Welcome to the March edition of “Cooking with Beer”! Once again, I am featuring a beer that DuClaw Brewing sent me. This month DuClaw sent me a lovely beer called El Kabong.
El Kabong is an apricot chili beer clocking in at 6% ABV. I know you are thinking “Chili beer???” (I know I was), but it was actually quite tasty. The chili flavor was not overly strong and paired nicely with the sweetness that came from the apricot flavor. In the past, I haven’t been a fan of chili beers, but every once in a while I find one I like. This beer was tasty with a little chili kick but it did not slap you in the face with the chile flavor. I did find this beer a little more challenging to cook with, but I think the tagine recipe came out great. I’m not usually a huge fan of lamb, but it worked will with this. I think you could definitely switch out the lamb for chicken and maybe even a firm tofu.
Unlike my other recipes, this recipe takes a bit of time. You will want to marinate the meat overnight to let the meat absorb the awesome flavors. Then you’ll be browning on the stovetop, followed by 50 minutes in the oven. So, this is not your fast “I just walked in the door from work” dinner. That said, it might work in a crockpot or pressure cooker. (Do you see the wheels turning in my head over here?) Note that we used arbol chilis both because they were one of the chilis in the beer and because they are readily accessible. Using 5 gave the dish a good “zing”. Feel free to decrease or increase the number of chilis based on your personal heat tolerance. We served it over whole wheat couscous, but I’m sure it would be yummy over your grain of choice.
DuClaw El Kabong Lamb Tagine
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Disclaimer: I received the beer and compensation from DuClaw Brewing. All opinions and recipes are my own.
That looks SO good (especially as I’m sitting in class starving)
I didn’t even think about the chili part of the beer – I just saw the apricot and was immediately intrigued! YUM!! Love that you get to try so many different kinds of beer and this Lamb recipe looks awesome! Have a great weekend!!
I’m definitely intrigued by the chilis. If done well, I’ll bet it’s pretty darn tasty! I also love tagines. I haven’t tried it at home yet, but I really should.
This looks amazing! I have never made lamb at home before (which is crazy, because I’ve cooked so many other random things) but have been looking for a recipe to try it out. This looks perfect.
Oooh, I have had chili chocolate but never chili beer. Something new to try! YOur lamb recipe sounds amazing. Anything that marinates for that long is bound to be good!