Pork Chops & Chicken

The Aztec Beer Dinner

This beer dinner was truly one of the highlights of my career. It deserves to be mentioned and described based on how great it turned out. Sadly for being such an amazing dinner, I didn't manage to get one single picture of the food and the courses we served. I remember everything in perfect detail. Enough to talk about and discuss some of the amazing concepts an ideas that you can do when it comes to beer and food pairings.

This idea came to me randomly. I was at a wonderful restaurant in North Hampton, Mass. called The Sierra Grill. The owner, O'Brien Tomalin and I were talking about all of the amazing dinners he has hosted there before. One of the dinners he mentioned is a staple dinner that he does annually called the Big Beer and Big Game dinner. This is all about big game meats like elk and venison. Thinking about the venison, I told O'Brien about a dinner I had recently done called the Beer and Chocolate dinner. I paired every single course with chocolate, cheese, and beer. Our main course was grilled venison with a cocoa Madeira glaze and blue cheese foam. Absolutely incredible. We talked about doing something fun like that together.

The idea of doing an Aztec beer dinner popped up in my head. Thinking about the chocolates, and recent threads on Beer Advocate in the food forums asking what pairs well with spices and chilies, it was only natural that my focus immediately went towards Latin American cultures.

The dinner never progressed with The Sierra Grill. I was pretty bummed about it too. The restaurant is very good and they take proper care of their beers and give you incredible pairings and portions. I still had the idea on my head though. I mentioned it to a few friends. The reaction was pretty much, "Aztec Beer dinner? What's that going to be like?" I had no idea just yet. I just knew spices and chocolates and one beer called Southern Tier Choklat. But I had to make it different from the beer and chocolate dinner.

The place I normally host my beer dinners at Upstairs On The Square, came to me and said we need to do another beer dinner. I told them the timing was perfect because I had been sitting on this idea about the Aztec culture, but I wasn't sure where to go with it yet.

When I plan a beer dinner, unless I am so sure of what the menu should be or has to have on it, I bring in a selection of beers with Head Chef Steve Brand and Wine Director Matt Reiser of UOTS, to sit down and formally taste them. From the beers, we construct a menu. For this dinner particularly I knew I had to use Negra Modelo, and Southern Tier Choklat (Mayan influence chocolate). Negra Modelo was the most important to me. One because beer snobs need to know that you can drink Macro beers and pair them just as well as you can with any craft beer. And two because Negra Modelo stands alone when it comes to typical Mexican beers. It's the only choice when the other options are Tecate, Sol, or Corona. It's also part of the culture and I will explain later on in this post. Negra Modelo is an underrated beer when it comes to Mexican and Latin American cultures. It works so well with a lot of the foods.

I brought the Negra Modelo, and the Southern Tier Choklat, as well as a few German selections. This tasting was right after I came back from a Tour of Southern Bavaria. I selected Ayinger Dunkel and in a last minute panic not sure if I should or not I grabbed a bottle of Schlenkerla Urbock (Rauchbier). I was thinking about the smoked flavors and smoked meats. I knew smoking meats and jerky was big in the culture. I also did light research before this pre-tasting and found out that there was a fermented honey drink that the priests would drink. So I had a vintage bottle of Brother Adams Bragget from Atlantic Brewing Company. I don't honestly remember the rest of the beers I brought to taste out. I knew we would be using 3 of the beers aforementioned. I was curious about the Negra Modelo vs. the Ayinger Dunkel. Both similar in styles, steely and coppery malt flavors. Ayinger is a far superior beer, but in the end it had to be highlighted that Negra Modelo can be treated to a proper pairing. The Schlenkerla Urbock was chosen by the chef on sight. He snatched the bottle up and said "I know this beer, I love this beer, we have to use it in some way." I was grateful for that. It's not something everyone is in love with based on it's huge smokey flavors, but I personally love it.

So with the beers selected, Negra Modelo, Brother Adams Bragget, Schlenkerla Urbock, and Southern Tier's Choklat, this is what we came up with. This was a fusion dinner with traditional ingredients. These beers chosen in a slight random nature, have an awesome correlation to the time period of the Aztecs which I will explain with each course.

