More sourdough baking... with Pedro!

Pedro is the name I gave to my sourdough starter -- it seems to be the "rage" nowadays to give a name to that bubbling live thing on your counter. I've come across names like Herman, Virgil, Ed; and my first starter (see last blog) was named Jedediah.
Now I can say things like "I need to feed Pedro", or "I've got Pedro rising behind the woodstove, so no, I cannot run down to Blockbuster"... A sourdough starter is a alive, and thus a member of the household, and needs care just like a baby or pet...
Why Pedro? Well, I thought it was a good name for an Alaskan Sourdough starter, since the "Sourdough miner" who first discovered gold in Fairbanks (which was our first Alaskan home, and where I first started seriously baking bread weekly) was an Italian immigrant named Felix Pedro --more about him and Fairbanks Gold Rush history here.

So here's the recipe for my own version of an everyday mixed grain bread:
Pedro's Peasant Bread
1 c sourdough starter (fed within the last 12 hrs)
1 c warm water
1-3 t yeast (I'm still experimenting -- may not need much yeast at all!)
1/2 c white flour
1-2 t sugar
1 T oil
1-2 t salt
1 T + flaxseed, ground
1 c whole wheat flour (I like King Arthur organic WW)
1 c rye flour (I use Bob's Red Mill Dark Rye)
approx 1 c+ unbleached white flour -- as needed

Set sourdough aside. Mix warm water, yeast, flour and sugar in a large bowl, and let it sit for a while (minimu 5-10 minutes) to form a bubbly "sponge". Then add the sourdough starter (my Pedro lives in a mason jar that has volumetric measurements on the side, so I just pour out what I need, and then give the remaining Pedro its daily feeding of equal amounts of water and flour).
Stir the remaining ingredients into the sponge, 1/2 c at a time, until stirring gets hard and the dough starts pulling together and off the sides of the bowl.
Transfer the dough onto your counter into a pile of flour, and start kneading.
Knead (adding flour as needed) until the dough feels right: smooth, not too sticky (although rye does make for a more sticky dough than wheat), and "smooth as a baby's bottom".
Note: I've read that you're supposed to knead first without salt, let it sit 20 min, then knead in the salt -- this influences the gluten chemistry.

Place the dough ball in clean, oiled bowl, and let it rise in a warm place, covered, for approx 1 hour, until doubled in bulk. Punch down and knead.
Variation at this point: go for a second rise, or else "retard" the dough (covered w/ plastic):
I've done a bit of research on this topic on the web, plus talked to a friend who baked professionally. Professional bakers use a "retarder" for sourdough breads -- the dough is cooled down in the frig or special "retarder box" for somewhere between 6-18 hrs, slowing down the yeast into something close to hibernation while letting the bacteria do their magic, S-L-O-W-L-Y, which is said to improve the flavor, esp. if you like more sourness.
I personally am not looking for much extra sourness, but I can see advantages in timing, such as mixing and rising on the first day, then pulling the dough from the frig, finish rising and baking the next day... Retarding can be done either in the early stage (after 1st rising), or at the last stage with shaped loaves (but that takes up more space in the frig)...

Final rise (after shaping): I either use a greased loaf pan, or do a free-form loaf, or better yet, use a form:
Sprinkle cornmeal on a cookie sheet, and if you have one, place bread inside a bottomless baking form (I use my smallest springform pan (without the bottom) -- the shape can be round or square. Let it rise again, covered. Optional: with a sharp knife, make some slashes into the top of loaf right before baking.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 (or 425) F with pizza stone on the top rack. On the bottom rack place an empty pan. 5-10 minutes before the bread hits the oven, carefully (wear gloves) pour some hot water into that bottom pan and close the oven -- that's to give the oven a good shot of steam, which helps form a nice crust. Some websites suggest filling this pan with lava rocks. Can also add extra steam by spritzing the oven w/ a spray bottle.

Using a your best transferring skills from pizza baking (better yet, use a baker's peel -- I'm lucky to have received a Superpeel from my daughter for Christmas), transfer the loaf (including the form, if using one) onto the pizza stone. Work quickly and carefully, because you dont want to loose all that steam!
After 10 minutes, remove the water pan, if there's still water left in it. Also turn heat down to 375 F. Basically you need to finish dry-baking the bread, rather than steaming it the whole baking time, in order to get that nice crust! This takes about 30 minutes, depending on the size of the loaf/loaves.

