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Porter/Stout

Honey Mustard Mushroom Stout Chicken

Honey Mustard Mushroom Stout Chicken: 30 minute, one pot chicken dinner.   

Honey Mustard Mushroom Stout Chicken: 30 minute, one pot chicken dinner.

A few years ago I was stuck in a small town in south Italy on a 22 hour layover.

While trying to figure out if sleeping in the tiny terminal was feasible, I met an Italian girl about my age. Her English was good, she was stunning, and she was about half way to earning her pilots license, I was instantly enamored with her. She asked if I’d like to stay with her for the night, in the small apartment she shared with her mom. I quickly agreed, jumping in a cab with her to head to a crowded part of town.

She’d planed to drag me around Pescara, first with her boyfriend, then later with a much older man she referred to as her lover, but before then we were obligated to sit down at a small dining table with her mom, who’d been cooking all afternoon.  After an incredible meal of homemade bread, a small green salad, smashed peas and a roasted chicken, I’d offered to do the dishes. Half way through the clean up, Chiara came into the small kitchen dressed in tight jeans, shiny black heels that made her well over 6 feet tall and tight, tiny tube top. She leaned against the counter as I finished drying the larger platter and asked me about my life in LA and the celebrities I’d met. As I talked, she lit a cigarette she had buried in her purse. A few drags in, she froze as we heard her mom coming around the corner, she shove the cigarette into my hand and took a big step back. Her mom gasped as she saw the American girl in her kitchen with a lit cigarette, smoke wafting towards her hanging plants. I froze.

Her mom screamed at me in Italian, shooing us out the door. As soon as we were safely on our way to the bar where her boyfriend was eagerly awaiting our arrival, she thanked me. "She doesn’t know I smoke, and she won’t care if you do. You know, because you’re American." After a long night of following Chiara around Pescara, meeting the throngs of men that where throwing themselves at her, we finally returned home to a dark apartment.

Her mom had left a note on her table for us. Chiara translated it for me, her mom had left some bread for me to eat in the morning, she knew I had a really early flight. She had also packed up some of the chicken for me to take with me on my flight. I was touched. "That’s good," I said, "She must not hate me."

"Oh no," Chiara responded, "Even if she does she would still feed you. No one will ever go hungry in my moms house, friend or enemy."

To this day I have no idea if there is an older Italian woman on the East Coast of Italy that abhors the thought of me, but either way, her chicken is fantastic.

Honey Mustard Mushroom Stout Chicken: 30 minute, one pot chicken dinner.

Honey Mustard Mushroom Stout Chicken

Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 4 -6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 3 lbs chicken thighs
  • 1 tbs salt
  • 1 tbs pepper
  • 2 tbs butter
  • ¼ cup chopped shallots
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 8 wt oz mushrooms shitake, crimini, oyster. Fresh not dried
  • 1 cup stout beer
  • ½ cup beef broth
  • simmer until reduced by about half
  • 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
  • 2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 tbs raw honey
  • 1 tbs whole grain mustard
  • ¼ cup heavy cream
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • rice for serving

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 425.
  • Sprinkle the chicken on all sides with salt and pepper.
  • Melt the butter in a pan over medium high heat. Add the chicken, skin side down, cook until skin is browned and crispy, flip the chicken, cooking on the other side until slightly browned. Remove from pan (chicken will not be cooked through).
  • Add the shallots, reduce heat to medium, cooking until slightly browned. Add the garlic and mushrooms, cooking until the mushrooms have softened, about five minutes. Add the beer, scraping to deglaze the pan. Simmer until reduced by half. Add the broth, thyme, rosemary, honey, and mustard, simmer for about five minutes. Add the cream, simmer until slightly thickened.
  • Add the chicken back into the pan, place the pan in the oven (make sure this pan is oven safe, if not everything can be transferred to a baking dish instead) roast at 425 for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked to 170F degrees.
  • Serve over rice with sauce.

Notes

Note: if the skin is no longer crispy after roasting, place pan under a preheated broiler for about 2 minutes or until skin has crisped.

Honey Mustard Mushroom Stout Chicken: 30 minute, one pot chicken dinner.

Porter Chorizo Black Bean Soup


Porter Chorizo Black Bean Soup 2

On October 17, 1814 the streets of London where flooded with beer. Porter to be exact. At around 6pm, a 22-foot-tall monster barrel of beer, containing over two million pints of porter, succumbed to the pressure of the liquid pushing mightily against the large iron hoops. The burst was so loud, a literal explosion, it could be heard as far as five miles away and caused a chain reaction of erupting barrels across the Meux’s Brewery’s rooftop.

The resulting tidal-wave of beer flooded the streets, the crowded nearby tenements that housed impoverished Irish immigrants, and a local church. In an attempt to score free beer, and salvage the precious liquid from the perils of waste, the local citizens ran through the streets with pots, pans, and mugs to stock up on the wealth of brew that had been bestowed upon them.

The beer tsunami killed a total of nine people, the last man succumbed days later to alcohol poisoning in a valiant attempt to assist the cleaning of the streets by consuming as much of the rogue beer as possible, but most drowned in the beer infused streets or where crushed under the weight of beer toppled structurs.

So when the questions comes up, "Is there really such a thing as too much free beer?" the answer, apaprently is  1,224,000 liters happens to be too much. 

Porter Chorizo Black Bean Soup_

 

 

Porter Chorizo Black Bean Soup

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 1 cup chopped white onions
  • 12 wt oz Mexican Chroizo divided
  • 24 oz porter beer
  • 3 cups beef broth plus additional to taste
  • 1 lb about 2 ¼ cups dried black beans
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • salt and pepper
  • ½ tsp chili powder
  • ½ cup chopped cilantro
  • ½ cup shredded cheddar

Instructions
 

  • Heat the oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the onions, cooking until soft. Add the chorizo, cooking until browned. Remove approximately half of the chorizo, reserve for soup topping (alternately, you can cook half of the chorizo in the soup pot, and cook the other half just before serving the soup).
  • Add the beer, broth, beans, garlic powder, cumin, and chili powder.
  • Simmer the soup until the beans have softened, about 4 hours. Salt and pepper to taste. Add additional broth to thin, if desired.
  • Ladle into bowls, top with reserved chorizo, cheese and cilantro.

