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Porter/Stout

Chocolate Stout Crinkle Cookies

06.12.2012 49 Comments

I think I want my next cookbook to be The Chocolate Stout Cookbook.

It really is my favorite beer to cook with. Not just for the Christmas Cookie of all Christmas Cookies, it’s also awesome for braising meat with.

And even in the dead of summer, in the middle of the Mojave Desert, I’d still drink me some dark beer. In fact, if I could stock my fridge with System of a Stout, I don’t think I’d ever leave my house.

If this is your first time to my little corner of the internet, and you are still a bit skeptical about adding beer to your food, I beg of you to try a chocolate dessert recipe with beer. I’d really like to take credit for cakes and cookies having a beautiful depth, a richness without being overly dense and a slight puff without being dry, but we owe it all to the stout.

Here are my notes about amending your favorite chocolate  dessert recipe with stout:

Replace about 1/2 the liquid with beer.

Up the fat content (an extra egg yolk, a tbs or two of oil) if you replace a liquid, like milk or cream, that has fat in it

Up the sugar a bit (about 1 tbs per 1/4 cup beer, more if you are using an extra bitter stout)

That’s about it. Hope your next chocolate cake will include a dark beer, even if it is from a box (especially if it’s from a box).

Chocolate Stout Crinkle Cookies

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cups all-purpose flour
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tsp espresso powder
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 12 ounces about 2 2/3 cups, chopped good quality dark chocolate (60% cocao)
  • 1/2 stick unsalted butter cut into cubes
  • 1 tbs vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup Chocolate Stout
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • Makes 18 to 20

Instructions
 

  • In a bowl add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, espresso powder, and sugar, mix until well combined. Set aside
  • In a microwave safe bowl add the chocolate, the butter and the oil. Microwave on high for 20 seconds, stir and repeat until melted. Don't over heat or the chocolate will seize. Add the beer and stir.
  • Add the eggs to the chocolate and stir until well combined.
  • Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined, some lumps are OK.
  • Cover and refrigerate until the dough as has set, about 3 hours and up to 36. Overnight refrigeration is recommended.
  • Preheat oven to 350. Place powdered sugar in a small bowl.
  • Using a cookie dough scoop, make balls just a bit smaller than golf balls, roll into shape with your hands. Place dough balls into powdered sugar, roll until well coated.
  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, add cookie balls
  • Bake cookies at 350 for 8-11 minutes or until the edges have set but the center is still a bit soft. Don't over-bake or the cookies will be dry and crumbly.

 

Chipotle Stout and Chorizo Chili Topped with Pork Rinds

04.12.2012 30 Comments

 

I’m so glad I can share this recipe with you. I’ve been working like a crazy person to develop and test recipes that I fall in love with but I can’t share them with you because I need to save them for the cookbook.

And, of course, I’m putting a tremendous amount of pressure on myself to make each recipe a home run.

Because once you buy the book, and actually pay for the recipes, I want them all to be amazing. This, my friend, is a huge amount of pressure on me and the limits of my culinary creativity.


But then I get these crazy ideas, like putting crushed Chicharrones on top of chili and I can’t even wait to share it. I have to post it as soon as possible, even pushing back a more "seasonally appropriate" post because I want to show you this.

And Chorizo, with its spice and fatty goodness, is perfect in chili. In fact, I pretty much raided the "C" section of my local Mexican food market (there isn’t a "C" section, by the way, but there should be) to bring you a dish with chipotle, chorizo, chicharrones, cilantro, cheddar and cumin.

 And then I ate three bowls before I could even share it with anyone.

If I was planning on tailgating anytime soon, I would make this in huge vats.

And if you are a "beans in your chili" kind of guy, go ahead and throw some in, I won’t mind.

Or add some sour cream, if that’s your thing.

Chipotle Stout and Chorizo Chili Topped with Pork Rinds

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • ½ white onion chopped (about 1 cup)
  • 1 red bell pepper chopped, stem and seeds removed
  • 6 oz chorizo raw, removed from casing
  • 1 lb ground beef chuck 80/20 lean to fat
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 cup Chipotle Stout
  • 14 oz stewed diced tomatoes canned is fine
  • 1 chipotle pepper in adobo from can, minced plus more if desired
  • 1 tsp adobo sauce
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 2 tbs Worcestershire sauce

Toppings:

  • 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
  • ½ cup cilantro chopped
  • 2 cups Chicharrones pork rinds, lightly crushed
  • Makes 4-6 servings

Instructions
 

  • In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook until onion softens but isn’t browned, about 5 minutes.
  • Add the chorizo and beef, cook until meat starts to brown. Add the garlic and stir.
  • Add the beer, diced tomatoes, one chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, smoked paprika, pepper, cumin and Worcestershire sauce. Allow to simmer for about 30 minutes, until thickened. Add additional chipotle peppers as desired to raise heat level.
  • Pour into bowls, top with cilantro, cheddar and Chicharrones.

 

 

 

Deep Dish Porter Pecan Pie

27.11.2012 30 Comments

The best thing happened on Thanksgiving.

Just about 18 hours prior to Turkey Tip-Off, my small gathering of 4 people more than tripled into a 14 person party that ended in cocktails, poker, and eating pie right out of the pan. How great is that?

I was happy with the idea of a small gathering, sometimes those can be the best nights. But the fact that I have such an over abundance of food in my kitchen right now and dozens of recipes to be cooked and tested, I could not have been happier about the influx of last minute hungry visitors.

