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Kitchen Secrets: Our readers' favourite foods to eat with beer

And a couple of recipes too!

EVERY HOME COOK has their own kitchen hacks, cheats and traditions, and we want to know yours.

Each week as part of our Kitchen Secrets series, we’ll be asking readers to share their cooking tips and go-to-dishes. From the secret to quick-and-easy dinners, to the best way to scramble an egg, we’ll have a new question every seven days.

This week, the best tip from our panel wins a €250 voucher thanks to Lidl – who are celebrating their Crafty Brewing Company Lager winning three stars at the 2018 Great Taste Awards. So we’re asking:

What food goes best with beer?

Of course, our panel of home cooks didn’t disappoint. If you’d like to join, drop us a mail on food@thejournal.ie!

WINNING TIP: A homemade burger and wedges: “I’d have to say, you can’t beat my homemade burgers and potato wedges! The burgers are my Mum’s recipe and, to be honest, I haven’t changed them a bit since she used to make them when we were kids. They have round mince, breadcrumbs, egg, onions, seasoning, herbs and a beef Oxo in them.  They are so light and not at all like some of the dense burgers that can sometimes just sit in your tummy (and not something you want to pour a beer in on top of!).

“I shape them in the same Tupperware burger press my Mum used to use in the 80s and dust them lightly with wholemeal flour (stops them sticking and helps them stay moist).  Then grill them, some mature cheddar added and served on a bundy (or brioche bun if I’m feeling fancy!) with ketchup and fried onions. Add in the homemade potato wedges and it’s a match made in heaven! A real treat for myself and my wife in front of the TV on a Saturday evening when our son is in bed. They are also just beautiful cooked on the barbecue and with a beer shared with friends.”

- Olly Keegan

Scampi and chips (with beer batter): “Ice-cold beer is a joy at any time but when paired with delicious food it becomes an even greater pleasure.My favourite pairing is freshly made Dublin Bay scampi, crispy twice fried chips, a dollop of homemade mayonnaise… and all washed down with a cold beer.

“But don’t only drink your beer, why not use it as an ingredient? Any white fish such as cod or hake will transform into the best fish supper ever when dipped in beer batter – the gas in the beer creates a crispy light golden batter. Delish.”

- Angela Nolan

Burger in a brioche bun: “What I love to eat with a cold, hoppy beer is a big juicy beef burger. We’re spoilt for choice when it comes to decent burger joints in Dublin but these are also painlessly simple to make at home. Just make sure you use quality steak mince with a good ratio of fat (about 70:30 ratio of lean to fat for good flavour). There’s tonnes of burger recipes out there but I like to keep my patties simple – salt and pepper, the end. I find they bind just fine without any egg, breadcrumb or fuss. Fry your burgers and top with a good melty cheddar, shredded lettuce, gherkin, diced onion, ketchup and mayo. The brioche burger buns from Lidl are the perfect vehicle for this flavour bomb. Washed down with a cool crisp beer, this is my food heaven.”

- Donna Connolly

Shutterstock / marcin jucha Shutterstock / marcin jucha / marcin jucha

Hog roast: “I was very tempted to go with a spicy Asian dish as the perfect accompaniment to a beer, but recently I was fortunate enough to attend an event where they had a full pig, roasted on a spit, over an open fire. The smokey, salty pork, the crisp skin, the melting fat… oh boy! And washed down with an ice cold lager (or two). A perfect partnership and, possibly, the best meal I’ve ever eaten.”

- John Strahan

Fish curry: ”I love curry with ice cold beer. Preferably lamb or fish based, with fluffy white rice.”

- Maggie O’Sullivan Graham

Tapas: “What best compliments a beer? Definitely tapas – mushrooms in a pot with a little butter, salt and crushed garlic. Grilled peppers. From Lidl’s Sol y Mar range, we love the olives stuffed with anchovies, actually all of the olives, manchego cheese, Serrano ham, spicy salsa and to finish off the meal we usually have the almond biscuits. All of this sodium rich food is usually enjoyed with more than one ice cold beer!!”

- Danilo Fernandez

Lamb rogan josh: “My favourite food to eat with a cold beer is Indian. Lamb rogan josh with extra chillies, the spiciness of the curry goes perfect with the cool beer.”

- Catherine Hayes

Any kind of curry: I think nothing beats a cold beer with a curry, be it Thai or Indian.

