Cooking with Beer: Three Examples

Looking for something a little different in the meal plans for your family? Try cooking with beer. Cooking with beer enhances the flavors for just about any type of meat being cooked, without any of the negative impact of alcohol, which evaporates and cooks out.

For those who might be looking for a nice variety to the same old, same old, without spending a lot of money, the following three meal suggestions are worth giving a try. And please remember to stop back in the comments section to share your opinions about these dishes.

Cooking with beer example number one: Pork steak or roast The next time you're serving up a pork steak or roast, save on all those seasonings, and try this easy dish instead. It's as easy as; 1) Place the meat in your baking dish or crock pot, and 2) add any brand of beer, and cook as normal. Some folks swear by marinating the meat in the beer for one to two hours before cooking. For those who like stewed potatoes, now's a great time to add those spuds.

While it's really that easy to make a delicious pork steak or roast, this works great on pork chops, too. Culinary artists still have a yearning for making even more flavorful and elaborate recipes, so enjoy these.

Cooking with beer example number two: Drunken chicken Here's a classic that's probably most familiar to those who might call themselves "Grill-masters." Drunken chicken is known for being a tender and flavorful dish just about anyone can enjoy. Cooks love it for how easy of a recipe it is.

In a nutshell, the recipes is this: 1) Open a can of beer. 2) pop the whole can up inside of the chicken. 3) Cook it, standing up, over a bed of coals for about an hour. That's the heart of it. But, what's cooking without a few specialized recipes? Here's one from the lovely Paula Deen, and one from Grillmaster Brian Walker.

Cooking with beer example number three: Pancakes/fish batter Anything you can do to make pancakes tastier, can be even better when you replace liquids with flat beer instead. Whether this was discovered by a bachelor who had nothing left but flat beer or not, is still open to debate. But these pancakes are still delicious. Here's my personal favorite pancake recipe.

For those of you who love a good fish fry, this recipe for pancake batter works great as a fish batter. Some folks might want to omit the banana, and some will leave it in. I've found a bit of chili powder in the fish batter makes for an interesting taste. Some folks prefer paprika and a bit of garlic powder (If you add garlic powder, I recommend you hold off on adding the banana). But, whatever variation you do of the pancake batter, it's the beer that makes the difference.

Originally published on Wikinut.