and deep frying the bird. Leave me comments if you try this.

Cooking with Beer: Dark Mild Beef Stew

Maybe the title of the dish needs some work. Most commonly you will see a stew like this referred to as a Guinness or Stout Beef Stew. But since I just brewed a Dark Mild and had it on draft I thought it would work well. Being Newlyweds, Ash and I have been trying to find more recipes that we can add to our "Regulars" list. So we have been searching for recipes that we both like and don't require too many complex ingredients. Mostly we'll find a recipe by the name that sounds good and then adapt to use what we have on hand. So this led me to my good college friend's cooking blog, Cate's World Kitchen. You will see more recipes in the future adapted from her recipes.

 

Recipe fits perfectly in a 4 Quart Slowcooker:

2-2.5lbs Stewing Beef (roast) cut into bite sized pieces

Oil from browning meat

Flour to coat meat for browning(for you beer peeps (maillard reactions))

1 Onion to saute in pot after browning meat

1 Tomato sauted w onion or use 3Tb paste

1 Dark Beer (Dark Mild, need some roast in it to replace the BBQ taste) add to deglaze pan after onions

2-3 Carrots chunked up into Slow Cooker

2-3 Potatoes chunked up into Slow Cooker

Keep it Simple. Brown the meat until brown throw into slow cooker. Add onions/tomatoes till they sweat add your beer. Add the cut up carrots and potatoes to the slow cooker. 

Cook on HIGH for 3 hours then LOW for another 3 or until you are ready to eat.