Beer and food make the perfect match and the team at Sharp's Brewery in Rock, north Cornwall have worked with chefs to develop some fantastic recipes to prove it.
Brewer of the UK's no 1 cask and bottled beer – Doom Bar, for those who aren't so hoppily minded – Sharp's believe that beer needn't be an afterthought when considering what to cook and serve, but an integral part of the experience.
With a proliferation of UK breweries and beer styles available to consumers nowadays, there really is a beer for every palate and every dining occasion, from a warming winter stew to cocktails and canapes with friends.
In 2018, Sharp's worked with chef friends, either based in or with links to Cornwall, to create a cookbook called Just Add Beer in which they looked to dispel some beer myths, educate about beer ingredients and flavours and even demonstrate how glassware affects perceptions of beer, as well as introducing some 60 recipes organised by dining occasion, for example Al Fresco, Every Day Meals, Roasts and Celebrations.
In this exclusive selection of recipes taken from the book Just Add Beer, Sharp's aim is to give you some fresh ideas about how to use beer both as an ingredient and as a pairing.
Developed to be easy to make and totally delicious, the Doom Bar Collins and Doom Bar Daiquiri are perfect for offering your guests something different over the festive period, and are a perfect pairing for the chill and garlic nuts.
Doom Bar Yorkshire puddings are a must on the dinner table and wonderful when paired with a refreshing Doom Bar, while the sausages in candied bacon with unctuous mulled cranberry ketchup are a total treat for the tastebuds.
A selection of recipes from Sharp's Brewery's book Just Add Beer
Beer isn't just for pints: it's for cocktails, candied bacon and plenty of other delicious snacks and serves. These five recipes from Cornish brewer Sharp's Brewery's book Just Add Beer prove it
Guy Harrop
The Doom Bar Collins by Ed Hughes
This drink is perfect for a festive gathering. Make the individual drink or make a batch and serve in champagne
Makes 1
Preparation time 5 mins
Ingredients
- 35ml Tarquin's The Hopster gin
- 25ml lemon juice
- 15ml sugar syrup
- 200ml Doom Bar
- Twist of lemon
Method
- Add the gin, lemon juice and sugar syrup to a cocktail shaker, add ice and shake hard for six seconds.
- Pour into a tall glass over ice.
- Top up with Offshore Pilsner.
- Garnish with a twist of lemon.
Chilli and garlic nuts by Zack Hawke
These nuts have a bit of a kick and make a great nibble at a party and pair excellently with Sharp's Doom Bar
Guy Harrop
Serve 2
Cooking time 10 mins
Ingredients
- 200g peanuts
- 100g cashew nuts
- 1 large sprig of rosemary
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 3 cloves garlic, not peeled
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 2 pinches Cornish sea salt
Method
- Heat a heavy-based pan with the cooking oil on low heat, add the garlic cloves (whole) and rosemary sprig (also whole – so you can pick it out at the end) and cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the peanuts and chilli and cook for 2 minutes, stirring pretty much constantly so the nuts don’t burn.
- Add the cashew nuts and salt, cook for a further 8 minutes, until the nuts are golden brown.
- Pick out the rosemary and serve immediately, or let cool and keep in a jar for later – but they are best served warm.
Sausages in candied bacon with mulled cranberry ketchup by Nick Archer
This sweet and succulent dish is always a winning snack or light lunch at Christmas festivals and events – and also great served as a canapé. Pair with Sharp's Doom Bar
Guy Harrop
Serves 4
Cooking time 40 mins
Ingredients
- 8 large chipolata sausages
- 8 large slices smoked streaky bacon
- 170g light brown sugar
- Black pepper, to taste
- For the mulled ketchup
- 200g fresh cranberries
- 50ml port
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 orange zest and juice
- 2 star anise
- 1 tsp grated root ginger
- 30-50g light brown or caster sugar (add more or less according to your taste)
- Knob of butter
Method
- Add the cranberries and butter to a crockpot or sturdy saucepan on a high heat. Stir well until the cranberries are popping and hissing. Add the grated ginger, sugar and port and stir well for about 5 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to a simmer and add your mulled spices/flavours. Use a wooden spoon to push down on the cranberries and break them up, adding a little water if needed to stop it sticking, then simmer for 10-15 minutes. Taste and add more sugar and seasoning if required.
- Use either a hand blender or potato masher to break down the cranberries further and allow to cool. You can store this in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to 14 days.
- Pour the sugar and black pepper into a bowl and tip in the streaky bacon, then mix well until the bacon is covered.
- Wrap each slice of bacon around a sausage, completely covering up the sausage.
- Place on a baking tray and cook at 150°C for 20 minutes. It may take a bit longer for the bacon to crisp up, so bake for longer if necessary, but don't turn the temperature up.
- Place the delicious pigs in candied blankets on a serving platter with a bowl.
DBD (Doom Bar Daiquiri) by Ed Hughes
A beery twist on a classic drink: the sweetness of the malt from the Doom Bar balances the acidity from the lime, and heightens the molasses and caramel in the rum
Makes 1
Preparation time 5 mins
Ingredients
- 50ml golden rum
- 25ml lime juice
- 15ml sugar syrup
- 35ml Doom Bar
- Slice of lime
Method
- Put all ingredients into a shaker with ice.
- Shake hard for 10-12 seconds.
- Strain, pour into a goblet or martini glass.
- Garnish with a slice of lime.
Beer Yorkshire Puddings by Henk de Villiers Ferreira
Yorkshire puddings have to be perfect and this recipe will never fail you. Sharp's Coaster is ideal but any golden, light ale will do.
Guy Harrop
Makes 24
Preparation time 30 mins
Cooking time 20 mins
Ingredients
- 8 medium eggs
- 500g plain flour
- 568ml Sharp's Coaster
- Salt and pepper
- Beef dripping (just enough to line Yorkshire tray)
Method
- Mix the ingredients – except the beef dripping – with a whisk and allow to cool in a refrigerator.
- Cover the base of each mould of a Yorkshire tray with the beef dripping and heat at 220°C.
- Once the tray is smoking hot, quarter-fill each pudding slot with batter mix.
- Bake in the hot oven for 18 minutes.