 

It's important to note that while the Aztec empire no longer remains intact, a lot of their culture, agriculture, and what they ate is still reflected in Latin American culture today.

The Aztecs believing that one of their gods would come back in the form of a pale man, were met with the Spanish Conquistadors. Pale men with blond hair and beards. The Aztecs offered them their gold and foods. The Conquistadors in turn brought the Aztecs small pox and other diseases. They then conquered them with the help of surrounding tribes who didn't want to be under the Aztec rule anymore. 

What the Aztecs gave back to the Conquistadors among a serious amount of gold and riches were beans, squash, tomatoes, chills, corn, avocados, sweet potatoes, vanilla, peanuts, pineapples, and the papaya.

Seems like a fair trade. (Sarcastic.)

First Course: Market Ceviche with Lime and Avocado paired with Negra Modelo

Beer: Negra Modelo
Style: Vienna Lager
ABV: 5.4%

Negra Modelo has a long history with Latin America. It was first brewed in 1925. It's is a Vienna Lager style although Beer Advocate has it listed as a Munich Dunkel. That was the reason why I selected the Ayinger Dunkel as a back up in case the Negro Modelo did not go over well because they are both so similar in styles. Everyone agreed that we had to highlight the Negra Modelo. Both have the same characteristics. Dark in color, coppery or steel-y malts, and sweet biscuit flavors. The origins for Mexico were Austrian Brewers who came to Latin American and started brewing their styles of beer in the late 19th century.

Seafood was a big part of daily life for many Aztecs. For this course we paired Negra Modello with a ceviche that included large pieces of scallops and shrimps dressed in lime and cilantro, on a bed of avocado.

The seafood was lush and fresh and served in huge portions. Not minced but in whole pieces. It was lightly dressed in lime and cilantro. The lime tied in the flavors of the beer. The steel-y malt flavors and the citric acid cut into each other and allowed the raw flavors of the beer and seafood to be met with balance. You normally add a lime to your Negra Modelo so the lime dressing acted as the lime for the beer. One of the few times fruit in beer is acceptable is in Mexican beers. The avocado was more of a puree that the seafood sat on.

Delicious course over all. Simple preparation and yet packed full of flavors. A most excellent start to the dinner.

Second Course: White Bean Puree with Duck Prosciutto and Honey Drizzled Squash paired with Brother Adam's Bragget

Beer: Atlantic Brewing Company 2006 Brother Adam's Bragget
Style: Braggot
ABV: 11.8%

The style of beer known as Braggot has it's orgins from around the time period of the Aztec culture. Between the 1200's and 1400's. Early Aztec origins on the timeline. Braggot is, in rough terms, a supped up mead. Mead is fermented honey and water, while braggot has the addition of grains and spices. Brother Adam's Bragget uses 2000 lbs. of honey and cellars it for a year before bottling. It is best served about 2 years after the year it was bottled. And note that the style of beer is braggot, but Atlantic Brewing Company purposely named their beer Bragget.

The Aztec priests used to drink a kind of fermented honey drink. Not to be confused with chica. It was coincidental that the time period of the Aztec and the time period of braggot correlates together. The Braggot simulating the fermented honey drink. I read about the priests and instantly thought of braggots.

This course truly encompasses a lot of the ingredients native to the Aztec culture. The Muscovy duck was a big part of their diet. As well as beans and squash, and honey.

For this course we had originally intended for the duck to be more like a prosciutto chip to dip into the white bean puree, but instead we had it thinly sliced and draped on top. It was presented as white bean puree in a small cup draped with the duck prosciutto with a salad of squash drizzled in honey and topped with toasted pepitas.

The honey flavors married perfectly with the sweet squash. The duck prosciutto added the right amount of fatty flavors to cut through the heavy honey sweetness and bring out the wildflower flavors in the honey used in the braggot. The white bean puree added the perfect texture to balance out the dish. Even the toasted pepitas added just enough flavor to enhance the braggot.

A truly playful dish that worked in so many different ways. From the historical aspect to the flavor explosions from all of the different elements coming together. Nothing in the flavors over powered one and other, and the beer, despite it's strength in alcohol did not trump the food flavors. It is a very delicate tasting beer despite the ABV.