And a Thanksgiving that morphed into a Poker Night, complete with impromptu costuming and teaching my friends 8-year-old how to bluff, was one of the best Thanksgivings I have ever had. Although I was seriously caffeine deficient the next day, and zero percent productive.

I may, or may not, have consume an entire bottle of wine by myself.

 I used a chocolate porter for this recipe, and of course, a stout would work well also. BUT now that I sit here staring at these photos, I wish I’d have used something that had been aged in bourbon barrels. How great would that be?

 

Deep Dish Porter Pecan Pie

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

For the Crust:

  • 1 ½ cups flour
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tbs sugar
  • 6 tbs of butter cold, cut into cubes
  • 2 tbs shortening
  • 2 tbs ice cold beer high ABV works best

For the filling:

  • 1 cup porter beer can sub stout
  • 2 cups brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup light corn syrup
  • 2 tbs flour
  • 3 cups chopped pecans
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 1 stick butter cold, cut into cubes
  • 4 eggs

Instructions
 

  • In a food processor, add 1 cup of flour (reserving the other ½ cup) salt, sugar and pulse to combine. Add the butter cubes and the shortening, process until combined. Add the remaining ½ cup of flour, process until well incorporated.
  • Transfer to a bowl, add the beer and mix until combined. Dough will be very soft. Form into a wide flat disk, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours.
  • Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface, transfer to a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan, press into shape. Remove the excess. Freeze crust for 20 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 350.
  • In a pot over medium high heat, add the beer, brown sugar and corn syrup. Allow to simmer until combined and the sugar has melted. Sprinkle with flour, whisk until well combined. Remove from heat, add pecans, heavy cream and butter. Stir until well combined and the butter has melted. Allow to cool to room temperature before adding the eggs. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs. Slowly add the pecan mixture to the eggs, whisking the eggs the entire time.
  • Pour filling into crust, bake at 350 for 50 minute to an hour or until the filling no longer jiggles when you shake the rack it sits on. Chill until the filling has set, about 2 hours.
  • *Note: This recipe is for a deep-dish pie pan. The filling is too much for a regular pie pan.

Creme Brulee Topped Chocolate Stout Brownies & Some Big News

13.11.2012 50 Comments

I have some news.

If you Follow me on Twitter, you probably already know the Big News.

I signed a book deal on Thursday. A publisher has actually decided to pay me to write a cookbook.

How amazing is that?

Writing a cookbook has long been on my list of goals, and as I somewhat naively and idealistically jump into this process, I am reminded that it is you I have to thank for this milestone. The ones who share my posts, tell their friends about my little blog, believe in what I’m doing here,  the ones who read every silly word I write, and yes, even those of you who write creepy comments about wanting to wake up in my bed and email me about how you google stalk me on a weekly basis. I am grateful for all of you.

This isn’t just my book, it’s yours too. The ideas you give me, the way I’m inspire by your questions and humbled by being seen as a source of knowledge and beer-cooking wisdom.

I wish I could properly thank you all, over a beer and some possibly inappropriate conversation.  But for now, we’ll have to settle for some Creme Brulee Brownies made with two different types of beer. Which seems to be fitting, since chocolate stout was the first beer I ever cooked with and creme brulee was the subject of my first post. It’s an homage to my beer cooking beginnings, hope you like it.

If you are at all interested in helping me with this book, as an un-paid but thoroughly appreciated, recipe tester, for which you will receive my undying love and affection, a mention in the book, a sneak peek at never-before-seen-recipes, and possibly more, stay tuned. Once we get to that place, I’ll let you know how you can be my beer cooking partner in crime.

Creme Brulee Topped Chocolate Stout Brownies

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

For the Brownie Layer:

  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp espresso powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 stick butter
  • 7 oz dark chocolate 60%
  • 2/3 cup chocolate stout

For The Creme Brulee Layer

  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 3/4 cup low-hop pale ale beer
  • 1 vanilla bean split and scraped or 1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 3 eggs plus 2 yolks
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tbs corn starch
  • Plus 1/4 cup sugar for the brulee topping

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the 3 eggs, white sugar, brown sugar and vanilla on high for at least ten minutes. You need a meringue type consistency in order to create a crust on top of the brownies to insure the layers stay separate. In a separate bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder and salt, stir to combine.
  • In a microwave safe bowl, add the butter and the chocolate. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until melted.
  • While the stand mixer is on medium speed, slowly add the chocolate until mostly combined. Add the beer and stir. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
  • Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour batter into dish and smooth out the top. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until the top is matte and a bit cracked. Don't over bake.
  • Allow to cool to room temperature.
  • For the creme brulee layer:
  • In a sauce pan over medium heat, bring the cream, beer and vanilla to a slight simmer, removing from heat when bubbles start to form around the edges. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk the 1/2 cup sugar, eggs and yolk, and cornstarch until well combined and slightly frothy.
  • While continuing to whisk the egg mixture, slowly add the cream and whisk until well combined. Make sure the cream has cool or you will just have created vanilla scrambled eggs.
  • Return the cream to the stove and stir over medium heat until it comes to a low simmer. Continue to whisk until thickened, between 5 and 10 minutes. The cream should leave a track when you drag the whisk through it. Allow to cool to about room temperature.
  • Pour over the brownies, cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill until set, about 1 hour.
  • Just prior to serving, cut into squares, cover with a light layer of white sugar and brulee the top with a kitchen torch until the sugar has melted and turned a dark amber color.

 

 

Salted Chocolate Stout Truffles

01.11.2012 61 Comments

 

This is totally easy. I promise.