Result from today: Was in a hurry, wanting to bake bread before needing to go to work. Used a full T of yeast, sugar, and forgot the salt. Result was very fast rising (last one doubled in bulk in 1/2 hr, which was definitely too fast) , but bread still turned out quite good.
Next time: Try less yeast, also, try retarding overnight.

More hints for sourdough baking can be found at:
http://sourdough.com
http://sourdoughhome.com
http://www.foodreference.com/html/sourdough-bread-729.html

Sourdough

"Sourdough" is a nickname for old-timer Alaskans (especially miners), because in the Gold Rush days, the only way to get bread or pancake to rise without the use of Baker's yeast or eggs was, of course, by using a sourdough starter.

In Alaska lore, one earned the title "Sourdough" after having lived thru at least one winter, whereas the newcomer who has not seen a full winter yet is called a "Cheechako".





"Sourdough" by Fred Machetanz, Alaskan painter (1908-2002)
Photo credit: http://americangallery.files.wordpress.com

When the Prof and I got married, one of the most unusual gifts we received was a live culture of "Jedadiah's Sourdough Starter" together with a recipe book and a beautifully handcrafted bread bowl. Alas, Jedediah did not survive the trip to Alaska -- the bowl, however, did!

Sourdough is a live culture of bacteria, and the lactic acid produced by these bacteria causes the "sourness". According to Wikipedia, sourdough starters are actually stable symbiotic culture of bacteria and the yeasts Candida milleri or Saccharomyces exiguus, which usually populate sourdough cultures symbiotically with Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis.
Look back at the species name of the last critter: now that's a cool scientific name, named after another Gold Rush city famed for it's sourdough! These sourdough cultures later made it North in the Alaska Goldrush, up the Yukon, to the Klondike and Nome! And my kitchen...

Eldest (a.k.a. Kitchensister) made her own from scratch earlier this year: mix equal quantities of water and unbleached flour, keeping it in a warm place, loosely covered. Some recipes call for the use of potato water, a teeny bit of sugar, and sometimes even the skin from grapes, as they have some good bacteria & yeasts on them (the important critters for populating the starter come mostly from the grain outer shell, not so much the air in your kitchen).

Whether your sourdough comes from a friend, a freeze-dried culture bought at the supermarket (available in the tourist section of many Alaska stores), or you started your own from "scratch", the most important thing is to keep feeding it.
Every day (occasionally I'm forgetful and skip a day), I feed my sourdough by adding some water and flour, and stirring it: it keeps that culture of critters alive and multiplying. (Otherwise you end up with more dead than alive, it gets more and more sour, and can even start turning nasty colors on the container's sides -- if that happens, don't panic. Just stir it up, spoon out some from the middle into a new clean container, and feed it with fresh water and flour.)
If I know I won't be using my sourdough for a while (vacation, or general laziness), then I put the starter in the frig. There the processes slow down, but I still should feed it every week or so.
Turns out, you can even freeze it, thaw it out later, and start again with feeding it, but it's nearly like starting from scratch (patience!) -- it will take several feedings before your starter starts bubbling again and acting like a sourdough...

There's lots of do's and don'ts surrounding sourdough. Don't use metal is one rule often mentioned. Indeed, a metal container will cause the acidity to react chemically, which you don't want -- so always use glass or ceramic for your starter. But there's also the rule to never use a metal utensil, only wood or plastic. Turns out, using an occasional stainless steel spoon to stir your dough is no big deal -- that's too short of a contact time to be a problem (just don't leave that spoon sitting in the starter).

It's good to cover your starter, but never tightly. The cover needs to be loose to let the air escape -- sourdoughs have been known to explode, esp during transport! If your sourdough needs to travel somewhere, be very careful: keep in a cooler or thermos, and loosen the lid frequently.
Also, don't let sourdough get too hot, or subject it to ultraviolet light -- that kills it!

