Beer is a great secret ingredient. Its fun, muscular reputation is sure to turn any dish into a conversation piece. Plus there's always some left over if you're thirsty!
Beer recipes fall into three general categories:

Fried Foods Beer makes a great ingredient in batters for frying. The yeast and bubbles add a hint of leavening, and beer's tanginess helps cut the grease.

Baked Goods The leavening effect that beer adds to fried foods can work in a variety of baked desserts too---including beer-apple cakes, pies and strudels. With their similar sweet-tart flavor profile, apples are a good match with beer.

Braising and Marinating Whatever gives beer its bite is also great at tenderizing and flavoring all kinds of meat. Ham and corned beef are super when cooked with beer. And beer is great at marinating meat or steaming shrimp or clams.

And don't forget one other common way to cook with beer—drinking one while standing over a hot barbecue!