the world's easiest beer bread

beer bread made with Harp...mmm mmm good !

"Put one foot in front of the other"....that's all I have to do to start blogging again, right ? Baby steps...

This really is just about the easiest beer bread in the world...well, short of buying a mix. There's really no reason to buy a mix, though; we're talking 5 ingredients including the beer...most likely things you have around the house, assuming someone in your house drinks beer (or buys it for their friends). Oh, you can throw in more ingredients, if you feel up to it; this can very easily turn into an Italian Herb bread, or a Cheddar-Dill Bread, or even an Apple-Cinnamon Bread. At its core, though, this is simple perfection; beautiful crust, tender crumb, the slightest touch of sweet. Hearty enough to stand up to whatever you want to spread on it, adaptable enough to make friends with whatever meal you want to serve it with, confident enough to stand on its own...this is just damn good bread.

bread made with - and standing next to - a Sam Adams

When I set out to come up with a basic beer bread recipe, I had a few requirements. The few mixes I've tried - and a lot of the recipes I found - all had copious amounts of sugar; curiously, many of them also called for melting large quantities of butter and dumping it over the bread before baking. I have nothing against sugar and butter - especially combined with bread dough; fried dough is one of my favorite foods on earth - but that's not what I was looking for here. I just wanted bread.

another shot of the Harp loaf

As for the beer, "extra" beer is not a term that is used in my house. We love beer - all kinds of beer - and consume large amounts of it on a regular basis; our main concern through the recent snowstorms was maintaining our beer supply. I've heard legends of people who don't like beer; they buy beer for parties, but if it doesn't get enjoyed that night it sits unloved, languishing in the back of the fridge. Don't let this happen to your beer - use it for bread. Who doesn't like bread, for Pete's sake  ? (Answer : probably people who don't read this blog : ) ) . You can use absolutely any kind of beer to make this bread, from the cheap swill you buy for your relatives who don't know any better to the most snooty of microbrews. In the end, they will all turn into bread...and bread is the staff of life, after all.



and another shot of the Sam

A few additional notes :

• Do follow the cooling instructions at the end...it's tempting to tear right in when this comes out of the oven, but it will very likely fall apart if you do.
• If your beer isn't quite 12 ounces - for example, Red Stripe comes in an 11.2 ounce bottle - just add a little water until you get to 12 ounces (1 1/2 cups)
• I've given some variations at the end of the recipe. You can also sub out half the white flour for whole wheat; I would suggest adding another teaspoon of baking powder if you do. (I probably wouldn't use more whole wheat than that , or you will get very dense bread...though if you're into that sort of thing, go for it !) You can also substitute brown sugar for white, if you like the taste of the brown; brown sugar is particularly nice with whole wheat flour, and also goes very nicely with many types of beer.


Basic Beer Bread

3 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 (12 ounce) beer of your choice

Preheat oven to 375. Grease an 8" loaf pan (or spray with cooking spray)

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl; slowly pour in beer. Mix with a nice sturdy spoon (this will be thick) until combined.

Spread batter in pan. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until it's starting to brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes; then remove from pan and cool another 10.

Serve warm, cold, or anywhere in between. Keeps very well.

Variations :

Italian Herb Bread : add 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and 2 1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning to dry ingredients. (I mix my own Italian Seasoning; for this bread, that would basically work out to 1 tsp. oregano, 1 tsp. basil, and 1/2 tsp. rosemary). A teaspoon of minced garlic wouldn't go amiss here either.

Cheesy Dill Bread : add 1/2 cup grated cheddar and 2 tablespoons fresh chopped dill (or 2 tsp dried) to dry ingredients.

Apple-Cinnamon Bread : increase sugar to 2 tablespoons. Add one peeled and chopped apple and 2 tsp. of cinnamon to dry ingredients.

Irish Beer Bread : use Guinness for beer; add 1/2 cup currants to dry ingredients. (This would work particularly well with the whole wheat - brown sugar version)

Wild Turkey Carnitas (a la Hank Shaw)

ready to roll ! 

