Serves: 1
Porter Syrup
1½ cup (12 fl oz/355 ml) porter
½ cup sugar
In a small saucepan, combine the porter and the sugar and cook over low heat until the porter has reduced to a syrup. Be careful not to let it smoke. Remove from the heat and let cool.
Porter-Candied Bacon
12 slices thick-cut bacon
1 batch Porter Syrup (above)
Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Lightly oil a cookie sheet. Lay the bacon slices on the cookie sheet without overlapping. Brush the bacon with the Porter Syrup. Bake until cooked to your liking.
Remove from the oven and brush the bacon with another coating of the Porter Syrup. Let cool.
Wheat-Beer Mustard
1 cup yellow mustard seed
2 cup (16 fl oz/473 ml) wheat beer
1½ cup (12 fl oz/355 ml) malt vinegar
6 Tbs (3 fl oz/89 ml) agave syrup
½ cup light brown sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp allspice, ground
1 cup (8 fl oz/237 ml) Colemans mustard
In a stainless steel bowl, combine the mustard seed, beer, and vinegar. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
In a small saucepan, combine the agave, brown sugar, salt, and allspice and bring to a boil.
Pour the mustard seeds with liquid into a blender with the agave syrup mixture and blend until smooth. Remove from the blender. Store overnight and use the next day.
Sandwich
2 slices rye bread
2 thick slices tomato
4 slices porter candied bacon
Handful of baby lettuces
2 Tbs (1 fl oz/30 ml) Wheat-Beer Mustard
1 Tbs butter, melted
Brush both sides of each slice of bread with butter and toast. Then spread the mustard on each slice evenly.
Arrange the tomatoes, then the bacon, then the lettuce on 1 slice of bread. Top with the other slice of bread, cut, and serve.
Beer suggestions: Try a vanilla porter such as Breckenridge Brewery Vanilla Porter (Denver, Colorado) for the syrup. Pair with Orval Trappist Ale (Villers-devant-Orval, Belgium) because . . . well, Orval pairs with anything.