Third Course: Spiced Chicken with Mole, Corn Spaetzel paired with Schlenkerla Urbock

Beer: Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock
Style: Rauchbier
ABV: 6.6%

Another happy accident of history when it comes to the time period of this beer and the Aztec culture. Originally we had planned for this beer because of the smoking and drying of meats frequently used by the Aztecs. We wanted the smokiness of the beer to highlight that. But upon research of the brewery, it began in 1405. Right smack in the middle of the Aztec timeline. So while the smoke is represented, the brewery itself has it's place with the timeline.

Rauchbiers are heavily smoked beers. Opening this beer and immediately you think of bacon and eggs. The way they taste, is the way nearly all beers once upon a time tasted like. When drying the grains or Kilning, they placed them under wood burning fires. This would in turn leave a smoked flavor on the grains and the outcome would be smokey flavored beers. It wasn't until the addition of modern tools for kilning that the beer lost it's smokey flavors.

Schlenkerla has mastered this tradition of smoked beers and continues the tradition on today. They smoke their beers with beechwood. They have a small fire where you can pitch some wood into to simulate what the brewing process is like, but the true methods are a tightly kept secret. The original brew pub is still in existence in Bamberg, Germany. And the brewery had been handed down from the same family generation after generation.

The dish itself however, is not exactly true to form for the Aztec culture. While chocolates and chilies in the mole sauce were very prevalent, as well as corn, one of the biggest and key ingredients in Latin America, the chicken was not native. Chickens were brought over by Europeans. The Aztecs ate venison, dog, iguana, duck, seafood, geese and other wild foul. Since I had already used venison for a previous beer dinner, I thought it best that we skip the venison. We settled on chicken, only because we knew that it would be the best thing for the mole.

Steve Brand the head chef was so in love with the Urbock, he wanted to go all out and honor this beer. So he made a corn spaetzel to accompany the meal and keep some German flair in this dish as well as keep it primarily Aztec with it's ingredients.

The Mole was perfect. Just the right amount of chocolate and chilies with not a lot of heat from the chilies. The chicken was cooked to perfection. It was spiced and then pan seared leaving a crispy skin and perfectly juicy meat inside. Everyone grilled the chef after the dinner about how he prepared the chicken. It laid on a bed of mole sauce. The flavors were rich and paired amazingly with the beer. The Urbock is a deep, dark ale with heavy smoked flavors. It has big smoke flavor but actually finishes sweet. The spiced chicken was enhanced by the smoked flavors and the mole and chilies played with the complex flavors of the malts from the beer. The corn spaetzel also brought out the sweet flavors on the beer.

This was almost the "piece de resistance" course. Even some friends of mine who were fiercely against the beer due to the heavy smoked flavors, loved this course. But we haven't talked about the dessert course yet.

Fourth Course: Ancho Chili Chocolate Bread Pudding with Southern Tier Choklat

Beer: Southen Tier Choklat
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 11%

This beer was the very first thing thought of when considering doing the Aztec Beer dinner. Most people are familiar with chocolate and Latin American cultures. It's all over the place and it's origins are old. But the interesting part about the Aztecs, was that they used to drink their chocolate cold and usually it was served or poured for the rulers and gods. So we used this beer to represent that aspect. The brewery itself goes into the Mayan aspect of chocolate. But most cultures of this region respected and cultivated chocolate.

Making sure that we used chilies properly for this dinner, we used ancho chilies in the bread pudding. It turned out perfectly. It had the slightest hint of heat from the spices. It also sat on a bed of vanilla cream sauce. Vanilla is very big in Latin America.

Normally I don't like to pair similar flavors on top of one and other. Chocolate on chocolate. It can be over kill. But the chocolate in the beer was very bitter. And being a stout it was very thick. So adding the sweet chocolate bread pudding brought out the raw chocolate flavors on both. The sweet and the bitter combining to tame each other and marry at the same time. The vanilla also helped tame the bitterness on the beer and make for a much smoother finish. Sometimes beers like this are so big and hard to drink. When you add something so sweet to it, it tones it down and makes for a more drinkable beer. The chilies added that slight bit of heat to make the course absolutely fun.

