Grand River Brewing
Brewery in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

Butternut Squash & Ale Soup, with Cornmeal Muffins (Serves 8)

Karen from Kitchener - Waterloo, Ontario

Soup:
3 tbsp butter
1 cup Spanish Onion, finely diced
3 cups peeled, seeded, chopped butternut squash
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk
4 cups aged cheddar cheese
1-1/2 cups Mill Race Ale
Pepper / Tobasco to taste

• Heat butter over medium heat in large pot.
• Add onion and cook until transparent.
• Add butternut squash and cook 10 minutes.
• Add chicken stock, bringing to a boil.
• Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until squash is tender.
• Puree soup in blender until smooth.
• Add milk and return to a gentle boil, stirring often.
• Reduce heat to low, whisk in cheese until melted.
• Add ale. Season to taste.

Muffins:

1-1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
3 tbsp melted butter
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup Mill Race Mild Ale

• Sift together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt into bowl.
• Combine eggs, butter, milk and ale.
• Add to dry ingredients, stirring just enough to moisten.
• Spoon batter into greased muffin pan cups, filling two-thirds full.
• Bake 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
• Yields 12 muffins.

Braised Ribs (Serves 4)

Karen from Kitchener - Waterloo, Ontario

4 racks baby back ribs
1 half lemon, cut into wedges
1-1/2 cups Town Hall Lager
2 cups Chicken & Rib BBQ sauce
Pepper to taste

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• Peel off the white membrane underneath the ribs and place ribs in a roasting pan.
• Distribute lemons and pepper. Combine lager and bbq sauce, pour over ribs.
• Place covered pan in oven for 2 1/2 hours, or until ribs are very tender and meat separates from bones.
• Remove from oven and let cool in sauce to absorb liquid.
• Once cool, remove ribs. Pour liquid into sauce pan and reduce. (Sauce to be used for basting.)
• When ready to eat, heat ribs on barbecue (approx 20 min), basting with reserved liquid.

Baked Mushroom and Bacon Mussels (Serves 2 to 4)

Karen from Kitchener - Waterloo, Ontario

1 to 2 lbs mussels
2/3 cup Town Hall Lager
1/2 milk
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp finely diced shallots
1/4 cup finely diced bacon
1 cup chopped mixed mushrooms
1/2 cup grated Asiago cheese
Salt, pepper & tobasco to taste

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Put mussels, Town Hall Lager and milk in a large pot, cover with lid and bring to a boil.
• Steam 3 minutes, or until mussels have opened.
• Remove from heat, drain, reserving liquid and discard any mussels that haven't opened.
• Strain liquid through fine sieve, place in pan and boil until reduced and thick.
• Remove mussels from shells, separate top and bottom half of shells, discard top halves.
• Reserve remaining shells and mussels separately.
• Melt butter over high heat in a large skillet, Sauté shallots, bacon and mushrooms for 3 minutes or until bacon is cooked.
• Combine mixture with reserved mussels and reserved liquid.
• Spoon into reserved shells.
• Place in a baking dish, top with cheese. (this can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours until ready to serve).
• Bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and mussels are heated through.
• Season with salt, pepper and tobasco.

Baked Beans (Feves au lard) (Serves 8)

Teresa from Drumbo, Ontario

3 cups dried white navy (pea) beans
500 ml Plowman’s Ale
1 large tomato chopped
1/4 lb of salt pork or bacon sliced
5 small onions
2 tbsp molasses
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp tomato paste or ketchup
1/2 tsp dried mustard
1 tsp salt

• Rinse beans, place in large bowl and add water to cover by about 2 inches. Soak 8 hours or overnight.
• Drain and place in a large saucepan, add beer and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer partially covered for 30 minutes.
• Stir in chopped tomato.
• Preheat oven to 300F
• Place half the salt pork or bacon in a large earthenware bean pot or other ovenproof baking dish with lid.
• Spoon half of the bean mixture on top, add remaining salt pork and then add the remaining half of the bean mixture. Top with sliced onions.
• Drizzle over the onions and beans.
• Cover tightly with lid or aluminum foil.
• Bake for 4 to 4-1/2 hours.
• Check at intervals during baking and add some beer if the beans look dry.

This is a traditional survival dish from Quebec. Great with fresh baked bread and butter.

Beer Beef Stew

Dale from Waterloo, Ontario

1/4 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 lbs stewing beef - 1 inch cubes
1/2 cup olive oil
2 lbs onions
1 clove garlic, crushed
500 ml Galt Knife Old Style Lager
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp steak sauce
1/2 tsp crumbled bay leaves
1 tsp dried thyme
2 lbs potatoes, quartered
4 medium carrots cut in pieces
Parsley

• Coat cubed meat in flour mixed with salt and pepper; set aside.
• In large pot, heat ¼ cup of olive oil, saute onions and garlic until tender, about 5 minutes.
• Remove onion and garlic from pot.
• Add remaining oil, heat and add the floured meat browning on all sides.
• Now add the onion - garlic mixture along with the beer, 3 sauces and herbs. Mix well.
• Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to low and cover and simmer for 1-1/2 hours.
• Then add the potatoes with enough water to cook in and then 15 minutes later add the carrots.
• Cook for an additional 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
• Add the parsley just before serving.
• Serve with a salad and hard rolls.

Note from Bob: Dale brought this stew for an event at the brewery and it was great.

Al's Crockpot Chilli (Serves 4-8)

Al from Halton, Ontario

1 can (15 ounces each) red kidney beans (drained is better)
500 ml Plowman’s Ale
1 or 2 fresh (or frozen) tomatoes, chopped up
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
2 lbs. or more lean ground beef
2 big onions, semi-coarsely chopped
2 or 3 ribs celery, coarsely chopped
1 cup fresh mushrooms, cut in half
1 green pepper, coarsely chopped
2 or 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 med. size can baked pork and beans with molasses
1 can refried beans for extra potency (optional)
2 to 4 tablespoons chili powder, and as much cayenne as you dare (see insert).
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin - or use cinnamon and/or allspice (see variations below)

• Best made a day before and reheated for extra extra flavour and potency.
• Brown beef in skillet, stirring to crumble.
• Transfer beef to crockpot and cover with beer - use some of the beer to rinse out skillet. This is also good time for the cook to have a couple of pints.
• Combine remaining ingredients in crockpot.
• Cover and cook on high or low for as long as you want, preferably more than 8 hours; add liquid if necessary (beer, or even water if you drank all the beer already).
• Serves up to 8 for lunch or 4 hungry guys for dinner.

Variations

Could be made in a large Dutch oven and baked instead of in a crockpot. Could also add nutmeg with the cinnamon version, or for a really fancy version, instead of cumin and black pepper, add:

3 tablespoons cumin seeds
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
8 cardamom pods
6 whole cloves

• Combine all ingredients in a spice or coffee grinder; process until finely ground.
  Yield: 1/2 cup (serving size: 1 tablespoon)

Could be served over spaghetti and topped with old cheddar cheese. Top with chopped parsley. This dinner is suitably accompanied by beer, or (under duress) by a dry dark red wine like a cabernet sauvignon.

Do you have a recipe that uses Grand River Brewing beer and would like to share with everyone? Please E-Mail Bob Hanenberg and we will have it posted on Grand River Brewing Recipes from our Beer Chefs.