Caramelized Mushrooms and Onions in a Roasted Garlic Milk Stout Reduction

Last weekend, when I was preparing my roasted garlic and milk stout marinade, I needed a side dish to go with my flank steak.  I had some mushrooms in the refrigerator and decided to use them up.  It is also my culinary mission to introduce to The Youngest foods that induce a gag reflex in Hope.  I gain satisfaction in seeing The Youngest scarf down food that makes his mother look the other way.  My success rate runs about 80 percent.  But, mushrooms would be a tough one.  Lets see what we can do.

I took the left over mushrooms, removed the stems, cleaned and quartered them, then placed them in a bowl with half of a quartered sweet onion.  Then, I poured about 1/3 cup of my Roasted Garlic Milk Stout marinade on the mushrooms and tossed to coat evenly.  Missed that recipe?  Here it is:

Roasted Garlic Milk Stout Marinade

1, 12 oz bottle of your favorite stout.  I choose a milk stout.  Just try and choose a well balanced brew
3 large cloves garlic, roasted
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp ground mustard powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp sea salt
Fresh ground pepper.  I used 10 turns of my grinder

Put everything into a small sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Then, lower your heat and simmer until reduced by 1/3.  Then cool to room temperature.

I covered the foil and placed in the refrigerator to marinade for five hours or so.  When my grill was ready, I placed the marinaded mixture into a small foil pan.

The pan was placed on the top rack my grill to slowly caramelize.  My grill temperature was around 350-400 F for most of the cook.  I rotated the pan every 10 minutes so that the mushrooms and onions on the hot side of the grill would not burn.  The total cook time was about 40 minutes.

Those are the mushrooms up there in the upper right hand corner.  One mistake I made was forgetting how much a mushroom can shrink when cooking.  But, what I didn't have in quantity, I definitely had in quality.  The marinade reduced, intensifying the roasted garlic, stout, and balsamic vinegar flavors. Add in the caramelized sweetness of the onions and mushrooms and this side dish is a worthy accompaniment to any grilled steak.  I think I see some sort of beefy, mushroom laden pie in my future.

As for The Youngest?  I had to fight him for the remains.  Mission accomplished.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Grilled Flank Steak with a Roasted Garlic Milk Stout Marinade

Recently, I have been trying to incorporate some new flavors into the grilling or smoking we have been doing around the house.  Beer has been playing a role in those marinades.  This past weekend, inspired by Gus over at gusfacegrillah.com, we tried making a beef marinade out of a nice stout.

My choice was a nice and smooth milk stout from Southern Tier Brewing: Double Milk Stout 2X Stout.

This stout is smooth and creamy.  Not too bitter, not too sweet, and well balanced.  Perfect for this beef bath.

To prepare this marinade, I started off by roasting some garlic.  I do not roast whole heads of garlic.  Way too much garlic for what I need.  I just take the cloves that I need, slice the tips off, and place in a foil packet with some olive oil.  The packet goes into a 350 F oven for 30 minutes.  Perfect roasted garlic every time.

Here are the rest of the ingredients:

Roasted Garlic Milk Stout Marinade

1, 12 oz bottle of your favorite stout.  I choose a milk stout.  Just try and choose a well balanced brew
3 large cloves garlic, roasted
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp ground mustard powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp sea salt
Fresh ground pepper.  I used 10 turns of my grinder

Put everything into a small sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Then, lower your heat and simmer until reduced by 1/3.  Then cool to room temperature.

While the marinade was cooling, I tenderized my flank steak thoroughly on both sides.

Once the marinade was chilled, I placed everything in a plastic bag and put into the refrigerator to steep in the stout mixture.  I flipped the bag over every hour.  Total marinade times five hours.

After five hours, I removed the steak from the refrigerator and placed on the counter to come to room temperature.  Then, I wend outside and started my grill.  Once my coals were ready, the flank steak went on direct heat for about seven minutes a side.  I was looking for 130 F internal temperature.  Once done, I brought inside and let the meat rest for 10 minutes, covered with foil, before slicing.

Sorry about the picture.  As you might be able to see, the marinade created a nice caramelized bark on the outside.  We also nailed the medium rare that we prefer (at least on the thick end).

The flavor was great.  Better then I was hoping for really.  The roasted garlic, vinegar, and spices made for a nice combination.  The stout brought it all together adding a nice richness to the beef.  We will definitely be trying different variations of this marinade in the future.  So, if you have a spare stout hiding the the refrigerator at home, give this a try.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill