99 bottles of beer in the fridge

Ok, so we don’t actually have 99 bottles of beer, but we do have a New-York-City-sized fridge and when generous friends bring lots of beer to to our parties and then leave before it’s all gone, we run out of space quickly.

Not that we were complaining — we love beer. But this summer we were drinking a lot of cocktails, this fall we have been reacquainting ourselves with our red wine reserves, and there just hasn’t seemed to be the right opportunities to put back our surplus of beer. The solution?  Don’t drink it.  Eat it.

Sunday night dinner: Beer-cheese, Beer-Braised Beef, and Beer-Braised Seitan.

Let’s start with the Beer-Cheese.  A good friend and then-coworker introduced A to this about two years ago.  He had just made a batch, gave A a try, and it was love at first taste.

We have made this a number of times since and it is always a party hit.  It is not only delicious, but super easy, and even though it doesn’t need any extra perks, you can also note that it is a good conversation starter.

 

Beer Cheese 

(adapted with the help of good friend and chef extraordinaire)

3/4 lb extra extra sharp cheddar

3/4 lb sharp cheddar

2 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp worcestershire sauce

1 tsp dry mustard

2 tbsp tabasco (this is what we used because we like heat, but make it to taste)

3/4 c beer (he says his favorite was with a Smuttynose IPA)

1/2 tsp of salt to start and then to taste (this was actually all we used, though)

 

Put all of those things into a food processor and blend.  But you aren’t really done there.  The trick is to make this ahead so that the flavors can blend and settle.  We make this at least 36 hours before serving and it gets more delicious with every passing hour.

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After settling on the beer cheese we started to ponder a meat option that could utilize beer.  We figured beef and beer would be a good combo, and turned to our trusty friends (i.e. blogs we love). The Pioneer Woman had exactly what we wanted: Beer-Braised Beef with Onions.  This recipe takes time, but it is mostly hands off.  If you have too much beer in your fridge, or if you just want a delicious and meaty dish, prep this, pop it in the oven, and sit back and maybe even get rid of a few more while your oven does the cooking.

 

Beer-Braised Beef

(Adapted from The Pioneer Woman)

Serves 2-3

 

1 lb chuck steak

2 spanish onions

1/4 tsp rosemary

1/2 tsp thyme

2 tbsp garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt (+1 tsp kosher salt for the beef)

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

1 bottle of beer

 

Start by prepping the onions.  The Pioneer Woman suggests an incredibly easy method.

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Put the kosher salt and pepper on the steak.  Put the olive oil in a dutch oven and sear the steak on high heat for about 2 minutes per side.

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Remove the steak, turn down the heat, add the onions, garlic, beer, thyme and rosemary.

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Add the beef back.  Submerge fully, cover and cook at 275˚ for three hours.

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Our final dish was the Beer Braised Seitan.  Originally, wanted to come up with a meat-less option that would also use beer, but we couldn’t find a beer-braised seitan recipe.  To keep it easy we ended up just adapting the previous recipe for the seitan and it was a seitan-game changer for A, who isn’t always sold on seitan as a meat replacement.  It was truly flavorful, satisfying, and delicious.

 

Beer Braised Seitan

Serves 4

 

1 lb seitan

2 spanish onions

1/4 tsp rosemary

1/2 tsp thyme

2 tbsp garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

1 bottle of beer

 

Chop the onions as you did for the beef.

Put 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pan and fry up the seitan getting it good and brown.

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Remove, add the second tbsp of oil and turn down the heat.  Add the onions, garlic, rosemary, thyme and beer.  Add the seitan and submerge.  Cook covered on low for 45 minutes or until all of the beer is gone.

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This meal is not for the gluten-intolerant or for those in a rush, but it is a delicious way to clear out space in the fridge.