It has been a huge week and a bit as I have been doing a daily beer demonstration on the Food & Wine stage at the Brisbane Ekka. This came about after being asked by well-known chef Dominique Rizzo who I introduced to the idea of beer and food matching after last year's RNA Beer Competition. I don't know that Dominique has become a dedicated beer drinker, but she certainly has developed an enthusiasm for beer's potential as an ingredient and also as a source of flavour to match with food. It has been a huge opportunity to showcase beer in the Food & Wine pavilion at the show, something that I have been pitching for several years as the Ekka has continued to grown and develop its gourmet food offerings. Beer deserves to be there and congrautions and thanks to Dominique and the RNA for introducing it this year. We have showcased a great range of beers from Bridge Road Brewers, Burleigh Brewing, Coopers, Temple Brewing, Brew Boys, Grand Ridge, McLaren Vale Beer Company, Birra Del Borgo, Extramones and plenty more.
We have done a variety of matchings so far, including Beer & Chocolate working with Bien Peralta at Dello Mano, Beer & Cheese with Black Pearl Epicure's Peter Gross and I have even done some cooking on stage myself while matching the results with beer. We have also done two great sessions with Chef Brad Martin from the Breakfast Creek Hotel who has showcased beer in three recipes. I got so many requests for the recipes that Brad has allowed me to publish them below. I have included some suggested beer matches.
Enjoy!
Cooking with Beer: Beer and Beef three ways
Brad Martin: Breakfast Creek Hotel
The concept of cooking with beer and combining the flavours to match certain dishes relies on using the subtle flavours within the beer, and showcasing the malt, hops, or barley.
The dishes we have chosen demonstrate theses qualities and produce subtle results.
Wagyu beef and spiced beetroot salad, dressed with a fresh raspberry and wheat beer emulsion.
Ingredients: Salad
- 250 gm Wagyu Sirloin
- 1 Bulb Beetroot
- 40 gm Persian fetta
- 1 fresh red chilli
- 1 bunch fresh sage
- 30 ml honey
- 50gm castor sugar
- 1 continental cucumber
- 50 gm Asian Greens
- Salt, pepper
- Olive oil- pure
Ingredients: Dressing
- 90gm Castor Sugar
- 60gm Fresh Raspberries
- 60ml Verjus
- 300ml wheat beer
- 30ml EVO olive oil
- 1 navel orange-zested
- 2 sprigs thyme
Method: Salad
Peel Beetroot and pearl with a pearling tool, place pearls in a pot of salted boiling water, add castor sugar, cook till tender, drain liquid.
Finely chop chilli and sage, heat oil in a pan, add chilli and sage and quickly cook for 30 seconds, add honey and Verjus, place beetroot in pan, season with salt and pepper, remove spiced beetroot from pan, strain liquid and reserve for later use
Break Persian fetta and place in a bowl ready for use.
Peel long strips off the cucumber and place in a bowl ready for later use
Cook Wagyu Sirloin until medium rare, and rest
Method: Dressing
Place Wheat beer, thyme and castor sugar in a small heated pot, and reduce to a thin caramel consistency, place 40gm raspberries in same pot for 2 minutes until they collapse, remove from the heat, then blend the raspberry beer caramel in a food processor till smooth, add Verjus, orange zest and EV Olive Oil, then blend till it emulsifies, place in a bowl
Presentation:
Wagyu beef and spiced beetroot salad, dressed with a fresh raspberry and wheat beer emulsion.
Place Cucumber strip in a ring mould, Toss Asian greens, beetroot and fetta together, season with a little salt and pepper, and dress with a little of the reserved pan liquor. Then place a small mound of the dressing in the mould, slice the Wagyu sirloin, place neatly on the salad, dress the plate with fresh raspberries, orange zest and picked thyme, then gently drizzle the Raspberry wheat beer dressing on the plate
The idea behind this combination is to accentuate and intensify the flavours of the malt in the beer, and the rich sweetness of the strawberries.
Beer match: McLaren Vale Dark Lager (Vale DRK). This is a rich malty beer that I intended to work with the beef and not clash with the salad dressing.
Eye Fillet presented with grilled crushed potato, accompanied by Hyashi and shitake salad, dressed with Beer of the wood Jus
Steak Ingredients:
- 200 gm Eye Fillet
- 20 ml orange Juice
- 20 ml red wine vinegar
- 20ml lite soy
- 15ml Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Method:
Blend all liquid ingredients together and marinate eye fillet for 10 minutes
Cook to medium rare and rest steak
Potato Ingredients:
- 1 baked potato- medium sized
- 20 gm crushed garlic
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil-EVO
Method:
Press potato gently till it starts to flatten, place in a bowl with garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, then cook over a medium heat in a frypan until the skin becomes crisp, place on a paper towel to remove excess oil
Salad Ingredients:
- 20gm Shisho leaves
- 20 gm Hyashi salad (marinated konbu seaweed with chilli and sesame)
- 20 gm shitake Mushrooms
- 10 ml sesame oil
- 10 ml olive oil
- 20ml Verjus
- Salt and pepper
Salad Method:
Over a high heat, place shitake mushrooms in a heated pan containing both oils, cook till tender, approximately 1 minute, add salt pepper, and Verjus, remove from pan and place in a bowl with Hyashi salad and Shisho leaves, toss all ingredients together
Beer Jus Ingredients:
- 200ml Good Quality beef stock
- 60 gm Brown sugar
- 200 ml Stone and Wood Beer
Method:
Reduce beef stock by half
In a separate pot, melt brown sugar, then add beer, reduce to syrup consistency, add beef stock and reduce to jus consistency
Presentation:
Eye Fillet presented with grilled crushed potato, accompanied by Hyashi and shitake salad, dressed with Beer Jus
Place potato in centre of plate, rest eye fillet on top, place a little salad neatly on the plate, and dress the plate with beer jus, place a little pickled ginger on the steak
What we are looking for with this sauce is a top layer of hops and bitterness to counteract with a subtle salt balance of the jus, and the sweet spice provided by the salad and ginger
Beer match: Coopers Vintage Ale.
Steamed Pale Ale pudding with beer caramel and macadamia nut ice cream
Pudding Ingredients:
- 200 gm castor sugar
- 200gm unsalted butter
- 3 eggs
- 200 gm self raising flour
- 300 ml pale ale
- 120 gm brown sugar
- 60 gm Toasted Macadamia nuts
- 300gm castor sugar
Method: Pale Ale caramel
Melt brown sugar in a pan, add pale ale and reduce to a thick caramel
Method: Macadamia crumble
Melt 100gm brown sugar, add toasted macadamia nuts, and ensure to coat the nuts well
Place on a flat tray to set, and then roughly pulse in a food processor to a crumble
Method: Pudding
Cream sugar, butter and eggs together in food processor, sift flour, add creamed mixture to flour and combine gently together, place in a butter lined mould, steam for 25 minutes
Present:
Turn pudding out of its Mould, sprinkle a little crumble over the pudding and place a neat mound on plate, drizzle with beer caramel, and present with macadamia nut ice cream and a lime, mint and strawberry salad.
Beer match: Temple Brewing/Weihenstephaner Unifikator (might be hard to find) or Erdinger Pikantus. Any weizenbock should provide a good match as well.