MN Craft Beer Dinner – Recipes for Every Course!

Share the delicious fun at this MN Craft Beer Dinner – Recipes for every course!

MN Craft Beer Dinner

The challenge? Create a menu which incorporates a Minnesota craft beer in each recipe. Our hosts, Brian and Lynda, selected this creative theme for our latest Gourmet Group dinner. At first, I was a little skeptical, being a non-beer drinker myself. But everything was delicious! We also had fun discovering some of the craft breweries in Minnesota and the crazy names they’ve concocted for their brews.

In fact, I decided to have a little fun. So, I created a MN Craft Brew Test. It consisted of close to 100 beer names – some real, some fake. The goal was to select the real ones, which was harder than you might think. But Brian rose above the pack to claim the major award for the evening.

Appetizer

Beer Braised Short Rib Slider with Quick Pickled Slaw

These short rib sliders were excellent! Tender short ribs, braised in Chocolate Milk Stout (Dangerous Man Brewing), and piled onto Hawaiian-style dinner rolls. Quick Pickled Slaw, which incorporated Harness IPA (Bent Paddle Brewing), provided just the right amount of zing and married perfectly with the savory beef and sweet, soft rolls. Typically we try to pace ourselves at these four course meals, but we couldn’t resist seconds on this delicious appetizer. Rick & Tracy paired Boysenberry Milkshake IPA (Dangerous Man Brewing) with their sliders. This berry colored beer looked so interesting even I gave it a try!

FYI – The short rib sliders are combined with a few other courses into a single recipe below (due to app constraints.) Hopefully that doesn’t get too confusing. I recommend reading the recipes and getting organized before doing extensive beer sampling.

First Course

Beer Cheese & Bacon Soup

Mike and I thought Beer Cheese Soup was the obvious choice as a first course. But here’s the crazy thing. Neither of us had ever tasted this Wisconsin staple before. How is this even possible for a gal born and raised as a Cheesehead? Seriously!

My Beer, Cheddar & Bacon Soup started with this Food & Wine Beer-and-Cheddar Soup recipe and used Gateway Park Pre-Prohibition Lager (612 Brew.) When I tasted the soup, however, I decided some major tweaks were in order. After researching other recipes, I stirred in the ingredients listed below, just before adding the bacon. We really enjoyed the end result. Note – unless you like a strong beer-flavored soup, which our initial version was, I recommend selecting a very mild beer for this recipe.

Additional Ingredients:

3 c. half & half

8 oz. shredded Cheddar

1 tsp. dry mustard

1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

2 tsp. Worcestershire

1/8 tsp. cayenne

1 tsp. hot sauce

garnish with popcorn, if desired

Main Course

Honey Balsamic Beer Glazed Shrimp Skewers & Autumn Salad

Brian and Lynda decided to lighten things up on their main course with Honey Balsamic Beer Glazed Shrimp Skewers, which included Muddy Boot Stout (Bad Weather Brewing.) A great call, following short rib sliders and beer cheese soup. Because shrimp grill up so quickly, they only require a few minutes for the flavorful glaze to caramelize. The shrimp was served along side an Autumn salad which was a delightful toss of greens, apples, Stout glazed nuts and tangy blue cheese. A vinaigrette with just a hint of maple brought it all together. A light, seasonal and delectable main course!

Dessert

Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes with Caramel Stout Filling

These cupcakes were almost too pretty to eat, but eat them we did! Lynda called this dessert a cross between pumpkin pie and cupcakes. Moist pumpkin cupcakes are filled with caramel, made with Milk Chocolate Stout (Dangerous Man Brewing) and topped with cream cheese frosting made with Castle Cream Ale (Castle Danger Brewing) Yummy! And that’s coming from a girl who doesn’t like beer. Check out this link for handy tips on how to pipe filling into a cupcake.

Rick and Tracey packed up the leftover cupcakes to take to their grandsons who were spending the weekend. I passed on the offer to keep a few, which I seriously regretted the next morning. Great news – I have the recipe and can make more!

Enjoy the recipes below and have fun pairing them with your favorite Craft beers.

MN Craft Beer Dinner – Short Rib Sliders, Glazed Shrimp, Autumn Salad & Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

5 from 3 votes

Print Pin Rate

Servings: 0

Ingredients

Beer Braised Short Rib Sliders with Quick Pickled Slaw (6-8 sliders)

• 2 lbs bone-in short ribs
• Kosher salt & ground black pepper
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 c. beef broth
• 12 oz. Stout beer
• 1 white onion sliced
• 1/4 c. Thai sweet chili sauce

Quick Pickled Slaw

• 3/4 c. apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 c. IPA beer
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 6 whole allspice berries
• 1 tsp. whole cloves
• 1 tsp. whole black peppercorns
• 1 red onion thinly sliced
• 1 c. cucumbers peeled and sliced into matchstick-sized pieces
• 12 Hawaiian-style dinner rolls split

Honey Balsamic Beer Glazed Shrimp Skewers

• 1/2 cup Stout or Porter beer
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp red chili sauce such as sriracha
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1 lb raw shrimp shell and vein removed
• Kosher salt
• 2 tbs chopped green onions or chives