The first couple of days a newish starter may not have much "umph" to it -- it needs to be babied for a few more days. Feed it every day (toss some if you find your container getting too full), and pretty soon you'll see it bubbling away. Those bubbles are good sign! Even better, mix up a batch of sourdough pancakes, and if you'll know right away if your sourdough starter is up to snuff!

Using sourdough:

• Never add anything other than flour and water to your starter.
• Before using or feeding, always stir the "hooch" (liquid that separated & floats on top) back in.
• If you feel that your sourdough is a bit too sour for your tastes, add some baking soda to the recipe to neutralize (sweeten) it -- but not to your starter!
• Keep this in mind for your recipes: salt decreases the yeasties' activity, while sugar increases it.

Sourjacks (a.k.a. Sourdough Pancakes)
from Ruth Allman's Alaska Sourdough recipe book

2 c. starter (room temperature, fed last the day before)
2 T sugar
4 T oil
1 egg
1/2 t salt
1 scant teaspoon baking soda (more if your starter is real sour!)

Mix first 5 ingredients well. Have your griddle hot before proceeding.
Add soda (some dilute w/ water in a jigger first), fold in gently (don't beat!) and very soon you get this chemical reaction that is a joy to behold: the batter fills with bubbles and doubles in bulk. Pour batter on hot griddle. Flip.
Yummy with syrup!

My variation of this recipe (and a few other sources) is to make a few shortcuts, and to make smaller quantities, because I just can't cook them fast enough, and the batter starts going flat before I got them all cooked...

First I make a dry mix that I store in a jar:
2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
2 T salt
2 T baking soda

To make Pancakes, I use a container that holds at least 4 c liquid (beware of expansion!)
1 c starter (room temp, etc)
1 egg (optional, but makes darn good pancakes)
tad of oil (about 1 T)
tad of milk or buttermilk (1-2 T)
1/2 c of my dry mix

Proceed the same as above, with griddle hot and ready before the soda-containing dry mix gets stirred in.

Sourdough Bread without added yeast

2 c sourdough starter (proofed: freshly fed, bubbly and frothy, called a "sponge")
this may take several hours depending on your starter (if starting with refrigerated starter, this may take 6-8 hrs).
When the sponge is ready, start adding flour and mixing it in 1/2 c at a time --this takes
approximately 3 c unbleached flour (amounts can vary greatly).
Also, as desired, add up to 2 T olive oil, up to 1 T sugar, and 1-2 t salt.

Knead the dough until it feels right (flexible, not too heavy).
Let rise in a warm place, covered with a dishtowel (preferrably a clean one:) until doubled in bulk -- again, this may vary greatly, but will probably take longer than yeast breads you might be used to baking.

Punch down the dough, knead a little more, form loaf, and let rise until nearly doubled in size. Bake at 350F for 30+ minutes. I check mine when it has a nice crust, and thump the bottom and if it sounds good and "hollow", it's ready. Cool on rack, resisting cutting right into it!

I tell ya, it felt like a great achievement when I baked my first loaf of successfully risen sourdough bread without any added yeast!!!

Sourdough Rye Bread
Rye lends itself better to sourdough baking than just plain yeast-- in fact, most Northern Europeans still make their Rye bread with sourdough. And good German "Roggenbrot" is one of the foods I still miss the most from Germany, so, I gotta make my own. I've made rye bread with yeast, but I'm hoping to embark on sourdough rye baking!
Searching for a good rye bread recipe, I came across a very interesting story and recipe from a Lithuanian American at Armchair.com.
For a NY Jewish Sourdough Rye recipe (using a special rye sourdough starter, and old rye bread) , go to Recipe Rascal.

Finally, check out this blog dedicated to sourdough baking, Wildyeastblog.com

Soups in Winter

During the cold months (which some would argue constitutes some 9+ months of the year here in Alaska), I love to have a pot of soup going on the stove and some bread baking in the oven. Soups can also be my "fast" food when I'm too busy to cook a full dinner: just defrost some soup, add salad or sandwich/panini.
I was surveying my freezer today, and I have a bunch of homemade stocks -- everything from fish to beef to chicken/turkey. Plus there are several types of beans, from white to black, from chickpeas to lentils. Now to some soup recipes -- no quantities, as usual -- soups are sooooo easy & perfect for using up left-overs.

