Dave,

You said you wished people would send more recipes. Here’s one.

David Hall

Beef in Beer

2 t canola oil
1 onion, chopped
6 slices bacon

3 T flour
1 kg beef stew meat
2 T canola oil

½ btl Half Pints Amber Ale (350 mL)
1 T Dijon mustard
2 t sugar
1 T fresh thyme or 1 t dried thyme

100 g fresh chanterelle mushrooms, sliced
[or any other mushroom]

8 thick French bread slices, toasted
3 T Dijon mustard

Heat the first amount of oil in a frying pan. Add onion & bacon.
Cook until onion is softened. Transfer to slow cooker. Discard drippings.

Dredge the beef in flour. Heat the second amount of oil in the same pan.
Brown the beef in 2 batches.

Combine the next 4 ingredients. Slowly add this to the beef, stirring
and scraping any brown bits from the pan, until boiling.
Add beef to onion mixture. Stir well.

Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or high for 4-4½ hours.
Add mushrooms about 1 hour before serving.
Add more ale if necessary.

Place 1 bread slice on each of 8 plates.
Spread about ½ t mustard on each slice.
Spoon ½ C beef mixture on top of each slice.

Serves 8, or 4 hungry.

Serve with Half Pints Amber Ale or Stir Stick Stout.

Labels: Bulldog Amber, Savory, Stir Stick Stout

Customer participation is key for us at Half Pints, and I'll say a big thank you to Mr. Hall for passing this fine recipe along for you all.

Hi Dave,

I was looking at your web site, saw the recipes/your love of food, and thought I’d share something I made last night with a bottle of your Phil’s Pils that I thought was good enough to pass on. A lot of Manitobans grow zucchini, and at this time of year their plants will have a lot of edible blossoms on them. By now, the male blossoms have served their biological purpose and can be used for a delicious appetizer.

The pilsner was excellent in this, though I’m sure your IPA or weizen heimer would do nicely too.

Ian Hall

Stuffed Squash Blossoms

Ingredients:

18 squash blossoms (zucchini or other)*
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup Half Pints Phil’s Pils pilsner
2 tsp. curry powder
Salt
Black pepper
About 2 cups canola oil

Method:

1. Wash and gently pat blossoms dry.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk flour and curry powder into Half Pints Phil’s Pils pilsner. Batter should be consistency of thin pancake batter. Allow to stand for about 10 minutes.
3. In another mixing bowl, combine cilantro and feta cheese and season with black pepper.
4. Stuff blossoms with about 1 tsp. of cheese mixture.
5. In a deep-sided saucepan, heat oil on stovetop to about 375 degrees (about “medium”). Oil should not smoke.
6. Working in batches of 3-4, dip stuffed blossoms in batter, and fry in oil for 1-2 minutes, turning once.
7. With a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain.
8. Season with salt, and serve with a cold glass of Half Pints Phil’s Pils.

Serve 4-6 as an appetizer

*A note on selecting blossoms: it is recommended to only use male blossoms, since these do not produce any squash. Male blossoms are easy to identify: they do not have a bump on the stem below the flower. Choosing medium-aged blossoms – old enough that they have reached maximum size but not so old the petal ends are starting to shrivel – works best, since they are more tender and more flexible and thus will tolerate stuffing better.

Labels: Appetizer, Customer Recipes, Phil's Pils, Savory