BoozDay Tuesday I

It's Booze-day Tuesday!

Day two of my vegan mofo means a day full of spirits, bubbles, vino, booze! Today I'm exploring food made with alcohol, particularly beer. Surprisingly, I've never made or tasted beer bread. After a quick perusal of the interwebz, I realized just how easy beer bread would be. Frankly, I'm dumbfounded as to why I haven't made beer bread before, considering how much I love beer and bread. The result was well worth the five minutes it took to throw together, and an hour in the oven is hardly a long time when you're busy playing video games with your boyfriend (you remember the breakfast wizard, right?)

 

I chose something I had on hand, a Southampton Keller Pils. I thought a pilsner would be good for my first beer bread, as it is generally a lighter beer and would result in a more basic flavored bread. I definitely plan to experiment with darker beers, like a stout, and even some flavored beers - I can't stop eyeing the pumpkin ales rolling into the liquor shop around the corner!

Above is the dough, which came together like so:

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup sugar

Mix your dry ingredients and then add a 12 oz beer of your choice. Mix until combined and add to a greased loaf pan. Drizzle the top of your dough with 1/4 cup melted vegan butter (I used earth balance) or olive oil and bake for one hour in a 375 degree oven. Voila!

And it was good! It was slightly sweet, very soft, and had a very crunchy top. I chose a really basic recipe, but I think this bread could be vamped up a number of ways - dill & cheddar, pumpkin spice (with that pumpkin ale I mentioned earlier), garlic, etc. 

I paired my (huge) chunk of beer bread with a convenient boxed soap. I've never tried this soup before, but I enjoyed it. It was a little thin, so I added some boiled potatoes and carrots, and topped it with basil and cashew pieces. Not pictured is the half-empty bottle of wine - it's wouldn't be booze day without one.

So readers, do you have any suggestions for incorporating alcohol into food? What are some of your favorite dishes in which your pour on the booze?