Roasted Garlic Beer Bread

It’s funny how our taste buds change over time.  Like most little kids, I remember how disgusted I was after my first sip of beer.  How does Dad even drink that?!, I thought to myself.  The taste was appalling, even in pancakes.  No matter how much maple syrup I used, nothing could mask the awful taste of beer in beer batter pancakes.

Thankfully, many years later I have come to appreciate the slightly bitter yet incredibly refreshing taste of beer.  I’m certainly no connoisseur– very hoppy or dark brews still make me cringe a bit but over time I hope to train my palate to enjoy them.  For now, I will stick to my lagers and wheat beers.

Now onto food.  No longer ten years old, I can now appreciate the depth of flavour that beer lends to the food with which it’s cooked.  I came across an article on the health benefits of beer (yes, there are some) about a year ago and clipped the accompanying recipes because they looked so interesting.  This one, a roasted garlic beer bread with rosemary, was not nearly as labour-intensive as a yeast bread but did require a significant amount of time for roasting the garlic and then baking the bread.  On the bright side, there is very little hands-on time so you can keep yourself occupied while the oven is doing its thing.

Garlic: Before

...After!

The beer taste was subtle, as was the sweetness of the roasted garlic.  The fresh rosemary was definitely the dominant flavour in this bread, in a good way.  Texture-wise, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this bread.  It was dense and slightly crumbly, more closely resembling cornbread than yeast bread.  Pair this bread with a hearty vegetable stew for a delicious meal to combat the cold weather.

Roasted Garlic Beer Bread... with local beer!

 

Roasted Garlic Beer Bread  (from Women’s Health Magazine)

2 whole garlic bulbs
2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
3/4 tsp salt
1- 1/2 cups lager or pilsner beer

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Remove the papery covering of the garlic and slice off the tops. Wrap heads in foil and bake for 45 minutes, or until garlic is very soft. Let cool.
2. Grease a 9-inch-by-5-inch loaf pan. In a small bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, and salt.  In a large bowl, squeeze out the soft garlic pulp and mix sugar, olive oil, and rosemary.  Add flour to garlic mixture and stir to combine.
3. Add beer to flour/garlic mixture and stir until just combined (don’t overmix). Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool before unmolding and slicing.

Makes 10 servings.  Per serving: 190 kcal, 3.5 g fat, 3 g fibre, 340 mg sodium