At a beer event a few weeks ago, I had a guy call my recipes, "Foodie but accessible. They sounds hard and impressive, but once you read the recipe it’s actually really easy."

I like that.

This recipe is the same way. It sounds really hard, making truffles from scratch. And really, that’s the best part. It sounds hard, and impressive, and it has beer in it, which makes you a Christmas Party Superhero, but it’s really easy. And since so few people have ever made truffles from scratch, they won’t even know how easy it was.

I made these for the first time a few years ago to bring to a Thanksgiving party. A friend of mine, an artist from France, ate one. Without even knowing that I was the one who had brought them, he looked at me and said, "It’s like Paris at Christmas time."

That pretty much made my year.

 

There are a few things to keep in mind when making these. Although your active time is pretty minimal, it takes about 2 1/2 hours start to finish because of the chilling time.

Also, this is no place to skimp when it comes to chocolate. Use the good stuff. Don’t use chocolate chips, they contain additives that prevent them from melting together in the package and that could be problematic.

For the coating, you can go crazy. Roll them in anything that goes with chocolate, and make a bunch of different flavors and figure out which ones you like the best.

Some ideas:

Cocoa powder (the old standard)

Crushed Pretzels

Coconut shavings

Chopped nuts

Chopped bacon (yep, you should totally do that)

Crushed candy cane

Sprinkles

Crushed graham crackers

Crushed toffee

Seriously, anything that you think might taste good on chocolate, give it a try.

 

You can also try tempering chocolate to give them a nice, smooth, shinny chocolate shell with a satisfying snap when you bite into them. I would strongly encourage you to do this. It isn’t difficult and it gives you a really professional tasting final product.

 

 

For the filling:

1 cup stout beer

8 weight ounces (225 g) good quality chocolate (60% cocoa content)

For the coating:

8oz (225 g) good quality chocolate (from a shiny bar, this means it has previously been tempered) can be milk, dark or white chocolate

and/or

Cocoa powder, coconut shavings, chopped nuts, chopped bacon, etc.

1 tsp good quality coarse sea salt (I used Himalayan Pink Salt)

 

Add the beer to a pot over high heat. Reduce by half (about 1/2 cup remaining), stirring frequently. Remove from heat, break the 8 wt ounce of chocolate into chunks, stir until smooth and melted.

Allow to cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.

Use a melon baller to scoop out a small amount of chocolate.

Roll into a ball with your hands, add to a plate and chill for 20 minutes to an hour.

To temper chocolate for the coating:

Chop the good quality chocolate into small pieces. Add about half of it to the top of a double boiler over medium heat (If you don’t have a double boiler, place a glass or metal bowl over a pot of water making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water).

Stir until the chocolate reaches 115 for dark chocolate, 110 for milk or white chocolate.

Remove from heat. Stir continuously, adding a bit of the reserved chocolate at a time until the chocolate reaches 90 degrees (88 for milk or white chocolate). Stir, stir, stir like crazy.

Add the chocolate truffle balls, roll around with a fork until coated.

Remove from chocolate and place on parchment paper, sprinkle with a small amount of sea salt. Chill until ready to serve.

If you don’t want to temper chocolate, just place the coating in a small bowl, add the chocolate truffle and turn until coated.

 

 

Chocolate Stout and Bacon Skillet Brownies

23.10.2012 29 Comments

 

I hope you don’t mind my excessive use of stout over the past few weeks, but to be honest I’m really not sorry. I love stouts, I’m  unreasonably excited about stouts being back "in season," and we are only about 2 weeks away from International Stout Day.

I’m geting you all stocked up on stout recipes, in case you want to celebrate via beer infused baked goods.

Which, of course, I hope you do.

You can use a chocolate stout for this, and that will be perfectly fine. You can also use a smoked porter or stout, or you can use a coffee or espresso stout.

Whatever you choose, this is best served warm, in the middle of a table full of fun people, each with a spoon in one hand and a stout in the other.

Chocolate Stout and Bacon Skillet Brownies

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 2 strips thick cut bacon
  • 1 stick unsalted butter
  • 3.5 oz 100g dark chocolate (60%), broken into pieces
  • 1/2 cup stout chocolate or coffee stouts work best
  • 2 eggs
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 tbs espresso powder
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • Preheat oven to 350.

Instructions
 

  • In a 8 or 9 inch cast iron skillet cook the bacon until done. Remove bacon from skillet. Swirl the bacon fat to coat the pan, discard the excess bacon fat.
  • Add the butter to the skillet, return to heat and cook until melted. Add the chocolate and stir until melted. Remove from heat. Add beer and stir.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until well combined. Sprinkle the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and espresso powder over the eggs, whisk until just combined.
  • Add the egg mixture to the chocolate skillet and stir until just combined. Chop bacon and sprinkle over the top.
  • Bake until the top has set (don't over bake) about 25 to 30 minutes.
  • Remove from oven, top with vanilla ice cream if desired (and I'm pretty sure you should desire) set in the middle of a table full of hungry people. Add spoons.

Chocolate Mint Stout Lava Cake

18.10.2012 26 Comments

 

 

 

Let’s talk about mint for a second.

If you know me well, you know I have an issue with mint. Although it would be hard to tell, given that I’ve made you Chocolate Porter Brownies with Mint Frosting, Chocolate Mint Stout Ice Cream, and our neighborhood beer float hussy, The Dirty Girl Scout. You could have even assumed that I LOVE mint by all of those recipes, but the truth is that this is my culinary equililant of Exposure Therapy.

