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Lost Abbey Candied Bacon Ice Cream

Posted on June 1, 2019
baking, Baking with beer, beer, beer blog, Beer Tasting, beerandbaking, Cooking with beer, craft beer, craftbeer, craftbeer.com
Comments: 0

The lovely people at Lost Abbey were sweet enough to send me some beer so I made candied bacon ice cream with it! I remember having this amazing candied bacon ice cream from Haven back in the day, so I did my best to pay homage to their tasty creation while putting my own spin on it.

Ingredients:

2 cups half & half

2 cups heavy whipping cream

2 cups granulated sugar

6 strips of bacon (or more if you desire)

Beer (I used Lost and Found by Lost Abbey)

Directions:

1. Make beer syrup by combining 1/2 cup of sugar and 1 cup beer and reducing it in a saucepan until it’s reduced by half or you can run your finger down the back of a spoon and the line stays. Set aside to cool.

2. In a bowl combine 1 tablespoon of beer syrup (or more if you want a darker sugar) with the 1 cup of granulated sugar to make a beer brown sugar.

3. Place bacon strips on a drying rack on a half sheet pan (the kind with the edges otherwise you’ll catch your oven on fire) lined with foil to catch the sugar and grease. Put a heaping amount of the sugar on top of the bacon and cook at 350 degrees F for at least 20 minutes. Check on it, and keep cooking until the bacon is fully cooked but not burned.

4. Set bacon aside to cool fully and allow the sugar on top to re-solidify. Once cooled completely, cut up into bite sized pieces and toss in either the leftover beer sugar or granulated sugar and place in the freezer.

5. Using your ice cream maker (I use a Cuisinart) place the half & half, heavy whipping cream, 1/2 cup of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of vanilla into the ice cream maker while it’s spinning. Once it starts to set-up (after 10-15 mins) add 1 tablespoon of beer syrup. Turn off the machine and fold in the candied bacon pieces and put in the freezer for a few hours to finish getting set-up.

This turned out pretty good for my first attempt at bacon ice cream! It was still a bit to savory so I think I would have made the bacon pieces a lot smaller if I were to make it again. Have you made bacon ice cream? Let me know how it turned out!

Ice Cream Sandwich w/ Hazy Jane by Stereo Brewing

Posted on May 29, 2019
baking, Baking with beer, beer, beer pairing, Beer Tasting, Cooking with beer, craft beer, craftbeer, craftbeer.com
Comments: 1

It’s gonna be summertime (anytime now So Cal!) and who doesn’t love a good ice cream sandwich? This combination of a modified molasses cookie in combination with a spiked vanilla ice cream makes for the ultimate adult party treat! We had a crowler of Hazy Jane by Stereo Brewing that was floral yet spicy, the perfect compliment to a molasses cookie and ice cream.

Directions:

To make the beer syrup:

1. Heat the beer (1 cup) and sugar (1/2 cup) in a non-stick skillet on low to med. heat until the mixture will have almost reduced by half. You can also tell by running your finger on the back of your spoon or spatula and if the syrup doesn’t run back into the finger mark then it’s ready.

2. Set the syrup aside to cool.

To make the beer brown sugar:

1 cup white granulated sugar

1 tablespoon of the cooled beer syrup

Directions:

1. Mix the sugar and beer syrup together in a mixing bowl with a fork or electric hand mixer until combined. Set aside to use or you can place in a plastic bag for future use. The brown sugar stays good for about a month on the shelf.

To make the beer crinkle cookies:

1 stick of unsalted butter

2 cups AP Flour

1 cup of beer brown sugar

1/2 cup of granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup of beer syrup

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Beat the butter, brown sugar and white sugar in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix on low to medium until smooth. Mix in eggs, one at a time until combined. Then mix in the beer syrup and vegetable oil. In a separate bowl; whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and salt.

2. Reduce the speed of the mixer to low and slowly add the flour mixture. Once the cookie dough is just combined, remove from the mixture and transfer to a separate bowl and cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least an hour or overnight.

