Over the weekend, I happily and thankfully enjoyed some beers produced by a neighbor and friend. Although I could easily write this entire piece about those beers (and I will very soon), today’s focus is on how beer can be used in a marinade/BBQ sauce.

Interestingly, despite its popularity as a beverage of choice for BBQ, most of the recipes for marinades and BBQ sauces do not use beer and instead use wine, spirits or a fortified wine such as port or madera.

As most beer drinkers know, especially those whom have tasted “skunked” beer, beer frequently has a bitter element to its taste. Although this bitter element is not necessarily a bad thing, results from many potential causes, and is frequently used as a tool to bring out other flavors in a beer, the bitter element becomes increasingly strong as the liquid is reduced while making a marinade, sauce base, or the grilling.

Just as a little salt brings out a recipe’s sweet flavors, a beer’s bitter flavors can bring out many other great flavors. But, if the bitter flavors become too strong they will overpower everything.

The “trick” to using beer is not using it alone. If the beer is “cut” by another flavorful liquid such as chicken stock, orange juice or similar. Cutting the beer with this other liquid allows the beer to be reduced without becoming overwhelmingly better.

So, in order to have BBQ pork with a sauce/marinade complimenting my friend’s home brewed and excellent beer, I used a bottle of Old Dominion’s October Fest and cut it with some chicken stock, juice from two oranges and two diced peaches. The marinade also included toasted cumin, all spice, caraway seed, coriander, and fennel seed in addition to cayenne and chili pepper flakes.

The basic recipe is the same as the one used for my earlier blog “Sometimes Simpler is better” with an addition of two – three small peeled and diced carrots slightly browned before adding the onions.

Peach Cobbler No 2

With very few exceptions, sequels and/or copies, imitations or duplications are usually less entertaining, engaging or good as the premier version. I suspect the cause is some sort of motivation to “out-do” the original by some completely arbitrary and ultimately important-for-only-a-fleeting-moment form of measurement.

But, sequels are also second chances, opportunities to learn from previous experience and seek out additional information to improve upon the previous product.

Or, somewhat more appropriately, sometimes the only way to learn the difference between good and bad wine is to drink both, tasting is the only way to experience the difference for yourself.

The gluten free peach and blueberry cobbler I made earlier this month was good and well liked. Although the earlier peach cobbler was good, the crust did not have the crisp, almost cookie or scone texture I wanted. And, I was not all that happy with the taste of the crust.

But, purchasing half a bushel of peaches (in other words many, many pounds of fresh peaches) and a visit by a cousin participating in a GW master’s program provided me with a chance to make a sequel, as if I really needed the excuse.

Without blue or blackberries to go with the peaches and since some were less ripe than others, macerating them in sugar with a splash of vanilla extract for a few hours heightened their sweetness, making them even richer in flavor. Maceration, similar in concept to marinating, adds or heightens foods’ flavors by immersing the food in sugar, spices, salt, vinegar or other substances.

For the crust, I wanted something with a bit of a crust, not a thick distracting crust but enough of a crust to have its own flavor and contrast-to-compliment the peaches. Somehow shortcake came to mind. Using the “Fluffy Biscuits or Shortcake Dough” from Joy of Cooking as a base; I substituted Bob’s Redmill Gluten Free All-Purpose flour for regular AP flour, 6-7 tablespoons chilled butter, a bit extra sugar, and some cinnamon for extra flavor.

The resulting dough was thick, perfect for baked or pan fried drop biscuits. After spreading the dough over the peaches sitting in nearly all of the maceration “juice”, remembering to spread it evenly and leave space around the edge, I baked it It was baked at 450 for about one hour.

The results were great! The high heat browned the dough, caramelizing some of the sugar in the dough and making a firm but crumbly crust covering. Served with freshly made goat milk ice cream, the cobbler was a perfect end to a hot summer’s day.