The devolution of mint in my life happened in Morocco. I was traveling though Middle Atlas a few year ago with my sister, being carted from one town to another in the back of what was surely the car of a Moroccan drug dealer (or at least drug dropper-offer-guy, *actual term). I can’t even really pinpoint which incident linked Mint with Morocco in my brain. Maybe it was the cave dweller in Middle Atlas who made me mint tea, or the three Moroccan rug makers who locked me in the back of the factory plying me with mint tea in an effort to convince me to spend $6000 on a rug, or maybe it was the mint vendors waving their wares at me in the walled maze that was the old City Medina.

To be honest, the experience wasn’t entirely bad. Terrifying and life changing, but I’m grateful for the opportunity to have gone to the other side of the world, even if it did involved running for my life through the late night streets of Fez. The rumor is that your sense of taste is more strongly linked to memories than images. Which makes sense. Because even when I see my photos from that trip, it doesn’t even come close to evoking the memories that come screaming back when I smell or taste fresh mint.

I want to like mint, it’s an incredible flavor. It’s fresh and bright, and makes me gag. But I’m working on it. Exposure therapy, one chocolate mint dessert at a time.

Months ago, when I found out about the Ken Schmidt / Iron Fist / Stone Mint Chocolate Imperial Stout I was excited that my self imposed mint affliction could extend into my love of craft beer.

This might do it. And with a bold and creamy taste, and a gentle, but not sweet, mint flavor, I have high hopes that I will someday be the cure to my mint aversion. I think I need to send Ken Schmidt a mint flavored thank you card.

 

Chocolate Mint Stout Lava Cake

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 3.5 oz 100 g Dark Chocolate 70%
  • 1 1/2 sticks butter 10 tbs
  • 2/3 cup Chocolate Mint Stout or chocolate stout
  • 1/4 tsp peppermint extract
  • 3 eggs plus 3 additional yolks
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1 tsp espresso powder this will not make the dessert taste like coffee. Espresso intensifies chocolate
  • 2 tbs dark chocolate chips

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425.
  • Butter six soufflé dishes very well. The best way to do this is to soften butter (or use vegetable shortening or margarine) and a wadded up paper towel, smear a large amount inside each dish, making sure to get into the edges.
  • In a saucepan over medium heat, add the chocolate and butter. Stir constantly until chocolate is melted, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add beer, and peppermint extract, stir to combine.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, yolks and powdered sugar.
  • Pour chocolate mixture over egg mixture, stir to combine.
  • Sprinkle cocoa powder, espresso powder and flour over chocolate mixture, stir until just combined.
  • Divide equally between souffle dishes, making sure not to fill more than 2/3 full. Press about 4 to 5 chocolate chips into the very center of each cake (can be made one day ahead, cover and chill).
  • Bake at 425 until the outside is set, but the center is still liquid, about 9 minute no more than 13. (Note: Glass baking dishes cook much faster then ceramic dishes. Take these out of the oven when it looks as if they "need a few more minutes," you want a very runny center.)
  • Run a butter knife around the edge of the cake. Place a plate on top of each ramekin, turn upside down, lift ramekin to reveal cake. Serve immediately.

 

Chipotle Stout Sloppy Joe’s Sliders

16.10.2012 27 Comments

 

I spent a few days up in Napa last month. While I was hanging out at Bear Republic those guys were nice enough to show me around and even let me jump behind the bar. While I was behind the bar, most likely annoyingly in his way, the bar manager asked me what my favorite style of beer was. To be honest, I didn’t have an answer. I wanted to try his special release stuff, those beer that never make it into bottles. And the Peter Brown Tribute that I had heard about but hadn’t been able to taste yet, but I still am not sure if I could pick one all-time favorite.

It depends on what I’m eating.

I do tend to favor lower alcohol beers, because I live in LA and we like to drive here.

I like a dry hopped IPA.

Or a circusy White.

And I will always stand in line for a spicy beer.

But, if I had to choose only one style of beer to cook with, that would be easy. Stouts are by far my favorite beer to cook with. They work well with beef and fabulously with chocolate. Spicy stouts are always intriguing, and although the go-to recipes for those seems to be a meat product, I  also want to figure out a really great chili chocolate cake recipe made with a spiced stout.

Lucky for us, more and more breweries are making beer with spices so check out your local beer store and ask around. Here are some of my favorites:

Stone Smoked Porter W/ Chipotle Peppers

Mikkeller Texas Ranger 

Bootlegger Black Phoneix Chipotle Coffee Stout

I really encourage you to find a great beer for a brewery close to home. Stop in some day and see what they suggest. Maybe there is even a brewery close to you that won at last weeks Great American Beer Festival. Take look, make  some notes on what you want to try, but don’t forget to drink what you love, because you love it, regardless of how many or how few prizes it has under it’s belt.

 

 

 

Chipotle Stout Sloppy Joe’s Sliders

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tbs oil
  • 1 lb 80%/20% premium ground beef
  • 1/2 white onion chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1 1/4 cup Chipotle Stout or Porter
  • 1 small chipotle pepper from can in adobo sauce
  • 1 tsp adobo sauce from can
  • 4 oz tomato paste
  • 1 tbs mollasas
  • 2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1/4 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 14-16 slider buns warmed

Instructions
 

  • In a pan over medium high heat, add the oil and ground beef, cook until browned, stirring and breaking up meat. Using a slotted spoon, remove meat from pan.
  • In pan with residual oils, cook the onions until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir.
  • Add the beer, stir to combine.
  • Remove a small chipotle pepper from the can. Using a sharp knife and fork, chop very well until nearly reduced to a paste like substance. Add chipotle to the pan along with tomato paste, adobo sauce, molasses, cumin, paprika, salt, Worcestershire sauce and mustard. Allow to cook until well combined and slightly thickened.
  • Add meat to the sauce pan, stir until well combined.
  • Fill slider buns with meat, serve warm.

