Ditch the potato salad, put away the cole slaw and say goodbye to the grill. Instead, go for simple flavors: some cheeses, salami, pepperoni, olives and good crusty bread.

served by picapp.com

The key, of course, is the bread. Try this one:

Polish Beer Rye Bread
This recipe is for a bread machine and tweaks just slightly a bread found in The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook, which I highly recommend.

1 c beer (we last used Victory Hop Devil – the original recipe called for flat beer but I’ll go on record as saying that I don’t have the patience to wait “several hours” so I kept my open only a few minutes)
3 T vinegar
1-1/2 T honey
1 T melted butter
1 T minced onion

2 c bread flour
3/4 c rye flour
1/4 c wheat flour
2 T cornmeal (I use a very grainy milled cornmeal from NC)
2 tsp caraway seeds
1-1/2 tsp salt

(You may also want to add 2 T gluten – not gluten flour. This isn’t a terribly heavy bread but it does both rye and wheat flours which can make it dense. I’ve made it with and without and prefer it with

Place everything in your bread machine, set crust as desired (I like medium), 1-1/2 pound loaf and basic/white bread cycle. Hit start and sit back.

Come picnic time, cut with serrated knife into thin slices. Pack up in a ziploc with a paper towel to absorb the moisture – or use aluminum foil. Keep your cheeses and meats in blocks – you can slice them up as you go. No plates needed, just a few napkins, a knife and a cutting board. Wash it all down with a nice wheat beer. Perfection!

Post from: EveryJoe

Tasteful Tuesdays: Beer Bread (Perfect for a Picnic)

Yeah, I know that it’s not officially summer yet. As I sit in my house with the heat on (I didn’t want to do it), I am acutely aware that summer hasn’t found us yet. That said, this weekend is the Memorial Day holiday weekend, which is traditionally associated with the beginning of the summer season.

Over the next few days, we plan to post some great summer recipes, beers to try and tips for starting the season off right.

To get started, pop over to the sidebar and take our poll: What kind of beer do you reach for in summer?

(Image: Newscom)

Post from: EveryJoe

Hot Times, Summer in the City