Thursday, August 23, 2007
Labor Day BBQs are known for beer and the delicious hot dogs, buffalo wings and hamburgers. So why not have your beer and eat it too???

Say what?

Yes, that's right! We're cooking with beer on Cyber Holidays today. I really didn't know about it until I read a story on NPR - Cheers to Cooking with Beer. Apparently it's a traditional way of cooking in some parts of the world, whereas I only thought of wine to cook with. So this labor day I'm taking it upon myself to educate me on how to cook with beer. (YUMMY!) Here's a recipe you can use for your hamburgers it serves four.

Ingredients:
  • 1 lbs. ground beef (1/4 lbs. per burger)
  • 4 tablespoons of hoisin sauce(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoisin_sauce)
  • 3 cloves garlic - minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons of sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons onion, minced
  • 1/2 cup of Stout Beer (You can use Guinness Stout or Sam Adams Cream Stout)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons of cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar
  • 4 hamburger rolls - toasted or lightly grilled
  • 12 cucumber slices - thinly sliced
  • 4 leaves of lettuce
Directions:
1. Prepare the grill. (If you're using a charcoal grill, light it 30 to 45 minutes before you plan to cook and wait until the charcoal has turned white. Make sure there are no more flames. If you are using a gas grill, turn to high and leave it for 20 minutes to heat up.)
2. Knead together the ground beef, hoisin sauce, minced garlic, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl. Form into 4 patties.
3. Make the sauce:
  • Use a small saucepan to warm sesame oil over a low heat.
  • Put the minced garlic and onion pieces and stir.
  • You'd be able to smell the aromas (should be about 2 minutes).
  • Put 3 tablespoons of hoisin sauce, soy sauce and the beer and stir
  • Dissolve the cornstarch in rice wine vinegar in a small bowl. Then stir the mixture into the beer sauce.
  • Increase the heat to medium to bring the sauce to a simmer.
  • After it bubbles for about 2 minutes it should become thick. Set it aside until the burgers are ready.
4. Grill the burgers as you desire.
5. Place them on the rolls and brush with the sauce - top with cucumbers and lettuce leaves. Serve!

You can also serve the rest of the sauce on the side if you want. If you're going to a park and grilling it, I suggest you do the sauce first. Or if you're going to grill ready made patties you can just do the sauce and use it. I'm sure they'd taste better than bottled ready made BBQ sauce!

For more tips and recipes on cooking with beer you can check out National Beer Wholesalers Association's Cooking Tips with Beer, Jim Curtis's Page, and Beer Cook's Brown Ale Brined Chicken Wings -- sounds 'finger lickin' good'!



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posted by Casey Galatos at Thursday, August 23, 2007 | Permalink |

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