 

 

 

The Dirty Girl Scout: Chocolate Mint Beer Float

19.09.2012 18 Comments

 

This isn’t a recipe. Not really, it’s more like assembly instructions for how to make a float that tastes like a Girl Scout Thin Mint, but with beer.

Boozy, chocolatey, minty.

But there really isn’t a recipe involved. Add more ice cream if that’s what you like. Add more beer, if that suits you.

I used my homemade Chocolate Mint Stout Ice Cream & a lot of Bison Chocolate Stout.

It tastes like beer. In case you were hoping for one of those overly sweet concoctions they sell at diners.

But, more or less, this is how you do it:

 

Step one:

Add a few scoops of chocolate mint ice cream to the bottom of a mug.

 

Grab some beer, chocolate stout is preferable.

Pour beer over ice cream.

 

Enjoy.

 


Chocolate Mint Stout Ice Cream

18.09.2012 25 Comments

There are two ways to look at this.

It’s either the summer death rattle manifesting itself in an ice cream during the first week of fall, or it’s the nexus of the best of summer treats and the best of fall beers joining forces at the perfect moment.

For this, I used Bison Chocolate Stout. Rich, dark and beautiful. Although I did try and hold out for the Stone Chocolate Mint Stout that I’ve been teased with for months now, I may have to give this recipe another try when the red tape is lifted and the world is able to indulge in that.

I also used Green & Blacks Mint Dark Chocolate, adding a smooth peppermint flavor.

Resulting in a rich, smooth ice cream that’s like a Girl Scout Thin Mint, but with beer. And, that’s really what those cookies need: beer.

 

 

Chocolate Mint Stout Ice Cream

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 3 fresh mint leaves
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup chocolate stout or chocolate mint stout
  • 7 ounces of 60% dark chocolate with peppermint oil such as Dark Chocolate Mint from Green & Blacks, broken into chunks
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1 1/4 cup white sugar

Instructions
 

  • In a pot over medium high heat, add the cream, milk, mint leaves cream and stout. Bring to a gentle simmer. Remove from heat, remove and discard mint leaves, and stir in the chocolate until melted.
  • In a separate bowl, add the egg yolks and the sugar, whisk until well combined. Slowly add the chocolate milk, whisking continually, until about 1/2 the mixture has been added to the egg yolks. Add the egg yolk mixture back into pot, whisk until well combined. Return pot to heat and bring to a mild simmer.
  • Refrigerator until chilled, about 3 hours.
  • Churn in ice cream maker according to manufactures directions. Chill until firm.

 

 

 

Green & Blacks provided me with a sample of chocolates used in this post. I was not monetarily compensated for this recipe. All thoughts, opinions and ideas are my own. 

Beer & Bacon Pecan Bars

06.09.2012 56 Comments

 

 

Clearly, I’m ready for fall. And in Los Angeles, that just means that Dodgers games are starting to end and I get to wear a light sweater. If I feel like it. Oh, and fall produce. If I haven’t mentioned to you before my favorite part of living in Southern California, its this: Farmers Markets.

This Golden State that I live in grows half of all the produce grown in the United States (that’s a lot) and we get to have Farmers Markets nearly every day of the year. And although mid-rant I realize that this post doesn’t even contain any produce, it does contain those fabulous flavors of fall. With bacon. And beer. And fall farmers markets are my favorite. No matter what day of the week, somewhere in Los Angeles there is a Farmers Market in which I can unnecessarily bundle up and walk from stall to stall with a cup of coffee buying local vegetables in the "chilly" mid 60 degree weather.

Pecan pie will always remind me of fall and for nearly a year I’ve wondered what it would be like to add bacon. And of course, beer.

Turns out, these are the best damn pecan pie bars I’ve ever had.

 

Beer & Bacon Pecan Bars

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

For The Crust:

  • 1 stick plus 2 tbs 10 tbs unsalted butter
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tbs water

For the Filling

  • 1 cup stout
  • 1 stick butter
  • 2 cups chopped pecan
  • 2 cups brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup light corn syrup
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 2 eggs
  • 5 strips of bacon cooked and chopped

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350
  • In a food processor add the flour, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and salt, pulse to combine. Cut the butter into cubes and add to the food processor. Process until butter is incorporated into the flour mixture. Add the water and process to combine. Add additional water, 1 tsp at a time if there is flour that still hasn't been dampened.
  • line a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with parchment paper (this will make it easier to remove from the pan) and dump the shortbread into the pan. Press into the bottom of the baking pan in one even layer.
  • Bake at 350 for 12 minutes of until a light golden brown. Allow to cool before adding the filling or the crust and filling will mesh together.
  • In a pot over medium high heat, add the stout, cook until reduced by half. Add the butter and stir until melted, remove from heat. Add the sugar, pecans, cream, corn syrup and stir until melted. Once the mixture has cooled to room temperature, add the eggs and stir until combined.
  • Pour the filling over the crust, sprinkle with cooked bacon and bake at 350 until the filling no longer jiggles when you gently shake the pan, about 25-30 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

Chocolate Chip, Stout & Beer Nut Cookies

28.08.2012 18 Comments

 

If you live in the Los Angeles area, I’m going to need you to do me a favor. I’ve somehow been booked on CBS, Los Angeles mid-day news with a cooking segment this Friday, August 31st. They want me to do a quick Cooking With Beer segment on the news at noon. People will be hungry, naturally, it is lunch time, and my hope is that this will persuade them to ignore any brief moments of nervousness that I have.

