The Next Beer Dinner

I promised you guys this post on Friday, and due to a lack-luster internet connection, I could not successfully get this posted until today. 

Spring weather has finally arrived in Wisconsin - woot woot! I could not be happier to be able to sit out on a patio, take in the smells of the food cooking on the grill and sipping a new beer or two.

Pick 'n Save has a mix-n-match 6-pack area in most of the beer coolers or beer aisles. I highly recommend you take advantage of this to try some great new beers this summer. Recent new beers that I have tried are as follows:

ShockTop Honey Crisp - pretty sweet, but with a nice crisp flavor
(UPDATE) Mike's Smashed Apple Cider - rather sweet, but refreshing. There is a dry cider version that I want to try as well. (Thanks to Mike's on Twitter @mhl for helping me figure out what I drank last week!)

I paired these with Italian seasoned chicken kabobs, Cheddar Potato Chips and Cucumber Salsa. That's what my friends and I made that night, so it wasn't something that was thought out and made to pair like Brooke does at Bernie's.

Speaking of.....  

Bernie's Tap Room has announced their Memorial Day themed Beer Dinner and I would like for you to join me at this great experience. Here is the menu and it's drool-worthy. When are they going to come out with those scratch and sniff computers???

Here is the email:

The unofficial start to summer, Memorial Day weekend, is right around the corner. Summer is the perfect time to enjoy a nice refreshing beer and some great food, and Bernie's wants to help you get the summer off to a great start. We will be hosting our Summer Kick-Off Beer Dinner on Tuesday May 28th. We have selected five of our best selling beers for this dinner, Lakefront Wisconsinite, Alaskan Amber, Big Eddy Imperial IPA, 3 Floyd's Alpha King and Ale Asylum Bedlum. Brooke, as usual has planned some wonderful culinary treats to be paired with each beer, please see the attached menu.

This is sure to be a memorable dinner and a great event. It will also be the last chance many of us will be able to enjoy and share beer knowledge with Alex Berns. Alex is leaving Bernie's for an opportunity in Chicago. We are very excited for him and I know he would be thrilled if his last Beer Dinner with Bernie's was a packed house. So if you can make it please give us a call to make a reservation. If you can't, be sure to stop in and say bye to Alex by the 28th.

For my 200th post, I asked readers to submit their favorite beer pairings to me to be entered to win a free beer dinner from Bernie's. I used Random Number Generator to pick the winner.

Congratulations Tarisa! Hope to see you at a beer dinner soon. :)

Wauk Wednesday: 200th Style

It's my 200th post!

I cannot believe that I have written so many posts. What started as something I did maybe twice a month has become something I really love and do twice or more a week. I love sharing my experiences with you and I love the feedback that I have received from my readers.

I have attended Online Blogger Conventions and even attended one in Salt Lake City to help me boost my blog. I have made some great friends all over the US because of my blog and I have learned from fellow bloggers what to do and what not to do. And my local foodie blogger friends are really what helped me get the courage to keep at it and see where my blog would take me.

One of the things that I am really striving for is sticking to a schedule and focusing on my community. And how do I do that? With my stomach of course. If you haven't noticed, I love to cook and eat :)

I have featured a lot of area establishments on my blog and a lot of it focuses around my love of craft beer.

If you search my blog for Waukesha or Beer, you will notice a lot of posts relate to those and most recently, I have attended many beer dinners at Bernie's Tap Room. These are wonderfully run events that pair craft beer with craft food by their amazing chef.

I even attended a KBS tasting at Bernie's last week Monday. The tap room was lucky enough to score a barrel of Founder's Kentucky Bourbon Stout (KBS) and offered it up to the public to come in and try it.

My friends and I stopped in before a get-together to try this rare beer. It was $10 a glass and has an alcohol content of 11.5%. A pint would have put me on my butt! But the smaller sample was delicious. You could taste the alcohol in it, but it wasn't overpowering. The beer is a great conversational beer that you can relax and chit-chat and Bernie's is a great place to do that.

And now for the moment we have all been waiting for.....ok well I have been thrilled since I found out about this. One lucky (local) reader is going to be able to experience a Bernie's Tap Room beer dinner for free thanks to the generosity of my friends at the Tap Room. There will be a beer dinner coming up later this month and one at the end of June. You must live in the area to be eligible to win as we cannot ship one of these meals - you have to experience it first hand. 

Contest Now Closed:
To enter, just leave a comment below telling me what beer and food makes a good pairing to you. One entry per reader please. I will pick a winner at random next week Wednesday, May 15, so get your entry in before midnight on May 14. Please leave your email address if it's not linked to your profile that you comment from so I can get in touch with the winner easily.  

Thanks for coming on this blogging journey with me and I hope you continue to enjoy my posts. Yay for 200!!!!

