Part 8c - The Food of Köln

Köln definitely has its own regional character - the accent, words used, the beer, and the food.

Earlier this month, I described our incredibly delicious meal of raw pork, called Hackepeter, in Wollnitz. When we went to Köln, we noticed that people were eating something similar on crusty rolls. I crudely translated part of our food menu at Gaffel and found that they serve something called "Mett" - ground raw pork seasoned with salt & pepper spread onto bread and topped with minced onion.

Sounds gross, right?

It was amazing! The texture was incredible - soft and slightly chewy, much like cured salmon or tuna sashimi. If you're ever in Köln (or the area) and see Mett on the menu, order it. Raw pork sounds pretty awful, but it's quite the opposite. And I'm rather disappointed it's not more popular here.

Mett for lunch at Gaffel

I also noted a couple of other regional specialties. One was "Kaviar", blood sausage with onions & pickles. The other was "Himmel und Äd", which is blood sausage, mashed potatoes, and applesauce. I tried Kaviar and really liked it as well, but preferred the mett.

"Kaviar" with a side salad.  Germans aren't too big on greens.

You can make your own Mett at home. I know, I know, bacteria etc. The key is grinding the meat yourself. NEVER eat raw meat that was already ground when you bought it. If you don't wnat to do this with pork, try it with beef... you'll be making steak tartare, and some great instructions on the process are over on Michael Ruhlman's blog.

Once you've ground/diced the meat (again, see the link to Ruhlman's blog above), dice up some onion (very small dice) and mix it into the meat along with a liberal dose of salt & pepper. You can add some mace, caraway, and/or marjoram if you want, but I don't believe the Mett we had was seasoned with anything other than salt & pepper.

Spread this on a crusty dinner roll or a piece of toast (rye would be excellent for this). Alternately, shape a mound onto a plate, create a little divet in the top, and crack a raw egg onto the top (wash the shell off first), then spread onto toast. I know, sounds disturbing, but it's so delicious. Really, it is.

If you want to try this without making it yourself, bluestem serves wagyu steak tartare on their lounge menu. It's half-price Tues - Fri during happy hour (5-7; 5-6:30 on Fridays), and steak tartare for $6 is a steal.

Swagger Food Pairing Dinner - This Time, with Whiskey

I know I typically talk about beer (and mead and cider) on here, but I also enjoy distilled malt beverages (especially rye) and have been keeping tabs on Swagger’s upcoming whiskey dinner. They’re partnering with Heaven Hill distilleries, which produce familiar brands like Evan Williams, Elijah Craig, and Rittenhouse Rye (mmm, manhattans...). And, which provides some of the barrels for Boulevard's barrel-aged beers.

You can read about the details on their website, but here’s a quick rundown of the dinner. It’s $50 per person, and you get:

Mid West Triple Cooked Beef Rib + Evan Williams – Single Barrel

Smoked Trout Hash + Bernheim Wheat Whiskey.

Hand Crafted Hickory Smoked Boudin Sausage + Rittenhouse Rye Bottled in Bond

Smoked Duck Breast in a Pancetta Taco Shell + Elijah Craig – 12yr.

Pecan Pie +  Cherry Manhattan (Evan Williams, Evan Williams Cherry Reserve, sweet vermouth)

The dinner will be held at Swagger (unlike their previous pairing dinner, which was held off site), and you can call them at 816-361-4388 to reserve your spot. 

More Mikkeller

I mentioned the other day Mikkeller's line of yeast-series beers and how exciting and innovative this is. Lo & behold, McCoy's is featuring all five of them at their next beer dinner (see the last paragraph on the linked page). I've only been to one other McCoy's dinner but found it fun and entertaining; the food was pretty tasty (a notch or two fancier than what they typically serve) and the crowd was friendly and social.

They're also serving the Mikkeller Chipotle Porter, which was the Rare Beer this past Thursday at the Flying Saucer. I'd been looking forward to this one, so we trekked on down and had ourselves a glass or two. The aroma's wonderful – chocolatey and roasty, much like a rich dark chocolate bar (and it's all from malt – very cool). The flavor was quite similar but also had just a touch of red chili flavor. And then the capsaicin kicked in.