But If you could tune in, and support me, that would be great. I’m not really nervous, I keep waiting for that to set in, but it hasn’t yet. When it does, I would love to know that people who have been visiting me here on this little blog for the past year are out there cheering me on.

That would be great.

In the meantime we’re going to make some cookies. These call for the classic Beer Nuts, which I found myself in possession of after a particularly round night of cards at my house. Several bags of Beer Nuts left by an anonymous donor.  And I can’t just leave them in my pantry, I need to find a use for them.

We are also going to revisit that crazy idea I have of making beer extract. Because vanilla is just too…well, vanilla.

 

Chocolate Chip, Stout & Beer Nut Cookies

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 3/4 cup stout beer
  • 1 cup cake flour
  • 3/4 cup bread flour
  • 1/2 tsp cornstarch
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup butter
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup dark chocolate chips 60%
  • 3 oz bag Beer Nuts

(Makes 10-12 cookies)

    Instructions
     

    • In a pot over medium high heat add the beer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced to about 1 tbs.
    • In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and both types of sugar, beat until well creamed. Add the egg and beat until well combined. Add the 1 tbs of beer extract and beat until well combined, scraping the bottom to make sure all the ingredients are well combined.
    • In a sperate bowl, add both types of flour (these two types of flour are very important to the end result of your cookies, regular all purpose flour will not give you the same results), cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Add dry ingredients to the stand mixer and mix on medium/low speed until just barely combined, don't over mix. Add the chocolate chips and Beer Nuts, and stir until incorporated.
    • Resting the dough is an important step in this recipe. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper, scoop golfball sized scoops of dough, roll them into round balls and place on the baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours.
    • Preheat oven to 350.
    • Bake for 20-22 minutes or until light golden brown, don't over bake. (If you don't chill the dough, or if you make smaller sized cookies, the cooking time will be much shorter. Start to keep an eye on your cookies after about 14 minutes).

     

    Vanilla Bean Smoked Porter French Toast

    09.08.2012 23 Comments

    It seems so wrong.

    This urge I have to continually make breakfast with beer.

    Probably reinforcement of the personality test I took in college in which I scored "surprisingly high" on the Inherent rebellion scale, as noted by the test administrator.

    Because we, as a society, have decided that we shouldn’t mix alcohol with pre-noon hours. Along with a Sunday brunch mimosa or, well… Vegas in general, this should be your exception.

    And while I’m ordering you around, I have to mention how much I adore this beer and demand that you seek it out:

     Stone smoked porter with vanilla bean. It’s a porter with the perfect infusion of the flavors of smoke and vanilla bean.  And even though it’s summer and I’ve been told by Beer Store Beer Guy that porters and stouts aren’t "in season," I’ve driven all over town to stock up on this very porter, twice. More evidence of my inherent rebellion.

     

    Vanilla Bean Smoked Porter French Toast

    Print Recipe

    Ingredients
      

    • 1 cup milk
    • 2/3 cup smoked porter recommended: Stone Smoked Porter w/ Vanilla Bean
    • 1/2 cup sugar
    • 3 eggs
    • 1 tsp vanilla
    • 2 tbs butter plus additional as needed
    • 1 large loaf of crusty italian bread cut into 1 inch thick slices

    Instructions
     

    • In a bowl, add milk, beer, sugar, eggs and vanilla, whisk until well combined. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat, melt the butter.
    • One at a time, dip the bread into the milk mixture until well coated. Add to pan and cook until browned on one side, flip and brown on the opposite side (about 2 to 3 minutes per side). Repeat for all slices. Add butter to the pan as needed.

    Chocolate Stout S’Mores Bars

    26.07.2012 27 Comments

    I have some s’mores trivia for you. I have a fascination with useless mundane trivia, and tend to  collect and expel said facts without provocation. So, here is the s’mores trivia I promised that you are undoubtably eager to get to:

    • The recipe for s’mores was first published by the Girl Scouts in 1927. Further proof that those smug little culinary crack dealers have a long history with the creation of addicting sweet treats. (* this last sentence is not actual fact, just observation)
    • National S’Mores day is August 10th. More than enough time for you to whip up a batch of beer soaked s’more bars (*Actual fact).
    • The recipe’s original credit is given to Loretta Scott. But let’s be honest, stolen content predates blogs, no one really knows where the recipe came from. At least she didn’t steal their photo and submit it to Foodgawker. (*combination of fact, conjecture and emotional trauma resulting from web thievery)
    If you have any random, little known or otherwise useless s’mores facts, I’d love to hear them.

