Bacon

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_

 

 

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Beer Brined Scallops over Spinach Salad With Bacon Stout Dressing

Yield: 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

Directions

  1. In a large bowl stir together the pale ale, salt, water and lemon juice.
  2. Add the scallops, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. Trim asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces. Cook the asparagus in lightly salted boiling water for one minute, drain and allow to dry.
  7. Plate the spinach, top with asparagus, goat cheese, and crumbled bacon, dizzle with dressing, top with scallops.
http://thebeeroness.com/2014/07/25/beer-brined-scallops-spinach-salad-bacon-stout-dressing/

Beer Brined Scallops over Spinach Salad With Bacon Stout Vinaigrette 3

Beer Brat Carbonara Pasta: An Oktoberfest Recipe

Beer Brat Carbonara Pasta: An Oktoberfest Recipe

Although it seems like most of America sees Oktoberfest as The Festival of Barely Contained Breasts And Bad Beer In October, it really isn’t meant to be any of those things.  Oktoberfest began more than 200 years ago as a wedding celebration, it’s morphed into a celebration of local food and drink.

In Germany, they take that local notion seriously. Only beer brewed within the Munich city limits is allowed to be served at the festivities, and last year nearly 7 million liters were served up. Which may explain why 37  kids were reported missing, as well as a live rabbit, during last years event (all children and furry creatures were found safe and sound).

Beer Brat Carbonara Pasta: An Oktoberfest Recipe

The authentic Oktoberfest festivities take place in Munich Germany, starting around mid-September and ending the first Sunday in October, making this year’s event well underway. To celebrate in my own house, far, far from the Bavarian epicenter of the German Beer Lovers Fest, I made a hearty pasta, full of beer brats and brown ale.

The bratwurst began as a peasants dish, using all the scraps left over once the more expensive cuts were taken, which makes it a perfect addition to carbonara pasta, which has its own humble beginnings on a peasants table in Europe.

To sum it up, my friends, celebrate in an authentic fashion: strap on some lederhosen, drink local beer, cook some sausages in beer, but just don’t forget where you put your kids or woodland creatures.

O’zapft is!

Beer Brat Carbonara Pasta: An Oktoberfest Recipe

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Beer Brat Carbonara Pasta

Ingredients

  • 5 ounces gaunciale or 6 strips thick sliced bacon
  • 1 sweet white onion, sliced into rings
  • 1 tbs olive oil, plus 2 tbs, divided
  • 6 bratwurst (raw)
  • 12 ounces brown ale
  • 1 lb spaghetti
  • 2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 cup fresh grated Pecornio or Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
  • 4 large eggs

Directions

  1. In a large pot over medium high heat, cook the gaunciale (or bacon). Remove from pan, chop. Pour off about half the pork fat, leaving about 2 tbs still in the pan. Add 1 tbs olive oil and onions, cook over medium heat until the onions start to caramelize, about 8-10 minutes. Remove onions from pan, set aside.
  2. Increase heat to medium high, add the bratwurst, cooking until browned on both sides. Add the beer and reduce heat to medium low, simmering until the bratwurst are cooked through, 10-12 minutes. Slice into rings.
  3. While the bratwurst are cooking, cook the spaghetti in lightly salted boiling water until al dente, drain and return to pot.
  4. Add sliced brats, chopped gauncaile (or bacon), caramelized onions, tomatoes, cheese, salt, pepper and remaining 2 tbs olive oil to the spaghetti, toss to combine.
  5. One at a time poach the eggs in simmering water until the whites have set but the yolks are still runny.
  6. Divide the pasta between 4 bowls, top with poached eggs. Serve immediately.
http://thebeeroness.com/2013/09/24/beer-brat-carbonara-pasta-oktoberfest-recipe/

Smoky Chocolate Porter Ice Cream with Beer Candied Bacon

Smoky Porter Ice Cream with Beer Candied Bacon4

Yesterday I was a guest on KCRW’s St. Patricks day episode of Good Food. The host was Evan Kleiman, a chef, author and Los Angeles food scene legend. She called my recipes, “smart,” which if you are a home cook, sitting in front of an accomplished chef, is the best word you can hear.

Smoky Porter Ice Cream with Beer Candied Bacon3

We chatted about stouts, one of my favorite beer topics. Forget about pale lagers and green food dye, stouts are the life blood of St. Patrick’s day. In preparation for our stout conversation, I asked my Facebook readers what their favorite stouts are, and the response was amazing. My non-scientific poll concluded the most popular stouts among those who have clicked “like” on The Beeroness Facebook page are: Old Rasputin, Souther Tier Choklat, Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout and Founders Breakfast Stout. All of which would be amazing in this recipes, but I used Alaskan Brewing Smoked Porter. Just goes to show how many amazing dark craft beers there are in this nation. If you have a stout or porter that you love, let me know about it. I’m always up for a tall glass of dark beer.

Whatever you use, don’t forget to make it a chocolate bacon beer float.

