Chugging Beer (Chicken)

About author / Sarah Christine Bolton

Coffee addict; professional food writer; food fusion. Her slow cooker recipes go above and beyond your normal crockpot fare.

I was never a big beer fan. I always preferred a fruity cocktail or a nice glass of Riesling over a cold Bud Light. My husband can go for a couple “cold brews,” as he calls beer, but we hardly ever buy it. It’s usually a Friday-night-at-dinner type of thing, even for him. Despite this, somehow our fridge was recently stocked with three or four cases of various beer: Miller Light, Coors Light, Budweiser, and Bud Light. And no, we aren’t having a party this Saturday night.

Despite the fact that my parents are convinced that my husband and I have gone to the dark side and regularly “pound” beers after work, in reality neither of us had even thought about opening one of those cans in months. So, when I discovered the recipe for beer braised chicken, I realized I might have just found a way to regain my fridge space, without causing liver damage.

When I got online to search for a recipe, I was very surprised to find that beer has a history more ancient than the pyramids. It is believed (by reputable historians) that early Sumerians settled in Mesopotamia for the nutrient-rich soil that easily bore grains (Snore). However, and this is when things get a little interesting, the speculation is that these nomadic people wanted the grain not for bread, but for…beer. Speculation, remember, but still an interesting possibility.

No one is totally clear on how beer was invented or discovered. It’s easy to think, though, that somehow a chunk of bread was immersed in water, left out for a couple days, and then someone (either some guy who wasn’t smart or who was being tortured) drank the water. And, I’m sure we all know what happened after that.

It seems that one of the main purposes of bread in the early days of brewing was as an ingredient for making beer. Instead of hops, dates and/or honey was used to add flavor. And in some regions, beer was actually safer to drink than fresh water. No, I don’t think that argument would work in this day and age.

You may be able to request your wages in beer, though. In many cultures (especially Roman), workers and soldiers would get rambunctious if they didn’t receive their fair portion of beer. Even the religious folk were serious about it. Several monasteries operated breweries run by monks (I’ll definitely just leave that one open-ended for whatever witty remarks you choose to come up with).

So, whether you are a soldier or a worker or a priest, or just have enormous amounts of beer stockpiled in your fridge, you will no doubt enjoy this recipe. The beer adds lots of flavor and moisture to the chicken and really helps to pull the whole dish together. And I will admit that I drank a cold beer while making this recipe. Hey, can you really blame me?

Serves/Makes: 4

• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
• 2 ribs celery, sliced
• 1 cup baby carrots
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 8 fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1 can (12 ounce size) beer
• 1 cup chili sauce
• fresh chopped parsley