Living on the west coast, I used to have a pretty decent heat tolerance. After three years in Kansas City, however, I am now a self-avowed hot-food-wuss. This beer is spicy. Now, it's not melt-your-face hot, but I've had Thai food here in KC that was less spicy than this beer. It was wonderful, like eating one of those chocolates that has dried chilies in it. I wish this weren't as rare as it is.


You can get yourself a glass of this at the Saucer, or join me at the McCoy's dinner on Tuesday, September 7^th. Tickets are $50 (inclusive of tax & gratuity); you can buy them at McCoys or by calling (816) 960-0866. This is one I'm not going to miss, so I'll see you there!

Ich liebe Grünauer

A couple of months ago, I received an email from JP's wine bar stating that they were featuring Austrian wines to highlight the opening of nearby Grünauer Austrian restaurant (which replaced City Tavern). I never did make it out for JP's specials, but I did go to Grünauer's website and decided it was worth a visit. Besides, Kansas City is essentially a complete void of continental European food, despite the number of German immigrants to this area; we've been wanting some German food for a while and figured Austrian was close enough.


We drank and dined in the Wunderbar, Grünauer's lounge, and had a fantastic time. Not only was the bar service inviting and personable, the food and drink were spectacular. For my pre-dinner drink, I got "Der Schmutzige" (the dirty one), which is "Black peppercorn and mustard seed infused Monopolowa vodka, Frank's Kraut Juice, beet brine and dill pickle water shaken with vigor and served up with a dill wedge." For someone who loves savory gin drinks, this was delectable. About 80% through, though, I have to admit that my palate was getting pretty tired from all of the goings-on in the beverage. Even still, it was very good; the flavors blended together well, and I appreciated the creativity.


For dinner, we ordered the Schweinebraten and Tafelspitz and enjoyed them both. The Schweinebraten (with dumplings! yum!) was just like I remembered in Germany, and maybe even a bit better. The Tafelspitz (sliced beef with broth & noodles) was surprisingly rich with depth and flavor without being greasy or too thin. We paired our dinner with a handful of Czech, German, and Austrian beers and thoroughly enjoyed our evening there.

After such a great initial visit, we returned this past Thursday night for dinner & drinks, including a comparison of draft versions of Bitburger and Czechvar (the latter of which I am becoming an avid fan) for BJCP "studying". They have several continental lagers on tap (Spaten Bock, Bitburger, Czechvar, Hofbrau, Carlsberg, Warsteiner) as well as a Kölsch and Hefeweizen, and about 7 or so Boulevard drafts. With about a dozen more beers in bottles, there's no lack of malty goodness to be enjoyed. It's inspiring to see dedication of an entire faucet tower to Boulevard, but I'd really encourage you to try some of the European drafts. They're quite different from the bottled versions since they're not light-struck, oxidized, or stale. If you've never had any of the aforementioned brands on draft, you owe it to yourself to have one.

photo from Grünauer's Facebook page

This time, we settled for more typical entrees - Berlinerwurst and Wiener Schnitzel. Both were, again, well-executed and reinforced our affinity for the place. And the service was, of course, friendly, attentive, and timely.

A mention of Grünauer wouldn't be complete without recognition of its huge selection of gin. It's got about 15 (or more?) different gins available for your enjoyment. Really! I check out the gin selection of every bar I go to, and this has to be the largest inventory I've ever seen.

Bottom line - Grünauer has several things going for it and I hope they're here to stay. The food is authentic and delicious, the cocktails are creative and well-executed, the liquor selection is well above par, the service is attentive, and they have a thoughtful beer selection that goes way beyond the typical Euro-lager. I hope you'll pay them a visit and enjoy this place as much as we do. 

Boulevard Beer Pairings

As you probably know, Boulevard has been partnering up with several local chefs & restaurants over the past year or so to provide some pretty fabulous beer pairings. In case you haven't been to one yet, I highly recommend you go. I went to my first one last summer at Extra Virgin and it was incredible. My favorite pairing was the fig tart and Sixth Glass ice cream with Sixth Glass (dessert - of course!).