All in all this beer dinner was simply amazing. Chef Steve Brand really knocked this one out of the park. And the beers held their own to such marvelous pairings. This kind of dinner is something that I personally love because it shows you how creative you can be when it comes to pairings and how far you can go. Beer can be paired with anything and almost always pairs better with food.

Food Porn Extravaganza

This is a massive post about all the things I have taken pictures of recently but didn't do a step by step preparation pictorial for. Basically it's just pictures of awesome things I have made and felt like sharing. Let's jump in shall we?

Click the images to enlarge.

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting.

 

Brownies. Regular and Puffy Applesauce Brownies.

 


Pizza. Peppers and Pepperoni, Cheese and Mushrooms.



Deep Dish.

My Famous Honey, Buttermilk White Loaf.


 

Truffles. Dark Souls: Espresso and Bittersweet chocolate truffles rolled in unsweetened cocoa powder. Ghetto Fabulous: Courvoisier, Semisweet chocolate, rolled in powdered sugar.



German Chocolate Cake.






Turkish Coffee Pudding With Khalua Whipped Cream.




Cookies. Pecan Sandies.



Chocolate Chip with dried cranberries and almond extract.




Sugar and Snickerdoodles.





Chocolate Chip and Pecan.




Spaghetti and Meat Sauce. And yes I make it so big I have to cook it in a wok.


  



Pies. Bourbon Apple




Sweet Potato Pie with Streusel topping and Caramel Drizzle.




Mississippi Mud Cake with Bourbon Espresso Glaze.




Pumpkin Pie with Toffee and Walnut topping.




Fig Jam and Mascarpone Cookies.




Double Layer 7 Layer Bars.




Okay this post is big enough now. I hope you enjoyed scrolling through some of my past baking and cooking experiences.

Beer & Cheese Class Oct. 23, 2005

{Image from my own collection while visiting Redoak in Sydney, Australia. A proper beer and cheese pairing.}

More old school notes on how to pair beer with cheese. This was one of the first times I was invited with Robert Aguilera to help teach a class on pairings. These beers were my favorite at the time. Ellie's Brown Ale is still one of my favorite beers.

1. St. Peters Porter, England  with Pesche di Crema (peach cream) and Robiola di Serola (Asti, Italy) 

2. Ellie's Brown Ale, Avery Brewing Company Boulder, Co. with Senepata (quince and mustard paste) and Taleggio Castagna (Lombardy, Italy)

3. Mocha Java Stout (Z Street), Mercury Brewing Company Ipswch, MA. with Venchi hazelnut 56 cocoa bark and Tronchetto di Capra(Ornavasso, Italy) and Robiola Monte Rossa (Val d'Aosta, Italy)

4. Peche Mortel Imperial Coffee Stout, Brassierie Dieu Du Ciel, Montreal , Quebec with Venchi Gianduja (hazelnut paste and chocolate mixture dipped in chocolate) and Alpe Piana (Ornavasso, Italy)

5. Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout, Great Divide Denver Co. with Venchi 85 puro Robusto chocolate and Venchi Hazelnut Gianduja (gianduja blocks with whole Piedmont hazelnuts) and Pecorino Frabasano (Ornavasso, Italy) and Croste Di Pane (Ornavasso, Italy)

6. Samael's Oak Aged English Style, Ale Avery Brewing Company, Boulder Co. with Venchi 75 puro chocolate with chilli pepper flakes and Gorgonzola Dolce (Lombardy, Italy)

Dogfish Head Beer and Cheese Pairings (2006)

{Image Via St. Killian's Cheese Shop Denver, Co.}

These are some old school beer and cheese notes from 2006. This was from a pairing I helped organize back in my Formaggio Kitchen days. It's all about Dogfish Head beers. This is basically the definitive guide to a good portion of DFH beers and their matches with cheese. It's a bit of a battle between the cheeses. I no longer have my list of what was voted the favorites. But this would make for a great taste test for some of you out there who love beer and cheese pairings or are new to the game. Feel free to comment with your winning selections if you do try some of these.