3. Heat your oven to 325 degrees F. Take a cookie scoop and scoop out about a quarter sized ball of dough and roll in granulated sugar and bake at least 3 inches apart. These cookies will spread. You can opt to make them a little smaller to yield more cookies.

4. Bake for about 20 minutes, rotating once during the baking process. If you make smaller balls than you would want to reduce your baking time. I recommend baking for 15 minutes, then checking on them. Let cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack.

They should be very crunchy – perfect for ice cream!

Directions for my super – simple ice cream:

Ingredients:

2 cups half & half

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 tablespoon of beer syrup (or more, it’s to taste… just don’t add too much too early or you’ll have icy ice cream)

Directions:

1. Using a ice cream maker (I have a Cuisinart) combine all the ingredients together (except the beer syrup) and turn on. Check on it after 10 mins and if it’s almost done add the beer syrup. If it’s still super loose wait another 5 mins – check on it frequently so it doesn’t over churn. Put in Tupperware and freeze for at least 2-3 hours to get it set-up.

Once your ice cream is ready, scoop onto one side of the cookie and top it with another cookie! You can either eat them immediately or pre-make them and freeze them.

Boysenberry Pop Tarts w/ Bottle Logic Beer

Posted on May 27, 2019
Baking with beer, beer, beer blog, Beer Tasting, Cooking with beer, craft beer, craftbeer, craftbeer.com
Comments: 2

Hello again, my good friend the pop tart. I can’t seem to turn down your charms from your flaky crust to your sweet frosting, we’re destined to love each other forever. My husband recently had brought home some “The Perils of Self Betterment” boysenberry beer from Bottle Logic, and it was full of fruitiness and had a terrific jam quality that I thought would make a great pop-tart filling. So, I reduced the beer with some blackberries to make a sweet but tart pastry sure to delight the buds (taste buds).

Ingredients:

Dough-

2 cups AP Flour

1 tablespoon of granulated sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (cold, cut into small cubes)

1 large egg

2 tablespoons of beer

Filling-

1 1/2 cup of blackberries

1/2 cup of beer

1/4 cup of granulated sugar

Frosting-

2-3 cups sifted powdered sugar

1/4 cup beer

1 tablespoon of blackberry juice after crushed and strained

Directions:

1. Whisk together flour, sugar and salt. Incorporate the cold butter either with a food processor until sandy, or using your hands until the mix comes together. Whisk egg and beer together and start adding to the flour mixture in quantities of a teaspoon until well incorporated. You might not need all the liquid.

2. Once your dough has come together, and is not falling apart or too wet, split in half and wrap in plastic wrap (forming two discs) and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes until completely chilled. While chilling make the reduced sauce for the filling by combining the ingredients in a saucepan, and reduce by half, and set aside for filling.

3. Allow your dough to come up to temp a little at room temp, sitting on your kitchen counter for like 10 minutes, then roll out on a well-floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut dough into rectangles using a pizza cutter or cookie cutter, and place on a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silpat. Fill the cut dough with berry filling (or any filling of choice) and press the sides together with a fork. Poke the top of the pop-tart with a toothpick so air can escape while cooking and place in the freezer to set for about 15 minutes.

4. Heat your oven to 350 degrees F and bake for 20 minutes rotating once, or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely.

5. Crush the blackberries and strain to get juice for color and add to powdered sugar. Add beer to make the frosting. You might want to add more beer for a looser frosting or less for a thicker frosting, depending on preference.

6. Spoon frosting over cooled pop-tarts. Allow frosting to set-up, for at least 3o minutes. Keep in airtight containers.

We Came, Drank Beer, and Ate Tacos at Sabroso 2019

Posted on April 28, 2019
beer, Beer Event, Beer Tasting, beer travel, beerandbaking, craft beer, craftbeer, craftbeer.com, oc beer event, oc brew ha ha, Photography, sabroso
Comments: 0

It was a lovely sunny day in Dana Point but eff the weather – we came here for the beer and tacos. I was fortunate enough to be asked to judge the tacos again at Sabroso so I came armed with my friend Jenny (yes – the Jenny from #luncheswithjenny if you follow me on Insta from way back when) to eat all the tacos and judge them as best as we know how.