It took me a while to make it to another one, but we did take the opportunity to go to their Brewmaster's Luncheon featuring J Gilbert's. I wrote about it over on PresentMagazine.com a while back and am rehashing it here for a few reasons:

1. I keep meaning to re-print (re-post?) it here
2. I haven't posted in ages
3. Another dinner is coming up, this time with Blue Grotto, and it promises to be another delicious event. 

Without much further ado, here's my experience from February's beer luncheon. The next one is on April 23rd.

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Boulevard Brewery  has started up their Brewmaster Luncheons again, kicking off 2010’s series last week with a meal prepared by J Gilbert’s. My husband, John, and I had the opportunity and pleasure to attend this one – our first since they started the events.

Attendees gathered in the tasting room around 11:30, where we signed in and were greeted by a few Boulevard employees. A tour of the brewery commenced shortly after 11:30, leaving any latecomers to find our group tucked between transfer pipes and stacked bags of ingredients. While the group watched an introductory video on beer ingredients and production, I wandered around our little area to capture some pictures of typical brewhouse surroundings. Like many breweries, Boulevard adds hop aroma and bitterness with both whole hop flowers and pellets (crushed flowers compressed into little bits looking much like rabbit food). I also noticed several sacks of brown sugar, which are presumably used for a Belgian-style Smokestack beer.

From there, we settled into the barrel room where some smokestack beer laid aging in whiskey barrels. Brewmaster Steven Pauwels joined us there, offering us glasses of Collaboration #1 while discussing the genesis of the Imperial Pilsner. The beer had been poured from draft, which is a treat only available at the brewery.

After marinating in the earthy, wooden goodness of the barrel room, we then moved on to gather under the fermentation tanks to watch a video on yeast and the process of turning sugary wort into beer. Again, my attention to the video waned and I wandered about, taking note of all the dials, controls, clamps, and other hardware in our surroundings. I’ve been on nearly two dozen brewery tours now, and the ones I enjoy the most are those that describe the marvels and factoids of the brewery’s gadgetry. While standing under the fermentation tanks, we learned that they hold about 600 barrels of beer, which is 1200 kegs or nearly 150,000 pints of beer. We also learned that Boulevard has a centrifuge that removes particles from most of their beer – then walked right past it without further mention. 1 for 2 isn’t bad.

It was then on to the packaging line, where we watched Single Wide IPA go from being poured into unlabeled bottles all the way to ending up in the box. While the video about bottling played, I became completely mesmerized by the rotating bottle filler, the winding paths of the bottling line, and the organized alignment of the bottle boxes. My stomach was complaining, though, and I couldn’t wait to get to the food!

Right after watching the bottling video, we were seated in the banquet hall in the new building; first to the table was a fantastic scallop and fennel dish paired with Boulevard Pilsner. The pilsner was a perfect match with the seared scallops, as its high carbonation and light, hoppy flavor cleaned the palate after every bite. It’s worth mentioning that the scallops were properly cooked – lightly seasoned and not overdone in the slightest.

The main entrée was a sage potato gratin with blackened beef filet and mushrooms sautéed in Boulevard Wheat, paired with the Irish Red. I thought the flavor of the beef was overwhelmed by the seasonings, but I find that somewhat common with “blackened” foods. The toasted malt and moderate hop bitterness of the Irish Red took on the seasoning well, however, and I thought the pairing was well-matched despite my opinion of the steak.

Finally, we were presented with dessert:  an amazing bread pudding with Rye-on-Rye blueberry chutney, paired with Boulevard’s Dubbel. The Dubbel is a recipe they are still modifying and testing, but I found it to be quite drinkable. It had a fantastic fruited-malt flavor, with just a hint of spice. Pauwels stopped by around the time we were finishing off our bread pudding and explained that his affinity for star anise led to its inclusion in the Dubbel. It was a nice touch, adding a bit of an earthy balance to the molasses flavor in the beer.  As for the dessert, I never would have thought to pair Rye-on-Rye with blueberries, but it was a perfect blend of flavor. In hindsight, it makes sense since blueberries and spice go so well together. Surely, a rye-on-blueberry cobbler is in my future. (Or perhaps a barrel-aged rye-blueberry braggot? Oh my.)