Smoky Porter Ice Cream with Beer Candied Bacon5

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Smoky Chocolate Porter Ice Cream with Beer Candied Bacon

Ingredients

  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (40% to 45% coca)
  • 1 cup cream
  • 1 cup smoked porter (or chocolate porter)
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1 2/3 cups sugar
  • 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
  • Beer Candied Bacon (recipe below)

Directions

  1. In the top of a double boiler over gently simmering water, add the milk and chocolate. Stir until chocolate has melted, remove from heat, allow to cool for about 5 minutes.
  2. In a large bowl, add the porter, sugar, cream, smoked paprika and egg yolk, whisk until well combined.
  3. While continuing to whisk, slowly pour the hot chocolate over the egg yolks.
  4. Add mixture to a saucepan, stir over medium high heat until mixture starts to thicken, about 5 minutes. If the mixture is lumpy, pour through a mesh strainer to remove lumps.
  5. Transfer to a storage container, cover and refrigerate until very cold, about 6 hours and up to 12.
  6. Churn in ice cream maker according to manufactures specifications. The mixture will probably only reach a soft serve consistency.
  7. Transfer to a freezer safe container; freeze until firm, about 2 hours.
  8. Sprinkle with crumbled candied bacon (recipe below).
http://thebeeroness.com/2013/03/14/smoky-chocolate-porter-ice-cream-with-beer-candied-bacon/

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Beer Candied Bacon

Ingredients

  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 3 tbs stout
  • pinch cayenne
  • 12 thick cut strips of bacon

Directions

  1. Combine the brown sugar, stout and cayenne until thick and syrupy.
  2. Lay bacon on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet.
  3. Brush bacon with beer syrup on both sides.
  4. Cook at 350 for ten minutes, flip and re-brush with beer syrup.
  5. Cook for 8 to 10 more minutes or until the bacon is an amber color.
  6. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Bacon will harden as it cools.
http://thebeeroness.com/2013/03/14/smoky-chocolate-porter-ice-cream-with-beer-candied-bacon/

Beer Candied Bacon Adapted from Oskar Blues via Tide and Thyme.

  Smoky Porter Ice Cream with Beer Candied Bacon2

Chocolate Stout and Bacon Skillet Brownies

 

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.

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Chocolate Stout and Bacon Skillet Brownies

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Add the egg mixture to the chocolate skillet and stir until just combined. Chop bacon and sprinkle over the top.
  5. Bake until the top has set (don't over bake) about 25 to 30 minutes.
  6. 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.
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http://thebeeroness.com/2012/10/23/chocolate-stout-and-bacon-skillet-brownies/

Stove Top Beer And Bacon Mac And Cheese

I’m not a beer snob. To be honest, the term has always rubbed against the grain.

I’m a beer fan, a beer lover, a girl fascinated by beer, but I’m not a snob.

I spent years on the fringes of the music industry in LA, and the beer snobs I meet now echo those same phrases I heard then. And so do my responses.

If you loved The Killers when we saw them play free shows at The Spaceland, you should still love them when they win Grammys.

Good music, is good music. Regardless of how many, or how few, other people like it.

If you loved Rogue Dead Guy Ale when no one carried it, you should still love it when it has mass distribution.

Good beer, is good beer. Regardless of how many, or how few, other people like it.

At a beer event a few months ago I asked the rep from North Coast Brewing why he hadn’t brought any Scrimshaw, “The Beer Snobs would eat me alive if I poured that!” And then whispered to me that it was what he drank more than anything else.

Stop doing that.

Good beer is good beer. Don’t be afraid to drink what you like, even if everyone else likes it too.

In celebration of good beer, I give you my favorite one pot, quick and easy, make this for Thanksgiving, you will never make it from a box again, Mac & Cheese. Hope you still love it even when everyone else does too.

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Stove Top Beer And Bacon Mac And Cheese

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 cups elbow macaroni
  • 4 strips of bacon, cut in half
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 egg
  • 2/3 cup beer (pale ale, blonde, bock, and Hef work well, an IPA will give you a very strong beer flavor)
  • 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese (fresh grated, pre-shreaded has additives that prevents it from melting properly)
  • 2 tbs butter
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
  • pinch cayenne pepper
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  1. In a large pot of boiling water, add the noodles and cook until just before done. Don't over-cook the noodles or this will end up mushy.
  2. Drain the pasta, return the pot to the stove and cook the bacon until crispy, remove from pot and allow to cool.
  3. Drain off bacon grease and return drained noodles to the pot.
  4. In a separate bowl, add the beer, egg and sour cream, beat until well combined.
  5. Add the butter and the beer mixture to the noodles and return to medium heat. Stir until the butter has melted.
  6. About 1/4 a cup at a time, add the cheese. Stir until cheese has melted before adding more.
  7. Add the spices and chopped bacon, stir.
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http://thebeeroness.com/2012/10/09/stove-top-beer-and-bacon-mac-and-cheese/

 

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Beer & Bacon Pecan Bars

 

 

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.

 

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Beer & Bacon Pecan Bars

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

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
http://thebeeroness.com/2012/09/06/beer-bacon-pecan-bars/