Beer Tasting Dinner Part Two

The next two courses in the dinner are far less interesting, so I'll only talk about them briefly. Course five is a great standby that I make fairly often.

Third Course: Baked Goat cheese salads with pignolas and cherries with a Kreik vinaigrette Served with: Kreik Boon and Lindenman’s Kreik


I really like making this basic salad, using the recipe from Cook's Illustrated. Of course, I can never find the Melba toasts when I want them, so I use those mini-toasts from Trader Joe's. As always, they came out creamy and delicious, and the vinaigrette actually worked. Of course, it would have helped if I had written down the recipe. Sigh. The pairing? Kriek Boon is a lovely example of a Lambic. Somewhat tart, with a true cherry flavor mingling with the malt and hops. Taking a sip of the Lindeman's, we were reminded how much like a wine cooler this stuff really is. I hate to admit it, but I used to like the stuff. Now I know much better.

Simplified Baked Goat Cheese
For Appetizers or Salads

Serves 4 or more (depending on application)

1 small log garlic and herb goat cheese
1 egg
1 cup crushed mini toasts (fairly large crumb)

1. Put crumbs in a shallow dish, and beat egg into another shallow dish.
2. For salads, divide the cheese into four portions, and roll into balls, then flatten slightly. For an appetizer, skip this step.
3. Roll the cheese, then the egg, making sure to cover in crumbs completely.
4. Put the coated cheese in the freezer for 15 minutes (this is the IMPORTANT Cook's Illustrated step. Skip this and you've got ooze.)
5. heat your oven to 475F. When it is ready, cover a baking sheet with foil, oil the foil lightly, then place your cheese on the foil. Bake in heated oven for about 8-10 minutes for salad size, 10-12 for the whole log.

Fourth Course: Creole Turtle Soup Served with: Bernie’s Molasses Porter (homebrew) and Avery Hog Heaven Barleywine (commercial)

I'm not bothering with the photo for this one. For those of you who love turtle soup, more power to you. All I can say about this is thank goodness this was in small portions. Better yet we discovered the dog loves turtle. Therefore, he got to enjoy turtle.

The beers were chosen through recommendations on a brewing forum. we didn't eat the soup, so I cannot comment on the pairing. The porter is one of my favorites and I'm hoping TheTooth makes it again soon. Rich, only slightly sweet, and roasty as all get out. The barleywine really needed more time to rest and mellow out. It was young and sharp, and really darned hoppy. We should have tried another beer and left this to rest for a couple of years. Live and learn.

Fifth Course: Pan Seared Rib Eye with steamed vegetables and sour cream chive mashed potatoes; Brown Ale Béarnaise Served with: Corsendonk Abbey Brown Ale



Forgive the photo. I know it's a bit blurry, but I had been tasting all those beers... My favorite way to cook a steak, courtesy of the always-on-target Alton Brown (with modifications of course):

Serves 2-4, depending on what else is on the menu.

1 Delmonico or rib-eye steak, between 1.3 and 1.8 lbs. (It should be a good 1 1/2 inches thick, preferably 2 inches)
1 Tablespoon Hawaiian red sea salt
1 teaspoon each of garlic and onion powder
1/2 Tablespoon fresh ground pepper
Grape seed oil

1. You need a big ol' cast iron skillet for this. Go get one if you don't have one. It will become your best friend in the kitchen.

2. Put the skillet in the oven, and turn it up as hot as it will go, hopefully about 500F.

3. Take the steak out of the fridge and season it liberally with the salt, garlic and onion powders, and pepper. Drizzle it with grape seed oil. Let the chill come off the steak while the oven comes to temperature.

4. Once the oven has reached it's hottest point, do nothing for a good five minutes. This will allow the pan to get good and hot.

5. When you're ready, grab a good timer and some heavy oven mitts. Turn your closest burner on high, then get the pan out of the oven. USE THE MITTS. Trust me on this one, OK? I came close to grabbing the pan once and still burned myself without ever touching it. Put the pan on the burner, then immediately put the steak in. Leave it for 40 seconds, then flip and leave it another 40 seconds.

6. Put the pan back in the oven, and leave it for 3:30. Flip the steak again, and cook it another 3:30. Pull it out and rest, covered with foil for 10 minutes. Slice and enjoy.

The pairing: Brown ale is one of our favorites, and this did not disappoint. While I normally prefer a nice juicy tannic red wine to cut through the richness of the steak, this beer did quite nicely. There was a bit of fruit in it, and a bit of an acidic tang that cut through the meat well. We had run out of TheTooth's brown the day before so I couldn't do a double pairing here. Bummer.

Next time: Dessert!