For years, we have been looking for something to do with the drumstick and wings of our wild turkeys. Leave it to Hank Shaw to come up with the delicious, delicious answer.

our favorite taco fixings

Auntie Jojo's Black Bean Salad on the side 

When the resident hunters started bringing home wild turkeys years ago, we wanted to do them justice; we had heard the meat was tough, but we were no amateurs in the kitchen…there had to be a way to tame this wild beast (so to speak). Our first attempt was to do the whole thing on the smoker/grill; as I recall we even tried to brine the meat beforehand for optimal results. All day long it smoked…eagerly we waited for the delicious-smelling meat to be done, and indeed, the breast was delicious; lightly smoky and juicy. Try as we might, though, we couldn’t get a bite off the drumstick; it wouldn’t tear off no matter how hard you pulled. As for the wings, you couldn’t even find a place to start the attack; there appeared to be no meat at all. So, we resolved to use the smoked parts as ingredients in other dishes; beans and greens both get along with smoked poultry parts beautifully, and we love those sorts of dishes around here. The breasts and thighs eventually found their way into dishes like chili verde…but the drums and wings were mostly just a sad afterthought.

spice lineup

see ? it's just turkey !

Flash forward to last year, and a fortuitous set of circumstances; a pair of wild turkeys in the freezer, and an extremely timely post from Hank Shaw (Hunter Angler Gardener Cook). I love, love, LOVE this man…have been reading his blog for years and have a few of his cookbooks. He has the same love of both good food and the outdoor life that holds our family together, but he’s a million times more talented. We actually got the chance to meet him when he was on a book tour this past fall; he is just as cool and nice as he comes across in his writing (though I’m sure he thinks we’re crazy, what with M’s ideas about hippo raising…don ‘t get me started on that !) Hank posted about carnitas, that Mexican dish of “little meats” – usually pork, cooked low and slow until falling apart tender and super delicious. Hank’s was made with turkey – wild turkey, to be exact, and specifically the legs and wings. If Hank said they were edible (and delicious), it had to be true…and so I set out to make it. Four hours later we sat down to try it…and OMGWTF, what a Culinary Orgasm. Tender, delicious, unbelievably good on its own, killer in a sandwich, and absolutely spectacular in tacos…this is some seriously good meat.

simmering away 

Basically, all I did here was to change around the spicing (as I really don’t like juniper)…otherwise, this is all Hank. If you don’t have wild turkey I think a regular legs and wings would be fine; someday I’m going to try pork as well…if I can ever stop eating this!

Wild Turkey Carnitas

(mostly Hank Shaw, with my own variation on the spices)

2 turkey legs plus wings, or 2 turkey thighs

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons allspice berries, lightly crushed

1 tablespoon black peppercorns, cracked

1 tablespoon coriander seed, cracked (or 1 teaspoon ground coriander)

1 tablespoon cumin seed, lightly crushed (or 1 teaspoon ground cumin)

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried orange peel

1 small cinnamon stick

2 cloves

3 dried small chiles, such as an arbol or Thai

3 bay leaves

5 tablespoons lard or olive oil

2 teaspoons (approximately) honey

Juice of 1/2 an orange

Note on the whole or lightly crushed spices: if you have a tea infuser or cheesecloth to make a little packet with, use them – easier than picking out whole peppercorns later!

Remove the skin from the turkey. Put the turkey in a large Dutch oven or large lidded pot; add all the herbs, spices and enough water to just barely cover the meat in the pot. Cover and simmer for 3 to 4 hours, or until the meat is falling off the bone.

When the meat is tender, remove from the pot and let it cool. Shred with two forks or your fingers. Discard the bones and any tendons. You can store the meat for up to a week at this point.

When you want to serve the meat, add the lard (or oil) to a frying pan and brown the meat as much as you like. At the very end, drizzle in some honey to taste (trust me, it tastes REALLY good) the juice of half an orange. Mix and serve – as the meat in a taco with your favorite fixings, on your tostada or nachos, in a burrito or enchilada, in a sandwich, or just on a plate…the possibilities are endless!

Crockpot Tagine

mmm...tagine !

