When I read this recipe in Jacqueline Dodd’s The Craft Beer Bites Cookbook that I got for Christmas I just had to make it! I’ve been drooling and dreaming about it ever since I came across it.
It was fantastic! Here is my version of the recipe:
We used Falcon Brewing Salem Rd award-winning stout for this and local Ontario Woolwich Dairy goat cheese. I found dried Shitake and wild Porcini mushroom at Sobey’s. Sadly not local. The Porcini mushrooms have a nice meaty texture and Shitake mushrooms are known for their health benefits, namely fighting some kinds of cancer and boosting immunity.
I sliced the crostini into 1/2 inch thick slices rather than the one inch that the recipe called for.
One tip – the goat cheese is so delicious, but can overpower the mushrooms if you put too much on so test a piece first.
Buying fresh herbs is annoying in that you never seem to use it all up before they go off so I would suggest freezing the remaining. This recipe is just so much better with the fresh herbs
Ingredients
- 1 ounce dried mushrooms
- Half a bottle of Salem Rd Stout (and drink the rest)
- 2 tbls (30ml) spoon unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) olive oil
- 1/4 cup shallots (given that you will cook them, I think onions would be ok)
- 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) salt
- 1/s tsp (2.5 ml) pepper
- 1 baguette sliced on an angle
- 4 ounces (or 120 grams) goat cheese
- 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
- 1 tsp chopped fresh sage
- 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
Directions
- Soak the mushrooms in a bit more than half a bottle of Salem Rd Stout (and drink the rest). The recipe calls to soak the mushrooms for 30 minutes to 2 hours, but the package says 20 minutes. We did two hours.
- In a small bowl mix the goat cheese with the chopped herbs
- Drain the mushrooms. Th recipe calls for rinsing the mushrooms as well to get rid of any residual grit, but the ones we bought can be used as is. We rinsed anyway and sliced them thin.
- Heat the oil and the butter in a pan and then add add the shallots or onions and cook until just starting to brown.
- Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook until most of the oil is absorbed (5 minutes the recipe said, but it took longer or us)
- Preheat the broiler and brown the baguette pieces on both sides. As soon as the pieces start to brown it can go quick resulting in burnt pieces so watch carefully!
- Spread the goat cheese on the Crostini and top with mushroom and shallot/onion mix.
About the Beer
Most people associate stout with Guinness; in fact, there is probably no other brewery in the world so known for one type of beer than Guinness.
But in fact, there are many kinds of stout: dry stout, sweet stout, oatmeal stout. American stout, Russian Imperial stout, Irish stout and so on, each with its own unique characteristics.
Stout initially was not a style on its own but was a specific kind of porter which was brewed with less water and was stronger, more “stout”.
Salem Rd Stout is an American Stout. Typically Americans have a more roasted malt and coffee presence, but it is really considered a catch-all phrase for the various experimentation that has influence American stouts. Typically the more citrusy American hop is thought to give the American Stout its distinctive style, but the flavours, the hop intensity, and the alcohol content can all vary.
Salem Rd Stout won gold at the Canadian Brewing Awards and can be found at Falcon Brewing Company in Ajax in the east part of GTA, and a selection of bars and restaurants.
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