Guinness Stout Brownies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted room temperature butter, cut into cubes
• 8 ounces dark bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 3/4 cup white chocolate chips
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup superfine or granulated sugar
• 1-1/4 cups (10 ounces) Guinness Extra Stout beer (see Note below)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/8 cup (about) confectioners' sugar for dusting

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with nonstick foil.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, and salt until evenly combined. Set aside.

Melt butter, bittersweet chocolate, and white chocolate chips in a double-boiler over very low heat, stirring constantly until melted. Remove from heat.

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add melted chocolate mixture, beating until combined.

Beat reserved flour mixture into melted chocolate mixture. Whisk in Guinness stout beer. The batter will seem a bit thin. Drop semisweet chocolate chips evenly on top of batter (some will sink in).

Pour into prepared baking pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes on center rack in the oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean.

Let brownies cool, uncovered, to room temperature. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Note: The Guinness should be at room temperature. This recipe uses a little less than a standard 12-ounce bottle of Guinness stout beer. Do not include foam in the measurement. Either spoon off the foam or let it rest until the foam subsides.

Yield: 36 to 48 brownies, depending on cut size

*from About.com

Champagne Jello with Orange Reduction

Ingredients:

Plain Gelatin (standard box has 4 pckts)

1 Bottle of Champagne (~3cups)

Orange Juice

Orange Wedges

Bitters

Directions:

Heat some water to boiling. Remove from heat and measure out 1 cup. Whisk in the 4 packets of gelatin until fully dissolved. Let cool to just about room temp (must not be hot or all the bubbles will go away - and it's all about the bubbles!). Slowly add the whole bottle of champagne - the more gently the better to keep the fizz in it. Pour into wine glasses or flutes or whatever - as long as they are big enough for spoons to get in!

For the orange reduction, cook down orange juice to a syrup with orange wedges added at the very end, and maybe 5-10 drops of bitters to counter the sourness. You can even skip the reduction and just use fresh whipped cream. Depends how much you like champagne!!

Spicy Shrimp, Celery, and Cashew Stir-fry

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon Shao Hsing rice cooking wine, or pale dry sherry
• 1-inch piece peeled fresh ginger
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 ribs celery, thinly sliced (about 3 cups)
• 3/4 cup roasted salted cashews (4 ounces)
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 pound peeled and cleaned medium shrimp
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced white and green, separated

 

Directions

Mix the soy sauce, sesame oil and wine, in a medium bowl, set aside. Mince the ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a mini chopper. 

Heat a large nonstick skillet over high heat until very hot, about 2 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil, the celery and cashews. Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt, and stir-fry until the celery turns jade green, about 3 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a plate. 

Return the skillet to high heat. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, the shrimp and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and stir-fry until shrimp turn pink and curl up, about 2 minutes. Add the ginger-garlic mixture and the scallion whites, and stir-fry until fragrant, about 1 minute. Return the celery and cashews to the pan with most of the scallion greens and the reserved soy sauce mixture and stir over the heat for about 1 minute to mix together evenly and blend flavors. Mound the mixture on a platter and garnish with the remaining scallion greens. 

*from FoodNetwork.com

Zucchini Goat Cheese Pizza

Ingredients: 
1 batch pizza dough or a store-bought pizza dough that will yield one small (approx. 11 to 12 inches across), thin pizza
1 lemon
4 ounces goat cheese, at room temperature
Few leaves of fresh basil, cut into thin slivers
1/2 medium yellow zucchini, sliced as thinly as you can pull off with a knife or your mandolin (I went for 1/8-inch thick with mine)
1/2 medium green zucchini, sliced as the same as above
Drizzle of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Roll your pizza dough into a thin 12-inch circle and lay it on a tray or stone that has been dusted lightly with cornmeal.

In a small bowl, stir together the goat cheese with the juice of half your lemon. Season it with salt and freshly ground pepper, and spread it over your pizza dough. Scatter fresh basil slivers over the cheese.

Arrange your zucchini coins in concentric circles over the goat cheese spread, overlapping them slightly. You can alternate their colors, if you’re feeling fancy. Squeeze the juice of the second half of your lemon on top of you zucchini, then drizzle with olive oil and finish with more salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes (your baking time will vary, so please watch carefully), or until the edges of your pizza are golden brown and the zucchini looks roasted and a little curled up at the edges.

*from SmittenKitchen.com

Beer Bread

Ingredients: 

• 3 cups self rising flour
• 3 tbls spoons sugar
• 1 12oz can of beer (I used Yeungling)

Directions: 

Mix dry ingredients, then add beer. Mix with spoon and then your hands (expect dough to be sticky). Place in greased 5x9 bread pan and bake for 40-50 minutes at 350 degrees, then pour 1 tbsp melted butter over top and bake for another 5 minutes (or 2 tbsp of melted butter before baking). If you don't have self rising flour, add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2tsp of salt per cup of flour. ENJOY! 

Brown Beer Onion Soup

Ingredients:

2 bottles (12 oz) of brown ale 3 large onions, thinly sliced into strips 3-4 cloves of mashed roasted garlic 6 cups beef stock 1/4 cup olive oil (I prefer extra-virgin, first cold-pressed for the most flavour) Salt (sea salt for more flavour) and pepper 2 bay leaves 1/2 tsp dried thyme 1 tsp Worchester sauce Crumbled whole milk blue cheese Rustic sour dough bread

Direction & Notes:

Get a large soup pot, stove it at medium-high, then drop in the olive oil. Stir in the onions so they are covered with oil, season with salt and pepper and cover the pot, stirring occasionally until the onions begin to caramelize to a light brown. Add in the remaining ingredients, then bring the mix to a boil, then simmer. Cook for ~30 minutes or so, ensuring that the onions are good and soft. Season with salt and pepper to taste, drop some blue cheese on top (it will melt). Toast the sour dough bread, butter and serve on the side for dipping! *from BeerAdvocate.com

Blue Cheese and Red Potato Tart

Ingredients:
1 Savory Tart Shell, below, or recipe of your choice, in a 9-inch tart pan and ready to fill
1 pound small red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 cup heavy cream
1 large egg yolk
1/4 pound blue cheese, crumbled (about 3/4 cup)
1 tablespoons finely chopped herb or herbs of your choice, such as a mixture of thyme and rosemary
Fine sea salt for sprinkling

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium saucepan, cover potato slices with water by two inches. Simmer, uncovered, until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain. If the potatoes don’t seem very dry, pat them dry with towels.
Arrange potato slices, overlapping slightly, in concentric circles around the tart pan. Sprinkle blue cheese over potatoes. Whisk cream and egg yolk together and pour into tart shell, then sprinkle tart with herbs of your choice and salt.
Bake tart on a baking sheet until bubbling and golden brown, about 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in pan on rack and serve warm or cold. With a big green salad, for balance.

Savory Tart Shell

Ingredients:

1 1/4 (5 1/2 ounces) cups flour
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) butter, diced
1 large egg

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch and salt. Cut the butter in with a pastry blender, fork or two knives until it is in very tiny bits. Add one egg and mix with a fork until a dough forms. If this does not happen easily, toss it out onto a counter and knead it together. This dough is rather tough but with a little elbow grease, it does come together nicely.
This dough can also be made a food processor, or in a stand mixer, though I’ve only tried it in a food processor.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a 12-inch circle. Place the dough in a 9-inch pie plate or tart pan and press to remove any air bubbles. Level the edges, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Proceed with a filling of your choice, no parbaking required.

From: Smitten Kitchen