First a few that are pretty much just vegetables, and cook up fairly quickly:

Apple-Onion soup
Sauté equal amounts chopped, peeled apples and onions in butter until soft. Add stock or water to cover, then simmer for 10 minutes. Cool and purée. Serve sprinkled with Stilton or other blue cheese.

Mostly-Red Mid-Winter Soup
I sort of "invented" this is one to use up those red chard or beet stems after cooking the greens, with inspiration from Glacier Grist recipes (see GG#52). Basically can make it with any winter vegetables hanging around the frig this time of year (good way to use that cabbage!)
Saute onions, add shredded cabbage, celery, fennel (if you have it), beets and beet stems, carrots. For flavor, it's nice to add garlic, ginger, pepper or paprika. Cover with stock & simmer until vegetables are tender. Blend into smooth paste, correct seasoning (salt, pepper), and serve with dollop of yoghurt or sour cream.

Sweet Potato-Kale Soup
Sauté chopped onion in butter, then chunks of sweet potato and stock or water to cover. Simmer until the sweet potatoes can be pierced with a knife, then add chopped kale and cook until wilted.

Leek-Potato Soup
Saute leek slices in butter, add potatoes and stock or water to cover. Simmer until potatoes are soft. Blend all ingredients, then add salt. pepper, cream and parmesan cheese to taste.

African Peanut Soup
from an old post -- see recipe here.

Legume soups take longer to cook when you start with dried legumes, but a shortcut is to use canned beans or to keep a variety of pre-cooked beans in the freezer. Legumes make good hearty meals with all that protein: I have quite a few soup recipes under legumes here.

NEXT IS FISH. Fish Soups are also very quick and easy to make. When I process salmon, halibut or lincod in the summer, I freeze the smaller pieces in bags labelled "Fish for soup".
Here is a new family favorite:

Bouillabaise
A french soup that can be made with most any firm-fleshed fish. According to tradition, there should be at least five different kinds of fish in a proper bouillabaisse. In Marseille, considered the mecca of bouillabaisse, they use at least seven, not counting the shellfish. There are lots of veggies in this soup,one of the key ones being fennel and zest of an orange!
Saute onions, leeks and fennel in olive oil, add garlic, zest of 1 orange, saffron (optional), thyme and /or tarragon, chile or cayenne pepper. Add fish stock or water, chopped tomatoes (canned ok) , diced red potatoes, carrots or parsnips, and seafood (such as cod, halibut, scallops, shrimp, clams, etc). During the last 5 minutes, add white wine, clam juice and/or lemon juice, plus salt and pepper to taste.
Traditionally served over french bread with Sauce Rouille (see full Bouillabaise and Rouille recipe complete with quantities here)

Cooking up a mess of Cajun greens

My men LOVED dinner tonight, praising it as the best batch ever made -- so I'm trying to write down what I did: a little bit of this, and a dash of that...
Originally this dish, called simply FLANKS AND GREENS, came from Paul Prudhomme "Fork in the Road" cookbook, which is a whole lot healthier than his earlier works. His recipe calls for Flank Steak, but you can substitute other beef cuts, or probably other meats as well (moose, anyone?). It's very much a dish along the lines of a meal featuring the vegetables with just a small amount of meat for protein and flavor, without the meat being the central attraction.

Prep-work is the name of the game here -- lots of work goes into getting all the ingredients ready, but it cooks up super fast. Sometimes I make a double batch of meat, and freeze it without any greens, then cook it w/ fresh greens after thawing out (which makes it a super fast meal!)

I slice the meat REALLY thinly, against the grain (stir-fry style) , and work the spice mix into the meat before cooking it. I don't use much meat -- one steak feeds the 4 of us easily.
The spice mix:
1 T cumin seeds, whole
1 t each black and white pepper corns
dried mexican pepper, such as chipotle or poblano
1/2 t mustard seeds
--grind all these in a spice grinder.
1 t each garlic and onion powder
1-2 t thyme
1 t Hungarian paprika
1+ t salt (if that's not enough, add more salt at the end when tasting finished product)
Work this spice mix into the meat slices. Set aside.
also need flour for thickening
optional: Tabasco sauce or other hot sauce (I serve this at the table, esp. if I don't make it very spicy on account of whimpier diners, such as daughters and sometimes myself!)