- Karina McGuinness

Thai food: “For me beer best accompanies spicy food but in particular Thai food. I have eaten Thai food in cities and mountains in Thailand and Indian foods on boats, beaches and in cities in India and it just has to be washed down with beer. So, that’s what I tend to serve my guests when we have curries at home. Oh, I’ve also had it with lobster too – FAB!”

- Ross Boxshall

Congratulations Olly Keegan, whose recipe for home-made burgers and wedges was the winning tip this week. A €250 Lidl voucher is on its way to Olly. If you’d like to join the Home Cooks Panel, just email food@thejournal.ie.

To learn more about Lidl’s winners at the Great Taste Awards, click here.

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    Mute Patrick Brompton
    Favourite Patrick Brompton
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    Oct 14th 2013, 8:06 PM

    I worked as a teacher in a school which catered for a nomadic tribe of sheep and goat herders in East Africa. One of my former pupils is now a Professor of Astrophysics, another is a Professor of Mathematics, still another an Ambassador for his country. (I claim no credit for any of these successes). The astrophysicist was an orphan who was taught to count with stones in the sand by an Irish medical missionary sister. I suspect that I got more out of my volunteering than my pupils did. I would recommend the VSO experience as challenging but life enhancing.

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    Mute margaret
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    Oct 14th 2013, 1:34 PM

    If there weren’t so many volunteers, donors, NGO’s and agencies tripping over themselves trying to “help”, maybe Africans could actually get up on their own two feet and do it for themselves for a change.

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    Mute Edward Malone
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    Oct 14th 2013, 1:56 PM

    I think the general idea is to bring over professionals to help and teach.. Ya know teach a man to fish etc..
    People going over to help build or something else they are not skilled in is silly to me when there’s already people in Africa who can do it, free holiday volunteers..

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    Mute BlueSkyThinking
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    Oct 14th 2013, 7:33 PM

    The British government had a similar attitude towards the Irish during the great famine, “Why should we intervene, let them sort it out”. Result 1,000,000+ needless deaths – but Margaret don’t let that stop you from making pig ignorant comments.

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    Mute margaret
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    Oct 14th 2013, 7:55 PM

    Don’t worry, I don’t usually let bleeding heart, gullible, soft touch idiot types, stop me from saying what I think. But thanks for your concern.

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    Mute Colette Gillen
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    Oct 14th 2013, 8:03 PM

    Not only did they not intervene they exported food out leaving people to starve! Slightly different situation!

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    Mute BlueSkyThinking
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    Oct 14th 2013, 8:30 PM

    Like Ireland in the 1840′s, Africa is a resource rich country. The resources are mis-managed by a corrupt ruling elite, resulting in the deprivation we see today. So no Colette, it’s exactly the same situation. Europe messed up Africa and became fabulously wealthy as a result. It will take years to undo the damage.

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    Mute Dermot Lane
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    Oct 14th 2013, 8:47 PM

    Even if the food exported had been kept here, there would still have widespread starvation.
    This country was the breadbasket for Britain, for years Britain had not been producing enough food to feed its own population. Ireland was not developed industrially for this reason, it suited the Brits to keep us agricultural and poor. We also provided vast numbers for the Brit armies and navy, I think 30% of the Brit navy in the battle of Waterloo was irish.
    The Brits commissioned reports all through the 1800′s about the situation here and time after time they were told that this country was a disaster waiting to happen. Their callousness when the inevitable tragedy struck is on the record: they used the famine as a tool to clear people from the land so it could be more profitably used for food production.

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    Mute Kerry Blake
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    Oct 14th 2013, 12:24 PM

    That would be an interesting thing to do for a year or so.

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    Mute Yitzhak Rabin
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    Oct 14th 2013, 6:06 PM

    Anyone who participates in this scam is a fool. How about you take the €1200 you were going to spend on a flight to Africa and give it to a starving family instead? This is just an outlet for smug, middle-class champagne socialists to prove to their facebook friends how “liberal” they are.

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    Mute dancer96
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    Oct 14th 2013, 7:25 PM

    I really think that is such an unfair comment. As mentioned above, schemes like this are aimed at providing people with skills to take them out of poverty. They are looking for people to go for a min of 12 months thats a serious committment.

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    Mute Conor Murphy
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    Oct 15th 2013, 4:01 PM

    This ain’t about “starving families” mate. It’s about skilled professionals going over to impart their skills to locals for one + years. Get over yourself and you stick-it note global policy solutions.