I worked on these pairings with Allen Reitz, Sam Caligione, and my friend Robert Aguilera who is one of the "Illest Motha Fucka's from here to Gardena" when it comes to cheese and fine gourmet condiments and food.

Sam Caligione Dogfish Head           

Robert Aguilera Formaggio Kitchen

 

Dogfish Head - 60 Minute IPA 

A session India Pale Ale brewed with Warrior, Amarillo & "Mystery Hop X." A powerful East Coast IPA with a lot of citrusy hop character. 6.0BV 

Morbier

Semi soft cow's milk cheese from the gentle rolling pastures of the Jura Mountains in France. This cheese is most recognizable for its layer of ash in the middle of the cheese. A technique that harkens back to the days when you had to keep a rind from forming on one side of the cheese in order to add another layer after the morning milking of the next day. This cheese is nutty, yeasty and dense with a shortbread biscuit flavor finish. 

- Vs.
Gorgonzola Piccante 

Large format crumbly cow's milk blue cheese from Lombardy, Italy. The cheese that adorns many a pear walnut salad, this forty-pound wheel has more earth and clay flavor to buffer its spicy overtones.
 
Dogfish Head - Raison D'Etre 

A deep, mahogany ale brewed with beet sugar, green raisins, and Belgian-style yeast. As complex as a fine, red wine. 8.0BV 

Charollais Fermier

Raw Goat milk "chevre" from the Burgundy region of France. Its dry, crumbly nature would lead you to believe that this goat milk cheese would be "gamey". Quite the contrary, it is sweet, peanuty and a thick palate hugger.

-Vs.

Comte Le Fort

Twenty-four month aged cow's milk cheese from the high mountain pastures of the Jura, France. The humid, cold former ammunitions fort that this "gruyere" style cheese comes from helps give this large wheel its sweet, caramelized milk flavor and its lingering wild onion finish.

Dogfish Head - Chicory Stout 

A dark beer made with a touch of roasted chicory, organic Mexican coffee, St. John's Wort, and licorice root. Brewed with whole-leaf Cascade and Fuggles hops, the grains include pale, wheat, roasted & oatmeal. 5.2BV 

Croste di Pane 

A flat cow's milk cheese from the Piedmont region of Italy. Called "bread crust," this cheese does have a biscuit flavor with a clay-cream finish. A rare one. 

- Vs.
Calcagno

Sheep milk aged one year from the Salerno region of Italy. Made in the same style of Parmigiano Reggiano, this southern Italian cheese has a fair amount of sweetness with a citrus finish.

Dogfish Head - Burton Baton

A blend of oak-aged English strong ale and our 90 Minute IPA. Citrus notes from Northwestern hops meld with vanilla notes from the oak. 10.0 ABV

Triple Cream Cow's Milk

The specifics will come at the class, but expect that the flavor will be buttery, creamy with a little limestone flavor finish. The Champagne area of France, where the best triple-crmes come from are best with bubbles, but they will also do with extreme beers.

- Vs.
Laguiole

Cow milk cheese from the Auvergne region of France. Similar to English Cheddars, this 60-pound wheel always brings spice to its buttery sharp flavor.

Dogfish Head - Midas Touch Golden Elixir

This recipe is the actual oldest-known fermented beverage in the world! Our recipe showcases the known ingredients of barley, white Muscat grapes, honey & saffron found in the drinking vessels in King Midas' tomb! Somewhere between a beer, wine and mead, this smooth, dry ale will please with Chardonnay or I.P.A. drinker alike. 9.0BV

Bleu de Basque

Sheep milk blue from the Pays Basque, France. Sweet and spicy with a creamy texture. Most similar to English Stilton in its flavor profile, it strays only in the dense sweet butter flavor that always dominates sheep milk cheeses.

- Vs.
Cap Gris Nez

Washed-rind cow milk cheese from the Flanders area of France. A tradition that dates back to the middle ages and the blessed cheese making monks of Belgium. Yeasty, vegetal and quite aromatic. You might even want to pair Scotch with this one.