Vegetables
1-2 onions, chopped
2+ cloves garlic, chopped
1 T+ jalapenos, chopped (fresh or canned)
1 bunch mustard greens
1 bunch red chard or beet greens
1 bunch kale or collard greens
1 bunch spinach
optional: other bitter greens, such as endives, sorrel, dandelion greens

Prepare all veggies ahead of time: wash and remove tough stems of greens. Chop or rip leaves into smaller pieces (don't bother drying the greens in a salad spinner -- you will need that extra moisture when cooking).

Heat oil in pan and saute onions. Add garlic and jalas. Add meat & spice mix. Cook until the meat is no longer pink. Make a roux by adding flour (for thickening) and water as needed.
Once there is a good brown roux, start adding the greens (whatever amount fits, starting with the toughest first, usually kale or collards) and cover with lid, checking occasionally until the greens have cooked down and there's room for the next batch.

Serve over rice. This dish is rich and dark -- not exactly pretty to look at, but tasty and VERY healthy!

picture credit: http://www.motherearthnews.com

Menu for mid-January

This past weekend we went on a cabin trip, and our meals were simple, yet tasty.
Upon returning, I continued to cook simple meals as we're catching up with life, laundry, etc.
"E-zy" Meals, to me, is defrosting something cooked previously in a more industrious state -- so we ate wholesome tasty food. I LOVE having a freezer full of ready meals!

Wed we finally got some fresh produce when the CSA box arrived, plus I went grocery-shopping, and now the frig is full of fresh ingredients again. (Aside: I used to worry about whether we could get thru the produce in our CSA box during the week before the next one arrived, and now I'm buying extra vegetables!)

Sunday (at cabin): jambalaya w/ carrots and sausage
Monday: Gumbo and crab
Tues: Mexican: burritos w/ black beans & chorizo, grilled veggies & meat.
Wed: Chili and cornbread, green salad
Thurs: Flanks & greens over rice
Fri: Thai fish soup or bouillabaise, Pasta w/ carrots, cabbage & roasted walnuts, salad
Sat: Beet and Carrot soup, Pasta w/ goatcheese, broccoli & smoked salmon, green salad
Sun: Bubble & squeek, roasted turnips, celery roots, potatoes, salad

QUINOA: the Incas "Mother Grain"

I was asked by friend "what to do with Quinoa?"
She wanted to give it a try as part of a gluten-free diet as a substitute for wheat and other grains: in fact, it has the highest protein content of all "grains" -- and unlike others, it has all 8 essential amino acids, so it is a very wholesome food indeed.

First of all, let's clarify: Quinoa isn't truly a grain (all grains are graminoids or grasses), rather, Quinoa is in the goosefoot family (Chenopodium), and is thus more closely related to spinach, beets and tumbleweed.
So, kids, eat your tumbleweed!!!

Storage: I recently learned you're supposed to refrigerate it, and not store it for months in a cupboard-- that was news to me, but it does make sense that quinoa's proteins would degrade if stored too long.
I don't refrigerate mine (too little room in my frig!), but I do mark the date of purchase so that it does not linger too long...
Washing: Many recipes call for washing/soaking/rinsing quinoa to rid it of its bitter saponins.
This may not strictly be necessary (most quinoa commercially available in the US has the saponins removed already) -- I've never heard my family complain about the taste, but it may be a good idea if you find it has a bitter taste. Soak in warm water for at least 5 minutes, then rinse it, using a fine sieve.
Cooking Proportions: 1.5 to 2 cups liquid for each cup of quinoa.
If you rinse it first, go for 1.5 ratio, esp if using a rice cooker (yes, you can!)
I often heat up stock or broth, then use the 2/1 ratio and cook until all liquid is absorbed.
Uses for Quinoa: replace any recipe that calls for rice or cous-cous.
For breakfast, eat it like oatmeal with honey, nuts and dried fruit.
Make a vegetarian chili by replacing the meat with quinoa.
Use it in brothy soups, such as chicken-vegetable soup, replacing the noodles.
Bake with it: add some cooked quinoa to your favorite bread or muffin recipe.

