Desserts are no strangers to the Football Foodie, but generally those recipes are posted closer to the holidays so they can be used to sweet talk people into turning on the television for some football during your non-sporty friends’ annual bad sweater/cookie exchange/holiday open house. Of course no one is going to refuse the wishes of a guest who brings Maker’s Mark Manhattan Mini Cupcakes.

But it’s September and it’s still hot outside. Hot in California, hot in the Dakotas, hot in the Carolinas, hot in Cleveland and hot in Texas. While pundits love to point to Ice Bowls and all the times fields have been plowed as tough weather games, there are just as many grueling early-season games played in 90 degree-plus heat that melt the players and the fans. The last thing anyone wants to do is stand over a hot grill tailgating in the heat, or at least I know I don’t want to stand over a grill when it’s 100 degrees out.

Even the daintiest of us will admit that watercress tea sandwiches and cucumber-lemon water don’t make for good football food, no matter how refreshing they may be on scorching afternoon. You’re (supposedly) too old for Otter Pops, and if your halftime snack is nothing more than a bowl of frozen grapes, you risk Ray Lewis jumping through your television and stabbing you for your insolent snack choice.

Of course, beer and bourbon make even ice cream tougher and more rugged sounding. When put together, chocolate stout and bourbon sounds like an ice cream that even James Harrison would eat, after he forced you back ten yards, of course.

But first, a brief word on kitchen equipment.

This is the fifth season of the Football Foodie. For all the snacks on Ladies, Playing the Field, SB Nation and so on, I have made a point of avoiding recipes that involved kitchen items beyond blenders, knives, ovens and grills because many of the early Football Foodie readers were younger, either still in college, recently out of college or just not settled yet. Since then, some of you have married, gone through grad school, received your PhDs, and at the very least, all of us have gotten older. Old enough to start either buying kitchenware on your own or receiving it as a gift. Still not at that stage in your life? Understandable, but since you’re probably blogging from your parents’ basement all you have to do is walk upstairs and use their kitchen equipment, even if it is circa 1978 fondue pot.

The point is, the Football Foodie anti-kitchen appliance stance of four years ago was borne out of a desire to get fans making real food on the weekends and not just opening a bag of chips. I still believe in that purpose, but I also think we can branch out a little more this season and use an ice cream maker.

But if you don’t have an ice cream maker, don’t think you can’t put beer and ice cream together. Check out these beer floats recipes from a couple of seasons ago.

Good talk, team? Good talk. Now let’s go make ourselves a snack.

Chocolate Bourbon Sauce

This recipe yields just about a cup or so of chocolate bourbon sauce, which is more than you need for the ice cream. I tried halving the recipe for less waste, but the results weren’t as good so go ahead and make the full batch and use the rest to dip fruit or pound cake in. It keeps in the fridge for about a week, just warm it up a touch when you want to enjoy the rest of it.

You will need:

  • 2/3 cup whipping cream
  • 2 tablespoons packed golden brown sugar
  • 6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (not unsweetened)
  • 2 tablespoons bourbon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chop the chocolate into smaller pieces for melting.

Stir together sugar and whipping cream in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until the mixture comes to a gentle boil.

Reduce heat and add chocolate, stirring until the chocolate melts and is fully incorporated into the sweetened milk.

Remove from heat and whisk in the bourbon and vanilla until the chocolate sauce is smooth. Set aside to cool while preparing ice cream.

Chocolate Stout Ice Cream

Honestly, this ice cream is so delicious and skip the chocolate bourbon swirl if you like. Depending on the capacity of your ice cream maker, this recipe is easily doubled for a larger batch.

You will need:

  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup chocolate stout beer
  • 4 egg yolks, preferably room temperature to help prevent curdling when adding hot liquids
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Ice (optional)

The ice is in case you want to skip the refrigeration step before putting it in the ice cream maker. Saves some time, but takes a little more effort.

First, poor yourself some of the chocolate stout for quality assurance testing. Once you’ve decided it’s good enough for your ice cream, measure out one cup. Set that cup aside for cooking with and drink the rest of your beer to help cool yourself off because it’s not like you have one of those CoolZone misting fans from the sidelines in your kitchen to prevent you from overheating. If a cold beer is what it it takes to get cool, a cold beer is what it takes.

Using a small saucepan, bring the chocolate stout to a boil over medium-low heat and reduce by half. (Keep an eye on the heat, as it will boil over if not watched.) Once reduced, remove from the stove to cool down for a few minutes.