Dogfish Head - Festina Lente

A neo-lambic ale that goes through both a yeast and bacteria fermentation and is then aged on oak chips and 400 pounds of Delaware peaches. This beer is very tart and complex. It is bottle-conditioned in champagne bottles. 7.0BV

Bouq Emissaire

Vegetable ash covered goat's milk from Quebec, Canada. Thick, creamy textured, lemony goat's milk with a salty finish. Take your time with the pairing. Let it warm up in your mouth with the Festina and enjoy the meld. (This perfect pairing needs no other.)

From Russia, With Love

My job is the most amazing job ever. I get to plan and host beer dinners around the city of Boston for BeerAdvocate.com.

One of the places I do most of my beer dinners and tastings at is Upstairs On The Square in Harvard Square. Matt P. Reiser the Wine Director, whom is a great friend of mine, allows Beer Advocate to really do whatever we like when it comes to beer pairings. We have had a lot of fun and much success with some of the events.

Head Chef Steve Brand, has an excellent knowledge of food and loves beer. When we put our heads together along with Matt, we have come up with some extraordinary ideas. Sadly one of the more amazing dinners I hosted with them, called the Aztec Beer Dinner, a fusion of Aztec culture ingredients in modern day preparation paired with beer, I didn't get any pictures to blog about. All I can tell you is that it was out of this world. But I don't know if it was better than the Beer and Chocolate dinner where we paired every course with beer, cheese, and chocolate.

The Russian Beer Dinner came to us as an idea from a personal friend of mine named Abby Williamson Fisher who was attending the Aztec Beer Dinner and thought it might be a good idea to try and host a Russian pairing. Me and Matt both agreed provided she would discuss the culture and translate for us. The Russian language is by far one of the hardest I have ever tried to attempt. Abby who has spent A few years between Russia and Georgia agreed to help us plan. We decided to use only Russian and Russian style beers to match the cuisine.

Initially I did not want to go the traditional route with this dinner. I heard many people curious about the idea of Russian food, but did not want to see borscht on the menu. I personally like beets and especially borscht. So too bad for them, we chose a traditional menu and sold the dinner out anyway.

Welcoming Course: Mushroom and Onion Plemini paired with Kvass

Beer: Kvass (4 different commercial varieties)
Style: Kvass
ABV: 0-2.0%

Our welcoming course was a little bit funny. Originally we had intended for the welcoming course to be Pierogi. Not to be mistaken for the Polish Perogies. The Polish version is type of dumpling generally stuffed with potato and many variations from there. It varies all over Eastern Europe and Slavic countries. We were aiming for this particular recipe. A bread pocket filled with mushrooms and onions. Pierogi = yeast bread pocket, while perogie = unleavened dough pockets. In the roughest sense of the word. Small confusion but one that turned out to be just as amazing.

{Click all smaller images to enlarge}

{Image via Wikipedia}

Instead of the bread pockets, we were served Plemini's instead. The flavor profile was the same. Mushrooms and onions.

{Image via From Russia, With Love tasting}

This course was served with a Russian drink called Kvass. Kvass is basic origins of beer. It is around 5,000 years old, made from hardened bread or croutons and water. It ferments and can be flavored with fruits and spices.


{Image via Wikipedia}

This is how the Sumerians discovered beer over 9,000 years ago. They are the first ones to brew beer. The women primarily were the worlds first brewers. The Egyptian's also carried on with this tradition of drinking fermented bread drinks. At some point it was carried into Europe and Eastern Europe and many styles and variations like Kvass still exist. Kvass is low in alcohol and is still made today in home kitchens. You can even find kvass carts around Russia. Today it is also commercially produced like soda. The commercial variations have no alcohol or very little. And even the homemade versions are very low in alcohol content.

So with the origins nearly as old as the original beer makers, it was only natural that we use this product. They have an awesome raisin-y taste with deep bread notes. It's mot unusual and not what you would expect if you ahve never tasted Kvass before. But it was sweet and delicious. They made for an excellent pair with mushrooms and onions.