Quinoa w/ fennel and sun-dried tomatoes
olive oil
onions, chopped
fennel bulb, chopped
celery stalk, chopped
carrots, you guessed it: chopped
sundried tomatoes, cut into smaller pieces (soak in warm water and add w/ veggies, unless packed in oil -- then add at the end w/ olives)
garlic -- finely chopped
1/2 t dried thyme
1 cup quinoa
1.5 cups stock, broth or water
1/2 t salt (unless using a salty broth)
optional: calamata olives
fennel greens, chopped

Saute veggies in olive oil, add spices, add quinoa, stir everything well. Add broth and simmer for about 15 minutes until liquid is absorbed. Let sit for another 5 minutes or so, then fluff with a fork and add olives and chopped fennel greens before serving.

Quinoa & Fruit Winter Salad
recipe from Eldest -- and may I add is perfect for winter when you're low on fresh vegetables...

cooked quinoa
raisins (or cranberries)
scallions (or red onions)
canned mandarin oranges
orange zest
mint
peanuts (or cashews)
sesame or other delicate, aromatic oil

Yesterday, I made a yummy mexican-style Quinoa bean salad I posted a while back (see here), and here is a whole bunch more quinoa recipes on the website savvyvegetarian.com

Photo credit: http://andescrop

When life gives you lemons (or frozen beer)...

Over the holidays we put some beer on the porch to cool down before a party -- and promptly forgot about it completely. Result: 3 beer bottles frozen solid!
When life gives you lemons (or frozen beer, in this case), find some recipes that use beer, and cook with it.
First, I made a really good batch of beer bread. I like making bread -- the whole process of kneading the dough, letting it rise, punching it down, etc. To me it's a real treat when I have the kind of relaxed day at home that lets me bake a batch of homemade bread.

Not having a recipe exactly, I just make up my own:
Borealkitchen's Beer Bread
1 bottle of beer (I used an IPA)
2-3 t dry yeast
tiny bit of sugar (just a dash)
unbleached white flour
salt
rye flour
whole wheat
optional: 1 t caraway seed, crushed

Heat beer (approx 1.5-2 cups) in the microwave- warm but not hot to the touch. Doesn't matter if it's previously frozen or gone flat because you forgot all about a beer you poured yourself the night before. If I didn't have enough beer, I would just add water.
Stir yeast and sugar into warm beer, let sit briefly. Pour 1 c white flour into mixing bowl and add the beer-yeast mixture. Let this form a "sponge" (this really is the correct term!). This may take 10-15 minutes, during which time I putter around the kitchen, unload the dishrack, etc.
When the sponge is ready, add the rest of the ingredients (I know I don't list quantities-- I go for a ratio of about 1/2 white to dark, with rye constituting maybe a 1/4 to 1/3), mixing with big spoon or dough blade of food processor until dough starts holding together. Take out of the bowl and knead by hand with extra flour on the counter top.
Then I oil my big ceramic bowl and put the dough in, cover w/ clean dishtowel, and set it on or near the woodstove (make sure it's not too hot!). I pull out a good book, or check my email, or bake a batch of cookies, or start making a batch of soup, or just putter around for an hour or 2, checking occasionally on the dough, waiting for it to double in size.
Then I punch the dough down and knead it again, put it in a lightly greased loaf pan, and let it rise again -- this second rising seems to go a little faster. Bake in preheated oven for approx 30 minutes. I test it by taking it out and tapping the bottom -if it sounds right, it's ready to come out and cool on the rack. And if you have a pot or soup or stew going, you're all set for a dinner tonight!

Beef with Stout
This recipe is a modification of recipe by Irish food writer Darina Allen. See her website with weekly Irish recipes at the Ballymaloe Cookery School.
Instead of baking it in the oven, this recipe could probably also be made in a crockpot.