 

Porter Chorizo Black Bean Soup 3

Spicy Miso Stout Udon Noodle Soup

 

Spicy Miso Stout Udon Noodles Soup. Only Takes twenty minutes.   

Spicy Miso Stout Udon Noodle Soup_

I once got beligerantly drunk at a cafe in Spain and asaulted a waiter.

That’s probably a bit of an exaggeration, unless you ask the waiter. My sister and I had been traveling south from Madrid on our way to Morocco and stopped for a few nights in Tarifa. My sister is a fantastic traveling companion, mostly because when I get a few drinks in her she giggles like she can’t speak English. She was one of the youngest attorneys in the State, passing the BAR at 22-years-old, she’s one of the smartest people I know and she turns into a school girl when she has a glass of wine, which is fantastic.

We’d ordered sangria (they’d brought us a giant pitcher to share), calamari, and a tortilla espanola. About half way through the sangria, both of us giggling so loudly we officially became "Those Damn Americans" at the back of the resturant. I was starving and it had been 45 minutes since we’d ordered and the food portion of our order hadn’t arrived, the empty stomach giving the Sangria more power than it should have had.

I stumbled through the resrutant looking for the waiter, completely unsure of how to ask about my food with my limited Spanish skills.

I finally find him by the bar, loading a tray of martinis. "ummm….¿Dónde está mi comida?"

"¿Que?"

I wasn’t sure if it was the Spanish slaughtering that he was confused by or the food order.

"Mi Comdia….Tango hambre." Which, due to the alcohol and lack of Spanish skills, turned into me telling him that I was a man, or a hamburger. This made him more confused, and it made me more frustrated. Which, any man who is trying to feed his hungry girlfriend can tell you, the combination of tired, hungry and drunk does not bring out the best qualities in an otherwise lovely girl.

"Necesito comida!"

He frowned, shoved a menu in my face "¿Qué quieres, SENORITA!?"

I should have been worried about the result of badgering the person who brings me food, but I was too hungry. A few minutes later a plate of food was literally thrown on the table, fried squid falling onto the floor. He didn’t even stop walking when he handed off the comida. Which of course made my sister and I burst out laughing, in a ridiculous display of drunk girl bi-polar emotions. The food was fantastic, and on the way back to our hotel we were chase by a couple "mal chicos" who were trying to sell us cocaine. But that’s a story for another day.

When you find yourself on the recieving end of a hangry woman who  "Necesito comida!" this is the perfect soup. It’s full of flavor and warmth, and it only takes 20 minutes. Just don’t throw it at her, she’s not herself when she’s hungry.

Spicy Miso Stout Udon Noodle Soup 2

And we apologized by leaving a giant tip, we might be unreasonable when we’re drunk and hungry, but we aren’t bad people.

 

Spicy Miso Stout Udon Noodle Soup

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tbs sesame oil
  • 2 tbs chopped shallots
  • 2 wt oz shitake mushrooms
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 3/4 cup stout beer
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • 1/3 cup yellow miso
  • 1 tbs garlic chili sauce I use the Huy Fong version
  • 2 tsp fish sauce
  • 1 tsp red chili flakes
  • 1 lbs raw shrimp
  • 7 wt oz Udon noodles
  • ¼ cup chopped cilantro
  • ¼ cup chopped green onions
  • 8 sheets roasted Nori chopped

Instructions
 

  • Heat the sesame oil in a pot over medium high heat. Add the shallots, cook until softened, about five minutes. Add the mushrooms, cook until softened. Stir in the garlic then add the stout beer. Add the chicken broth, miso, garlic chili sauce, fish sauce and red chili flakes. Bring to a simmer.
  • Add the shrimp and noodles, simmer until shrimp is cooked through, about 3 minutes.
  • Ladle into bowls, top with cilantro, green onions and nori.

I use this Chili Garlic Sauce, it’s fantastic, I go through about a bottle a month. (affiliate link)

Spicy Miso Stout Udon Noodle Soup 3

 

Pumpkin Porter Beer Brownies Sundaes

Pumpkin Porter Brownies Sundaes1

Pumpkin things are upon us.

Of course we have those pumpkin spice lattes that the weather is far too warm to warrant, and the overly orange plastic pumpkins that Target is trying to push on us, but it’s the beer that gets me most excited. It can be a triple digit August afternoon when a package of pumpkin porter arrives and I’ll still break into it as soon as I can open the box.

As early as July those hotly anticipated squash infused brews start to hit bottle shops and brew pubs across the land. From a pale lager to a deep stout, every style of beer has had a tryst with a pumpkin. Every brewer has a different take. Some like to spice it up, others favor a drinkable pumpkin pie, while some want the flavor to be a subtle background note you should have to work at identifying. Whatever you prefer when it comes to this super special release category, there is a beer that will suit your mood.

Pumpkin Porter Brownies Sundaes2

A box of He Said Baltic Porter brewed with pumpkin and spice arrived on my door step last week reminding me that the days of driving with the windows down and eating ice cream outdoors are rapidly coming to a close. So I did what any rational person would do: I made brownies. But, somehow, that didn’t seem like enough. So I made a pumpkin porter infused chocolate sauce and added in the more weather appropriate giant scoop of cold ice cream. Which makes this the perfect transitional recipe from the heat wave afternoons to the fireside evenings. It’s both pumpkin and ice cream, regardless of the weather in your town, this recipe fits.

Porters are a great vehicle for the flavors of pumpkin. The deep earthiness is delivered well with the roast notes of the darker beers and this beer is no exception. The flavors of pumpkin in He Said are perfectly mild in a way that I prefer, these beers can often be treated heavy handed. This Baltic porter delivers the flavors of pumpkin and spice without molesting you with them, it’s more seductive. It’s a deep, smooth porter that draws you in. And, apparently, makes you bake things. Or maybe that’s just me.

