Todd
Beer/Food Recipes
Thursday, June 26th, 2008 | Recipes/Food | No Comments
This was originally posted as a comment in the previous blog, but I felt it warranted it’s own post…
Todd S writes…
“Thanks all for coming, and as promised here are recipes from the evening:
HERBED CHEVRE:
1/4 cup parsley
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (8-ounce) mild, creamy chevre log
Mix the parsley and pepper together on a plate. Roll the chevre log in the mixture, pressing lightly so the seasonings adhere.
Wrap in plastic wrap and chill 1 to 2 hours.
Remove the log from the refrigerator and unwrap. Cut log into smaller pieces and put in mixing bowl. Mix, with electric mixer, on medium speed until cheese is crumbly. Add 1/4 tsp. water to cheese; mix again. Remove from bowl with rubber scraper and shape into ball.
CROSTINI:
1 long, thin, good-quality baguette
1/4 cup olive oil
2 T. unsalted butter, melted
2 T. parsley
1 T. dill
1 tsp. black pepper
Kosher salt or coarse sea salt to taste
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Slice the bread on a slight angle into ¼-inch-thick slices and place on a baking pan in a single layer.
Mix the olive oil, butter, parsley, dill and pepper in a small bowl.
Brush one side of each piece of bread with the butter mixture and sprinkle with salt. Toast in the oven
10 to 15 minutes, until golden brown and crunchy.
Let cool completely, then store in an air-tight container up to 1 week.
GRILLED PORTOBELLO MUSHROOMS:
6 portobello mushrooms
1/2 cup canola oil
6 T. onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic, minced
8 T. balsamic vinegar
Clean mushrooms and remove stems, reserve for other use. Place caps on a plate with the gills up.
In a small bowl, combine the oil, onion, garlic and vinegar. Pour mixture evenly over the mushroom
caps and marinate for 8 hours, turning mushrooms over occasionally.
Grill on hot grill for 10 minutes.
LEMON-GARLIC SHRIMP SKEWERS:
2 T. kosher salt
2 T. sugar
2 to 2 1/2 pounds peeled, deveined shrimp, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup parsley
1 T.grated lemon peel
2 or 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 tsp. black pepper
Lemon wedges
In a bowl, mix salt and sugar. Add shrimp and stir gently to coat. Cover and chill 1 hour.
Rinse shrimp WELL and drain.
Put shrimp in a bowl. Add olive oil, parsley, lemon peel, garlic, and pepper. Mix gently but thoroughly to coat.
Thread shrimp on metal or soaked (in water) wooden skewers, running skewer through the body once near
the tail and once near the head end of each shrimp so it looks like the letter “C.”
Lay shrimp skewers on high heat on a gas grill; close lid. Cook until shrimp are bright pink and opaque,
5 to 6 minutes total.
Note: The 1st two steps of the recipe can be done 1 day ahead of grilling and serving. The salt/sugar mixture
not only adds flavor and makes the shrimp more tender but also acts as a mild preservative.
BEER-BRINED GRILLED PORK CHOPS:
2 cups water
2 cups dark lager beer
1/4 cup coarse or Kosher salt
3 T. dark brown sugar, packed
3 T. light molasses
1 cup ice cubes
6 boneless pork chops, thicker cut
7 large cloves garlic, minced
3 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. tarragon
Combine 2 cups water, beer, coarse salt, sugar and molasses in large bowl. Stir until salt and sugar dissolve.
Stir in ice. Pierce pork chops with fork and place in large resealable plastic bag. Pour beer brine over
pork chops; seal bag tightly. Place bag in baking dish and refrigerate 1 to 1-1/2 days, turning bag occasionally.
Prepare grill (medium heat). Remove pork chops from beer brine; pat dry. Mix garlic, pepper, salt
and tarragon in small bowl. Rub garlic mixture over both sides of pork chops. Grill pork chops until
thermometer inserted in center reads 160. Remove pork chops from grill, cover with foil and let stand 5
minutes before serving.
LEMON SQUARES:
Crust:
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1-1/4 cups butter, melted
Preheat oven to 325. Mix flour, powdered sugar and butter with a fork until well blended (mixture will be crumbly
and seem somewhat dry). Pat into greased 13×9 pan and bake for 15-20 minutes (until light golden brown).
DO NOT OVERBAKE.
Filling:
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups white sugar
3 T. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
5 T. lemon juice
Combine eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder and lemon juice. Mix well and pour over HOT crust. Bake
another 20 minutes.
Remove from pan (cut while still slightly warm). Makes 30 bars.
CHOCOLATE GUINNESS CAKE:
Cake:
1 cup Guinness
6 T. unsalted butter
4 oz. unsweetened high quality baking chocolate (I used Ghiradelli)
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/2 tsp. baking soda
Frosting:
1-1/4 cups powdered sugar
8 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup heavy cream
Heat oven to 350. Butter a 9″ springform pan and set aside.
In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, combine Guinness, butter and chocolate. Stir and cook very
gently until butter and chocolate melt and the mixture is fairly smooth; remove from heat. Whisk in the sugar.
In a small bowl, mix the sour cream, eggs and vanilla. Whisk this mixture into the Guinness mixture.
Add the flour and baking soda and mix again until smooth.
Pour the batter into the buttered pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the cake is risen and firm.
Place pan on wire rack and cool completely in pan.
Mix powdered sugar in bowl to break up lumps. Add the cream cheese and mix until fairly smooth.
Mix in the heavy cream until the mixture is fluid enough to spread easily (but is not too runny).
Frost only the top; shave chocolate across top.”