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St. Patrick’s Day cooking: Save pint for kitchen

St. Patrick’s Day celebrations are filled with dancing, green decorations, and Irish food and beer. This year, try something new and save a pint for the kitchen.

Traditional St. Paddy’s Day favorites, like Irish stout and corned beef and cabbage, can be combined to make a delicious dish even better. Because beer pairs so well with beef, it’s only natural to cook with beer.

“Beer adds great flavor to the corned beef brisket and can be used in other slow-cooked or braised dishes also,” says Dave Zino, executive chef for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

Braising and stewing are excellent cooking methods when preparing beef such as pot roast, brisket and beef for stew. Typically, you’ll want to start by browning the meat in a bit of oil to caramelize and bring out rich beef flavors. However, corned beef brisket does not require browning.

Braising is used with large cuts of beef that are cooked whole, like corned beef brisket. When braising, the meat is simmered slowly in 1/2 to 2 cups of liquid such as beer or water to ensure moist and fork-tender results, for about 3 to 3 1/2 hours, depending on the size of the roast.

Stewing works best with cubes of beef. When stewing, the cubed meat is simmered for about 1 3/4 hours to 2 1/4 hours in enough liquid to cover the meat and other ingredients such as vegetables, resulting in fork-tender meat and a delicious broth.

Chef Dave also notes beer can serve as a substitute in many recipes. “Beer can also be used in place of wine in recipes and is especially good in beef stews and chilis,” he says.

For mealtime inspiration and more beef cooking techniques, flavor pairings, storage guidelines and cooking tips, visit BeefItsWhatsforDinner.com.

To read the full article, including a recipe for Corned Beef with Red Currant-Mustard Sauce click here. This article was published in the Sidney Herald, Montana’s Official Newspaper on 2.3.2010

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