CELIA gluten free beer, a burger and some brisket.

Gluten gets everywhere. If you are gluten intolerant, then many of life’s pleasures are harder to come by and are often more expensive when you find them.You need to vigilant, reading the backs of packets and asking questions in restaurants.  It appears, from a gluten tolerant perspective, that awareness is gradually being raised and more and more products are slowly coming onto the market. More and more restaurants are trying harder to provide tasty alternatives that are gluten free.

During one evening at Smiths of Smithfield I was introduced to CELIA lager. The brewery’s patented deglutenisation process produces an ELISA tested value of <5 parts per million for a truly light lager.Thanks to the silicone filtration system at their brewery, CELIA is also vegan friendly. CELIA is open fermented for 14 days to give it natural carbonation, which reduces the heaviness present in most other beers. I have to say it would be very easy to down several of these beers without feeling the fizz returning to haunt you! Traditionally batch brewed in the walls of a 14th century castle using local Saaz hops, famous for their clean, spicy aroma – CELIA is also the perfect companion for quality food.

Luckily for me the food on offer from Smiths of Smithfield was a delicious gluten free burger and chips. Even though I am not gluten intolerant I don’t think I could have informed you it was free from gluten unless I had told been myself.

Gluten free burger and chips from Smiths of Smithfield.

In addition to the CELIA organic lager there is also Celia dark.

CELIA dark.

“CELIA DARK is densely black with an almost ruby red hue and a distinctive coffee like aroma with slightly nutty and rye bread undertones.  It is thick and chewy on the palate with a big toasted malt character.”

You will know by now that I love to use a wide variety of ingredients in my cooking. Why not use beer? I had a bottle of CELIA dark in the fridge so why not use it in my sunday meal?

Pulled beef brisket braised in CELIA dark lager

750g flat beef brisket (unroll if rolled)

1 red onion peeled, halved and finely sliced.

2 large carrots,

1 clove of garlic finely chopped

1 bottle CELIA DARK lager

salt, pepper, paprika

olive oil

Large lidded casserole

How to….

• Preheat the oven to 150c fan or 170c.
• Add a splash of olive oil to the pan, simply to prevent the meat sticking.
• Place the unrolled brisket in the bottom of the casserole.
• Scatter the onion, carrots and garlic around the beef. Season with salt, pepper and paprika.
• Pour over enough beer to cover 3/4 of the brisket.
• Cover the casserole with a sheet of foil and then place the lid on the casserole. This helps to stop too much evaporation of the liquor.
• Bake in the oven for 2 1/2 hours.
• Rest in the braising juices for 15 minutes. Using two forks shred the meat.
• Serve with heaps of buttery sweet potato  and potato mash and a pile of squeaky green beans.
• Oh my goodness, the gravy is amazing too………

All washed down with another bottle of CELIA beer naturally!

Pulled beef brisket braised in CELIA dark lager.

 

I was invited to the CELIA event at Smiths of Smithfield. I was not paid to attend and was not asked to write a positive blog post or create a recipe. I was give several bottle of beer to take home after the event. All words and photographs are my own, unless in quotation marks.