At the same time, bring the milk and cream to a boil over medium-low heat then set aside to cool for a few minutes.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk in a few tablespoons of the hot milk and cream (this is to prevent the eggs from curdling when the hot liquid is added), then slowly stir in the cream mixture a little bit at a time until fully incorporated.

Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and whisk in the beer reduction.

Cook the custard over medium heat, stirring frequently as not to scald. Remove from the stove once the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon or the wires on your whisk.

Strain the custard into a bowl — whisk the top of your sieve while you pour for best results, and refrigerate for at least 2 to three hours or overnight.

Or…

You can take the smaller bowl and put it into a larger bowl half-filled with ice and whisk for 10-15 minutes to make the custard as cold as possible for ice cream maker.

Freeze the custard in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. (It will not be completely frozen when finished and will seem like soft serve, which is good for the chocolate swirl blending.)

Put the soft ice cream in a large container and dot the top with about 1/2-3/4 cup of the chocolate bourbon sauce.

Take a knife and swirl the chocolate sauce into the ice cream. Don’t worry if it doesn’t seemed very “swirled” as you add it, the ripple comes from scooping out the ice cream.

Freeze for at least 3-4 hours until set.

Serve and stay cool out there this weekend, kids. Because if you’re knocked out from the heat, no is going watch your fantasy team — The Bane Roethlisbergers — for you.

Happy last day of preseason!

Still time to join the Football Foodie Pick’Em League!

Chocolate Stout Ice Cream with Chocolate Bourbon Swirl
Author: 
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4-6
 
Ingredients
  • Chocolate Bourbon Sauce
  • ⅔ cup whipping cream
  • 2 tablespoons golden brown sugar, packed
  • 6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
  • 2 tablespoons bourbon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Chocolate Stout Ice Cream
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup chocolate stout beer
  • 4 egg yolks, preferably room temperature to help prevent curdling when adding hot liquids
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Ice (optional)
Instructions
  1. Chocolate Bourbon Sauce
  2. Chop chocolate into smaller, easier to melt pieces.
  3. Stir together sugar and whipping cream in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until the mixture comes to a gentle boil.
  4. Reduce heat and add chocolate, stirring until the chocolate melts and is fully incorporated into the sweetened milk.
  5. Remove from heat and whisk in the bourbon and vanilla until the chocolate sauce is smooth.
  6. Set aside to cool while preparing ice cream.
  7. Chocolate Stout Ice Cream
  8. In a medium saucepan, bring the milk and cream to a boil over medium-low heat then set aside to cool for a few minutes.
  9. Using a small saucepan, bring the chocolate stout to a boil over medium-low heat and reduce by half. (Keep an eye on the heat, as it will boil over if not watched.) Once reduced, remove from heat to cool a few minutes.
  10. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk in a few tablespoons of the hot milk and cream (this is to prevent the eggs from curdling when the hot liquid is added), then slowly stir in the cream mixture a little bit at a time until fully incorporated.
  11. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and whisk in the beer reduction.
  12. Cook the custard over medium heat, stirring frequently as not to scald. Remove from heat once the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon or your whisk wires.
  13. Strain the custard into a bowl -- whisk the top of your sieve while you pour for best results, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. OR you can take the smaller bowl and put it into a larger bowl half-filled with ice and whisk for 10-15 minutes to make the custard as cold as possible for freezing in your ice cream maker.
  14. Freeze the custard in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. (It will not be completely frozen when finished and will seem like soft serve, which is good for the chocolate swirl blending.)
  15. Put the soft ice cream in a large container and dot the top with about ¼-1/2 cup of the chocolate bourbon sauce.
  16. Take a knife and swirl the chocolate sauce into the ice cream. Don't worry if it doesn't seemed very "swirled" as you add it, the ripple comes from scooping out the ice cream.
  17. Freeze for at least 3-4 hours until set.
Notes
Cooking time includes freezing. Will only need about ⅓-1/2 of the bourbon chocolate sauce, but half batches failed in testing. Use the leftovers as a dipping chocolate for fruit or pieces of pound cake. Depending on the capacity of your ice cream maker, this recipe is easily doubled for a double batch. (No need to double the amount of chocolate bourbon sauce.) Chocolate sauce recipe adapted from Epicurious: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Strawberry-Shortcake-2256

 

 

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