Bacon Stout Chocolate Cheesecake

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Bacon Stout Chocolate Cheesecake

Okay, okay – hear me out. I know what you must be thinking – bacon on a cheesecake? What the what? But just trust me, it works, especially since its beer-candied bacon. I first got this idea for a cheesecake at my favorite place for inspiration, Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats. In the spring months here on Delmarva, they have a restaurant week. If you are a restaurant in the area and would like to participate, you can offer a 3-course meal to your patrons for $30 a person.

We’ve been to a few places, as it’s always fun to try something new, but we always end up back at Dogfish. There’s the amazing beer, obviously. But, the food is always awesome – as well as the service. It’s a great place to go with the kids, with fun activity menus to keep them busy. They even make their own homemade birch beer! They source as many local ingredients as much as possible, displaying the farms proudly on a chalkboard. Sam and his wife Mariah (founders of Dogfish Head) are the nicest people in the world. We’ve seen them in there many evenings where their family was enjoying dinner with friends, or just hanging out – and Sam chatted with Jon about homebrew for a while. They also host our local homebrew chapter, Delmarva United Homebrewers, at the brewpub in the winter months. Which, is just another notch on their lipstick case of coolness in my book.  Okay, I digress…let’s just say that I love them, and everything that they stand for.

The cheesecake was on their prix fixe menu that night as a dessert choice. Of course I couldn’t resist, and I’m eternally grateful that I didn’t. They used their Chicory Stout in the batter, which led to a  denser cheesecake than I was accustomed to. It definitely stuck in my mind, and I always wanted to recreate it at home. Enter Jackie, who posted a chocolate stout cheesecake on her beer blog a while back. I knew it was  going to be the perfect base for this monster. And, it was. I added a bit of the beer-candied bacon to the batter, as well as to the top (along with some hot fudge sauce to make it easier to adhere). Just enough to make you think – Oh, bacon! And the pretzel crust? Insanely good, and seemed to retain a better crunch than your standard graham cracker variety.

Desserts are often overlooked at Super Bowl parties – but this is one that is most definitely notable. Make this, and you’re sure to be the talk of the party. Or with it in hand, will get you into any party you like! Who’s going to turn down a bacon stout chocolate cheesecake with a pretzel crust? #nobody

Bacon Stout Chocolate Cheesecake

For the Crust:
4 standard sized graham crackers
1 cup pretzel rods
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
6 Tbsp butter, melted

For the filling:
7 oz dark chocolate (60%)
1 cup stout (a chocolate stout or coffee stout is lovely)
3 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 tbs flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tbs espresso powder
3/4 cup beer-candied bacon, finely chopped

For the topping:
2/3 cup hot fudge sauce
1/2 cup beer-candied bacon, finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp granulated sugar

Place one oven rack in the middle position, with one rack below. Preheat oven to 350.

In a food processor add the graham crackers, sugar and the pretzels and process until it’s the consistency of crumbs. Turn the food processor on, and slowly stream in the butter and process until it resembles wet sand.

Spray the inside of a 9-inch spring form pan with non-stick cooking spray. Pour the processed crumbs into the spring form pan. Using the bottom of a heavy, flat bottom glass, press the crust very well into the bottom of the pan until well compacted.

In a pot over medium high heat, add the beer and the chocolate, stir until melted and remove from heat. Allow to cool.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add the cream cheese and the sugar and mix until smooth. One at a time, add the eggs, scraping the bottom of the bowl between additions. Pour the cooled chocolate into the mixer and beat until well combined. Lift the head of the mixer and add flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and bacon over the batter, stir on low speed until just combined.

Pour the batter into the pan over the crust.

Place the pan in the oven in the middle position. Place a baking dish on the rack below the cheesecake, fill with water.

Bake the cheesecake until the center no longer jiggles when you shake the rack, about 45-50 minutes. This isn’t a situation where a tooth pick inserted in the middle should come out clean, you just need the center to set and it will continue to set as it cools. Remove from oven.

For the topping, warm your hot fudge sauce so that it is pourable. Pour onto the center of the cheescake carefully, and allow to sit and solidify for 15 minutes. Top the chocolate with the chopped bacon. In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the whipping cream until soft peaks form. Add the sugar, and continue whipping on high until stiff peaks form. Place in piping bag fitted with a decorative tip (I used Wilton 2D) and pipe border of whipped cream around the edge.

Source: inspired by Dogfish Head Brewings and Eats, base cheesecake recipe from The Beeroness

Spicy Whiskey BBQ Sliders

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Whiskey BBQ Sliders

I was reading an article last night, a survey of different dishes being ranked from most favorite – to least, by chefs all across the country. At the top of their list for “foods that are going out of style” was sliders. Which, who orders a slider in a fancy place anyway? I don’t know about you guys, but these tiny bundles of burgers will never go out of style in our house!

The first time I had these was at a book club meeting. The hostess made them for us, and I immediately requested the recipe! Sliders are so much fun, you can put anything on/in them – and besides that, they’re just so darn cute! I’ve made them a couple of times since then, usually for lunch on a weekend. But, they would be just perfect for one of the big games we have coming up!

Don’t be scared off by the pickled jalapenos. These sliders aren’t very spicy, the peppers really add more flavor than anything. It’s a low and slow kind of heat, and we love it. But if you’d like to leave them out, that’s fine. Maybe add a splash of vinegar to the sauce instead, just for a little bit of acidic bite to round out the flavors.