While we were waiting for the onslaught of tacos to come our way, we killed the time by taking photos and musing about all the #superbloom photos we’ve been seeing. Why go all the way to some trampled field of flowers when it’s springtime and there’s literally flowers bloomin’ all around us? We decided to take some flower pics from the convenience and safety of the concrete and with the help of editing it looks like we’ve driven hours to a flower field – imagine that!

The tacos arrived and we took pics, took a bite, and rated each taco until there was no more tacos to eat. I was happily surprised with the spice level of most of the tacos this year being a lot more spicy because I love a good spicy taco (hey-o!).

Instead of talking about each taco – I’m sure that’d be boring for everyone – let’s just talk about the winners! This taco is the 3rd place winner: Sol Agave’s Pork Belly taco. It had decent spice, a well-cooked pork belly, and the sweet pineapple was a nice kick. It was not terribly big, so that was a welcome change from the giant tacos we’d had trusted at our faces all afternoon. I enjoyed this one!

Who doesn’t love fried shrimp?! I love fried shrimp as much as the next person. See that deep red sauce? It was spicy AF but it had a complex smokey quality that was really exciting to eat. I just wish they put a few less of these sprimpies because it was all over my face and falling out the back, not the easiest to consume. This lively taco easily took 2nd place and is from Fiesta Gourmet.

Da Da Da Daaaaa~ it’s the winning taco! This octopus chorizo taco from Pink Taco took first place, and it was a damn fine taco. Not only was it pretty, but it was easy to eat, and it had smoke, spice, chew, and the nice hit of acid made it a very well balanced bite. I am not a huge fan of octopus in general but I enjoyed it. It was very well done.

Here’s all the other tacos we had:

I’m not sure who made it (because the judging was blind) but there was a few other tacos I really liked. The crunchy taco with the slices of sausage (because I love me some sausage *wink* ) was really good and I’m a sucker for texture and crunchy tacos are where it’s at. The other taco me and Jenny really liked was the steak taco that was really spicy with big chunks of steak, we made sure to eat all the pieces of meat because it’s a crime to waste good meat. I think I need to put a missed connections post on craigslist so I can find out who made these tacos so I can get more stat!

After the judging was over, we ventured into the crowd to take advantage of the unlimited beer tasting before time was over. I was adamant about wanting to see the Mexican wrestling because that’s always fun to photograph, and while it was entertaining, I missed the part where they’d clime the sides and jump off because I love to watch them fly…

In terms of beer, I was stoked to see some hard-to-find breweries in attendance like Russian River. The Burgeon and Acoustic was the best of the beers in the lower grass area and Russian River and Fall had the best beer in the upper sand-y area.

Sabroso has become a hybrid festival where lots of the focus is also on the music and the bands that are playing but that’s not really my focus when I’m there. As the saying goes: I’m just here for the food (and beer). It’s really cool that they have a ton of bands and it’s now two days long! It’s one of the few festivals that we attend every year and if you haven’t been I totally recommend it.

See Ya There: Brew Ha Ha

Posted on September 14, 2018
beer, Beer Event, Beer Tasting, beer travel, craft beer, craftbeer, craftbeer.com, oc beer event, OC Brew HaHa
Comments: 1

I can’t believe it’s the 9th annual OC Brew Ha Ha event tomorrow! I have been going since the 2nd annual event, and it’s crazy to think it’s been that long. It’s no secret it’s one of my favorite events of the year in Orange County, so I’m really excited to attend. Last year was the perfect weather for once, it’s normally sweltering hot. Here’s to hoping for another super fun event!