The First Course: Traditional Blini's with Caviar and Russian Budweiser

Beer: Bud
Style: Lager
ABV: 5%



In the middle of planning for this dinner, I instantly thought about a brewer I had met in Germany. I was on a beer writers tour of Southern Bavaria. One of the places we stopped off at was the Anheuser-Busch hop farms. It was there where they showed us commercial hop farming and prepared for us an amazing beer dinner all paired with A-B products. This is when I met Paul King. The Brew Master of Budweiser Russia. We were drinking Budweiser made from London. I noticed it was different. Darker in color, more amber, maltier and sweeter, and no husky, grainy taste on the finish. It was actually very good.

Thinking of how nice Paul was in Germany, I wondered if Bud from Russia would taste different and if there was a way to get some for this dinner. I was almost sure it would be better than ours. I asked my husband (Todd Alstrom) to contact A-B and see if they would actually send us some for this tasting. Well they did and it was amazing. The label looks like it is American, but the back had all the Russian writing on it. And the incorporated some sampling labels on to it including when they sent it out to us.







This was hard for me to imagine because it was a beer I had never tried before. I was banking on it being malty like the version from London. The thought behind it was that the sweet malt would help balance with the creme fraiche, the egg and salty caviar tastes.

We did a classic blini set up with boiled egg and creme fraiche, only the blini was made from corn. The caviar was a flying fish roe. The Budweiser was malty and did not have that nasty grain taste that the American version has. It was delicious and crisp and very fresh. And it really went well with the corn blini's. It drew out the natural sweetness on the blini and allowed the individual flavors of the roe to come out and play without overwhelming the dish. Excellent, Excellent, Excellent pairing.

The Second Course: Traditional Borscht with Baltika #9

Beer: Balitka #9 Extra
Style: Euro Strong Lager
ABV: 8%



This was another worrisome course for me in the planning stages. I wasn't sure of this pairing until I actually tasted it.

When thinking of borscht the first thing that comes to mind is beets. Traditionally borscht is made with a meat stock and has actual pieces of meat in it. It's a very hearty, warming, and comforting soup. Russians have to contend with some seriously cold temperatures. They need foods rich, hearty and warming to help them contend with the weather.

In doing research for this paring I kept coming across information about weisse beers with borscht. Sure that makes sense if it was vegetarian and beet heavy. But real borscht has meat and meat stock in it. I couldn't see this paring working very well together. Taste is subjective, but still I wanted to ace this one. Also in looking at reviews for Baltika #8 (wheat beer) on Beer Advocate, I was not thrilled with this prospect.

I had to find a way to incorporate Balitka into the dinner, based on what a force they are in Russia today. They are one of the largest breweries in Russia and Europe. It's like denying Budweiser it's place in the American beer culture. It's that big.

I looked around for other Balika products that could fit for this pairing instead. I came across Baltika #9. The reviews on Beer Advocate were not as strong as I had hoped for despite having a decent rating. But the flavor profile was matching what I had in mind. Baltika #9 is a categorized as strong European lager. It's 8% in ABV. The reviews claimed it to be too sweet and boozy. I believe it scored mixed reviews because they didn't understand the style of strong lager or its purpose for the regions they tend to dominate. It's supposed to be big and warming with a lot of alcohol. Again it goes back to the Russians needing to stay warm in their climates. So naturally they are going to brew lagers bigger. Some of the reviewers dismissed this concept and went full on into reviewing this beer in an overly critical manner.

This beer had a coppery malty taste and very big and upfront sweetness, but not overwhelming as suggested by the reviews. The coppery malt took on the dill flavors from the cream and sugary beets like they were made for each other. This paring was a long shot for me because I haven't had the beer and was going against the majority of reviews and style suggestion. It more than paid off in the best ways possible. The meat in the stew was soft and added just the right touch of richness. The beer was not too sweet or alcoholic for this pairing. Usually if a beer is described as too boozy it can be hard to pair with the right food for fear that the alcohol will overwhelm the pairing. If you taste too much alcohol or one flavor dominates instead of marries with the paring, then it's a wrong pairing. This pairing was far from wrong and may have been one of the best courses according to some of the reactions and comments we heard from some of the attendees of this dinner.

The Third Course: Beef Stroganoff with Victory Baltic Thunder

Beer: Victory Baltic Thunder
Style: Baltic Porter/ Imperial Porter
ABV: 8.5%



Once we decided that traditional was the way to go with this menu, we all suggested Beef Stroganoff for the main course. Sauteed or braised beef in a sour cream sauce.