Spicy Whiskey BBQ Sliders

2 pounds ground beef (ground turkey would work be great too)
salt and pepper
4 Tbsp butter
1 large onion, diced
1/2 cup good whiskey
1 cup BBQ sauce
1/4 cup jarred sliced jalapenos
12 whole slider buns, split and toasted (dinner rolls work too!)

Form the meat into 12 (or so) miniature patties and salt and pepper them on both sides. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat and cook the patties until just about done in the middle, approximately 3-4 minutes per side. Remove the patties from the skillet and set aside. Drain off all but 2 tablespoons of grease, then return the skillet to the stove.

Throw the diced onions in the skillet and stir to cook, about 3 minutes. Pour in whiskey (be careful if you’re cooking over an open flame; turn it off momentarily to be extra careful) and stir. Allow the whiskey to reduce by half, about 2 to 3 minutes, then stir in jalapenos and the barbecue sauce.

Reduce the heat to low and place the patties in the barbecue sauce, turning to coat. Allow the patties to simmer in the sauce until everything is hot and bubbly.

Place the patties on individual buns and be sure to spoon extra sauce (with the jalapenos!) over the top of each one before topping with the other half of the bun.

Source: The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Beer-Candied Bacon

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Beer-Candied Bacon

I had my first taste of beer-candied bacon on a burger at my other favorite local brewpub, Evolution’s Public House. While I don’t really remember anything remarkable about the burger itself, that beer-candied bacon really resonated with me. And, I tucked it away in the “make sure to try at home” file.

So, when I went into bacon-hoarding overdrive during the Holidays – and had about three pound in the fridge after Christmas, I decided to give the beer-candied bacon thing a go to have for New Year’s Eve munching. Takes less than 1 minute to throw the glaze together, then some cooking time in the oven. Which, by the way, if you haven’t been cooking bacon in your oven you’re missing out. No grease splatter, no bacon sticking to the pan, no more uneven cooking. Just perfectly crisp bacon, every time. If you line a baking pan with aluminum foil, it’s super-easy cleanup too!

With the playoff games ahead of us, as well as Super Bowl, these sweet and salty little bites of heaven would “drop the bomb” on anyone who tried them.  I served them in my favorite pint glass (yes, that’s a honey badger) which I thought was cute. It was almost like a bouquet of bacon; there’s an idea for Valentine’s Day, ladies! I used a stout for the glaze, but I think that most beers (maybe aside from an IPA) would work for this application. It’s a quick and easy appetizer that’s so fun and different – a great start to the new year in my book!

Beer-Candied Bacon

1 lb thick-cut, high quality bacon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp beer (I used Dogfish Head’s Chicory Stout)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine brown sugar and beer in a small bowl, whisking well to form a thin syrup. Set aside.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place a wire cooling rack on top. Place the pieces of bacon on top of the rack, overlapping if necessary. Place in oven and cook for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and brush one side of the bacon with the beer syrup. Flip, and coat the other side with the syrup as well. Return to oven and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and repeat process another time or two more, until bacon is crispy and browned, and you’ve used all the glaze.

Cool on wire rack for at least 1 hour before serving.

Source: adapted from Oskar Blues Brewery

baconstoutchocolatecheesecake-150x150

 

I made this beer-candied bacon to go in conjunction with a Bacon Stout Chocolate Cheesecake. If you’re into the idea of beer and bacon, make sure to check it out here!

 

 

Taco Pizza

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I love to take leftovers from one night’s meal, and make something the next night that’s completely different. Leftover taco meat is great for these kind of applications. To date, my favorite use had been these stuffed peppers. But, after finally getting this recipe right where I wanted it, I think they may have to move over!

The first time I had a taco pizza it was at this little local pizzeria that is now closed. She made great “pies” there, big bubbly chewy crusts – a true New York pizza, which is hard to come by here in our rural area. She often had a “special” pizza on the board, which featured something fun and different. One day at lunch we threw caution to the wind and tried the taco pizza. I was hooked!

So, here’s my version. A base of taco sauce, which adds a little spice to start things off. Then topped with mozzarella and cheddar cheeses, seasoned beef, thinly-sliced red onion, chopped fresh tomato, and black olives. If you like things a little spicier, add some sliced pickled jalapenos to give it an extra dose of heat. If you’re tired of traditional pizza toppings, give this a whirl – I know you’ll love it!

Taco Pizza

1 round pizza dough
1 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup taco sauce
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup leftover seasoned taco meat
1/2 cup fresh tomatoes, diced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup black olives, sliced
1/4 cup pickled jalapeno slices (optional)
fresh cilantro, roughly chopped, for garnish

Preheat the oven and a pizza stone to 500° F.  Allow the stone to heat for at least 30 minutes.  In the mean time, lay a large piece of parchment paper down flat on the counter (large enough to accommodate your pizza).  Sprinkle lightly with cornmeal.  Gently roll out or shape the pizza dough into a large circle, leaving a thicker ring around the edge for the crust. Brush the outer edge of the pizza with olive oil.

Spread the taco sauce in a thin layer evenly over the unbaked crust.  Sprinkle with shredded cheeses.  Top with seasoned beef, chopped tomatoes, sliced onion, black olives, and pickled jalapenos (if desired).  Once assembled, carefully transfer the parchment round and pizza to the preheated baking stone and return to the oven.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and browned.  Slice, serve, and enjoy!

Source: inspired by Paradiso Pizza in Oak Hall, VA