     

     


    Chocolate Stout S’Mores Bars

    Print Recipe

    Ingredients
      

    • 10 graham crackers
    • 3 tbs butter melted
    • 2 tbs brown sugar
    • 3 eggs
    • 1 cup white sugar
    • 1/2 cup brown sugar
    • 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
    • 1 stick butter
    • 1 cup cocoa powder
    • 1/2 tsp salt
    • 1/2 cup flour
    • 2/3 cup chocolate stout
    • 3 cups standard size marshmallows

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat oven to 350.
    • In a food processor, add the graham crackers and the brown sugar. Process until nothing is left but crumbs. Remove the stopper from the food processor lid. While the food processor is on, slowly add the 3 tbs melted butter and process until it resembles wet sand.
    • Add to a 9 x 13 pan. Distribute evenly along the bottom, pressing firmly into place.
    • In a bowl, beat the eggs and both sugars on high until well combined, about 3 minutes.
    • In a microwave safe bowl, add the chocolate chips and the butter. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until melted and well combined. Add the chocolate to the egg/sugar mixture and beat until well combined.
    • In a separate bowl, mix the cocoa powder, salt and the flour until well combined. Add to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Add the beer and stir until just combined.
    • Pour the batter over the crust.
    • Place marshmallows in even rows across the top, leaving a 1/2 inch boarder along the edge.
    • Bake at 350 for 22 minutes or until the marshmallows are golden brown.
    • You still want the bars to be soft, don't over bake, they will continue to set as they cool.

    Stout Jerk Chicken

    12.07.2012 11 Comments

    Literary Grief. This is the term I use for the moment you finish a great book and realize that it’s gone. This sort of anchor to those free moments in your life is now spent and the characters that ran behind your consciousness during the busy moments of your day, beckoning you back to the pages have run their course. You miss having more left to discover, but all mysteries have been unearthed and the plot has crescendoed. Most recently for me, that has been Blood, Bones and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton.

    Inspired writing and an intriguing story peppered with mentions of thought-provoking recipes that I couldn’t help but mark for later reference.

     One of those recipes was a reference to a Jerk marinade that Gabrielle still makes on a regular basis. Her only notes about it were just that it contained Stout, Scotch Bonnet Peppers, and Honey as well as the fact that the recipe’s ingredients totaled an upwards of 25.

    The Stout Jerk marinade that I have created falls very short of the 25 ingredient threshold, but the inspiration to use stout, scotch bonnet and honey is from the above book. As fascinated as I am with Gabrielle, and grateful that I was able to eat at Prune years ago, I would bet all of my recipes on the hunch that she may have less than favorable opinions about lowly Food Bloggers.

    After all, I’ve never slept on a pile of chefs coats between 12-hour shifts. I’ve never scraped mold out of a walk in. I’ve never reached calloused fingers into a deep fryer or worked one handed with a blood-soaked bandage covered with a finger cot slowing my progress. I worked as a waitress in the front of the house, but I always knew my place. I begged to be allowed do deep prep when we were slow, took the fall for wasted produce when the owner would hassle the over-worked line cooks, and made sure the cooks "water" cups were full when we were slammed. But I know my place even now, in the world of food and I am still, in so many ways, "front of the house" hoping one day to be in the kitchen doing more than just deep prep.

    Here is a jerk marinade, inspired by Blood Bones & Butter and using Stout Beer for its flavor and its meat tenderizing properties.

    Wanna see the updated grilled version? Check it out here

     

    Stout Jerk Chicken

    Print Recipe

    Ingredients
      

    • 1/2 cup stout beer I used Storm King Stout, by Victory Brewing
    • 4 Scotch Bonnet or Habanero Peppers
    • 6 cloves of garlic peeled
    • 3 tbs ponzu sauce
    • 3 tbs brown sugar
    • 1 tsp dry mustard powder
    • 2 tsp Chinese 5 Spice powder
    • 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
    • 3 tbs chopped shallots
    • 1 tbs fresh squeezed lemon juice
    • 2 tbs honey
    • 1 tsp Kosher or Sea salt
    • 3 lbs chicken wings legs, thighs

    Instructions
     

    • Add all of the ingredients (other than the chicken) to a food processor and process until smooth, about 2 minutes.
    • Add chicken to a large Ziplock style bag, pour marinade over the chicken and seal, removing as much air as possible.
    • Allow to chill and marinate in the fridge for 8-24 hours, rotating about every 3 hours to redistribute the marinate.
    • Preheat oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Remove the chicken from the marinade and arrange on the sheet, spooning a bit of the remaining marinade over the chicken. Bake at 375 for 18-22 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Baking time will depend on the size of chicken you use. For very small chicken wings, start to check after 12 minutes.

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    Oven Roasted BBQ Ribs With Stout Barbecue Sauce

    10.07.2012 11 Comments

    I hate to break it to you but you have probably never barbecued in your life. How dare I say such blasphemous things, you toss burgers and steaks on the grill every weekend?!

    That’s not Barbecue, it’s grill. And I would never take away from the fantastic results we can get with a backyard grill, and the amazing flavors that can work their way into your food, but it’s not barbecue.

    Barbecue is long, slow and low and the temperature is usually between 240 and 270 degrees. Grill is short, fast and hot, a nice char with a juicy middle.

    I wanted to see if I could use my oven to get close the flavors of true barbecue, and while I was missing the smokey flavor, these were some of the best homemade ribs I have ever had. The trick is long, slow and low.

    Meat choice is important as well, I used Choice ribs. You know that cute little sticker that sits beside the label on your steak packages, baffling you to some degree with the designation of Prime, Choice or Select, as to why they can’t just be honest and say, "Great," or "Pretty Good," and, "Not that great, but it’s cheap!"

    Here are the Cliffs Notes:

    Prime: The best and most expensive

    Choice: Still great, not as good or as expensive as Prime

    Select: Not good, don’t bother

    Unlabeled: Bad, didn’t even earn the lowly title of Select.

