Cooking with Guinness on Saint Paddy’s Day!
When my friend Alicia asked if I would be making something ‘deliciously green’ for Saint Paddy’s Day, I knew that I had to step up to the plate. Since Irish food is not my forté, my first thought was to put an Italian spin on a traditional dish. Instead of ham and cabbage, I was thinking broccoli rabe and pancetta. No doubt a delicious combination (and something that I could eat any day of the year), but I wanted it to be a bit more authentic for the occasion. I decided to go back to my St. Paddy’s day expertise… Guinness beer.
Like all other stout beers, Guinness can be put to many uses, far beyond the day’s toasting beverage of choice. Bernice Torregrossa, of The Galveston County Daily News, gives a perfect description of the many uses of stouts: “Stout beer, made with darkly roasted barley and malt, is a versatile cooking ingredient. Its fermentation makes it a substitute for yeast in breads, the full-bodied taste adds depth to stews and soups, and the slightly bitter finish intensifies the flavor of chocolate in desserts.”
With this in mind, I started to search out Guinness recipes on the web, and with just a few clicks came across huggingthecoast.com, which offers 22 Guinness recipes! The first recipe listed, Gourmet Guinness Burgers with Guinness Barbecue Sauce (courtesy of inspiredtaste.net), jumped out at me immediately. Burgers, which are a standard pub item, married with the flavor of Guinness… perfect!
I followed the recipe, step by step. No doubt, this is a great dish to celebrate the day! The richness of the beer really plays well with the beef, and gives the perfect kick to the sauce. It’s the sauce that really blew me away with this burger. Even cooked at medium-well, this was one of the juiciest burgers that I’ve had in a long time. I would almost put this in a salisbury steak category, served on a toasty bun.
Guinness Burgers (4 burgers)
- 1 pound minced beef (80% lean, 20% fat)
- 1 egg, whisked
- ¼ cup Stout beer (Guinness)
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for brushing the grill
- 2 teaspoons mustard (Coleman’s Mustard)
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 burger buns
Add beer, olive oil, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper to the beef then lightly mix with a fork. Do not over mix.
Separate the mixture into four portions, then lightly roll each portion into a ball and press down to make a burger patty.
Once preheated, lightly brush the grill with olive oil and place each burger patty down onto the oiled grill. Leave the patties for 4 minutes then flip and cook for another 4-5 minutes or desired doneness (4-5 minutes on each side should be cooked to medium).
Remove the patties from the grill and assemble each burger with desired toppings.
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion, small dice
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 12 ounce can stout beer (Guinness)
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 12 oz can tomato sauce (*plus 1 tbspn tomato paste to thicken, if desired)
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon cumin
In a medium saucepan over medium heat add the olive oil and saute the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add the molasses, beer, vinegar and tomato sauce then stir to combine.
Add all of the spices and allow the sauce to simmer on the stove for about 20-25 minutes until it has reduced into a thick glossy BBQ sauce.
* you can add 1 tbspn tomato paste to thicken if desired
While simmering, keep an eye on the sauce and stir occasionally.
-Dom
Recent Comments