Buffalo Beer Chicken Meatballs

Just in time for Super Bowl Sunday! A nice spin off buffalo chicken wings. Everyone will love these hot little bites.Use a full bodied beer like an IPA for this recipe. Pair with the same beer. Heat and hops go great together.

Ingredients:
1lb ground chicken
1/4 of red onion, small dice
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg white
1/4 panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup parmesan, grated
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp IPA (I used Great Divide Brewing "Titan" IPA)
1 tsp dried parsely
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp black pepper
4-6 oz sharp cheddar, cut into 1/2in cubes (blue cheese would be a good idea as well)
4 tbsp butter
3/4 cup buffalo wing sauce (I used Franks)

Yield: 16 meatballs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a rack with cooking spray and set on a baking sheet and set aside.

Mix onion, garlic, egg white, panko, parm, 2 tbsp of beer, and next 6 ingredients in a bowl. Mix well. Add chicken into bowl and gently mix by hand, but not too much, or the meatballs will be tough.

Divide into 16 pieces. Place a cub of the sharp cheddar in each piece and roll into balls around the cheese. Place meatballs onto rack and put in oven. Bake for 20-25min.

While meatballs are cooking add butter to a pan over medium heat and melt. Then add beer. Let mingle and reduce a bit for a few minutes, then add the hot sauce. Once meatballs are done, add meatballs into the the pan. Spoon and baste sauce over the meatballs. Add toothpicks and serve in the pan or on a plate.

Belgian Strong Ale Chocolate Bread Pudding

The combination of chocolate and Belgian strong ales is amazing. Combining the two in a warm and delicious dessert is even more amazing.

Pair this warm and chocolatey dessert with the same beer or an imperial stout.

Dry Ingredients:

A pound of day old french bread, cut into cubes. Probably yields around 12-16 cups.

1 lb of semi sweet chocolate, grated

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp of fine chopped fresh rosemary

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

pinch of salt

Wet Ingredients:

6 large eggs

1 tbsp of vanilla

2 1/4 cups of milk

3/4 cup of heavy cream

1 1/4 cup of Chimay Bleu (or other Belgian style strong ale)

Couple dashes of bourbon

In a 13×9 pan, butter the dish so the bread pudding won’t stick. Spread out the bread cubes in the pan. Grate the chocolate in a bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the rest of the dry ingredients. Then start mixing in the eggs one at a time. Add in the vanilla and mix again.

In a sauce pan over medium heat, bring the milk, cream, and beer to a quick boil. Take off the heat. Pour the mixture over the grated chocolate, slowly, constantly whisking until chocolate is completely melted. Let sit a couple minutes to cool.

Pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, slowly, constantly whisking. Add in a few dashes of the bourbon and mix again. Pour the entire mixture over the bread. Lightly press down on the bread so they soak up all that yummy goodness. Place in the refrigerator and let sit for at least an hour or overnight.

Pull the bread pudding out of the fridge. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bake the pudding for an hour, or until you can place a knife in the center of the pudding and it comes out clean. Serve with a touch of whipped cream.

Smoked Stout Meatloaf

This isn't your mom's meatloaf! Not only does the meatloaf became "beefier" with stout beer, but it gets smoked too, adding a whole new level of flavor.

Ingredients:  Serves 6
1.5lbs ground beef (80/20)
.5 lbs of sausage (your choice. I used breakfast sausage)
1.5 cups of fresh breadcrumbs
3/4 cup stout ale
1 white onion, diced
1 large green bell pepper, diced
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4-1 cup ketchup
A few dashes of tobasco
2 tbsp of a simple seasoning (mix 1 cup salt, 1/4 cup fresh ground black pepper, and 1/4 cup granulated garlic)

Topping:
3/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup yellow mustard
1/2 cup brown sugar

Other Things Needed:
two disposable aluminum “lasagna” pans (bigger than meatloaf to allow for smoke)
50/50 mixture of mesquite and pecan wood (or other wood of your choice)


Now, here’s for the really simple part. Mix EVERYTHING in a large bowl and let sit in the fridge for at least a couple hours to allow the flavors to mingle well. The key is the breadcrumbs. They’ll soak up that delicious beer. Pull meatloaf out of fridge about 30min or so, before you’re ready to smoke, to allow to come up to room temp.