This year, the general tickets include:

* Unlimited tastings
* 100+ Craft & Import Beers
* Commemorative Festival Glass
* Live Entertainment
* Craft Beer Seminars by renowned industry experts
* Golden State Cigar Lounge
* Fun and Hilarious Games and Exhibitors

When: Tomorrow, Sept. 15th 2018

Where:

Lakeview Park

5305 E. Santiago Canyon Rd

Silverado, CA 92676

Time:

GENERAL ADMISSION – 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

$45 – $55

Unlimited Beer Tastes
Commemorative Festival Glass

VIP ADMISSION – 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

$60 – $70

Unlimited Beer Tastes
Commemorative Festival Glass
One Hour Early Entry
Access to all the OC Brew Ha Ha has to offer

Hope to see everyone there!

An Evening at Angry Horse Brewing

Posted on July 22, 2018
beer, beer dinner, Beer Event, Beer Tasting, Brewery
Comments: 1

My good friend Derek Bougie, former brewmaster of Newport Beach Brew Co and Brewcaipa, is now the lead brewer at Angry Horse in Montebello and invited me to attend the first of many dinners at the brewery. I was excited to visit Angry Horse as it was my first time there, and it’s always nice to see my long-time friend.

We were there for the dinner with Chef Jose Vazquez of East Side Eats LA catering company paired with Angry Horse beers. It was an ambitious menu considering there was no kitchen in the back of the brew house, but they somehow was able to pull things off! Some dishes were plated and others were family style, and everything was executed quickly and with professionalism.

Course 1: Lettuce and Lager

Market Lettuce, Cherry, “Lager” crema, Golden Beet, Queso Fresco, Crouton. Paired with Red AF – a tart cherry saison, 6% ABV. It was a refreshing salad eventhough beets aren’t my favorite thing in the world. It was fresh and crisp and light, and I noted there was a hint of garlic or something umami-ish in the crutons that was really tasty.

Course 2: Some-Fin to Talk About

Hamachi Crudo, Tomatillo Vinegar, Chayote Slaw with San G Lager 6.2% ABV. The fish was fresh and light in flavor and the vinegar slaw was crunchy and tasty. It had lots of nice mouthfeel, and I admit I ate it pretty quickly.

Course 3: All The Good Stuff

Stone Fruit Granita, Lemon & Mint Vinegar paired with Lil’ Peach Kettle Sour 7.4% ABV. This was a nice enough granita, I just wish it was a little bit less vinegar-forward. I think I am sensitive to vinegar as a flavor profile, because my husband said he loved his. I did love the stone fruit flavors in this.

Course 4: Pretty In Pork

Pork Tender, Piloncillo, Serrano, Charred Market Sugar Snap Peas paired with Hey Z NE Style IPA 7.1% ABV. This was my favorite dish of the night. I’ve never had such tender pork, it melted in your mouth! The snap peas were a great addition, it added the little bit of texture the soft pork needed, and there was a slight garlic undertone that fit in nicely with the theme of the meal. The family-style dish was a nice touch, I made a nice portion for myself and poured some of the drippings over it.

Course 5: Peaches n’ Cream

Market White Peach Tart, Cherry Cream paired with Imperial Cherry Porter 10% ABV. The tart was delicious, rich but not heavy, and the crust was hearty and had some interesting sweetness. I thought it was almond but was later told it was graham cracker. It reminded me a bit of a cake my grandma used to make called a mazariner, which is a Swedish almond tart. It had that mix of nostalgia that makes baking so special. I would also like to note it wasn’t too sweet, it had a balance to it that most people don’t understand how to do well. There’s nothing like a cloyingly sweet dessert from people who just don’t get it to appreciate a deft hand’s skillful dish.

Overall I had a great time at Angry Horse and loved the beer dinner. It was obvious that it was a labor of love, and all the people involved really cared about what they were doing and were all working toward a common goal of making their community better. It’s cool to see a creative space where people are free to explore their passions and are free to make delicious food, pair it with unique and well-made beer, and celebrate with like-minded people. I highly recommend stopping by Angry Horse for a beer, and checking out their next dinner event. It was really fun!