Pumpkin Porter 21st

 

Pumpkin Porter Brownies Sundaes

Ingredients
  

For the brownies:

  • 1 ½ cups unsalted butter cut into cubes
  • 10 wt ounces 60% chocolate about 2 cups
  • 1 cup pumpkin porter
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 ½ cups white sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup bread flour
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tsp espresso powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

For the Sundae:

  • 10 wt oz dark chocolate 53% cocoa
  • 2 tbs light corn syrup
  • 1/3 cup pumpkin porter
  • 1 quart vanilla ice cream

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 400. In the top of a double boiler, or metal bowl set over (but not touching) gently simmering water, add the butter and the chocolate. Stir occasionally until just melted. Remove from heat, stir in 1 cup pumpkin porter and vanilla extract.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the eggs on high until light and frothy, about 2 minutes. Add both kinds of sugar and beat for 6 full minutes. Add the pumpkin puree, stir until combined.
  • In a separate bowl add the flour, cinnamon, espresso powder, salt and cocoa powder, whisk until well combined.
  • While the mixer is on low, add the chocolate mixture to the eggs. Mix until well incorporated, stopping to scrape the bottom of the bowl to insure the batter is fully combined.
  • Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, sprinkle with dry ingredients. Stir until just combined.
  • Grease a 9x13 baking dish, or spray with butter flavored cooking spray, pour in batter.
  • Place in the oven and immediately reduce to 350. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. The top should look completely dry but the center should still be fudgy. Don’t over bake. Remove from oven and allow to cool until set and come to room temperature before attempting to cut, about 1 hour.
  • Add the dark chocolate, corn syrup, and 1/3 cup pumpkin porter to the top of a double boiler over medium heat.
  • Stir until melted and well combined, remove from heat, pour over ice cream.

 

Pumpkin Porter Brownies Sundaes3

 

 

 

Porter Marinated Flank Steak Lettuce Wraps with IPA Chimichuri

Porter Marinated Flank Steak Lettuce Wraps with IPA Chimichuri 2

I spent the better part of the last two weeks throwing myself into my second book. Cooking at 1 am, editing photos at dawn, trying to pull sentences out of my weary brain that would actually be ones that you would want to read.

Monday at 2 am I finally sent it off to my publisher. 100 recipes, all made with beer, all intend for parties. Small bites, appetizers, desserts. The years I’ve spent in the beer world have given me an overwhelming appreciation for the community that exists here. The people who gravitate to craft beer are those who want to share, not just beer but ideas, companionship, trust, knowledge, this is a community of people that thrive together. Of course, a book about beer food to be shared just made sense. I hope you love it as much as I do, I hope you make food to share with other, and I hope that maybe somewhere, the craft beer community is grown a little stronger because of the book I spent so much time creating. It’s the least I can do.

 

 

Porter Marinated Flank Steak Lettuce Wraps with IPA Chimichuri_

 

Porter Marinated Flank Steak Lettuce Wraps with IPA Chimichuri

Ingredients
  

For the Steak:

  • 12 ounces porter or stout beer
  • ¼ cup soy sauce
  • 1 tbs brown sugar
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 2 lbs flank steak
  • 1 tsp kosher salt

For the Chimicuhri:

  • 1 cup Italian parsley loosely packed
  • ½ cup cilantro loosely packed
  • ¼ cup fresh oregano loosely packed
  • ¼ cup olive oil plus additional for red pepper
  • 2 tbs rice vinegar
  • 2 tbs IPA beer
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • ½ tsp crushed red chili flakes
  • ½ tsp salt

For the wraps:

  • butter lettuce
  • 1 red bell pepper

Instructions
 

  • In a shallow bowl or baking dish stir together the beer, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, chili powder, pepper and onion powder. Sprinkle the flank steak on all sides with salt, add to the marinade. Marinate for at least one hour and up to overnight.
  • In a food processor add the chimichuri ingredients, process until smooth.
  • Preheat the grill.
  • Grill the steak until desired degree of doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium rare. Allow the steak to rest for 5 minutes.
  • Rub the bell pepper with olive oil, grill until soften and grill marks appear.
  • Slice the steak and the bell pepper.
  • Fill the butter lettuce leaves with steak and bell peppers, spoon on sauce.

Porter Marinated Flank Steak Lettuce Wraps with IPA Chimichuri 3

 

Chocolate Stout Caramel Tart with Pretzel Crust

 


Chocolate Stout Caramel Tart with Pretzel Crust1

I was stuck in an elevator once.

I was in college, on my way to a job interview. The elevator was supposed to deposit me on the 9th floor a perfect 6 minutes before my interview time. But somewhere between the 4th and 5th floor, the elevator jolted to a stop, the doors slightly ajar, revealing my position of being stuck between floors. Frustrated that my plan to arrive at the perfect time was being hacked to pieces, I reach for my phone. No service.

I push the "door close" button, the 9th floor button again, and the lobby button again. Nothing.

I press the button with a phone on it. "Security" I hear coming from a circle of holes in the metal plate above the elevator buttons.

"Ummm, yeah. I’m in the elevator on the East side of the building, and it’s stuck. It stopped between the 4th and 5th floor."

"uuhhhhh….really? Did you push the buttons?"

"Yes I pushed the buttons! That’s the best you’ve got? Get me out of here!"

About 45 minutes later I hear sirens, a fire truck had come to my rescue. I hear low rumbling chatter and I can’t make out what the voices are saying, but within minutes the elevator doors close and the metal box I’d been trapped in slowly moves towards the lobby. When the doors open I’m met by a group of 5 firemen, who all cheer when the doors open. I laugh.

"How’d you get stuck?!" A charming young fireman says with a slight smile, "Did you push the buttons?"

"Yes I pushed the buttons, it didn’t help,"

I thanked them, and quickly left. Making my way to the 9th floor, hoping that my interview was still salvageable after an hour, I decide to take the stairs in spite of the 5 inch heels I’d chosen to wear that day.

Finally in front of the hiring manager who had written me off when I didn’t show up on time, I plead my case. After all, it really was a great excuse for being late.

"That was you?! I heard about that," He said after I’d explained the past hour, "Did you push the buttons?"

"Yes I pushed the buttons!"

Needless to say, I did not get the job.