Our version was not heavy on the sour cream but more about the perfected braised beef. It did have mushrooms and sat on a traditional bed of noodles. It was absolutely phenomenal despite my husbands stroganoff at home which is still the very best I have had.

We already knew we were going to use a Baltic Porter in some capacity for this dinner. It makes obvious sense. Baltic Porters are basically kicked up English porters. The Russians when visiting beer centric cultures like England, discovered these tasty brews. But to get them across the icy North Seas without freezing over, they had to make them stronger in alcohol. All over the Nordic countries you will find a variation of this beer and it will be stronger the it's original English style.

Victory's Baltic Thunder is a slightly modified version of a beer called Perkunos Hammer from Heavyweight Brewing Company. The short story is that Heavyweight closed and Victory picked up the rights to brew the beer. There was some issues with the name Perkunos Hammer, so they changed it to Baltic Thunder. Perkunos is the Baltic god of thunder in Nordic cultures.

The beer itself is very rich and full bodied, rich notes of molasses, toffee, chocolate, and roasted malts. Even hints of berries or fruit which is a classic flavor profile of Nordic variations of Baltic Porters. Less found in Eastern European versions.

Those flavors combined with the richness of the of the braised meat were a match made in heaven. Heavy meats and heavy beers with cold weather just make for a divine paring. The light cream was actually perfect in softening some of the heavier notes on the beer without totally subduing them.

The Fourth Course: Ptichye Moloko Cake With Stone Imperial Russian Stout

Beer: Stone Imperial Russian Stout
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 10%



Ptichye Moloko literally translates to Birds Milk. In Russia and Poland there are these candies that you can find every where made of marshmallow dipped in chocolate.


{Image via Wikipedia}

Vladimir Guralnik, head of pastry or confections at a restaurant in Russia called the Praga is famed for creating a luxurious cake version of this dessert.

I knew some how we had to incorporate this kind of dessert in to our dinner and in looking for the name of the candy, I found that there was a cake version of this. The pastry chef at UOTS, had made his version with a thick layer of chocolate to coat the cake, a layer of soft cake, mallow center, cake top. It came out better than I could have imagined. I was expecting cake bottom and a huge topping of the mallow and covered in chocolate. It looks pretty in that version, but the way ours was prepared, was much tastier.

Now considering how full and strong Imperial Stouts, I knew we would need to make sure that the chocolate coating was not thin like on the candy. It needed to be heavy. And then we needed something tart to off set all of the rich flavors and sugars. So we simply added tart strawberries to the plate. I believe they were simply made more tart with lemon juice based sauce. But I am not 100% sure on that.

Russian Imperial Stouts were brewed for the court of Catherine II of Russia. They again were originally from England but to make the transport and to satisfy the daily lifestyle of Russia it is brewed to be stronger. Imperial in beer terms usually means double, extra, or stronger.

Stone IRS, is no lightweight. It's one of the top rated beers on Beer Advocate. It is very bold, robust, in your face, and yet balanced at the same time. Like the porter earlier tasted, this has big roasted malt flavors, chocolate, and fruit flavors. The difference is that the tastes are all forward in the palate and yet smoothed out but the alcohol of this beer. It's quite strong but very smooth.

All three parts to the dessert were heavenly. The chocolate and the beer married perfectly, while the strawberries toned the overwhelming chocolate and beer flavors to allow the cake and mallow to not be trumped.


All in all this was a spectacular beer dinner. The pairings were amazing. The effort put in by Steve Brand and his team along with Abby who toasted us at each course with a Russian toast, to Matt Reiser whom allows us to continue to do these killer pairings.

Welcome To Pork Chops & Chicken

Welcome to Pork Chops & Chicken is my latest adventure in blogging. The focus is on recipes, beer dinners/pairings, travel, and restaurants.

The name of this blog Pork Chops & Chicken is dedicated to my children Pork-Chops Applesauce (right) and Chicken von Waffles (left).

I don't want to forget about my other children whom are bowl babies. Siouxsie Sioux and Bruiser. All 4 are girls and grown up now.