Beer Tasting Dinner Part One

Fair warning...this will be a long one!
For New Year's Eve, we nearly went to a local BBQ place that does beer tasting dinners. The dinner for the holiday sounded great, but they didn't take reservations. Ack! Who wants to stand out in the cold for possibly hours waiting for a table on New Year's Eve? Not us, that's for sure. Heck, places that take reservations for parties of two get our business more often than not. (You hear that restaurant industry? Reservations are your friend! Have a policy to only hold tables for 10 minutes if you want. Just take the reservation for goodness sake!) But I digress. I offered to come up with a pairing dinner of our own instead. Most of the pairings came out well. If you have suggestions for any others let me know!



Yeah, I'm a geek. I make a menu for every holiday or special occasion. What can I say? (The pictures of the courses will come as soon as I get them all pretty and corrected for contrast and such.)


First course: Prosciutto Roulades with herbed goat and mascarpone cheeses Served with: Herr Buddy’s Kolsch (homebrew) Hollywood Blond Kolsch (commercial)


Very easy to make, and very yummy too! Take a small tub of mascarpone, about the same amount of goat cheese, and a touch of cream, and mix well. It helps if the cheeses are soft. Mix in some fresh herbs of your choice, and garlic if desired. I used thyme, marjoram, and oregano, along with a touch of salt, pepper, and garlic. Roll in a thin piece of prosciutto, top with a drizzle of your favorite extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, and chopped parsley. You can make the rolls as big or as small as you wish, and if you roll the prosciutto like a log you can slice it in pinwheels and serve for a party. Since this was a holiday dinner, I got all fancy and plated it with a thin slice of lemon and some endive.

As of the beers, we discovered that the Hollywood Blond Kolsch wasn't really a Kolsch at all. It was some Americanized over-hopped sort-of version. Designed for IPA fanatics, it just didn't suit us. (It is the left glass in the picture.) Herr Buddy's was closer, but still not quite the beer of Koln. TheTooth will have to make another attempt soon. Both paired well with the dish, their crispness playing nicely off the richness of the cheese and ham. The lightness also cut through the tang of the goat cheese. This is a pairing to keep.

Second course: Cheese Stuffed Shrimp with Prosciutto and a Saison Dijon Cream Dipping Sauce Served with: The Bruery Tradewinds Tripel


This recipe comes from page 79 of the wonderful The Best of American Beer & Food by Lucy Saunders. If you like good craft beer and food, you need this book. She has a site with all sorts of great info: http://www.bestofamericanbeerandfood.com/ I made a couple of deviations from the recipe, mainly the use of prosciutto (oops, left the wrong pig on the menu) and I made a sour cream-saison sauce instead of the sauce in the recipe (a recipe I have for butter poached lobster has a Dijon sour cream sauce and TheTooth likes it better than the mayo version.) Here's the recipe, but it's the only one you'll get here! You need to buy the book for the rest. (Come on, you know how to find cheap copies on Amazon now.)

"Cheese-Stuffed Jumbo Shrimp with Bacon
18 slices pancetta
18 tail-on jumbo shrimp (16 to 20 count), peeled, deveined
1 cup grated Swiss cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400F. In large skillet over medium heat, cook pancetta until half cooked but still pliable, set aside to cool.

2. Butterfly each shrimp (slice lengthwise, about two-thirds through largest section of shrimp) and fill cavity with one tablespoon cheese.

3. Pinch shrimp closed around stuffing and wrap with 1 strip par-cooked bacon in a spiral, securing ends with toothpick. Place on baking sheet and bake until golden, turning once, about three minutes per side. Do not overcook as shrimp will continue to cook when removed from oven. Serve with Dijon Saison Sauce.

Dijon Saison Sauce
6 ounces saison-style ale
1 tablespoon salted butter
2 tablespoons hot water
2 teaspoons mayonnaise
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

1. Decant ale and let carbonation settle. In medium saucepan, combine ale, butter, water, mayonnaise, and mustard; bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer until reduced to a creamy consistency, about 30 minutes.
2. Add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Serve with shrimp."

My cheat on the sauce was as follows: Mix sour cream and Dijon mustard in a ratio of 3:2. Stir in 1 tablespoon ale for each cup of sauce. Add in a pinch of garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste.

The Bruery's Tradewinds Tripel was a wonderful pairing. If you haven't had the treat of sampling one of this Southern California craft brewer's Belgian-style ales, find one. Beautifully balanced, with just a hint of the basil they use as a spice, it went nicely with the mild heat of the Dijon and the saltiness of the cheese and pig. Yeah, yeah, it is their summer brew but it is too tasty to limit to one season!

More courses in the next post...