Chocolate Stout Caramel Tart with Pretzel Crust 3

 

Chocolate Stout Caramel Tart with Pretzel Crust

Ingredients
  

For the Crust:

  • 3 ½ cup 4.5 wt oz mini pretzel twists
  • 2 tbs brown sugar
  • 8 tbs melted butter

For the Chocolate Layer:

  • 10 wt oz dark chocolate 62% cocoa content
  • 1/3 cup chocolate stout
  • 3 tbs heavy cream

For the Caramel Layer:

  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 12 tbs unsalted butter cut into cubes
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • ¼ cup chocolate stout

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350.
  • Add the pretzels and the brown sugar to a food processor, process until just crumbs.
  • While the food processors is running, add the melted butter, process until well combined.
  • Add the mixture to a 9-inch tart pan. Starting with the sides, press the pretzel mixture into an even layer.
  • Bake at 350 for 12 minutes or until dark golden brown.
  • Remove from oven, allow to cool.
  • In the top of a double boiler add the chocolate, stout, and cream. Stir until melted and well combined. Pour into the crust in an even layer, chill until set.
  • In a sauce pan add the sugar. Stir until melted. The sugar will clump before it melts, just keep stirring. Once the sugar has melted, stop stirring (you can swirl the pan to prevent burning) and allow to boil until the sugar reaches 350 on a candy thermometer. This happens quickly, stay close.
  • Remove from heat and immediately stir in the butter, cream and stout. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Pour over chocolate lay, refrigerate until set, about 3 hours. Chill until ready to serve. Tart is best made a day ahead of time.

Notes

The caramel layer melts into a caramel sauce at room temperature. For a less messy tart, add about half the caramel to the top of the tart, reserving the rest for an alternate use, like ice cream. Store unused caramel in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Caramel will keep for up to three weeks.

Chocolate Stout Caramel Tart with Pretzel Crust-2

Porter Marinated Steak Skewers with Cilantro Horseradish Cream

Porter Marinated Steak Skewers with Cilantro Horseradish Cream2

We have caveman like instincts, I have lots.

I have this nearly uncontrollable urge to knock over that giant tower of perfectly stacked wine glasses in Crate & Barrel. I walk past, barely glancing at the shimmering tower that’s mocking me from it’s white square pedestal as I clutch my purse tightly and imagine swinging it right through the center, sending it all crashing to the ground. And I promise you that if I’m ever on the receiving end of a giant cash filled windfall, it’s the first thing I’ll do. Some people will buy a car, or that ridiculously overpriced pair of shoes, but for me: walk right into the nearest Crate & Barrel, swing my purse right through a six foot tower of glassware, throw down a wad of hundreds and walk right out, completely  satisfied. Don’t think I wont.

Until I’m a millionaire, I’ll have to control myself. I’ll just sublimate my destructive urges by eating meat off a stick. It’s caveman like, and it’s less expensive.

But If I ever win the lottery, you should alert all of the nearest high end house-ware retail chains, just to be safe.

 

Porter Marinated Steak Skewers with Cilantro Horseradish Cream3

Porter Marinated Steak Skewers with Cilantro Horseradish Cream

Ingredients
  

For the Steak:

  • 2 lbs thin slices flank steak
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp salt plus 1 tsp divided
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 1 cup porter
  • 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tbs soy sauce
  • 2 cloves garlic chopped

For the cream sauce:

  • 1/3 cup sour cream
  • 1 tbs cream style horseradish
  • 2 tbs chopped cilantro
  • 1 tbs lemon juice
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp garlic powder

Instructions
 

  • Place the flank steak in a baking dish or wide bowl. Sprinkle all over with brown sugar, onion powder, chili powder, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, and black pepper. Drizzle with olive oil, rub oil and spices into the meat.
  • Pour porter, Worcestershire, soy and garlic over the steak. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
  • Remove steak from marinade, cut into 2 inch strips, thread through metal skewers (or pre-soaked wooden skewers). Sprinkle with remaining salt.
  • Grill until desired doneness, about 3 minutes per side for medium rare (depending on thickness.
  • In a small bowl stir together the sour cream, horseradish, cilantro, ¼ tsp salt, lemon juice, and garlic powder (can be made up to a day ahead of time, flavors develop after a few hours).
  • Serve skewers with sauce on the side.

Porter Marinated Steak Skewers with Cilantro Horseradish Cream5

Beer Brined Scallops over Spinach Salad With Bacon Stout Dressing

Beer Brined Scallops over Spinach Salad With Bacon Stout Vinaigrette 2

If you’re going to make me a salad, it better be a damn good salad. After all, you’re asking me to skip carbs and satisfying fried finger foods, I might resent you if it isn’t a really good salad.

Bacon is a good start, and so is beer. Scallops are a fan favorite as well. Let’s talk about those for a second while we’re at it. Scallops will most likely come to you via a grocery store seafood counter soaking in a milky phosphate solution (yum!) that will help keep it fresh longer as well as give it an unfortunate soapy taste and an inability to sear properly. The solution to this is beer. Well, more accurately, a brine. Soaking the scallops in a brine will flush out that unappetizing liquid and give you a great taste and a great sear. Which will help that salad taste amazing. And make people forget all about the missing french fries.

But there is beer and bacon and perfect scallops, so no one should complain. If they do, take away their beer.

 

Beer Brined Scallops over Spinach Salad With Bacon Stout Vinaigrette_

 

 

Beer Brined Scallops over Spinach Salad With Bacon Stout Dressing

Servings 2 entree portions or 4 appetizer portions

Ingredients
  

  • 12 ounces pale ale
  • 2 tbs salt
  • 1 cup water
  • ¼ cup lemon juice
  • 8 jumbo scallops
  • salt and pepper
  • 3 thick slices bacon
  • ¼ cup chopped shallots
  • ¼ cup stout beer
  • 2 tbs brown mustard
  • 2 tbs raw honey
  • 3 tbs olive oil
  • 3 tbs unsalted butter
  • 1 lbs asparagus
  • 3 cups baby spinach leaves
  • 2 wt oz crumbled goat cheese

Instructions
 

  • In a large bowl stir together the pale ale, salt, water and lemon juice.
  • Add the scallops, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
  • Remove the scallops from fridge and place on top of a stack of 4-5 paper towels. Add another layer of paper towels and allow to drain and dry for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with pepper on both sides.
  • Cook the bacon in a pan over medium high heat until cooked through, remove from pan, chop and set aside. Add the shallots to the bacon grease, cook until shallots have softened, about 5 minutes. Add the stout beer, scraping to deglaze the pan. Add the mustard, honey and pepper, whisking to combine. Slowly whisk in the olive oil, stirring until thickened. Remove from heat.
  • Melt the butter in a skillet over medium high heat until very hot. Add the scallops, flat side down, and allow to cook until a dark golden brown crust forms on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook until seared on the opposite side. Remove from pan when a slight hint of translucent pink still remains at the center, don’t over cook.
  • Trim asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces. Cook the asparagus in lightly salted boiling water for one minute, drain and allow to dry.
  • Plate the spinach, top with asparagus, goat cheese, and crumbled bacon, dizzle with dressing, top with scallops.

