It’s been all about the beer this week as the big news is: Hammerton beer has arrived in Muswell Hill! The delightful Prohibition Wines on Fortis Green Road is stocking the family brew. I am DONE FOR!
I stocked up a bit and did my first experimental batch of beer bread. YUM. It’s very good.
I’m going to fiddle around with the recipe a bit, and try it with the Oyster Stout next time (I used the Islington lager). I might knead it a bit too – Jane didn’t say anything about that. The texture was good even without kneading though, and toasted with some scrambled eggs on top – divine.
Last night I went on a pub-crawl with beer expert Glenn Payne. What a fab night! We went to three pubs in Islington, all of which had Hammerton beer on tap.
The Craft Beer Co – loved this place, they had a fantastic band on – The Thumping Tommys – there every Wednesday I think.
I’d never met Glenn before, the lovely Jane Milton made a virtual introduction over the internet. We talked the hind legs off a donkey. We mostly chatted about beer of course – he liked both the Islington and the N7 and was very complimentary about both. Being allergic to seafood he didn’t try the Oyster Stout, which is my favourite I think… I’ll have to drink a lot more of all 4 of the Hammerton brews though, just to be sure! We also talked about pairing beers with food, and cooking with beer. Oooh, lovely BEER!
When I got home around midnight I was famished. I spied the beer bread, toasted a couple of slices and had them with Worcestershire sauce and some pokey cheddar. Jane was quite right about the cheese (see below) – perfect!
Jane Wyatt’s Beer Bread
(Makes 1 loaf)
¼ cup butter
3 cups self-raising flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 can beer*
Melt butter in preheated 325 degrees (160 degrees C) oven. Mix together remaining ingredients; pat into a greased loaf pan. Drizzle melted butter over bread dough. Bake at same temperature 1 hour.
* I used one 330ml bottle of Hammerton Islington and 1 and1/2 tablespoons water. I baked my bread at 140 C as I have a fan oven.
After thoughts: Jane thinks this bread is even better when toasted with sharp cheddar cheese, served open-face.
The note above is from my all time food writing heroine Johna Blinn. She had lunch with Jane and was told: “I’m not a real cook, you know. Do you like beer bread? I love it because it is very easy to make. You can cook it and slice it and toast it and it’s absolutely wonderful!” I wholeheartedly agree!
