Blueberry Stout French Toast

I love making my wife french toast. Or actually, she loves me making french toast. Err, actually, she just loves me cooking in general, but especially french toast. Her favorite breakfast. I'm always trying out different versions of french toast for her. Figured I'd put this idea to work and it turned out frickin awesome!

Dark Horse Brewing is one of my top 10 breweries. They're frickin fantastic. "Tres Blueberry Stout" just seemed to be a breakfast beer to me. It's roasty, malty, chocolatey, and has an excellent blueberry note to it. Unique and wonderful. To actually incorporate it into breakfast just made it even more badass.

Ingredients for french toast:
1 loaf crusty italian bread (sliced into 1in thick pieces)
1 cup stout
1/2 cup milk
A good splash of heavy cream
1/4 cup of sugar
4 eggs
2-3 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Good pinch of nutmeg
2-3 tbsp butter (more as needed)
Whipped cream cheese
Powdered sugar
Maple syrup

Ingredients for blueberry stout compote:
2 cups frozen blueberries
1/4 cup stout
1/4 cup sugar
Pinch of cinnamon
Juice from 1 lemon

To start, break out a small saucepan and put on medium heat. Add 1 cup of blueberries, stout, sugar, and lemon juice. Cook for 10min stirring several times. Then add in the 2nd cup of blueberries and cook another 10minutes. Turn heat down to low and keep warm.

Heat oven to 200 and set a casserole dish inside. Set a large skillet on medium-high on stove. In a shallow dish whisk together the stout, milk, cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Place bread in the dish and let soak up the custard. Flip and coat other side of bread. Add butter to hot pan. Place bread pieces in skillet. Cook in batches. Cook 2-3 minutes per side. When done, place in casserole dish in oven to keep warm. Finish cooking rest of french toast.

When ready to eat, place one piece of toast on plate. Spread cream cheese on top. Place another piece of toast on top and cover with the blueberry stout compote. Dust with a little powdered sugar and maple syrup if wanted.

Voila! Pair with a breakfast stout or a good witbier.

Milk Stout and Toffee Ice Cream

Two of my favorite things....dessert and beer! Now, this recipe is about as simple as it gets when it comes to ice cream. The milk stout brings a great sweetness and chocolately goodness to the ice cream while the toffee adds that extra zip and crunch and toffee bite. Pair this with an imperial stout for sure.

Ingredients:
9 egg yolks
2 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1 1/4 cups milk stout
5oz granulated sugar
12oz Heath toffee bar

In a stand mixer, or large bowl, beat the eggs. Then add in the sugar and continue beating until pale yellow and fluffy.

In a small saucepan over med-high heat, bring the cream to a quick boil. Remove from heat, and slowly start adding the cream into the egg and sugar mix while whisking constantly. Next, whisk in the beer.

Now, you can do one of two things…1)Place the bowl in a larger bowl or tub filled with ice water to let the ice cream “batter” get cold quicker or 2) just place the “batter” in the fridge for a couple hours until its cold. Just depends on the time you have, but you definitely want to cool the “batter” down first. It will create smaller crystals and a smoother texture.

Next, place the “batter” in your ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer’s directions. My ice cream maker takes roughly 30min. While processing, chop up your toffee candy bar. When the ice cream is done, place in a freezable container, add in the chopped candy bar and stir, then place in freezer for a few hours to allow to set. And done!