I’ve been doing tagines in my crockpot for a while now (see here for my first foray : http://culinaryorgasm-karen.blogspot.com/2011/02/lamb-tagine-slow-cooker.html

Somehow, I still have yet to acquire an actual tagine. It’s not that I don’t want one, of course…it’s just that it’s been working so well in my crockpot that I haven’t felt the need to run out and buy one (not that that’s ever stopped me before…”impulsive kitchen spending” should be my middle name[s] ! ) I’ve tweaked and twaddled and done all sorts of things to this recipe since I first started on the road to Morocco, and I’m really happy with where it’s gone…so happy, in fact, that I feel the need to share it with you all. It’s my blog; I can totally do that :) .

In addition to messing around with the recipe, I’ve included one for Ras el Hanout. What is Ras el Hanout, you ask ? Translated from the Arabic it means “head of the shop” – basically, the top shelf of spices that the merchant offers (as in high quality), all mixed together as a sort of Moroccan house seasoning.  It usually involves a good dose of what we think of as sweet spices: cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg etc mixed with some hot and/or peppery elements. Many stores sell a bottled version all ready to go (the McCormick version is likely available at your local supermarket; at least it is at mine), or you can very easily mix your own. The good thing about mixing your own is that if you’re violently opposed to, say, anything anise or fennel flavored (as everyone in my house is) you can just leave it out.

The other fun thing about this one is the garnishes. I love meals that you put out with a pile of garnishes; everyone ends up with a custom version of what they like best, and you don’t have to worry about picky people not liking some of your ingredients. The preserved lemon is an especially lovely (but sometimes controversial)  ingredient…preserving lemons in salt turns the rind into a silky, fragrant condiment …a little too perfumy for some, though. If you’re game, preserved lemons are super easy to make (once again I must link to my beautiful friend Sarah’s blog :  http://whatscookinginyourworld.blogspot.com/2011/02/day-1095-moroccan-preserved-lemons.html ; but they do take a lot of time (almost all hands-off). Luckily; they are also starting to creep into stores ; I was able to find a jar at Russo’s (http://russos.com ), much to my instant tagine gratification. Harissa is another fun condiment; a fiery hot red pepper paste. Your favorite hot sauce (Tabasco, sambal oelek, sriracha) will stand in nicely; I’ve also found some nice hot picante olives that work beautifully. Or just enjoy your tagine as is; you’re driving the bus here !

The recipe as written out here works equally well with lamb or chicken, though I strongly recommend chicken thighs if you’re going the bird route (they hold up so well in the crockpot, yet they’re not so dark that they offend anyone opposed to dark meat). I’m sure turkey or a stewing sort of beef would also work beautifully. Just collect yourself up a couple pounds of meat, get together some Ras el Hanout, and have at it!

Crockpot Tagine (chicken or lamb)

1 -2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 large onions, chopped

3 -4 garlic cloves, chopped

1  inch fresh ginger, finely chopped

4 teaspoons Ras el Hanout

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

salt and black pepper to taste

1 cup chicken stock (plus additional if needed)

1 pinch saffron or 1 teaspoon turmeric

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons tomato paste

3 lbs boneless skinless chicken or boneless lamb, chopped into large chunks 

2 (14 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, with liquid

2 (14 ounce) cans chickpeas, drained

6 ounces dried apricots, chopped or quartered if large

2 carrots, peeled & diced

Rind of 1 preserved lemon, rinsed and pulp removed, chopped (optional)

Couscous, for serving (prepare according to package directions; we prefer the larger Israeli type here)  

Garnishes : Additional preserved lemon, cilantro, harissa, chopped green olives (picante olives are quite nice)

Heat oil in a large frying pan and saute onions for 5-10 minutes, or until translucent. Add garlic and ginger and cook for another minute; add Ras el Hanout, cayenne, salt and black pepper and cook another 30 seconds, or until you can really smell the spices. Add chicken stock and saffron; gradually mix in flour until well incorporated. Add honey and tomato paste and mix well; remove from heat.

Transfer mixture to the slow cooker;  add meat, tomatoes, chickpeas, apricots, carrots, and lemon (if using); stir gently but well to mix. Liquid should come just to the top of the mixture; if it seems dry add a little more chicken stock.

Cook on LOW for 8 hours or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours. (cooking times depend on your slow cooker)

Serve over couscous (prepare according to package directions)

Ras El Hanout

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon turmeric

1 tablespoon paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Combine and mix well; store in airtight container.