Beer Caramel Popcorn

Posted on July 15, 2018
baking, Baking with beer, beer, beer pairing, beerandbaking, Cooking with beer, craft beer, craftbeer, Ninkasi
Comments: 1

Phew, it’s been awhile you guys. I’ll admit, I took a break from blogging for a few reasons, namely not balancing my work/life properly. I love my job, and since working there I started doing more and more, especially with photography and social media. It made doing things for my blog feel like work instead of fun, and I desperately needed a break to strip everything away and get back to the reason I started this blog to begin with. I realized baking and making cool stuff with beer had become so minimal on here, so with renewed motivation I am glad to be back!

With that being said, I have a few cool recipes I will be sharing with you, along with a bunch of back-logged posts I just didn’t have the motivation to write. I am like a hoarder of edited photos, so be ready to – I’ve got a bunch of awesome stuff to share!

Without further ado, I present to you – Beer Caramel Corn made with Ninkasi’s Vanilla Oatis! I am a huge fan of Ninkasi, as you may know, so I wanted to do something cool with their vanilla stout that was a bit unexpected. I made this caramel corn recipe for a work event (see what I mean) last year and never got around to blogging about it, but I remember people raved about it being so delicious and addicting. It was a match made in heaven!

Ingredients:

8 quarts of popped popcorn (I have an air pop because I am obsessed with popcorn, but you can just buy the unflavored bags of microwaved popcorn or use your stove top to make it too… I like the big kernels for this)

2 cups brown sugar (light or dark, don’t matter)

1 cup corn syrup

1 cup unsalted butter

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons of Vanilla Oatis Beer

Directions:

Heat your oven to 250 degrees F. Spray large roasting tray with cooking spray. It needs to be really large, like the one you would use for a turkey, or two of those tin disposable trays would do. Place your popped popcorn in the roasting tray and let it sit in the oven while you prepare your caramel. This helps dry out the popcorn of any leftover moisture, and heat it so the caramel doesn’t seize when you pour it on.
I don’t know if many of you get all your ingredients measured first, then make your recipe, but I typically don’t – with one exemption…. when making candy. You should never turn your back on candy, because it can burn in the blink of an eye. Always prep everything first. Put your brown sugar and corn syrup and salt and butter in a medium to large sauce pan. The butter will splash a bit so have some room to mix it. Pre-measure your baking soda and beer (in separate bowls) and set aside. Cook the sugar mixture over medium heat, whisking continuiously, until it starts to boil. Once it’s boiling, let it boil for 5 minutes without touching it. After five minutes, take your popcorn out of the oven, take the sugar mixture off the heat, and mix in the baking soda and beer with a whisk into the sugar mixture. It should react to the baking soda and foam up a bit. That’s good!
Pour the sugar caramel mixture over the popcorn as quckly and evenly as possible. Mix it around with two spatulas as best as you can to get it evenly distributed. Put it back in the oven.
Bake for 45 minutes, take it out every 15 minutes or so to mix around to ensure even coating, and maximum crunchiness.
Prepare a space to spread out the candy on a flat surface (I put a towel down, then a large sheet of tin foil I sprayed with cooking spray and folded the edges up so it wouldn’t go everywhere). Put the finished popcorn on the flat surface and spread it out with a spatula so it’s an even layer. Sprinkle with some extra sea salt as desired. I prefer salty & sweet so I added sea salt when it was right out of the oven so it would stick to the popcorn.
Let cool & enjoy! It should keep for about a week in airtight containers. It made enough for three gallon ziploc bags.

Needless to say, this was a huge hit! I think the beer added a subtle vanilla malty note to the sugar and butter flavors of this popcorn. I thought I was in trouble for having made so much of it. Luckily my co-workers couldn’t keep their hands off of it, and my husband gave a bag away to our friends work and they devoured it as well. I highly recommend making this, it keeps well, and it’s universally loved. It’s a great deviation from the typical baked item!

