Cooking With Alcohol

Growing up my parents never had alcohol in house.  Mom never cooked with it and our favorite family recipes don't include it.  Our neighbor is a  restaurateur and has started to give us cases of wine.  I've been trying out different recipes.  Here are two quick easy recipes that have been a hit in our house.

Beer Bread

My brother gave me a great Miami cookbook for my birthday. If you're ever stuck buying me a gift (because I'm really hard to buy for) just buy me a cookbook or running clothes. You'll never go wrong. Anyways, I love this Miami cookbook. The recipes are easy and submitted by Miami celebrities and chefs. Plus, I like to read this book and think of my brother.

Beer Bread
Combine:
1 can of beer
1/3 cup white sugar
3 cups of self-rising flour.
Put batter in a loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for exactly one hour. After removing it from the oven rub butter on the top.

This recipe was incredibly easy and worth surrendering your favorite beer.

Savory Beef Bourguignon

Often when roast beef is on sale I purchase it for our family. We always have lots of leftovers. I'm always looking for a good recipe to use the leftovers. Sometimes I turn it into BBQ or occasionally I make traditional beef stew. This stew was simple and cooked in the crock pot.

Combine:
1lbs Beef
1 can condensed mushroom soup
1 package onion soup mix
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2t dried thyme
2 cups baby carrots
8 oz of sliced mushrooms

Combine in your crock-pot of 4 hours and serve with warm noodles. Its a perfect cold weather dinner.