Recipes: Scrambled Eggs, Rib Marinade

Presented with a glass of beer, I prefer to drink it. John Schlimm, on the other hand, teases out of beer a book's worth of recipes for seafood, burgers, stews, steaks, roasts, sauces, mixed drinks, appetizers, soups, marinades and, while he's at it, an eggy breakfast dish.

His latest guide to the world of cooking with beer, "The Beer Lover's Cookbook" (Cumberland House, 248 pages, $14.99), is a slightly condensed paperback version of last year's "The Ultimate Beer Lover's Cookbook." The paperback has about 300 recipes; the "ultimate" hardcover has about 400.

His motivation for listing the best recipes for "Light Beer Beef Stew," "Beer-Battered Shrimp" and "Beer-Poached Fish," among other things, comes as something of a blood imperative: He grew up within walking distance of the Pennsylvania brewery founded by his great-great-grandfather, Peter Straub.

He approaches the task with an economy that a thirsty cook can appreciate: A quick two pages of introduction gives way to 240 pages of recipes that end with something he calls a "Tequila Sunburn," a flaming beer drink.

This book isn't Bon Appetit: None of the recipes call for anything other than "beer," ignoring the taste distinctions between a stout and a lager, for instance, or the world of microbrews, where tastes wander from fruity to chocolate to everything in between. Clearly, some fine tuning of your own will be required with these recipes. Some call for only a dash of beer, an amount so little that none of the taste would seem to survive cooking.

Aside from a sprinkling of quotes about beer, the book is all recipes. —

Scrambled Eggs

Makes 2 servings

6 eggs

Seasoned salt to taste

1/4 cup water

1 .tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons beer

1 .teaspoon chicken bouillon

Pepper to taste

1. Combine the eggs, seasoned salt and water in a bowl.

2. Melt the butter in a frying pan. Add the beer, bouillon and pepper. Simmer for 2 minutes. Add the egg mixture to the frying pan and scramble.

3. For finely scrambled eggs, continually chop the egg mixture with a spatula while frying it. For thicker scrambled eggs, flip the egg mixture over with a spatula while frying it.

From "The Beer Lover's Cookbook," by John Schlimm.

Rib Marinade

Makes 3 1/2 cups

2 cups beer

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1/2 tablespoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

1. In a saucepan, combine all of the ingredients, mixing well. Bring the mixture to a boil, remove it from the heat, and allow to cool.

2. Use the sauce to marinate ribs for at least 24 hours before grilling. To use this as a basting sauce, bring the leftover marinade to a boil, lower heat and simmer for a few minutes before basting.

(c) 2009, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)