Beer Brined Scallops over Spinach Salad With Bacon Stout Vinaigrette 3

Chili Coconut Porter Braised Pork Ribs

 

Chili Coconut Porter Braised Pork Ribs

Forget for a second that you’ve ever had coconut. Forget about those terrible candy bars when you were a kid, and the off putting taste of processed coconut flavor. Forget about bad rum and the smell of spring break sunscreen. Try and cleanse your historical culinary palate of any negative coconut memories, because it’s good side far exceeds the trash that can be done in it’s name.

We need a coconut re-do in America. It’s a flavor that spent our youths being bastardized into a Fisher-Price version of what it was capable of. It took years for me to understand how much power and beauty is in the true taste of a real coconut. Thai food had a hand in brining me to terms with the authenticity of coconut, but it’s been surprising application of this flavor that have made me fall in love with it.

Coconut in beer is a great example of the power of coconut. Done right, a beautiful coconut porter is something that won’t just make you fall in love with coconut, it’ll make you fall in love with beer. It’s beautifully balance, bold enough to stand up to some chili ribs, and with the perfect touch of toasted coconut. The only problem is how hard it is to find a great version. But don’t stop looking, try every coconut porter you can get your hands on until you find one you fall in love with, it’ll be worth the search.

 

 

Chili Coconut Porter Braised Pork Ribs

 

 

Chili Coconut Porter Braised Pork Ribs

Ingredients
  

  • 2 lb country style pork ribs
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 tbs oil
  • 1 shallot chopped
  • 2 tbs samal oelek
  • 3 tbs soy sauce
  • 2 tbs sugar
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 12 ounces coconut porter

Instructions
 

  • Sprinkle the ribs on all sides with salt and pepper.
  • Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven until very hot but not smoking. Sear the ribs on all sides until browned, remove from pot.
  • Lower the heat, add the shallots, cook until softened. Add the remaining ingredients, stir to combine.
  • Add the ribs back into the pot, lower heat to maintain a low simmer.
  • Cook until ribs are fork tender, about 2 to 3 hours (cooking time will depend on size of ribs).
  • Remove ribs from the pot. Bring the braising liquid to a boil, stir frequently until thickened.
  • Drizzle sauce over ribs before serving.

 

Chili Coconut Porter Braised Pork Ribs

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Stout Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Stout Chocolate Chip Cookies-P

I have this theme in my life right now about fear.

Not the kind of fear that keeps you from jumping out of airplanes (which I’ve done), or the fear that comes when you hear a noise in the middle of the night which clearly means a murderer is in your living room.

But a fear that you don’t even realize you have, the you don’t realize is controlling you. Like this video of fear disguised as practicality. Or the fear that keeps you from standing up for yourself. Or the fear that keeps you from going after your dream. Or the fear that keeps you locked in a harmful relationship.

Talk to any sucessful person and you’ll hear a story of failing. A failure that got them closer to the goal, with more information and more drive. Fear is just part of it. Brewers know this. Every brewer will tell you about how much fear there was in the early years.

When it comes to brewing, or dreams, or needs, or relationships, success isn’t about being fearless, it’s about being fear tolerant. Accept that the fear won’t hurt you and move forward in spite of it. Learn to tolerate the feeling of fear and it won’t be able to control you.

Now let’s enjoy the spoils of that success and go drink some great beer.

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Stout Chocolate Chip Cookies3

 

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Stout Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
  

For the Cookies:

  • ½ cup unsalted butter
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ¾ cup creamy peanut butter
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup stout
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 2/3 cup flour
  • 2/3 cup chocolate chips

For the chocolate dip

  • 1 cup dark chocolate chips 60% coca content
  • 1/3 cup stout
  • 1 tsp flaky sea salt like Maldon sea salt

Instructions
 

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the peanut butter, egg, and vanilla extract, beating until well combined, scraping the bottom of the bowl to insure all ingredients are well combined. Add the beer, mixing until well combined.
  • Lift the head of the stand mixer, sprinkle flour, baking soda, mix until just combined, stir in chocolate chips.
  • Using a cookie scoop, scoop onto a baking sheet that has been covered with parchment paper.
  • Refrigerated for 30 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven to 350.
  • Bake at 350 for 13-16 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely before dipping.
  • In a microwave safe bowl add the chocolate and remaining 1/3 cup stout beer. Microwave on high for 20 seconds, stir and repeat until melted.
  • One at a time, dip the cookies. Sprinkle with sea salt. Chill until chocolate has set.

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Stout Chocolate Chip Cookies2

Porter Date Jam Crostini with Prosciutto, Arugula and Goat Cheese

 

Porter Date Jam Crostini with Prosciutto, Arugula and Goat Cheese 2

If there was any doubt about how much I like self-torture, you can defer to this: I’m writing another cookbook.

My first cookbook, The Craft Beer Cookbook took four months and most of my sanity to write. And here I am, doing it again. Maybe it’s the post publisher amnesia, maybe it’s that I had such a great time on the book tour, or maybe it’s that I like self inflicted torment.

Either way I’m nearing the half way point of writing my second cookbook. The topic this time is appetizers and party food. Craft beer lends itself to party food. The community of people that beer draws, and the flavors of the great beer that those craft beer people create just have to be shared. A book about food that’s at the center of a gathering of good beer and great people is therapeutic for me right now. It’s a reminder of the good parts of these lives we live, that the Quality of Life that we all strive for has more to do with who we share it with any other peripheral accessories that the world can offer.