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    Mute Whelan
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    Oct 14th 2013, 8:03 PM

    Don’t ever pay to volunteer – it’s a scam! The money goes to paying people’s wages and not towards the organisation. Anyone can get a flight to Africa / Asia or wherever and volunteer for local charities there without paying to volunteer. People really need to research this more

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    Mute Fiona Ní HAnrachtaigh
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    Oct 15th 2013, 11:45 AM

    spoken like a true bleeding heart! bet you’re a great volunteer in your own area too!

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    Mute Conor Murphy
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    Oct 15th 2013, 3:58 PM

    Aye, this of course has nothing to do with the VSO it should be emphasised.

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    Mute Elizabeth Walsh
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    Oct 15th 2013, 6:28 PM

    You don’t pay to volunteer with vso.

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    Mute Whelan
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    Oct 15th 2013, 7:56 PM

    Err Fiona, can’t volunteer as I work long hours as it is. But go ahead be a judge of how wonderful a person is by how much they volunteer at home…! ;)

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    Mute boiledsweets
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    Oct 14th 2013, 5:06 PM

    Charity begins at home,not in africa.

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    Mute Begrudgy
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    Oct 14th 2013, 6:22 PM

    Look up what charity begins at home actually means. It might surprise you.

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    Mute Edward Malone
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    Oct 14th 2013, 8:05 PM

    F’in HATE that saying, spoken by people who haven’t a clue of the suffering of people in other less fortunate countries.

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    Mute Dermot Lane
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    Oct 14th 2013, 10:32 PM

    Begins at home but where should it end?

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    Mute W.j.d.
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    Oct 14th 2013, 3:52 PM

    Where do I get my P.P.S number when I get there…..

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    Mute Tim Higgins
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    Oct 14th 2013, 3:35 PM

    Do the agencies supply bullet proof vests and body guards?

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    Mute John Bradley
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    Oct 14th 2013, 10:21 PM

    Most of the CEOs of these Charity’s pick up around 150000 per year, charity for who? The head of Goal went to the High Court last year about a fall out between themselves, I think it cost them 500,000!

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    Mute Caitriona Jackson
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    Oct 15th 2013, 11:38 PM

    Jesus Christ ! The absaloutly horrendous remarks of some people on this article truly make me ashamed to be Irish ! Why do your very best to see the faults in everything ! It’s takes a truly sad individual to find a problem with people wanting to help the less fortunate !

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    Mute Paddy Fahy
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    Oct 15th 2013, 10:33 AM

    Apparently I haven’t got what it takes as I applied to VSO as an Accountant, via their online application system in 2009. I got an automated response and no other follow up. Very professional and courteous! I subsequently took up a volunteer position with an other INGO, for whom I still work (having worked with them in various roles in 4 African countries).

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    Mute Michael G O'Reilly
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    Oct 15th 2013, 5:38 PM

    Did you follow up the initial rejection slip ? The online application system seem stupid to me ….pandering to modern technology. Surely face to face meetings would be more appropriate??

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    Mute Alan Lyle-Stirling
    Favourite Alan Lyle-Stirling
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    Oct 15th 2013, 12:55 PM

    Enough help needed at home. Let them sort themselves out. Most of these countries could not give a flying F about us, and in many cases despise the very people who send or give aid..

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    Mute Eoin Ryan
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    Oct 16th 2013, 7:23 AM

    Ignore the begrudgers. There are some commenters that can’t tell the difference between VSO and a scam company that might charge 4k for 3weeks ‘volunteering’. It’s probably better those commenters stay at home since they clearly are short on the cop-on you’d need to be a successful volunteer.
    Fantastic to read the testimony of people that have actually volunteered and learned how great it feels to give some honest help to people. Yes, there are many political changes needed to make our world more just and getting to know people in poorer parts of the world is one way to begin to understand that. Step up if you have the time.

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    Mute Stephen McMahon
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    Oct 14th 2013, 8:12 PM

    Standard anti-Limerick comment. Surprised the usual suspects didn’t beat me to it.

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    Mute Caitriona Jackson
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    Oct 15th 2013, 11:50 PM

    And why exactly should these countries give a flying f## about us? Are you really that small minded as to think that their problems are less important then ours ? Also you clearly have never gone out of you way to help anybody from any of these countries and experience their sheer gratitude ! Typical uniformed comment to say the least!

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