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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.

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
 

  • 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

 

 

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

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. 

Chocolate Chip, Stout & Beer Nut Cookies

 

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

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).

     

    Stout Jerk Chicken

    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

    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

    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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    Stout & Sriracha Beer Barbecue Sauce

    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

    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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    Chocolate Stout Covered Beer Caramels

    You aren’t always aware of the nexus of a true obsession. It may only be in hind sight that the catalyst is revealed upon agonizing inspection of your past. For me, however, the spark was breathtaking, an obvious birth of a fixation that lead to this blog. That trigger was Bison Honey Basil Ale. A beer that begged to be turned into Beer Creme Brulee, my first post.

    If you enjoy this little blog that I have, and are as fascinated as I am with turning beer into chewable treats, you don’t have me to thank, you owe the lovely folks at Bison Brewery a debt of gratitude. As do I, or course.

    For this post, I used Bison Chocolate Stout, an excellent example of the genre.

    Chocolate Stout Covered Beer Caramels

    Ingredients
      

    For The Caramels:

    • 12 oz bottle low hop Pale or Amber ale divided
    • 2 cups white sugar
    • 1 cup light brown sugar
    • 1 cup butter
    • 1 cup heavy cream
    • 1 cup corn syrup

    For the Chocolate:

    • 1 1/2 cups 60% dark chocolate
    • 1/4 cup Chocolate Stout
    • 1 tsp flakey sea salt optional

    Instructions
     

    • In a large sauce pan over medium high heat, add 1 cup beer (reserve the remaining beer). Allow beer to boil and reduce until thick and syrupy and only about 1 tsp remains, about 20 minutes. Set aside. (Note: if you want a lower level of beer taste, skip this step and substitute the "extract" you have just made with 1 tsp of vanilla extract in the later step that calls for the beer extract)
    • Line a loaf pan with parchment paper, making sure the paper goes up and over the sides of the pan, set aside.
    • In a large sauce pan over high heat add both sugars, butter, cream, corn syrup and remaining 1/2 cup beer. Stir until butter has melted and then stop stirring while the candy boils (you can occasionally swirl the pan), clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pot, taking care that the tip doesn't touch the bottom. Allow to boil untouched until the liquid reaches 244 degrees. The caramel will reach 200 degrees rather quickly,but will take 15-20 minutes to reach 244. The last few degrees climb quickly so stay close to your pot.
    • Once the caramel has reached 244, remove from heat. Add the reduced beer "extract" that you have set aside and stir until the bubbling has subsided. Pour it into prepared loaf pan, allow to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes, then refrigerate until set, about 2 hours. Cut into squares.
    • In the top of a double boiler add the chocolate and the stout, stir over low heat until melted and creamy, about 5 minutes. Don't over heat or your chocolate will seize.
    • One at a time, place the squares into the chocolate with a fork. Roll around until covered, remove and add to a piece of wax paper, sprinkle with sea salt if desired. Once the squares been covered in chocolate transfer the to the refrigerator, repeat with remaining caramel. Chill until set, about 10 minutes.
    • Keep refrigerated.

     

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    Irish Beer Brownies With Mint Sour Cream Frosting

    This week will be full of recipes for Guinness. Although I will always favor local craft beer, I do harbor a soft spot for Ireland and their World Famous Brewery. Just out of college I scraped together enough money to put myself on a flight from LAX to Dublin.  I landed in Ireland on a drizzly morning, jet lagged and confused. I had no idea where to go, or how to get there. Before I really knew what was happening, I was being dragged though the streets of Dublin by a charming Irishman, clad in a newsboy cap and green wool sweater.  Through his thick accent I was able to discern that he was taking me to a youth hostel at the foot of the Guinness brewery.  Once we arrived at our destination, he said goodbye with a smile and a cheerful wave and he was on his way, leaving me to realized that this kind stranger had walked at least a mile in the wrong direction just to make sure I found a bed for the evening.

    Although most of you will be breaking out the famous Irish Stout this weekend, I will be sticking with beer brewed a little closer to home. Rogue Brewery makes several beers that would be perfect for this recipe, including the Chocolate Stout, the Double Chocolate Stout, or even the Hazelnut Brown Nectar, I choose to go with the Mocha Porter although the idea of the Irish Lager almost drew me in.

    Whatever you decide to consume on St. Patrick’s day, just remember:

    Good beer does not need green food dye.

    Drink well.

    Irish Beer Brownies With Mint Sour Cream Frosting

    For the brownies:

    12 ounces dark beer, such as Rouge Mocha Porter

    1 stick unsalted butter

    10 ounces dark chocolate

    3 whole eggs plus 2 additional egg whites

    1 1/2 cups sugar

    1 tsp vanilla

    1 cup flour

    For the Mint Sour Cream Frosting:

    2 sticks of butter, softened

    1/2 cup sour cream

    2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

    1/2 tsp mint extract

    In a sauce pan over medium high heat, cook the beer until reduced to about 3/4 of a cup, about 10 minutes.

    Add the butter, stir until melted. Remove from heat and add the chocolate, stirring until melted, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

    In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the eggs, additional whites and sugar. Beat on high until very light and frothy, about 5 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix until combined. While the mixer is still on high, slowly add the chocolate mixture in a slow stream. Once about half the chocolate mixture has been added to the egg mixture, dump the remaining chocolate into the stand mixer allowing to mix until combined. Add the flour mixture and stir on low until just combined, don’t over mix once the flour has been added or your brownies will be tough.

    Generously spray a 9×12 inch glass baking dish with butter flavored cooking spray. Pour the batter into the pan. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes or until the surface of the brownies begin to look dry and cracked and a tester inserted into center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached.

    Make the frosting:

    Softened butter is important to this process. If you use cold butter your frosting will have the consistency of ground beef, but melted butter will give you frosting that is too soft.

    Add the softened butter and the sour cream to a stand mixer and beat until well combined. Add the sugar and beat on low until the sugar is mostly mixed in. Add the mint and beat on high until frosting is light and fluff.

    Allow the brownies to cool before frosting.