A Seasonal Send-Off

With the 70+ degree weather we've been enjoying (or chasing?), you're more likely to be outside, standing grill-side, preparing to drink a cold one rather than reading about baking with said beer - yet here I am (when will I ever get this right?!).

Although this time I think I have a better chance that some of you are still firing up the ole' oven, having not yet relegated her to (seasonal) retirement, even if anything she produces is quickly transferred to the great outdoors. Regardless, aside from the fact that I'm not altogether convinced that spring has truly sprung, with recipes like this Beer Bread that are both made with a certain refreshing beverage and also taste good accompanied by one, you'll feel the pull of the stove, if for the last time this season (unless I can tempt you otherwise, which remains to be seen).

But bread, Kara? I thought you were one of those yeast-phobes?

These days it seems I'm a lot friendlier with yeast than I used to be but seeing a recipe for delicious, crusty bread made without the rising and kneading, and frankly, praying? My only explanation is that it's magic... what the elixir beer does amidst the sparse ingredients in this bread.

If you're wondering, Chris did give me a bit of a raised-eyebrow glance as I borrowed a beer for this recipe; but I heard not so much as a peep once the bread emerged from the oven, receiving its slather of butter (speaking of which, have you tried this stuff - it's the best thing since, oh boy, sliced bread).

So whether or not if you've put your stove down for a long summer's nap, at the very least, promise me you'll throw this bread together at the first signs of fall, a season I know I'll be anticipating as soon as the humid DC summer hits.

Beer Bread
generously adapted from Dogfish Head Ale House recipe (you've been there before!)

3 c self-rising flour
2 TB sugar
12 oz beer, at room temperature
3 TB butter, melted
1/2 TB kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all the ingredients and mix energetically by hand until the flour is moistened completely and you have a uniform mixture. Spoon into a greased 9x5 in loaf pan, filling it 1/2 -2/3 full. Pour the melted butter evenly over the top of the (unbaked) batter and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake for an hour.

Allow to cool for 15 minutes and then release the bread from the pan.