Test Kitchen - Cooking with Local Dallas Beers

Woke up Sunday morning with that slight chill in the air that represents Fall

I've been over the heat and humidity now since August

So much so that I put out my Halloween decorations Labor Day weekend

in hopes of nudging that cool air along

That chill in the air makes me want to cook soups, stews and chili's

I hesitated thinking that maybe it's not quite that cool yet

but remember we're doing all we can to nudge that cool air in 

Beer Chili sounded really good to me!

craft beers and local breweries are all the rage right now

(All who know me  KNOW I'm more of a wine girl with little interest in the better beers)

  

Lately, I've gotten adventurous and starting trying out different beers

(other than miller lite or michelob ultra)

My new favorite is Blood and Honey by Revolver.



Temptress Beer Chili - Punkel Pumpkin Cake - Blood & Honey Jalapeno Cheese Muffins



So, I actually did a little research

I knew I wanted to make

chili, jalapeno muffins and a pumpkin cake

I needed to determine what type of beers would go best in each

and then...

find the local beer that would be perfect

One of my favorite sites right now is

The Beeroness

She not only provides the "411" on all things beer

but uses beer in very interesting ways in recipes

I learned quickly that I've been using the wrong beer in my chili

miller lite just won't do

It's needs to be STOUT

Boy, is the Lakewood Brewing Co's Temptress

the BEST beer for chili

I made the chili from scratch. I will provide the recipe in a post later in the week

I love jalapeno corn bread with cheese

I was at Sissy's Southern Kitchen for dinner a couple of weeks ago

The jalapeno cornbread muffins were amazing

They were crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside

I tried my own version using Revolver's Blood & Honey

I admit that I cheated and used a box mix

I cooked them in melted butter so they were crunchy and fluffy like Sissy's

but

 they came out very sweet

next time I will make them from scratch

I have all Fall/Winter to perfect them



Blood & Honey Jalapeno Cheese Muffins



The pumpkin cake is also from a box

Pillsbury  has been making seasonal cake mixes lately

I cannot help it, I see something new in the store, I have to try it once

This is a perfect test kitchen tool

I wasn't sure which pumpkin ale I was going to try

Decided to go with Lakewood Brewing Co's Punkel

as I already had them on my list for the chili

I substituted the 1 cup of water with the beer

I also tried something I had read on The Beeroness site

cooking the beer down to an extract

I poured the rest of the bottle of Punkel into a pan

I let it boil down into a syrup

I mixed 2 cups powdered sugar to about 1/2 cup of milk

then added the beer extract

I'm not going to lie

It was VERY strong.. but the sweetness of the icing calmed it down



Punkel Pumpkin Cake