Beer batter
Beer makes batter light and crisp. It suits fish and vegetables; for children, mix the batter with cold sparkling water instead.
Recipes
Recipes
This section covers dishes where fermentation works for flavour: a cold kvass soup, a dense rye bread with malt and a hearty beef stew. Quantities are for an ordinary home kitchen, and the times allow some leeway.
Malt and kvass add depth to a dish rather than sweetness: a dark crust, a bready aroma and a gentle tang.
How this section works: a recipe is included if it can be made at home without special equipment, and every dish with beer comes with a note on alcohol and a substitute.
Okroshka with bread kvass
A classic Russian summer soup: vegetables, herbs and eggs covered with cold, unsweetened kvass (a mildly sour fermented bread drink).
You will need
- Unsweetened bread kvass1.2 l
- Potatoes3 medium
- Eggs4
- Fresh cucumbers2
- Radishes8–10
- Boiled beef or chicken300 g
- Spring onions and dill1 bunch each
- Mustard, saltto taste
- Sour cream to serveoptional
Method
Cook the base
Boil the potatoes in their skins and hard-boil the eggs, then cool and peel them. Cook the meat in advance and let it cool completely.
Dice everything finely
Cut the potatoes, eggs, cucumbers, radishes and meat into small, even cubes so the soup is easy to eat with a spoon.
Crush the herbs
Finely chop the spring onions and lightly crush them with salt so they release their juice. Simply chop the dill.
Combine
Put the diced ingredients in a pot, add the herbs and a little mustard, and mix.
Pour over the kvass
Just before serving, pour well-chilled kvass over the mixture and salt to taste. Add the sour cream to each bowl.
Tip: Keep the diced ingredients and the kvass separate and combine them right before eating: the vegetables stay crunchy and the kvass keeps its flavour.
Rye bread with fermented malt
A dark, spiced sourdough loaf in which the malt adds colour and a sweetish bready note.
You will need
- Wholemeal rye flour400 g
- Wheat flour100 g
- Active rye sourdough starter200 g
- Fermented rye malt3 tbsp
- Boiling water for the malt150 ml
- Warm waterabout 200 ml
- Honey or molasses1 tbsp
- Salt1 tsp
- Coriander, ground and whole1 tsp
Method
Scald the malt
Pour boiling water over the malt, stir until smooth and let it cool until warm.
Mix the dough
Combine the flours, starter, scalded malt, honey, salt and ground coriander, gradually adding the warm water. Rye dough is sticky; that is normal and it does not need long kneading.
Fill the tin
Grease a loaf tin, transfer the dough with wet hands and smooth the top. Sprinkle with whole coriander.
Let it rise
Cover the tin and leave it somewhere warm until the dough has visibly grown and small cracks appear on the surface.
Bake
Bake in a preheated oven for about an hour, first at high heat, then at moderate heat. The finished loaf sounds hollow when you tap the bottom.
Let it rest
Cool the bread on a rack and wrap it in a towel. Rye crumb is best sliced no sooner than a few hours later.
Tip: If you have no starter, you can use a small amount of yeast instead, but the flavour will be less sour and deep, and the bread will go stale faster.
Beef braised in dark beer
A dish for the adult table: the meat simmers slowly with onions, and the beer turns into a thick gravy with a bready bitterness.
You will need
- Braising beef (shoulder, cheek)1 kg
- Onions3 large
- Dark beer or beef stock500 ml
- Carrots2
- Flour2 tbsp
- Mustard1 tbsp
- Slice of rye bread1
- Bay leaf, thymeto taste
- Vegetable oil, salt, pepperto taste
Method
Brown the meat
Cut the beef into large pieces, pat dry, dust with flour and brown in batches until a dark crust forms.
Cook the onions
In the same pot, slowly fry the sliced onions until soft and golden, then add the carrots.
Add the liquid
Return the meat, pour in the beer or stock and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom; they carry most of the gravy's flavour.
Add bread and mustard
Spread the slice of rye bread with mustard and lay it on top: as it braises, it breaks down and thickens the sauce.
Braise
Cover and simmer on low heat or in the oven for about two hours, until the meat is tender. Salt at the end.
Tip: Alcohol does not fully cook off during braising and baking: some of it stays in the finished dish, and how much depends on the time and cooking method. That is why such dishes are not suitable for children, pregnant people or anyone who will be driving. For children and an alcohol-free table, make the whole dish with beef stock plus a spoonful of unsweetened kvass, or kvass with a rye crust, for tang.
More ideas from the same pantry
Short pointers that are covered in detail in other sections.
See also
- Ingredients
Rye and barley malt, hops, rusks, sourdough starter and yeast: how to choose, store and use them.
- Techniques
Scalding malt, rye starter, fermenting kvass, batter and braising, with safety notes.
- Drinks
Bread kvass, mors, sbiten and alcohol-free malt drinks; beer only as a pairing with food.
- Seasonal
Cold kvass soups in summer, spiced hot drinks in winter and treats for the festive table.
- Questions
Answers to questions about kvass, malt, sourdough and how to cook dishes with beer safely.
- Tips
Short practical tips on sourdough, kvass and baking, plus our article catalogue.
What we rely on
- cookery reference books and traditional Russian recipes
- GOST 31494-2012 (kvass)
Fermentation and baking times in the recipes are approximate: they depend on your kitchen temperature, the flour, the rusks and how active the starter is. Go by taste, smell and look, not just the clock.