It’s Coming: OC Brew Ho Ho 2017

Posted on December 3, 2017
beer, Beer Event, Beer Tasting, Beercation, craft beer, craftbeer, oc beer event, OC Brew Ho Ho
Comments: 0

It’s that time of year! It’s my birthday, it’s the Holidays, it’s time for OC Brew Ho Ho. This event is one of my favorites, where the dark and sticky beers flow, and people get weird. The people watching is like an event within an event, and I highly recommend getting the tasting out of the way early and post-up someone to watch all the hilarious costumes and tipsy attendee’s shenanigans.

It’s the beer event where local breweries pull out all the stops, and bust out all the dark, high ABV, special beers for one last hurrah before the year ends. I’ve had everything from White Russians, to Egg Nog, to whales at this event, and one thing I’ve never had was disappointment… (see what I did there?)

If you go to one party this Holiday season, make it a beer party.

When: Saturday, Dec. 9th from 12-4pm

Where: The Phoenix Club,1340 S. Sanderson Ave, Anaheim, CA 92806

Cost: $55 for unlimited 2oz tasters + taster glass

Music: The English Beat (cue fangirl moment – I am a ska kid at heart)

Get your tickets here!

OC Brew Ha Ha 2017 Recap

Posted on December 3, 2017
beer, Beer Event, Beer Tasting, beer travel, craft beer, craftbeer, oc beer event, OC Brew HaHa
Comments: 0

I had a blast at this year’s OC Brew Ha Ha! It was the first time the weather was super mild, and it made me very happy not to be a sweaty mess. In addition to great weather, the overall vibe was chill – partially due to the event not being over crowded. Most of the booths had little to no lines (minus Bottle Logic, where I couldn’t get a break in those damn lines for a beer) so we were able to bounce around the event and try most of everything relatively quickly.

Overall it was a great time. The corndog from Viking truck was satisfying as hell. The VIP area had some really interesting beers (rare beers, sours, etc.). I am really late getting this review out there, so most of the details are already covered. I’ll just leave the pics here for your enjoyment!

OC Brew Hee Haw 2017 Recap

Posted on August 6, 2017
beer, Beer Event, Beer Tasting, craft beer, craftbeer, craftbeer.com, oc beer event
Comments: 0

This year at the OC Brew Hee Haw event something magical happened: I was blessed with close parking to the event entrance. For those of you who have attended the OC Brew Hee Haw events, you know that because this event is located within the OC Fair you are likely gonna park super far away that will typically require a shuttle to get to and from. Not this year, I attended the 12-4pm event and there was parking really close, it was magic.

It was a hot summer day but luckily this event had several water stations and shade so I was able to avoid being burned or dehydrated. Most of the outside booths had a nice breeze or shade from trees so I was hot but not too bothered by the weather.

The DJ was really fun – it always makes for great people watching after the event has been going for a few hours and people loose their inhibitions a bit and start dancing. There was a funny moment when I spotted a man taking a photo that almost looked to be an “up-skirt” photo, so naturally I took pictures of him intending to report him to security. That’s when I noticed he was actually taking pictures of his companion’s injured foot, so that was even more interesting. As I photographed them, my friend and I was approached by a guy who asked what I was doing. I told him, and he was like “oh, I thought you had a thing for feet.” So we ended-up having a whole conversation about how there’s always porn out there for strange fetishes, and maybe this dude runs a “Misery-porn” instagram (ya-know … like the movie Misery? The one where she breaks his ankles?). I’ve met some fun people at beer events, and some of these people have ended-up being close friends who I hang out in real life (outside of beer events), and this dude was hilarious. He ended-up hanging out with us for like an hour after the event, walking around the fair, then walking off into the sunset never to be heard from again. I prefer to think he was a ghost, who walks around Costa Mesa and brightens people’s day with his antidotes.

I had a lot of fun at this event. It was well organized and I was able to enjoy the fair after the event which is always a good time. My only suggestion for next year is to have a few less IPA’s and more lighter beers like Kolsch’s Pilzners, and Pales. I met a lot of interesting people at this event, and ended-up becoming a group photographer of sorts in the end. Thanks for a great event!