Overall, I found the luncheon to be well worth the trek to Southwest Boulevard in the middle of the day. Though I’d rather have the Boulevard tour guides – not videos – provide us with all of the brewery information and history, that’s not really much of a complaint as it is a preference. The staff were all friendly, the food was fantastic, and the beer was delicious as always. I certainly enjoyed the experience and would definitely recommend it to anyone considering signing up.

Baking in the Dark

Like KC Beer Blog and Show-Me Beer, this blog received a complimentary bottle of Boulevard's Dark Truth and a little box of Christopher Elbow chocolates. While I can promise you the chocolates are good and well-paired with the stout, do you really need a third blog telling you such? I didn't think so.

I was unable to pick up my bottle until today because of work and personal obligations the past several days, so I decided not to rehash what's already been said and bore you to tears. So what did I do with Dark Truth?

I baked it.

I've been looking forward to this beer ever since I heard about it. Behind Saison-Brett, the Imperial Stout is my 2nd-favorite Smokestack beer. I was curious what this one would taste like - so many grains, Belgian yeast, no barrel-aging... So I tasted it. And I was surprised at the amount of roasty bitterness there was in the beer, but in a good way. This stout screams to be paired with chocolate. Or caramel. Or chocolate-covered cherries. But again, I wanted to do something different.

On my drive home today, I wondered how banana bread and vanilla ice cream might go with the stout. Dark Truth calls for a special banana bread, one with chocolate & toasted pecans to complement the roasty, molasses flavor of the stout. I chose milk chocolate chips simply because I love them and thought they would contrast well with the roasted malt presence in the stout. And they absolutely did!

(I'd put some pictures of the batter & the bottle here, but I accidentally overwrote them when I copied the new pictures to my computer. Oops.) This was a special treat tonight that I'm very happy to share with you. Here's the recipe for the banana bread (based on Michael Ruhlman's recipe in Ratio):

Ingredients
8oz flour
4oz sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
6 oz Dark Truth
2 eggs
1 stick butter
1 cup mashed bananas
1/4 cup toasted pecan pieces
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions
Heat the oven to 350F.

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl. In a large bowl, mix the butter, eggs, and bananas until pretty well combined. Pour in the Dark Truth and mix slowly. Add the pecans and chocolate chips, and stir until just mixed.

Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture and stir until just combined. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for an hour (until knife inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean). Remove from oven & set on a cooling rack. Let cool in pan for at least 1/2 hour. Remove from pan and cool to room temperature.

Slice, serve with a glass of Dark Truth, some Shatto ice cream, and enjoy.

More use for Spent Grain

One of the byproducts of brewing all-grain batches is, of course, the spent grain. And lots of it. You can do quite a bit with it - dog biscuits, cookies, bread, pretzels, and so on. I've done both cookies and bread (I thought I posted about that... can't find it), and for the last brew day I thought I'd use some spent grain from a recent Pale Ale to make crackers. I tried two recipes: one from homebrewtalk.com, the other from homebrewchef.com. While both crackers seemed to go over reasonably well, I thought the homebrewchef crackers were the winners by a long shot.

The recipe using only whole wheat flour took longer to bake and the crackers came out tasting like, well, flour. They were certainly edible, but reminded me of something that would only sell well at a health fair. The longer baking time to make them crisp, plus the whole wheat flour, made them very dry - in a dehydrating sort of way. You definitely wanted to wash the cracker down with something. The crackers made with white flour were easier to make because the dough was softer, and they tasted like a gourmet cracker you'd buy at Whole Foods for $4 per box. (They reminded me a lot of Wisecrackers.) They were crisp and crunchy, similar in texture and crunch to a non-greasy pita chip. I also used a homemade blonde ale for liquid, which added a fantastic sweet, yeasty character to the beer.

Here are a few tips for those of you interested in making these (and I highly recommend it - they were very good!).

• Use 100% all-purpose flour (bread flour is too high in gluten for crackers)
• Dry out your grains as much as you can, use less water, use more flour, or all of the above. The more water your spent grains have, the wetter your dough will be. You want the cracker dough to be firm and barely tacky; not sticky.
• Roll out the dough as thin as you can get it. Some people have used pasta rollers to make crackers; I used a rolling pin on a floured countertop.
• If you want small, regular-shaped crackers, cut them after rolling and use a metal spatula to transfer to your baking sheet.
• Cool on a drying rack so air can circulate around the crackers, avoiding any sweating - no one likes a sweaty underside! ;-)
• I found that I had to bake them for 30 minutes to get them to a desired crispness, not 15-20 as the recipe dictated.

