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French

Stout French Dip

Stout French Dip

When you write, reading isn’t important, it’s essential. Unfortunately, my days are packed too full and reading has become a rare luxury. All due in no small part to the fact that I’m not only writing a cookbook (due to my publisher at the beginning of next month) I’ve also started writing for a print magazine as well as two other websites. Once I can, at least, check "cookbook" off my to-do list, I can get back to being a normal human and indulging in reading, and sleep, and all those sorts of activities that I’m currently ignoring.

I’m making a list, I thought I’d share. About a month ago, I posted on The Beeroness Facebook page asking for suggestions for beer books. Since you all are so amazing, the list has been growing.

Beer & Food:

  1. The Brewmaster’s Table: Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer with Real Food, Garrett Oliver
  2. Beer, Food, and Flavor: A Guide to Tasting, Pairing, and the Culture of Craft Beer, Schuyler Schultz
  3. The Craft of Stone Brewing Co.: Liquid Lore, Epic Recipes, and Unabashed Arrogance, Randy Clemens & Steve Wagner & Greg Koch
  4. The Oxford Companion to Beer, Garrett Oliver

Beer Non-fiction:

  1. America Walks into a Bar: A Spirited History of Taverns and Saloons, Speakeasies, Christine Sismondo
  2. Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women’s Work in a Changing World, Judith M. Bennett
  3. Boozehound: On the Trail of the Rare, the Obscure, and the Overrated in Spirits, Jason Wilson (beer & liquor)
  4. The Search for God and Guinness: A Biography of the Beer that Changed the World, Stephen Mansfield
  5. Bitter Brew: The Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch and America’s Kings of Beer,  William Knoedelseder

For The Homebrewer:

  1. The Naked Brewer: Fearless Homebrewing Tips, Tricks & Rule-breaking Recipes, Christina Perozzi & Hallie Beaune
  2. For The Love of Hops: The Practical Guide to Aroma, Bitterness and the Culture of Hops, Stan Hieronymus
  3. Brew Like a Monk: Trappist, Abbey, and Strong Belgian Ales, Stan Hieronymus
  4. IPA: Brewing Techniques, Recipes and the Evolution of India Pale Ale, Mitch Steele

Stout French Dip3

Stout French Dip

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tbs brown sugar
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp cayenne
  • ¼ tsp smoked paprika
  • 3 lb chuck roast
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 12 ounces porter or stout
  • 3 cups beef stock
  • 4 French sandwich rolls

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 325.
  • In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, black pepper, salt, cayenne, and smoked paprika.
  • Pat the roast dry. Rub with spice mixture.
  • Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven, or other large oven safe pot, until hot but not smoking. Add the roast, sear on all sides. Pour beer and broth over the meat. Cover and roast in oven at 325 for 3 hours or until very tender. Move meat to a cutting board.
  • Place Dutch oven back on the stove. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced, about 10 minutes.
  • Shred meat using two forks. Split rolls, fill with meat. Spoon a bit of sauce over the meat. Serve remaining broth in bowls with sandwiches for dipping.

Stout French Dip5

Pecan Pie French Toast

I’ve already told you all about my deep love for weekend breakfasts. But maybe I haven’t told you why.

I have this amazing husband, that I sometimes think loves me more that I deserve. And I always worry that I’m going to fall off this pedestal he’s placed me on.

And I have this daughter that is already cooler and more spectacular than I will ever be. I know I’ll always be proud of her, but I worry about her being proud of me.

And I have to leave her 5 days a week and go to an office. And help people.

And I worry. About being a good mom. About all the insane things that could happen to Tater, because it happened once to someone, somewhere, one time, 12 years ago.

I worry that I spend too much time away from her. Is she happy enough? Am I doing the right thing by working? Would I lose all sanity if I was a real life Stay At Home Mom? I want her to have all the things that I didn’t, but one of those things is lots of one on one time…

Being a mom is so hard. No matter what your situation.

And even though these scary thoughts consume my drive to and from work, and sometimes make me cry, I always know that I can count on weekend breakfast. I know that no matter what else made me feel like a failure during the rest of the week, I can feel like I did something right.

I cooked yummy food for my little family. We ate it together. And we all smiled. For a small window of my week, we were perfect…. except when Tater put eggs in her Big Girl cup, and threw toast on the ground, and cried because I was taking too long to get it all to the table, and she fed Sophia raisins that could make dogs sick…OK, perfect doesn’t exist when you are a human and being a mom makes you see that gap as a huge chasm that you will never even make it half way across. But weekend breakfast makes it feel smaller.

I know that when I get old, I won’t remember the lack of sleep. The long commutes on LA freeways. The tantrums that drive me to a crazy place. But I will remember that smiling face. The family breakfast. Even though I have less patience than I want to have, and the thought of all the responsibility that goes along with parenting makes me so overwhelmed…. I still believe that theses really are "the good 'ole days." At least that’s how I will remember them. When I live to be 100.

Pecan Pie French Toast

(Will make you feel a little bit closer to perfect.

To be made during those weeks when you need to know that you did at least one thing right)

For the Filling/Topping

1 stick of butter

1 cup of firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup (like Karo)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups chopped pecans

2 lightly beaten eggs

For the Toast:

8 slices of thick cut bread

3 eggs

2 cups of milk

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbs sugar

Preheat oven to 400.

In a large sauce pan over medium high heat, combine butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, allow to boil for about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the pecans and vanilla and allow to cool to about room temp.

In a large bowl, combine the 3 eggs,  milk, 1 tsp vanilla, salt, and sugar and whisk to combine. One at a time, soak each slice of bread for about 30 seconds. Add to a hot pan over medium-high heat, coated with non-stick cooking spray. Cook on each side for about 2-4 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a baking sheet, sprayed with non stick cooking spray (slices will be stacked, two slices high, so you only need a baking sheet big enough for 4 slices.) Repeat for all slices.

In a small bowl, beat the 2 eggs until combined. Add to your cooled pecan mixture and stir until well combined (if the pecan mixture is too hot, you will make scrambled eggs, make sure it’s room temp). Return to heat and allow to boil, stirring frequently,  for 2-5 minutes or until thickened. Allow to cool a bit.

On one slice of bread, add about 2-4 tbs of the pecan mixture to the center. Top with another slice of toast. Repeat until you have 4 "sandwiches "  of pecan pie stuffed french toast on a baking sheet.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.

Add to a plate and top each serving with 2-4 tbs of the remaining pecan mixture.

Enjoy.

Give yourself a break, you are a good human. You made a great breakfast, the rest of the world can wait.

Printable: Pecan Pie French Toast

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