    Inspected By The USDA: Don’t be fooled, all meat is inspected by the USDA. Some stores use this to distract you from the fact that it is an ungraded piece of meat, and therefore not any good. Prime is obviously the best, but also the most expensive. When I experiment with a recipe, I usually go with Choice because it is a good cut of meat, but if the recipe doesn’t turn out well I didn’t waste $50 on the venture.

    Oven Roasted BBQ Ribs With Stout Beer Barbecue Sauce

    4 lbs Bone In Baby Back Beef Ribs (Choice or Prime)

    1 tsp salt

    1 batch Stout & Sriracha BBQ Sauce

    Preheat oven to 250.

    Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, place ribs on top. Sprinkle ribs with salt on all sides. Brush with BBQ sauce and roast in the oven at 250, turning ribs and brushing with BBQ sauce every 30-45 minutes until fork tender, about 4 hours.

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    Chocolate Porter Strawberry Shortcakes With Beer Whipped Cream

    05.07.2012 7 Comments

    (Chocolate Porter Strawberry Shortcakes With Beer Whipped Cream)

    I’m taking a huge risk here.

    You may have taken one look at this post and decided that I’ve lost my magic. Chocolate beer cake is as common as Nascar sweatpants in Walmart. But unlike motor sports fashion blunders in public, I loved this dessert.

    I’m combining a past evoking childhood treat with my beer loving present tense self, and topping it with beer whipped cream. Strawberry shortcakes were one of my favorite desserts as a kid, but growing up I never had them from scratch. I was raised in a very prepackaged, frozen food section, shelf-stable house, with a mom who was trying to feed all of her 8 daughters (yes, that isn’t a typo, I have 7 sisters) with no time for any culinary adventure beyond reheating and assembling. Completely understandable.

    Making my childhood memory of strawberry shortcakes those pre-packaged round sponge cakes, with Cool Whip and chopped strawberries.

    So this is the "I cook from scratch and add beer" version of that. Although not a traditional "shortcake," I hope once I top it with drunken whipped cream and fresh berries you’ll forgive the misstep in terminology.

    Chocolate Porter Strawberry Shortcakes With Beer Whipped Cream

    For the cake:

    3 cups cake flour

    2 tsp baking soda

    1 tsp baking powder

    3/4 cup cocoa powder

    1 tsp salt

    2 sticks butter (softened)

    2 cups sugar

    5 eggs

    1 tbs vegetable oil

    12 oz Porter beer

    For the strawberries:

    4 cups strawberries, hulled and chopped

    1/2 cup sugar

    For the whipped cream:

    2 cups heavy cream

    1/2 cup powdered sugar

    2 tbs porter beer

    (makes 10)

     Preheat oven to 350.

    In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder.

    In the bowl of the stand mixer cream the butter and sugar. One at a time add the eggs, beating well and scraping the bowl between each addition, then add the oil. Alternating between the beer and the dry ingredients, add both a bit at a time, starting and ending with the dry ingredients, stir until just barely combined.

    Grease and flour two 8 inch cake pans.

    Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool.

    Invert the cake pan onto a flat surface. Using a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter, cut out 5 circles from each cake round (you can also use a large knife to cut them into squares).

    Place chopped strawberries in a bowl with sugar, stir to combine. Allow to sit at room temperature for ten minutes.

    In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the cream, powdered sugar and 2 tbs beer. Whip on high until soft peaks form, about 4 minutes.

    Place one cake round on a plate, top with strawberries and then with whipped cream.

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    Stout & Sriracha Beer Barbecue Sauce

    28.06.2012 55 Comments

    Barbecue debates rage on all over the south, even as we virtually speak. The most sweltering of all topics is Sauce versus Rub. Rub people claiming that good meat doesn’t need to be drowned in sauce, and sauce people attesting to the holy balance of flavors between sauce and meat, and then there is the apathetic middle who just shrug and use both.

    And even when you eat your way across the Barbecue Belt, sampling the best of both slow cooked worlds, and finally take up residence in a meat preparation camp, the disputes don’t end. If you decide to consort with the rowdy sauce crowd, you have more decisions to make. Are you a vinegar based sauce person or tomato based? Molasses or brown sugar? Mustard sauce or chili sauce?

    I’ve decided I’m a sauce girl, but I will never turn away good Slow Cooked BBQ Rubbed Spare Ribs. And although I prefer a deep sweet tomato sauce with a kick of spice, I’ll eat every last bit of a Golden Mustard Pulled Pork Sandwich.

    Whether you decide on sauce, or just a great marinade, beer is an ideal addition. Beer is a natural meat tenderizer and a deeply flavored stout is a great way to go.

    I used Bear Republic, Big Bear Black Stout. A fantastic stout, and as Beer Store Beer Guy told me last week, "Bear Republic’s Stout is one of the most consistent beers I’ve ever had. It always tastes the same, no matter what batch it came from." Hard thing to accomplish.

    Stout & Sriracha BBQ Sauce

    Stout & Sriracha Beer Barbecue Sauce

    Print Recipe
    Servings 2 cups

    Ingredients
      

    • 1 tbs olive oil
    • 4 cloves of garlic minced
    • 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
    • 3/4 cup ketchup
    • 2 tbs worcestershire sauce
    • 2 tsp sriracha
    • 2 tsp smoked paprika
    • 1 cup Stout
    • 1/3 cup brown sugar
    • 1 tsp onion powder

    Instructions
     

    • In a pot over medium heat, add the oil and allow to get hot but not smoking. Add the garlic and stir until you can smell it, about 30 seconds. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until combined. Allow to cook until thickened, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
    • Store in an air tight container in the fridge.

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