A book about food that’s meant to be shared with people we love, I can’t think of anything I’d rather spend my time creating.

Porter Date Jam Crostini with Prosciutto, Arugula and Goat Cheese 3

Porter Date Jam Crostini with Prosciutto, Arugula and Goat Cheese

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • ½ cup white onions
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 cup smoked porter
  • ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tbs molasses not black strap
  • 15 madjool dates about 8 wt oz, pitted and chopped
  • 1 long french baguette
  • 4 wt oz goat cheese crumbled
  • 4 wt oz prosciutto sliced
  • 1/3 cup baby arugula leaves

Instructions
 

  • Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Cook the onions until soft. Stir in the garlic, then the porter, vinegar, molasses and dates.
  • Simmer until the dates have softened and broken down and the beer has reduced, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool for about ten minutes.
  • Add to a food processor and process until mostly smooth.
  • Preheat broiler. Cut the baguette into 24, 1-inch slices. Arrange bread slices on a baking sheet. Place under the broiler until golden brown. Flip the slices over and place back under the broiler until golden brown on the other side.
  • Spread each slice with porter date jam, top with crumbled goat cheese, prosciutto and arugula.

Porter Date Jam Crostini with Prosciutto, Arugula and Goat Cheese_

Slow Cooker Maple Bacon Beer Baked Beans

Slow Cooker Maple Bacon Beer Baked Beans

Slow Cooker Maple Bacon Beer Baked Beans

Before my gypsy soul led me to Los Angeles, I spent a few years growing up on a pig farm. With seven sisters. Eight girls, startling close in age, running around like ferrel children on endless acres of farmland. Although I learned to drive a tractor before I could drive a car, maneuver a 300 pound pig anywhere I wanted him to go using just a 5 gallon bucket, and  how to milk goats, these are skill that don’t really come in handy in a more urban area.

One useful skill that farm livin' did teach me was how to grill meat and what to serve with it. This was the first occurrence of beer cooking in my life, the meat was always marinated in a mixture of barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke and beer (Coors light I’m sad to say). Two sides were always, ALWAYS served alongside any meat that came off the grill: potato salad and baked beans. Potato salad and I have our issues, mostly the cringe inducing overuse of mayonnaise. But baked beans I never passed up. I like mine deep in flavor, and not too sweet. If you like your baked beans on the sweet side, add 1/4 cup brown sugar. If you like your potato salad swimming in mayo, you’re on your own.

Slow Cooker Maple Bacon Beer Baked Beans

Slow Cooker Maple Bacon Beer Baked Beans

Slow Cooker Maple Bacon Beer Baked Beans

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 hours
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • ½ lbs pinto beans
  • ½ lbs navy beans
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 12 ounces smoked porter or stout beer
  • ½ lbs bacon chopped
  • 1 sweet white onion chopped
  • 3 tbs molasses
  • ¼ cup real maple syrup
  • 3 tbs balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp mustard powder
  • 1 ½ cups hot water

Instructions
 

  • Add the beans and baking soda to a large pot (the baking soda softens the beans and allows them to soak more efficiently). Cover with about 2 inches of water.
  • Bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes.
  • Remove from heat, allow to soak for on hour. Drain.
  • Add the beans and remaining ingredients to a slow cooker.
  • Cook on high for 10 hours. Salt and pepper to taste.

Notes

Cooking the bacon and caramelizing the onions in the bacon fat before adding it all to the slow cooker will give you a deeper flavor, if you have the time.

I use this slow cooker (affiliate link).

 

Slow Cooker Maple Bacon Beer Baked Beans

Slow Cooker Maple Bacon Beer Baked Beans

Porter Black Bean Dip

I’ve been told that a writer is no greater than the sum of their experiences.

Experiences, those I’ve got, more than most. More than I’ll ever admit to. But are the ones I’ve accumulated the right inlay for the foundation of the life I want? I was never anyones high school sweetheart, but I was the mysterious girl at an Italian hotel. I’m not sure I’ve been anyone’s best friend, but I was the girl drinking beer at Elton Johns birthday party.  I’ve never made cookies with my grandmother but I did learn to make a noodle kugel from a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor. I’ve never been to Disney World, but I’ve taken a taxi ride to feed monkeys in Middle Atlas. I’ll never be the person who works at the same company for 20 years, but I have taught anger management skills to gang members in South Central Los Angeles.

Are these the experiences that I’ll be glad I’ve accumulated? Are they the right ones because they’re more rare? Am I missing out on the beauty of a more traditional life? I’m not sure.

But I know that I have a gypsy soul that likes to wander, and doesn’t gravitate towards convention.

 

Porter Black Bean Dip

Ingredients
  

  • 2 15 wt oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained
  • ½ cup 4 wt oz cream cheese
  • 2/3 cup smoked porter beer
  • ½ cup cilantro plus additional for garnish
  • 3 jalapenos chopped
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • ¼ cup cotija cheese

Instructions
 

  • In a food processor add the beans, cream cheese, porter, cilantro, jalapenos, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin and smoked paprika. Process until smooth.
  • Salt and pepper to taste.
  • Pour into a serving bowl, top with cotija cheese and cilantro.
  • Can be served warm or at room temperature.

Beer Braised Pork Ribs Tacos with IPA Pickled Jicama

Beer Braised Pork Ribs Tacos with IPA Pickled Jicama_

We need to talk for a second about the anatomy of a taco.

It’s pretty simple when you break it down: homemade tortilla, a flavorful protein, and an acid, that’s all. When you make something so simple, you need to make each building block well. Which will start with that tortilla. If there are just a few things that you make from scratch this year, tortillas should absolutely be one of them. Three simple ingredients and five minutes and you’ll never look back. Besides, those cardboard disks labeled "Corn Tortillas" they sell at the grocery store are best used for sanding the paint of walls.

For the protein, you can use anything from your favorite meat, to a beer battered avocado, it’s your call. But if you’re feeding a diverse crowd of eaters, tacos are the way to go. Tortillas are gluten free, and east to stuff full of veggies, so you have two big food limitations covered.

Acid is important when you’re trying to balance a rich meat. Salsa is obviously the go-to, but I’m adding in some pickled jicama to mix things up.

