Last Friday we teamed up with Fifty Fifty Brewery to do a "Brew Master's Dinner." We had a lot of fun putting this menu together and Brew Master Todd Ashmen held the crowd captivated as he discussed each beer pairing.
My concept for this menu was to serve what I like to eat with good beer; crusty bread slathered with charcuterie and rustic, unpretentious food. We featured fresh baked breads from our wood fire oven, house made charcuterie, ash baked beets, and topped it off with a rustic apple quince tart.
Foie Torchon
foie torchon, house baked brioche, burnt figs, balsamic-blackberry preserves
Base Camp Golden Ale, 18 IBU/4.9% ABV
For the foie torchon, we first cubed vacuum packed the lobes of foie gras with salt, sugar, white pepper and a small amount of curing salt (sodium nitrite). After the mix sat overnight, the cubed foie was then rolled into a tight cylinder using cheese cloth and tied at both ends using butcher's twine.
The foie cylinder was then dunked into 180°F/82°C bath of duck stock for 90 seconds; the stock bath was heated using an immersion circulator. The torchons were then removed from the bath, cinched back down into cyliinder form and briefly shocked in an ice. They were then hung in our refrigerator overnight.
The next day, we allowed the foie torchons to come up to room temperature, passed them through a fine tamis (to make sure we removed all of the veins), packed the resulting soft mix into a terrine mold lined with plastic, caped with a little duck fat, and allowed to cure in our walkin for an additional week.
It was served with a toasted piece of homemade brioche, a drizzle of balsamic-blackberry preserves, a "burnt" fig and little drizzle of good truffle oil.
Ash Roasted Acorn Squash Soup
fire roasted acorn squash soup, white bean crostini & house cured pork belly
Base Camp Golden Ale, 18 IBU/4.9% ABV
For the soup course we began by buring our acorn squash in Oak coals take from the wood fire oven. The squash was then returned to the oven while in the ash and roasted at around 850°F/450°C for an hour and a half.
The roasted acorn squash was then cut in half, and the flesh was removed and used for out soup base to which we added chicken broth, roasted onions, shallots, garlic and red pepper flakes. It was then simmered for an hour, blended smooth and passed through a chinois.
Ash Baked Beets
ash baked beets, feta cheese, capers, house cured pancetta
Foggy Goggle Belgiumm White, 19 IBU/5.3% ABV
This is a really cool, rustic take on roasted beets. I first got this idea from the book Seven Fires: Grilling The Argetine Way by Francis Mallmann, one of my all time favorite books on art of cooking with fire. Much like with the acorn squash above, hot coals were swept from our wood fire oven, placed in a hotel pan, and the beets were then burried in these coals (here we used red and gold beets).
The hotel pan containing the coals and beets were then placed back in the wood fire oven with a radiant heat of 850°F/450°C, and were baked for an hour and a half. When beets are roasted in this manner, they give off such an amazing smell, something very similar to cotton candy.
The beets were removed from the ash, gently wiped with a clean towel and then cut into 1/4" slices. When using this method, I don't peel my beets; the skins become sticky with carmelized sugars and add a great flavor to the overall dish. The slices of beets were served warm with house cured pancetta that had been hanging for about 3 months, crumbled feta, capers and some fresh mixed greens picked from the Stella garden. The dish was finished with a generous drizzle of cold pressed olive oil and sprinkling of fleur de sel.
Trotter Terrine
berkshire trotter terrine with frisèe, grain mustard vinaigrette, kalamata rosemarry sourdough
Trifecta Belgium Style Triple, 23 IBU/8.1% ABV
For this dish, the description and pictures says everything that needs to be said. A beautiful slice of cured pig trotter terrine served on a slice of rosemarry kalamata sourdough nestled on top of a frisée and garnished with a couple of cornichons. This dish was a real winner.
Lamb's Neck Scooby
lamb's neck scooby; spicy sweet potato chips, fermented black bean jus
Totality Imperial Stout, 75 IBU/9.5% ABV
This dish was initially supposed to be a lamb's neck galatine served with a potato and sherry soaked fig gratan. The dish took a left turn though during the prepping process.
While I was seasoning the braised lamb meat a before forming it into a galatine, it just so happened that a warm, fresh sourdough roll had just been pulled from our wood fire oven. Needing a quick "Scooby" snack to tide me over through the upcoming dinner service, I split the roll open and packed in some of the lamb neck mix.
What followed was a gastronomic epiphany punctuated with unseemly animalistic groans of pleasure.
The Stella staff like it so much I decided to serve it instead of the galatine, accompanied with cayenne sweet potato chips and fermented black bean au jus made from the neck's braising liquid. We called it a "Scooby" because it was born from a "scooby snack." What really makes the scooby great is the crackling, thin crust of the sourdough roll. Absolute heaven.
Look out sliders, the Scooby is coming for your thrown!
Apple Quince Tart
apple-quince crisp, salted caramel, bourbon-vanilla ice cream & espresso salt
Concentrated Evil, 28 IBU/11% ABV
Simple and rustic, that's it. Quince has such an amazing, aromatic flavor that really plays well with the sweetness of apples. Topped with some home made ice cream, caramel and espresso flavored sea salt, this dish is about remembering the simpler things in life.