Many people are familiar with cooking with wine but, unfortunately, not nearly as familiar with beer. Over the years, I have tried several recipes and created a few of my own. Most recently, I was getting ready to grill a few steaks and drinking a Narragansett Porter (pretty darn good for the price to be honest) and then a spark of culinary creativity came upon me. The result was pretty delicious!

I started with 8 oz of Narragansett Porter and journeyed to the cupboard to see what spices I could utilize. After a thorough inspection of my seasoning selection, I added 1 tablespoon of whole peppercorns and 1/4 cup of Worcestershire sauce. Then it was off to the fridge for 1 tablespoon of minced garlic and chipotle pepper hot sauce to bring up the heat a notch. I used nearly 1/8 of a cup, but if you are not a big capsaicin enthusiast, you could of course use less. After mixing it thoroughly in a zipper freezer bag I placed in the steaks and removed as much air as possible. I then placed them back in the fridge ever so gingerly and allowed them to marinate for 3 hours.

Once your grill is nice and hot, place these meaty treats and let the flames do their work. I would suggest medium rare, but to each their own! While it may be a simple recipe, the end result couldn’t have made me happier. I served them with garlic mashed potatoes and freshly steamed broccoli florets.

You may be asking yourself, “what about dessert?” Well even there I have you covered! If you are fortunate enough to have an ice cream maker at your abode, try making a beer infused dairy treat! Combine 1/4 cup of Ass Kisser Chocolate Box Oatmeal Stout, 1/4 cup of half and half, 1/2 cup of heavy cream and 1/4 cup of sugar in a mixing bowl. After a little bit of time (it took my ice cream maker 20 minutes), you too can have a fabulous fermented freezer fare!

Neil Sando, ABC Fine Wine & Spirits Beer Consultant – MLK Street, St. Petersburg

Follow him on Twitter @abcbeerneils

Recipe cards below!