Autumn Salad

• 1 head red leaf lettuce torn into bite-sized pieces
• 1 head bibb lettuce torn into bite-sized pieces
• 1 c. water cress
• 2 apples cored and thinly sliced
• 3/4 c. chopped Stout Glazed Beer Nuts see recipe
• 3/4 c. crumbled blue cheese

Salad Dressing

• 1/2 c. walnut/vegetable oil
• 1/4 c. cup cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp. minced shallot
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper

Stout Glazed Beer Nuts

• 1/2 c Guinness or other Stout
• 1/4 c. light brown sugar
• 1 tsp. grainy mustard
• 2 c. unsalted nuts of choice peanuts, pecans, walnuts, almonds
• Kosher salt to taste

Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

• 3/4 c. sugar
• 2/3 cup flour
• 2 tsp. pumpkin spice
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 12 oz. pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3/4 c. evaporated milk
• 12 cupcake liners

Caramel Stout Filling

• 8 oz. Milk Stout
• 1/3 c. brown sugar
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. butter
• 1/3 c. heavy whipping cream
• piping bag & tip for filling cupcakes

Cream Ale Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1/2 oz. Cream Ale
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 oz. unsalted butter softened
• 4 oz. cream cheese softened
• 2 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• piping bag & tip for frosting cupcakes
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• candy corn

Instructions

Beer Braised Short Rib Sliders with Quick Pickled Slaw

• Generously sprinkle short ribs with salt and pepper on all sides. In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat oil until hot, but not smoking. Sear short ribs until browned on all sides, about 2 minutes per side.
• Pour broth and Stout over short ribs. Add the white onion and sweet chili sauce and stir to combine. Cover and reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Cook stirring occasionally, until falling off the bone, about 2 1/2 hours. Remove the bones. CROCK POT OPTION: put browned short ribs, broth, sweet chili sauce and onion in crock pot, stir to combine and cook on low for 6 hours.

Quick Pickled Slaw

• While the short ribs are cooking, make the pickled slaw. In a small saucepan over medium-heat, combine apple cider vinegar, IPA beer, salt, sugar, allspice, cloves, peppercorns. Cook until sugar dissolves, then remove from heat. Cool to remove temperature.
• Strain the liquid to remove the cloves, peppercorns and allspice. Pour the strained liquid over the onions and cucumbers and refrigerate mixture for 30 minutes.
• Fill the Hawaiian rolls with short ribs, topped with slaw.

Honey Balsamic Beer Glazed Shrimp Skewers

• In a large pot over high heat add the beer, honey, vinegar, chili sauce, garlic powder, and ginger. Bring to a boil. Stirring occasionally, boil until bubbles have mostly subsided and turned glossy and the mixture has thickened, about ten minutes.
• Preheat grill to medium high.
• Thread the shrimp onto metal or pre-soaked wooden skewers, sprinkle with salt, brush with glaze.
• Cook on the grill until cooked through and glaze has slightly caramelized, about 2 minutes per side. Sprinkle with chopped green onions prior to serving.

Autumn Salad

• Combine salad ingredients and toss with desired amount of dressing to coat lightly.

Salad Dressing

• Combine salad dressing ingredients in small jar with tight fitting lid and shake well to combine.

Stout Glazed Beer Nuts

• In a large saucepan, whisk together beer, light brown sugar, and mustard. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until mixture has thickened, 5-10 minutes. Once thickened, add nuts. Stir to coat completely, and continue to cook over low heat just until all of liquid gets absorbed into nuts, another 1-2 minutes.
• Remove from heat and transfer nuts to a large baking sheet. Spread out into an even layer (nuts will be sticky and some of nuts will clump, but that’s ok). Sprinkle with salt and allow to cool completely, stirring and breaking up nuts a bit as they cool. Makes 2 cups. Note: The nuts will keep covered for up to 3 days. Because of the syrup, the nuts will continue to clump together even after they’ve cooled so you’ll need to break them apart each time before serving.

Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place cupcake liners in cupcake pan.
• In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, flour, pumpkin spice, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, vanilla extract and evaporated milk to the dry ingredients and stir until thoroughly combined.
• Pour cupcake mixture into each cupcake liner, filling about halfway. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool completely before filling or icing.

Caramel Stout Filling

• In a deep saucepan, pour the Milk Stout (or your favorite local, craft stout), over medium-high heat. Stir frequently until the Stout has been reduced by a third. Add in sugar, brown sugar and butter, stirring frequently until the mixture thickens slightly and turns dark brown. Gradually add the heavy whipping cream, again stirring frequently, until all ingredients are combined and smooth. Remove saucepan from stove and let cool. The filling will noticeably thicken to a caramel-like consistency.
• Once filling and cupcakes are cool, fill the cupcakes from the top using the piping bag and tip. Note – see link in the post for handy tips on how to pipe filling into a cupcake.

Cream Ale Cream Cheese Frosting

• In a large bowl, gently beat softened cream cheese, softened butter together. Add Cream Ale and vanilla extract to the softened mixture. Gradually add powdered sugar, mixing slowly to prevent making a mess.
• Once all ingredients are thoroughly combined and at a thick enough consistency for icing (you can add more powdered sugar if you prefer thicker icing), spoon icing into piping bag and pipe onto cupcakes. Sprinkle cupcakes with ground cinnamon and top with candy corn.