Prepare your smoker to cook at 225 degrees.

Place meatloaf in one of the pans and shape into a loaf. You don’t want a meatloaf pan because it won’t allow much smoke penetration other than the top of the loaf. So, choose a pan to allow room for the 3 sides of the loaf to be able to receive smoke. “Lasagna” pans are perfect size.Then, poke holes along the bottom of the pan to allow for the juices to drain out and use the other pan to catch the juices and fats.

Smoke the meatloaf for 3-4 hours or until the center of the loaf reaches a temp of 160 degrees. About a 30 minutes to 1 hour before loaf is done, mix the ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar for the topping, and glaze the loaf all over the top. When done, slice thick and serve with dem good ‘ol mashed taters.

Pair this meaty morsel with a stout or porter. An altbier would be great as well.

Spicy Pumpkin Ale Chili

This pumpkin chili has it all. Beer, pork, beans, peppers, and that Thanksgiving spice that makes everything nice. A dollop of pumpkin yogurt adds the perfect balance of sweetness to the chili, which pairs perfectly with your favorite porter.

Battered Boar Brewing "Chucks Pumpkin Ale"

 Ingredients:

4 lbs pork shoulder, trimmed and cubed into 1/2" pieces
24 oz of your favorite pumpkin ale
1.5 cans pumpkin puree or pure pumpkin
28 oz canned crushed tomatoes
1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 large yellow onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 poblano pepper, stemmed, seeded and diced
2-3 serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded and diced
3-4 chipotle peppers, diced with adobo sauce
1/3-1/2 cup fresh ground shili powder (adjust to your taste)
3 Tbsp + 1 tsp mexican oregano
1 Tbsp pumpkin spice
1/2-1 oz bakers chocolate, finely chopped
kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
pinch of cayenne
flour for dusting

Place a large dutch oven over med-high heat. Add a bit of oil. Dust pork with flour. Toss pork into dutch oven and brown in batches.

Drain. Add pork back in the dutch oven. Add in the beer, 1 tsp mexican oregano, chile powder, and chipotle peppers with sauce. Simmer for about 30 minutes.

 While pork is simmering, in another skillet over med-high heat, add in the poblano, serrano, garlic, onion, and crushed red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 7-8 minuntes, until soft. Add in tomatoes and pumpkin puree. Cook for another 5-6 minutes.

 Dump veggie mixture into pork mixture. Add in remaining oregano. Simmer for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, add in all the beans and most of the pumpkin spice. Then add in 1/2 oz of chocolate. Cook for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust. Both chocolate and pumpkin spice go a long way. So add in a bit at a time after, taste, and adjust if you need.

Ladle into bowels. Garnish with a dollop of pumpkin yogurt (mix 1 cup greek yogurt, 1/4 cup pumpkin puree, pinch of cinnamon). And remember, chili is always better the next day.

Three Philosophers Braised Lamb Shanks

Beer-braised lamb shanks done in a slow cooker is an easy, warm, and savory recipe for a cold day. Pair with your favorite Belgian-style strong ale, porter or scotch ale!

This beer is full flavored with dark fruit, cherries, yeast, oak, etc. Nice mouthfeel and good carb. Excellent for some lamb.

For the crock pot

5 lbs lamb shanks
1.5 tsp dried oregano
1.5 tsp dried rosemary
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
6-8 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup beef stock or chicken stock
1 1/4 cup Ommegang Three Philosophers Belgian Strong Ale
Canola oil for browning meat

Sauce
2 Tbsp butter
2 cups of broth
1/4 cup dried cherries

Trim lamb of any excess fat.

Mix all the spices and herbs together (except garlic). Heat large skillet or dutch oven to med-high heat. Rub lamb. Toss shanks, in batches, into the pan and brown lamb on all sides. Transfer to crock pot when done.
Rub lamb good with all the garlic. Gently pour the stock and beer over lamb. Set crock pot on low for 7-8 hours.

When done, gently take out lamb with some tongs and place in a dish. Cover with foil and set aside.

Pour stock back in the pan used to brown the meat. Turn to medium heat. Add butter and cherries. Reduce for about 20min or add some cornstarch to thicken up faster. Pour sauce all over lamb. Serves with greens and potatoes, or couscous, or noodles, etc.

And voila! Done!