In my world, cilantro is a must on tacos, it balances heat really well. And if you’re going to add cheese, back away from the grated cheddar. Grab a more traditional cheese like my current cheese obsession: cotija. It’s salty and crumbly and approved by Mexican grandmas for use on your tacos. That’s an important endorsement in my world.

Beer Braised Pork Ribs Tacos with IPA Pickled Jicama 2

My homemade tortilla recipe, do it. DO IT.

Beer Braised Pork Ribs Tacos with IPA Pickled Jicama

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 tsp kosher salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • ½ tsp chili powder
  • ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 2 tbs canola oil
  • 1 cup chopped white onions
  • 2 lbs pork country style ribs
  • 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 12 ounces stout
  • 3 garlic cloves smashed
  • 1 cup rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tbs salt
  • 1 tbs white sugar
  • ¼ cup ice water
  • ½ cup IPA beer
  • 1 cup jicama peeled and cut into match stick sized strips
  • 1 cup fresh corn kernels
  • 2 wt oz cotija cheese
  • 1 avocado diced
  • ½ cup cilantro chopped
  • Tortillas for serving homemade corn tortillas recommended

Instructions
 

  • In a small bowl stir together the spice rub (onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, chili powder, cayenne pepper and brown sugar).
  • Sprinkle the pork ribs on all sides with the spice mixture.
  • Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven until hot but not smoking. Add the pork, sear on all sides until browned. Add the onions, tomatoes stout and smashed garlic. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer, add lid at a vent.
  • Simmer, turning ribs occasionally until fork tender, 3 to 4 hours.
  • While the pork is cooking make the pickled jicama. In a pot over medium high heat add the vinegar, salt and sugar, cook just until the sugar and salt has dissolved, remove from heat. Stir in the beer and ice water, allow mixture to cool. Add the jicama to a bowl, pour pickling liquid over, cover and chill for at least 2 hours, drain.
  • Once pork is fork tender, turn off heat. Using two forks, shred meat and remove bones. Allow shredded pork to sit in the simmering liquid for ten minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to drain.
  • Fill the tacos with pork, top with pickled jicama, corn, cotija, avocado and cilantro.

Beer Braised Pork Ribs Tacos with IPA Pickled Jicama 3

Stout Meatballs with Beer Barbecue Sauce Glaze

Stout Meatballs with Beer Barbeque Sauce Glaze_

 

It’s hard to find anyone who grew up in America that doesn’t have childhood memories of meatballs. And in the grand tradition of our great country, we stole these from someone else, and no one can agree how they are really supposed to be made.

They can be in a sandwich, over pasta, by themselves, with rice, with cheese, spicy, herby, pork, or beef. But there are some things to keep in mind when making these savory little balls of meat, regardless of how you want them to taste.

First, the less you handle the meat the better, overworked meat gets tough and mealy. Second, add some flavor. Spice, or herbs or cheese, these big bites of meat need a kick. Feel free to experiment.

Stout Meatballs with Beer Barbeque Sauce Glaze 2

Lastly, if you want them to be round there are a few things you can do:

Make sure the meatballs are really cold before cooking, they’ll hold their shape better.

Boiling them in sauce or liquid will help them stay round but rob them of the nice caramelization that pan frying can give. a combination of cooking methods works best if you want both a nice caramelization as well as a nice shape. But err on the side of flavor, taste always wins over glamour.

Last, don’t be afraid to make them your own. These guys lend themselves to adventure, from chorizo mole meatballs to Bree cheese stuffed meatballs with cherry shallot sauce, these culinary gypsies can go where you send them.

And of course, they like beer. So they can stay for dinner.

For this recipe I used a Pacific Northwest treat, Ninkasi Oatis. A beautiful, creamy oatmeal stout that’s really easy to find now that I live in the Emerald City.

Stout Meatballs with Beer Barbeque Sauce Glaze 3

 

Stout Meatballs with Beer Barbeque Sauce Glaze

Ingredients
  

For the meatballs:

  • 1 lb ground chuck or a combination or ground pork and ground beef
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • ¼ tsp cumin
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ cup breadcrumbs
  • ¼ cup stout beer

For the sauce:

  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
  • 2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
  • 3 tbs tomato paste
  • 1 ½ tsp Sriracha red chili sauce
  • 2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 cup stout
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar

Instructions
 

  • In a large bowl add all the meatball ingredients (except the 1 tablespoon oil), stir until just combined (about two of three turns with your hands). Over handling the meat will make it tough and mealy.
  • Place bowl in the fridge for 1 hour and up to 1 day (this will help keep it’s shape during cooking.
  • While meat is chilling make the sauce.
  • Add the olive oil to a pot over medium high heat, add that garlic and stir for about 30 seconds. Add the remaining sauce ingredients, simmer until thickened and reduced, about 15 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 400.
  • Using a cookie scoop, make balls just smaller than a golf ball with the chilled meat. Place on a cookie sheet that has been covered with parchment paper. Cook for 12 minutes.
  • Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat until very hot. Add the meat balls, pull the skillet back and forth over the burner to roll the meat balls around in the pan. Cook until meatballs are just starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat and add the barbeque sauce, cooking at a simmer until meatballs are glazed and sauce is very thick.
  • Remove meatballs, add toothpicks to serve.

 

Grilled Beer Marinated Prosciutto Wrapped Filet Tip Skewers

Grilled Beer Marinated Prosciutto Wrapped Fillet Tip Skewers5P

Don’t roll your eyes at me. I’m not even sorry that I keep making you skewers.

I’m in a mood to put meat on sticks these days, and the grill is officially open. I’ve also discovered that filet tips are perfect for getting soaked in beer, stabbed with a metal skewer and thrown on a hot grill. Which makes them my new meat best friend.

Let’s talk about those tips I speak of for a second. When you decide it’s a good day to throw a Hot Meat Party (normal humans call these "barbecues") and invite your friends to partake in said hot meat for the price of some (hopefully good) beer or other edible offering, you should choose your meat carefully. You want something that’s going to impress, but feeding an army of hungry beer thieves takes a lot of meat. Tips can often be less expensive than buying a whole filet and better flavor than buying a cheap cut.