These were served with a spreadable Cranberry/Apple/Cinnamon cheese and a Devonshire wedge, but are really suitable for anything. I think I'll make more this weekend; these really did turn out well.

Beer Tasting Tonight in Shawnee

I got an email from KC Hopps last night about an O'Fallon tasting at the Barley's Brewhaus Shawnee location. A little advance notice would have been nice, but if you don't have plans tonight and love making last-minute arrangements, here's a suggestion. They still appear to have space remaining (I can offer a guess as to why...)

The items offered with food pairings are:
-  Pumpkin Ale
-  5 Day IPA
-  Smoked Porter
-  Cherry Chocolate
-  Rye IPA

Seems rye beer is all the rage these days; even Michelob has one. Like wheat, rye adds body to beer to give it a bit more substance and a smoother mouthfeel. Unlike wheat, however, it adds a little spiciness to the beer, making a great pairing with seasonal comfort foods.

Sounds like it could be a great beer for Thanksgiving dinner...

Local Breweries to Host Notable Beer Dinners

There is no shortage of beer and food pairings these days, but what caught my eye recently were two dinners at McCoy’s and 75th Street Brewing. Here we have two small, local brewpubs hosting their own beer dinners – and only one local brew between them. Interesting.

McCoy's is hosting a Trappist ale dinner on November 3rd at 6:30pm. They're serving six courses featuring beers from 6 of the 7 Trappist breweries for $50 per person. That’s quite a deal given the items they’re serving (as posted on BeerAdvocate):

• Chimay Tripel & Hazelnut encrusted Chevre goat cheese truffles with rosemary honey.
• Orval & Pumpkin Ale soup with sage croutons and nutmeg whipped cream.
• Rochefort 10 & roast duck salad with sun dried cherries, candied walnuts and Roquefort cheese.
• Achel Bruin 8 & seared diver scallops over butternut squash with brown butter sauce and prosciutto.
• Westmalle Dubbel & braised beef short ribs with shiitake mushrooms and parsnip-turnip puree.
• La Trappe Quadrupel (Koningshoeven) & double layer butternut squash pecan pie with apricot glaze and maple whipped cream.

Why beer from only 6 of 7 breweries? You can't legitimately get that 7th one here in the states - or anywhere outside of the brewery or its adjoining cafe. Westvleteren is the only trappist brewery remaining that still has monk brewers, and they only brew enough beer to sustain the operations and charitable causes of the monastery. They also specifically request that their beer not be re-sold by those who purchase it. Additionally, if you do make the trek out to the monastery, you can only get one case of their beer per month and it must be reserved in advance. 

Now on to 75th Street Brewing. On October 20th, they’re hosting a subdued version of Oktoberfest with a much different tap list than the Munich-based affair. Whoever did their beer selection did a mighty fine job! On the beer list will be Ayinger Jarhrhundert, Tucher Dunkeles Hefeweizen, Brugge Bad Kitty, 75th Street Alt, and Aventinus Eisbock. I wasn’t familiar with the Brugge beer so I looked it up – it’s a Gose! If I could high-five 75th Street, I would.

What’s a Gose? I’ll tell you tomorrow.

A Little Cheese with your... Beer?

Beer & food pairings have been all the rage this year, it seems, and the trend continues into the fall. Beer and cheese are old friends, but are gaining more attention lately. Boulevard released cheese sets this spring to go with its beers, and Chimay's been doing it for over a century. A large percentage of brewpubs or beer bars will list some sort of beer-and-cheese soup on their menus, and several often serve a "brewer's platter" that contains various cheeses and meats to accompany the customer's beer of choice.

But for as much as beer and cheese are highly complementary, wine and cheese have been the long-standing duo for decades. However, it appears that along with the rise of craft beer (especially fancier styles served in stemware), the wine-cheese relationship may be waning.

