Beer Cookbooks

[Doc]

I'm looking to do some more cooking (currently almost nil), and if I'm going to do it, it is going to be with beer.
Experimented making Beer Cookies at the weekend (with my Belgian Dubbel) and that went well.
So I've been doing some research into Beer Cookbooks.
I've come up with the following:

Bartenders Beer Cookbook
Cooking with Beer Season by Season
Brewpub Cook Book

Does anyone already have any of these (or any others) and can make any recommendations ?

Beers,
Doc

 

[Doc]

Bump.
I'm leaning towards the Bartenders Beer Cookbook and the Season by Season one.

Doc

 

[berapnopod]

I've not read it myself, but there is a cookbook by the head brewer at Brooklyn Brewery that is supposed to be very good. I think the authors name is Oliversomething...

Ah, google to the rescue: its by Garrett Oliver and is called The Brewmaster's Table.

Berp.

 

[Doc]

I did find that one Berp. Seems that book is more about beer and food pairing, rather than actually cooking with beer. Other than that it does get some good reviews.

Beers,
Doc

 

[Airgead]

Does anyone already have any of these (or any others) and can make any recommendations ?

Beers,
Doc

[post="122940"][/post]​

Doc

I'm a bit of cooking fanatic so I've looked at just about every cookbook on the planet :blink: . I didn't get any beer books since you can really use beer anywhere you would use a wine or stock. If you know the basics of cooking, adding beer is easy.

I've been doing a lot of beer based cooking recently. if you want some recipes to get you started I'm more than happy to oblige. My latest efforts weer, brown ale beef stew, rabbit in cider and mustard, pale ale chicken risotto and steak with a scottish ale and pepper sauce. I have also done beer and wine sorbet and icecream.

In general the less hoppy beers work better as the hop bitterness tends to come through quite a bit in cooking. Belgians work very well.

We could start an AHB online beer cookbook...

Cheers
Dave

 

[johnno]

Hi Doc,
Quite a few recipes on Beercook.com.
Maybe to get you inspired.

http://www.beercook.com/index.html

cheers
johnno

 

[mhan7073]

You can cook with beer without having to put in the food, if you know what I mean.

I 've had some success using beer as a base in casseroles, but they always smell better when they're cooking then they taste when they are eaten.

If you're looking for inspiration (or you just want a night out), I've heard good things about the Redoak Boutique Beer Cafe on Clarence St (I saw you're based in Sydney)- there was really good review in the herald a while back that mentioned some really interesting beer involved meals. This is a link to review, but not the one I'm thinking of.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/bar-reviews/red...9401352052.html

Mic

 

[Airgead]

You can cook with beer without having to put in the food, if you know what I mean.

I 've had some success using beer as a base in casseroles, but they always smell better when they're cooking then they taste when they are eaten.

Mic

[post="123108"][/post]​

In a casserole you are cooking the beer for a long time so you lose all the arromatics. All you are left with is the underlying malt flavours and any bitterness. The malt gives a caramel note to the casserole plus a contribution from any roasted grains you may have used. You can also end up with some of the esters left behind by the yeast - the clove and spice of the Belgian styles in particular. The bitterness can be a bit disturbing as bitterness is usually not something we have in food. Sour yes, bitter no. For this sort of long slow cooking the maltier styles work best. I tend to use things like scottish ale, brown ale, stout etc. They contribute more malt and tend to be less bitter.

The lighter styles work better in fast cooking where some of the aromatics are preserved. You can also use them uncooked as a basis for a sauce or dressing.

Cheers
Dave

 

[kook]

I did find that one Berp. Seems that book is more about beer and food pairing, rather than actually cooking with beer. Other than that it does get some good reviews.

Beers,
Doc

[post="123056"][/post]​

Yeah I was a little dissapointed with the brewmasters cookbook, it's really just all about pairings.

One handy Belgian cookbook is from a restaurant called Belgo's. I picked it up for 2 at one of those "CLOSING DOWN SALE!" bookshops thats been closing down for 18 months now

 

[Guest Lurker]

One handy Belgian cookbook is from a restaurant called Belgo's.

[post="123164"][/post]​

Ah... Belgos. Blokes with bad habits and mussels and frites for the price of the time you sat down. Good memories.

 

[sluggerdog]

Not a cookbook but a quick search for beer on allrecipes.com produces a lot of different results..

Click Me

 

[Doc]

Bump.
I'm leaning towards the Bartenders Beer Cookbook and the Season by Season one.

Doc

I ended up buying both and they arrived late last week.
Both aren't the biggest books you've ever seen, but it is the content that counts right ?
I've had a good squiz at both, and here are my initial thoughts.

Cooking with Beer. Season by Season by Ken Birch.
Amazon Link
Bascially this book consists of recipes from the Camra Magazine Opening Times, with some pre-amble and history about the author.
The recipes seem pretty good with 9-12 recipes per season. The let down is the black and white slightly grainy pictures in the book don't make the recipes all that appetising. Note: Not all recipes have a picture either.

My rating 6/10

The Bartenders Beer Cookbook by Paul Barbano
Amazon Link
This book has a bit more weight to it, and a lot more recipes. No pictures but a lot more inspirational than the Cooking with Beer book.
There are a bunch of recipes in this one that I'm really keen to give a go.

If you are looking for book in the genre and you are trying to decide which one to go for, The Bartenders Beer Cookbook is the one.
My rating 8/10

Beers,
Doc

 

[Doc]

Made a few recipes from the The Bartenders Beer Cookbook at the weekend.
Think I overdid the beer biscuits a little. They came out more like scones. For the beer factor though I did use a long neck as the rolling pin, and a beer glass as the cookie cutter.
Did two loaves of beer bread. One with a Choc Porter, and the other with and American Amber/Red. The better one is the American Amber/Red. Lighter bodied bread.

All good,
Doc