Category: Beer

Vegemite and Pale Ale Gougères

Today, January 26,  many Australians will be celebrating Australia Day.  On the good side – it’s summer, it’s a great time to get outside and have a bbq and, if you are not in the midst of a dry January, have a few drinks with some friends.  On the downside, the day itself is becoming increasingly fraught for all manner of reasons – some of which you can read about here for a considered view and here for the opinions of a lunatic.  Hey  America…you’re not alone with your President, we have a Prime Minister (well ex-Prime Minister) who says dumb offensive shit too.  And whilst he might not be orange or have a mad comb-over, there was .this….ewwwww.

Vegemite and Pale Ale Gougeres

But we are not here to get political.  We are here to eat, drink and be merry.  Because it’s a long weekend.  And we’re going to celebrate with some Australian food.  If by Australian food we mean something that we have totally  (mis)appropriated from another culture.   So let’s get to it shall we?

 

Gougères are the French version of what we in Australia would call a cheese puff.  And they are delicious!  Feather-light pastry flavoured with cheese makes for a perfect snack.  Particularly if you happen to be imbibing something of an alcoholic persuasion.  Making it a perfect start to this weekend’s round of bbq’s.

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But we’re not celebrating Bastille Day…we’re celebrating Australia Day…so how to “Strayanise” these delicious French delicacies?  Well, first we’re going to throw a little Vegemite into the mix.  Now, I’ll be the first person to admit that I…ahem…”borrowed” the idea of the Vegemite Gougères from Rosie Birkett’s recipe for Marmite Gougères.

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And then, to make it even more Australian, I substituted the water in the recipe for beer.  I used the Gage Roads Little Dove Pale Ale as the beer for this because it is my absolute favourite and I had some in the house but you could sub in your own favourite.

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The gougères are delightfully light.  The combination of vegemite, cheese, cayenne and the very slight hint of beer go so well together that it would be a real shame to only save these for one day of the year!

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Vegemite and Pale Ale Gougeres

A tasty snack based on a classic French recipe

Ingredients

Scale
  • 120g unsalted butter
  • 150ml whole milk
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons Vegemite
  • 75ml Pale Ale
  • 150g plain flour, sifted
  • 4 eggs
  • 100g cheddar, grated, plus 1 tablespoon extra, for scattering
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • big pinch freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoonfreshly grated nutmeg

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C and line 2 large baking sheets with baking parchment.
  2. Put the butter, milk and Vegemite and ale into pan over medium heat and bring to the boil.
  3. Add the flour and beat very quickly with a wooden spoon, over the heat, until the mixture is smooth and pulls away from the side of the pan (about 2-3 minutes).
  4. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a minute.
  5. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until the mixture is thick and smooth and glossy.
  6. Stir in the grated cheese, peppers and nutmeg.
  7. Spoon the mixture into the piping bag fitted with a nozzle. Pipe little rounds (about the size of a chestnut) onto the trays, leaving space between each mound to allow for rising.
  8. Alternatively, just spoon small spoons of the mixture onto the tray.
  9. Scatter over the remaining cheese.
  10. Bake for 20–25 minutes, until puffed and golden.
  11. Serve warm. Or cool on a wire rack and reheat in a 180°C oven for a few minutes until they crisp up.

Notes

  • The gougères can be made in advance and frozen once cool.

If you’re celebrating, have a wonderful day and enjoy the long weekend!

If not, make these anyway, they’re awesome!

But remember…Vegemite

Back with more Z Food next time!  Have a fabulous week!

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Cherry Beer Margarita – My Way

Dear readers…you have no idea of the indignities I sometimes have to suffer to bring you this.

But first, let me tell you how my recipe for Cherry Beer Margaritas recipe came about.  A little while ago, I was pottering around on Pinterest and I found several recipes for Cherry Beer Margaritas. Happy Days, I thought and began a clicking frenzy.  Only, not one of these recipes was what I expected.  I thought that these would be Cherry Beer Margaritas….i.e. margaritas made from Belgian Cherry Beer.  Instead, they were all beer margaritas with some sort of cherry flavouring.

I could not find a Cherry Beer Margarita the way I envisaged it for love or money. And so I decided to make one.

Cherry Beer Margaritas

First problem.  I thought I would just run down to my local bottle shop and pick up some cherry beer and make me some margaritas.  Uh uh.  Not so speedy there, Gonzales.

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They had Ginger Beer, Mango Beer, Lychee Beer, Chilli Beer, about a billion flavours of Cider and Perry but no Cherry Beer.  This was repeated everywhere.  I actually shelved the idea for several months simply because I could not find Cherry Beer anywhere.

That changed on the weekend.  But not without a cost.

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I finally tracked down the one bottle shop in Melbourne that sells Belgian Cherry Beer.

I asked for two bottles but they were on a very high shelf so the shopkeeper needed to climb up a ladder to get them.  Whilst he was climbing he started telling me that they were getting more, different cherry beers in a few weeks.  He rattled off some names.

Cherry Beer

“I used to drink a Cherry Beer…but it wasn’t either of those”

“Was it Belle Vue?”

“Yes!  That’s the one”.

He said “That was a while ago”.

I had totally lost interest by then and was looking round the shop to see what else I could buy.  “Yeah, I guess”

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“Wow….was a REALLY long time ago”  The dude was giving me a look that quite clearly said “Would you like a pension card and a zimmer frame to go with your two beers, Granny?”

“I beg your pardon what?” I asked him, giving him my best death stare and resisting the urge to kick that ladder right out from under him.

“Erm…nothing.  Would you like anything else with that?”

How about one of these?

Giant Cup

The Cherry Beer Margaritas were everything I wanted them to be. A gorgeous deep red, a great cherry and citrus taste, a good kick of salt and a pleasant hit of booze.  Perfect drinking for a sunny afternoon!

I used a  mix of vintage merlot salt I bought at Gewurzhaus and sea salt for the glass.  The merlot salt is such a gorgeous colour and looked really pretty on the glass  but any salt would do.

It’s almost a shame these tasted so good because I won’t be going back to that shop in a hurry. Anyway, I doubt these ancient bones would make the trip!

Anyone up for a lychee beer margarita?

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Cherry Beer Margarita

A delicious cherry beer margarita with a twist – it contains Belgian Cherry Beer!

Ingredients

Scale
  • 30ml tequila
  • 30ml lime juice
  • 30ml triple sec
  • 250ml Belgian Cherry Beer, I used Floris

To Garnish

  • Salt, I used a Vintage Merlot Salt but any salt will be fine
  • Lime circle
  • Maraschino Cherry

Instructions

  1. Fill your cocktail glass with ice and place in the freezer to chill.
  2. Mix the tequila, lime, triple sec together in a large measuring cup.
  3. Remove the glass from the fridge, tip out the ice.
  4. Rub the rim of the glass with lime and roll in the salt.
  5. Pour the tequila mix into the glass and top with the beer.
  6. Garnish with the lime and cherry.
  7. Enjoy!

Have a fabulous week!

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