The Wall Street Journal released an article on Friday suggesting cheese may be better paired with beer than wine:

For brewers, teaming up with cheese is part of a campaign to show that beer is as sophisticated as Bordeaux, not just a tipple associated with student parties and sports bars. The idea is to "bring it up at the same level as wine," says Marc Stroobandt, a master beer sommelier and consultant at U.K.-based F&B Partnership, a company that trains restaurateurs on the best way to pair beer with food.

Personally, I thoroughly enjoy pairing beer, cured meats, and cheeses. I much prefer pairing spicy Belgian styles (saison, tripel, strong dark) and heftier American beers (barleywines & imperials) with flavorful cheeses such as a 2-year cave aged Gouda, a sharp vintage cheddar, or a fine smoked blue. These go well with spicy salami, sopressata, or capicola.

My waistline enjoys it as well. At around 100 calories per ounce of cheese and at least around 150 calories per 12 ounces of beer, this isn't really a diet-friendly treat. However, the good news is that since fat and protein are pretty flavorful and satiating, a little goes a long way.

You can try pairing beer with cheese this Monday at Flying Saucer. They're hosting a Founders tasting night, pairing six Founders beers (Red's Rye P.A., Centennial IPA, Cerise Cherry-Fermented Ale, Curmudgeon Old Ale, Dirty Bastard Scotch-Style Ale and Breakfast Stout.) with both meat and cheese.

photo courtesy of Carlsberg Beer

The Westside Local

John and I had lunch at the Westside Local yesterday to check out their food and beer selection. The place is brand new, having opened last Wednesday (7/15).

The owner, Troy McEvers, is a local himself and clearly has an interest in highlighting regional and house-made foodstuff. From the house-made pickles, kraut, and charcuterie to locally-sourced meats, the menu clearly demonstrates a high level of attention to the food and its sources. The executive chef, Rick Martin, clearly has a passion for both beer and food. He spent 17 years at Free State in Lawrence and has spoken about food & beer at the Great American Beer Festival, Savor, and the Craft Brewers Conference (check out part of the keynote address from this year's conference)

We walked into the Local, where we could see all of the 20 or so tables in the dining area, but chose to sat outside in the beer garden. We walked through the small but well-stocked bar area and out to the garden. There are 5 long fest-style tables with benches outside, covered by what will become a large ceiling of grape vines.

We were handed food, beer, and wine menus and the selections for each are thoughtful and varied. The service was quick and attentive, and we ordered the charcuterie and pickles with two beers; John got the 1809 Berliner Weisse and I ordered a bottle of Ayinger Bräu-Weisse. The menu contains beer recommendations for each food item, highlighting chef Martin's expertise. Yes, we did ignore the beers paired with our food orders, but not without acknowledgement.

I can't say I've ever seen Berliner Weisse on any beer menu anywhere in the states, and wish I'd ordered it. John did let me sample it, though. I had it once in Berlin, back in 1995, and it tasted just like I remembered: a lightly fruity weizen flavor (significantly less banana & clove than its Hefeweizen brothers) and a tiny bit tart. Berliner Weisse is, as its name suggests, a style native to the Berlin area in Germany. It's a traditional wheat beer, but with a couple of key differences: it is brewed with a lactobacillus bacteria, added to provide the sourness, and typically contains around 2-3% ABV. Due to the sourness, it's typically served "red" or "green" - with a shot of raspberry or woodruff syrup - and with a straw.

The Westside served both our beers in tulips. If I had to come up with a complaint about the Woodside Local, incorrect glassware would be it. Mine should have been served in a weizen glass and John's in a goblet. Did it matter? No, not really. But with the level of detail and attention given to the food, beer, and pairings, it was a little surprising.

That, however, would be my only complaint. The bread on my Monana chicken sandwich was soft, the chicken moist and tender, and the homemade kraut light and crisp and not overly acidic (just the way it should be). The french fries were just barely on the oily side of perfect - crisp and rich with potato flavor with just a hint of garlic. John's roast beef sandwich was on a crunchy baguette with a flavorful malt (wort?) au jus that wasn't overly salty (a common problem I have with au jus sandwiches).

We'll definitely be back to sample more of the food and drink more of the beer. And so that I can get my own bottle of that light, tart Berliner Weisse.

pictures from the Westside Local's Facebook page