Beer-brined rosemary chicken and root vegetable mash with beer butter

One of the hazards/opportunities of living with a home brewer is that every once in a while a bottle fails to carbonate. At that point, it gets labeled as a cooking beer and goes into a carbonnade or gets used to stew chicken breasts in an herbal broth.

Luckily, there are other cooks who specialize in the cooking with beer category. Here are a few new recipes I've tried lately. Prosit.

Beer-brined roasted rosemary chicken

Adapted from thebeeroness.com. Note that this recipe requires starting hours ahead.

Ingredients

2 pounds chicken thighs (I used dark meat)

kosher salt

1 bottle of beer

¼ cup olive oil

3 garlic cloves, pressed

2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

½ teaspoon pepper

Method

Sprinkle chicken with salt on all sides. Place in a large bowl. Pour beer over the top. Cover and marinate for 1 to 6 hours. Remove chicken from beer; pat dry.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place chicken on a rimmed baking sheet. Stir together olive oil, garlic, rosemary and pepper. Rub mixture over chicken. Roast for 30 minutes or until well browned and cooked through.

Rating: Very repeatable, basic food. Would pair well with the following:

 

Slow cooker whipped root vegetable mash with herb beer butter

Adapted from cookingandbeer.com. Again, you'll want to start this earlier in the day. Don't let the potentially sharp turnips put you off of this one; they get tempered nicely by the sweeter parsnips and fresh-tasting celery root. Yes, I know celery root looks like a Maurice Sendak creature, but just cut off the dirty, gnarly bits and you'll be rewarded.

Ingredients

1 pound turnips, peeled and chopped

4 parsnips, peeled and chopped

1 celery root, ugly bits lopped off and the rest chopped

2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 head of garlic, cloves peeled

1 cup water

½ cup sour cream

3 tablespoons of milk

1 cup butter

½ cup beer (we used some of Dave's basil-weizen in keeping with the herbal theme)

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon fresh oregano and/or marjoram

½ teaspoon coarse salt, plus more to taste

Method

Put turnips, parsnips, celery root, potatoes and garlic in a large slow cooker. Add 1 cup water. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and cook for 6 to 8 hours on low (or 3 to 4 on high) until vegetables are tender.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a small saucepan. Add beer, fresh herbs and ½ teaspoon salt. Let cook for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Transfer vegetables from crockpot to a serving/mixing bowl. Add the sour cream and milk, beating in with a handheld electric mixer until smooth. Add enough beer butter to reach desired consistency. You can use the rest to drizzle on top or for another use. Surely you can think of ways to use a substance that combines beer and butter?

Rating: Quite nice, repeatable home comfort food.