2 lbs (900g) lean stewing beef, eg. Chuck
seasoned flour
3 tablespoon olive oil
2 thinly sliced onions
1-2 c celery, carrots, and/or turnips, chopped -my addition, I like to add loads of veggies!
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon dry English Mustard
1 tablespoon concentrated tomato puree
1 strip of dried orange peel
a bouquet garni made up of 1 bay leaf, 1 sprig of fresh thyme, 4 parsley stalks.
1/2 bottle of beer: Beamish, Murphy or Guinness
approx 2 c beef stock
optional: mushrooms, sauteed in butter
salt and freshly ground pepper
fresh parsley

Cut the meat into 1½ inch (4cm) cubes and toss in seasoned flour. Heat some oil in a hot pan and fry the meat in batches until it is brown on all sides. Transfer the meat into a casserole and add a little more oil to the pan. Fry the thinly-sliced onions until nicely browned; deglaze with the stout. Transfer to the casserole, add the stock, sugar, mustard, tomato puree, orange rind and bouquet garni. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer in a very low heat, 150C/300f/ regulo 2, for 2-2½ hours or until the meat is tender.

Meanwhile wash and slice the mushrooms. Saute in a very little melted butter in a hot pan. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Set aside. When the stew is cooked, add the mushrooms and simmer for 2-3 minutes, taste and correct the seasoning. Serve sprinkled with chopped parsley. Note: This stew reheats well. You may need to add more sugar to the recipe if you find it a little bitter.

Lastly, there is the vegetarian German Beer Soup, perfect for a beer gone flat:
Hot German Beer Soup
1 quart beer (light is milder, use dark for a richer flavor)
1 T butter
2 T flour
1 T sugar
lemon: peel and chop the rind, juice 1/2 of lemon
1 stick cinnamon
6 whole cloves
2 egg yolks

optional "Snowballs" (eggwhite dumplings)
2 egg whites
2 T sugar
dash of cinnamon

Pour beer and let stand for several hours until it's gone flat. Heat in saucepan.
Meanwhile melt butter and stir in the flour and sugar, whisking and cooking until it has a rich caramel color. Add this by the spoonful to the hot beer, along with lemon and spices. Bring to a boil and simmer for approx 15 minutes. Remove from stove and add beaten eggyolk and snowballs, if desired. Serve in mugs when your loved one come in from the cold after skiing or sledding (BTW, alcohol contents is very low!)

Snowballs:
Beat eggwhites into still peaks, gradually adding sugar. Drop by spoonfuls onto the hot soup which has been removed from heat, and cover with lid. Let it sit for 5-10 min, letting snowballs swell an cook. Sprinkle with cinnamon and serve.

There are also some recipes that call for cream/sour cream in the soup, and serve it over bread and Swiss cheese, such as this one here, found on allrecipes.com. Several readers comment on how bland this recipe was, and that it tasted too much like beer! Beer soup is definitely not for everyone, especially the sweet version w/ cinnamon... Note: I've seen recipes that call for hot pepper sauce & garlic too -- so there's the potential for making it spicy!

And now a German recipe that calls for cabbage and beer, from
Cooking with Beer Taste-Tempting Recipes and Creative Ideas for Matching Beer & Food
by Lucy Saunders

Kriek Cabbage

1/3 cup dried sweetened cherries
1 cup cherry ale or kriek (a Belgian cherry lambic)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon minced orange zest
1 tablespoon minced shallots or mild sweet onion
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
10-12 oz. red cabbage, tough outer leaves
removed and cored, quartered, and sliced thin
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Place the cherries in an oven-proof dish and cover with the cherry-flavored beer. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and heat in the microwave for 1 minute on high power; remove wrap and let cool.

2. Stir together the olive oil, orange zest, shallots or sweet onion in a 10-inch heavy sauté pan placed over low heat. sauté gently until the shallots are translucent and tender, about 3 minutes.

3. Add the cabbage, red wine vinegar, cherries and beer, stirring often, and cook for 15 minutes or until the cabbage is tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve.

Borealkitchen's Note: I don't happen to have Kriek or red cabbage lying around. But I do have another bottle of previously frozen IPA and a head a white cabbage, so I'm planning to give this recipe a try with the following variations
skip the cherries -- maybe try an Alaskan version with dried cranberries?
Heat oil and saute onions, add cabbage, grated orange zest, beer-infused cranberries, salt and pepper (skipping the vinegar too).
I'll let you know how it turns out, and what the fam thinks -- cabbage is not exactly their favorite...