Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Eat your Beer!

Nothing beats a hearty casserole on a wet and thundery day... and boy have we been having a spat of those!

My friend Lisa is an excellent cook. We were elated when she invited us both over for one of her famous beef beer dinners.

This is what she cooked...
DSC00607

First, the homemade Caesar salad. Even the sauce is made from scratch! Light, crunchy yet healthy - the prefect prelude to a meaty dinner.

DSC00602
Then the garlic bread. Toasted till it is crispy at the edges and oozing with butter and garlic and herbs. I love homemade garlic butter because it has THAT much more garlic and butter, know what I mean?

DSC00596
Enter the Casserole.

DSC00606

This is the amazing Beef Beer... a whole, massive pot of it ! I love the way Lisa cooks this ... over a slow fire, with lots of tender loving care... beef simmering all day long in beer, so much so that the heady aroma is the first thing you smell wafting out of her kitchen when you walk through the front door! Not only that, she uses Beef Brisket to ensure it melts in your mouth. Rapture!

DSC00598

Finally, nothing goes better with beef than mash potato! Lisa's mash is buttery, creamy and baked to give it that gorgeous, browned, finishing touch! All my memories of uni days come flooding back - how many Sunday roasts have passed since I last got back to KL (sniffle). This, my friends, is what life is all about... :)


So, if Beef Beer Stew and Mash is my comfort food on a wet & stormy night, what is yours?

Feel free to leave a comment. Cheers!

45 comments:

Julian Si said...

Droooooooool :-) Perfect on a stormy rainy nite aka last nite. I had Sure Pizza pasta at Damas!!

Babe_KL said...

gee i wish i could hv a taste of all those yummies :p

Anonymous said...

can invite me, for the next beef beer dinner, don't worry, I will bring some beer over...haha

Ciki said...

julian:
perfect indeed

babe:
as tasty as your cooking i am sure!

ken:
sure.. beer always welcome la;)

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

hmmmm sunday roast..hahah i used to dread the days..either beef, pork or lamb..

now the craving comes back..its strange isnt when u want the things u used to hate?

Ciki said...

joe:
hence the name... Joe, who's constantly craving! ;) cute!

Anonymous said...

My comfort food is lasagna followed by vanilla ice-cream!

Ciki said...

larry:
be careful of the pounds.. lol

fatboybakes said...

how do we secure an invite to this lisa chick's place? i love beef brisket.

Ciki said...

fbb:

LISA , IF YOU ARE READING THIS CAN MY BLOGGER FRIENDS COME PLEASE?!

fbb - message conveyed! lol;)

PureGlutton said...

Hmmm..why do u call it Beer Beef? Was beer used to cook it or did u mean u all had beer with the meal? (pls excuse my ignorance hoh)

minchow said...

How gorgeous is that mash! And beer with anything always works! My ultimate comfort food is Japanese curry! With rice!

Ciki said...

pureglutton:
absolutely! beef cooked in beer!

J2Kfm said...

wow. your friend can really cook!

stew beef with beer. and mashed potatoes. and garlic bread.

I'm in gastronomic heaven!!!!

Ciki said...

faith:
japanese curry with rice ! nice one:)

Anonymous said...

i like tomyam gong and rice and mutton curry for on day it rain. but i also like hot soup like sup ekor

Anonymous said...

Salivating over your description of the beef beer. I want to be friends with Lisa. :-D

Ciki said...

anon:
ah..! asian spicy food types for you eh?

lemongrass:
she'll be happy to read this:)

Precious Pea said...

Wooowww woooowww weeeee!!! I am very interested to be friend with Lisa too. Intro can ar? I am drooling at the beef beer. Wonder if she is willing to share the recipe!

Ciki said...

pea:
haha.. what can i say? I'll ask Lisa!

choi yen said...

I think the gravy good to dip with the garlic bread huh :P

Ciki said...

mimi:
how true! it has just started raining outside ... makes me feel like having some beef all over again!

Ciki said...

j2kfm:
lol, she'll be happy to know!

Tummythoz said...

What kind of comfort meal on cool night can beat that?

So does one go hic hic hic after meal? =P

Ciki said...

tummythoz:
hic hic hic, burp burp burp!

.:: Ant ::. said...

I always used guiness stout instead. Will try beer the next time. Ur pics have me drooling again! keke

Thanks for sharing.

Mellie said...

Man, I'm salivating oredi!
My ultimate comfort food- loads! But here's a few- anything grease with beer (wedges, onion rings).
N when I'm really hungry, gimme rice, hot soup and sweet & sour pork!
550ml jar of faith- i bet my jap curry invite got u thinking today. :-p

Anonymous said...

Is it weird that I could literally smell the garlic and butter and herbs when I scrolled down to the pic of your friend's garlic bread?

Incredible. :)

Ciki said...

anton:
stout is great as well.. sweeter and more tangy

mellie:
i hear what you are saying! I love oily carbs with my beer too.. or pork crackling!

lfb:
lol.. yum!

HairyBerry said...

nothing beats a chunky piece of tender beef and the aromatic taste of beer, eh? EXCELLENT!!!

comfort food? maggi mee asam laksa flavour! :) or nong shim's kim chi noodle. and cable tv! ok lar, cannot get reception if the rain's too heavy...hehehehehee.......

Ciki said...

nic:
assam laksa! you a maggie mee junkie too eh?! nice!

worldwindows said...

Yes, the rain: Humid afternoons, traffic jams and wet laundry. Casserole beef.... Perfecto esp. if the bread is homemade!

Ciki said...

ww:
yup yup! agree:)

sc said...

hello hello! food looks so homely yet delish! btw, thanks for popping by my blog too :)

Anonymous said...

mmmm... beeeerr...

Homer Simpson would love your Sunday roast... haha.

Must admit I've never tried roast beef with beer but it sounds like it'd be a good idea.

Thx for linking to us btw!

backStreetGluttons said...

O lisa lisa , V shall drink thee 2 .

Blessed is the sweetest one who can bake and cook high but more blessed is our notyet met gorgeous sensatika C&C one who eats , then runs long who drinks

jasmine said...

man, i wan friends like yours!!! hehe. funnily enough, my comfort food is instant noodles with egg & luncheon meat. :P must be those uni days.

Ciki said...

sc:
thanks and welcome:)

william:
hahaha.. we are simpson fans too... Duh! and Mmmmmmm... beer...

bsg:
lol, she will be happy

jasmine:
uni days are the best!

Anonymous said...

mine's either steamboat or Bak Kut Teh!

Christina Kim said...

hie dearie, that's definitely a meaty affair:)
But I am sure a homemade one made it all the more special and better in taste;)

Penang Tua Pui said...

gosh...... make me drool.... why PTP dun have a friend like u do...

after long period of food hunting outside... how wonderful it is to have some one cook in their kitchen... like u do...

fatboybakes said...

by the way ah, u one classy dame la, comfort food is beef beer stew and mash!!! sheeeesh. mine would be toast and half boiled eggs, with instant noodles (and luncheon meat and egg) a close second.........

and how are caesar salads ever healthy? got egg yolk wor, the powerhouse of cholesterol....

lisa lisa, where art thou.............(holding hands to mouth in trumpet shape and shouting pleadingly)

Ciki said...

vkeong:
hot soup! great choice

christy:
hello! yes, homemade is the best because they put heaps of stuff in it!

PTP:
agree

fbb:
it's automatically healthy because of the SALAD word.. hahahaha
lisa is cooking... in the kitchen...

Big Boys Oven said...

best cook food is home cook food! fasntastic taste I presumely!

Ciki said...

bbo:
that right;)