Beer marinading is a must with Hot Meat, the natural meat tenderizing properties of beer give the meat an added ability to stay tender and full of flavor even when exposed to high levels of grill induced heat. It also makes your beer bearing friends so impressed with your grill skills, they’ll bring better beer next time.

Grilled Beer Marinated Prosciutto Wrapped Fillet Tip Skewers7

Grilled Beer Marinated Prosciutto Wrapped Filet Tip Skewers

Ingredients
  

  • 12 ounces porter
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • ½ teaspoon plus 2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt, divided
  • 1 lbs fillet tips cut into cubes
  • 3 wt oz ounces prosciutto

Instructions
 

  • In a bowl or baking dish stir together the porter, Worcestershire, onion powder and ½ teaspoon salt.
  • Add the filet tips and marinate for 6 to 12 hours.
  • Preheat the grill.
  • Remove the filet tips from the marinade, discard marinade.
  • Place the filet tips on a stack of paper towels, top with more paper towels, allow to dry for about ten minutes.
  • Salt the filet tips on all sides with remaining salt.
  • Wrap the filet tips in prosciutto, thread onto metal skewers (or pre soaked wooden skewers)
  • Grill on all sides until desired level of doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium.

Grilled Beer Marinated Prosciutto Wrapped Fillet Tip Skewers

Beer Poached Pears with Chocolate Stout Fudge Sauce and Moose Munch Crumble

 

Beer Poached Pears with Chocolate Stout Fudge Sauce and Moose Munch Crumble_

One of the perks of blogging is the invitations for the behind the scenes tours of places you’d never be allowed in otherwise, to fully indulge the Food Geek in all of us in the how it’s made process that thrills and fascinates those of that have dedicated our loves to internet food. The vast majority of these invites I turn down. The ones I accept are only from companies I can get behind.

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Harry & David is a fantastic Pacific Northwest company. Although I choose to highlight their pears and Moose Munch, they’re so much more. They even have a well stocked bottle shop section of their Harry & Davids company store in Medford Oregon, I picked up a bottle of Alameda My Bloody Valentine and Walkabout Jabberwocky Ale. I was also amazed that this company that does such large volumes or candy, fruit, wine and gifts was run by a small and dedicated team. They all seemed to know each other, support each other and value the quality of their products. It’s exactly the type of company I want to support.  Plus there is talk of beer cheese dip and beer bread mixes making their way into the Harry and David baskets, something I’m definitely keeping an eye out for.

H&F fieldsR

Until then, I’ve poached some pears in beer and smothered them with beer chocolate sauce and topped it with some of that famous Moose Munch for a little texture.

Beer Poached Pears with Chocolate Stout Fudge Sauce and Moose Munch Crumble 2

 

Beer Poached Pears with Chocolate Stout Fudge Sauce and Moose Munch Crumble

Ingredients
  

  • 3 cups beer*
  • 1 cup sugar plus 1/3 cup, divided
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp whole cloves
  • 2 large Comice pears peeled
  • hot water
  • ¼ cup chocolate stout
  • 3 tbs corn syrup
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder
  • 1 cup Moose Munch caramel corn rough chopped

Instructions
 

  • In a large pot over medium high heat add the beer, 1 cup sugar, vanilla, cloves. Bring to a simmer. Add the pears and enough hot water so that pears float. Cook until the pears are fork tender, 15-20 minutes.
  • In a separate pot add the chocolate stout, corn syrup, remaining 1/3 cup sugar and cocoa powder, bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 8 minutes.
  • Drain the pears and add to small bowls. Drizzle with chocolate sauce, sprinkle with chopped Moose Munch.

Notes

*For the poaching liquid you want a malty beer, but not a dark beer (dark beers may change the color of the pears). Look for a Belgian ale, brown ale or amber ale.
*You can also use regular caramel corn in place of Moose Munch.

Beer Poached Pears with Chocolate Stout Fudge Sauce and Moose Munch Crumble 3

 

Harry & David paid all the expenses for the trip , but this post was not sponsored or expected.

All opinions are my own. 

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Other blogger’s posts:

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Homemade Stout Beer Salt

Homemade Stout Beer Salt 4

Stouts are my comfort food.

If I’m feeling stressed, or overwhelmed in any way, it’s my go-to liquor of choice. There is a comfort and familiarity a good stout brings. It’s the cable knit sweater of the beer world. And maybe that gives me the beer soul of an old man, but I’ll take it.

Lucky for me the Pacific North West is a hot bed of great dark beers, from the tried and true Black Butte Porter, and the hard to find Big Lebrewski, to the award wining Shakespeare stout, I’m in a good place now that my stress level has been turned to 11.

I do strange things when I’m at maximum stress level, like make flavored salt. Because really, I don’t NEED flavored salt, I just need to make it. I need to know that I can take refuge in a ridiculous creation of a flavored salt that I made just because it tastes like one of my favorite beers.

Homemade Stout Beer Salt_

Shakespeare stout is a great choice, it’s a fantastic beer.

Shakespeare is a great guy to have around, this is a beer that wins awards, show up when you need him and is easy to find from San Diego to Kansas. Maybe I just need a guy who show up when I need him, is that too much to ask?

The salt that resulted in my high heat abuse of our good friend Shakey, has some nice beer flavor. It makes a fantastic rim salt for your Beer Bloody Mary, or any savory cocktail. I might also suggest sprinkling it on a crostini with goat cheese and smoked salmon, or salting your beer marinated steak with it before it hits the grill. But it’s your call.

Homemade Stout Beer Salt 2

Homemade Stout Beer Salt

Ingredients
  

  • 2 ¾ cups stout beer
  • 1 ½ cups coarse sea salt

Instructions
 

  • Add the beer to a pot over medium high heat. Cook until reduced to about 2 tablespoons, thick and syrupy, 15-20 minutes.
  • Stir in the sea salt. Lay on a sheet of wax paper and allow to dry for 24-48 hours.
  • Add to a food processer, pulse a few times to break up crystals.
  • Store in an air tight container until ready to use.

Notes

If the salt is still a bit sticky after it's air dried, bake it at 425 for 5 to 10 minutes.

Homemade Stout Beer Salt 3