Chef Spotlight: Bernie's Tap Room

Bernie's Tap Room is an excellent addition to downtown Waukesha and I'm so glad I took a chance on the place. My first time in was right after they opened for a beer or two with some friends. The walls were bare, but the exposed stone and wood on the west wall behind the bar was just rustically beautiful. My friends tried some food that night and I was super impressed with the beer list.

Week 1 of being open - love the exposed stone

Bare walls on opening week are now painted warm hues

During the Waukesha Christmas Parade was when my friends and I decided to sit in Bernie's and enjoy some drinks during the parade. Because Bernie's is up off the street, we could see over everyone to the parade and enjoy the duck flatbread and some beers.

beer dinner chop salad

 When I started attending the beer dinners and immediately was hooked. I have attended four in total and if they continue to have the dinners, I will continue to attend. It is definitely something that my friends hear me talk about often. The pairings are just crazy good and at the second last dinner, I sat with the chef's boyfriend. After the meal, she came out to thank us for coming and then sat down at our table. I told her that I write my little blog asked if I could pick her brain about her skills to share with others via the blog. She was delighted so I threw her some questions and here it is:

Brooke

Brooke attended the culinary program through Clark College in Vancouver, Washington. Through this program she met some amazingly talented people and great friends. Although she didn't cook except for special times as a child, she admired those with the skills from the table.

She moved to Wisconsin not too long ago with a long-time friend and worked for a corporate hotel kitchen where the food was very cookie-cutter. She wanted to get outside of the box and use her skills to create her own style, which led her to Bernie's.

Because Bernie's is a place that serves a great selection of craft beers, the beer dinners were a perfect fit to introduce customers to the art of pairing and enjoying how an entree brings out different flavors of the beer. Brooke's goal is to create "craft food" to go along with all the craft beers and not just have a menu like all the other places in town. (She is doing an awesome job at this!)

Strawberry Marscapone Tart from a beer dinner

The beer dinners allow Brooke to really pull at her creative strings and she is free to create the entire menu. She thinks about seasonal and holiday ingredients when starting the menu. I wonder if she will grab items from the upcoming Farmer's Markets to use on the menu - I love local food!

Beef Stew from a beer dinner

Brooke works hard at home to perfect the menu well in advance of the beer dinner. She makes her KitchenAide mixer and two burner stove work overtime to get things just right. I guess I should stop being picky when looking at apartments that they don't have a full size stove, huh? If a chef can work on two burners, I should be able to manage with a mini stove, right? Hmmm...

Brooke considers her style of cooking to be "freestyle." She can make anything that is in a cupboard or refrigerator into something unique and awesome, thanks to her culinary education.

Brooke would like to thank everyone that has supported Bernie's in their first half year of being open and invites anyone that hasn't stopped out yet to give it a try :)

I personally recommend the Duck Flatbread and the Garlic Chicken Flatbread. I took those to a get-together and they were huge hits. And they stayed plenty warm on the 20 minute ride there, so I know I can order after work and bring it home for my family to try as well!

Wauk Wednesday: Bernie's Tap Room Beer Dinner #4

Last month, I attended another beer dinner at Bernie's that features 3 Floyd's Brewery. I had tried a few of these prior to dinner, but never paired with food. I usually sipped them at The Nice Ash while enjoying a Hookah and a band with friends.

But Brooke worked her magic again and produced a fabulous five-course dinner for everyone. I contacted Brooke and picked her brain about these wonderful meals because if you haven't been able to tell by this , this and this and the post you are about to read, she is a culinary wizard and I'm so happy she made her home in the Waukesha area and found Bernie's. More on her tomorrow on the blog :)


Course 1 - French Onion Crostini paired with Robert the Bruce Scottish Ale (7.0% ABV). The gruyere cheese was perfectly creamy and melty and the onions were carmelized to bring out their sweetness. The beer is a malt-lovers delight!

Course 2 - Soba Noodle Salad paired with Gumballhead American Wheat Ale (5.6% ABV). I don't know why, but I was expecting this to be warm and having it be chilled was a new taste to me. It tasted like a cold peanut satay dish - not bad, just different. I love asian peanut dishes and cold noodles was new to me :)  Not to mention the Gumballhead is one of my friends' and my favorite beers and it paired nicely with this salad. 

Course 3 - Pepper Crusted Flank Steak paired with Pride & Joy (5.0% ABV). My friends and I have an inside joke about flank steak and how heavenly my former boss' wife cooked it for a get-together so I knew I would love this entree. The steak was perfectly cooked and melted in my mouth. The vinaigrette was like a ceasar dressing with truffle oil, thus inducing a mouth-wateringly amazing flavor for my buds :) The Pride and Joy was one of 3 Floyd's I had never had before and it was refreshing with the steak. 

Course 4 - Thai Chili Fire Braised Ribs paired with Alpha King American Pale Ale (6.66% ABV). I was a little worried with the words Thai Chili as my buds aren't fans of spicy things, but these were perfectly seasoned and came almost right off the bone. Ribs over rice was new to me, but brought the meal into the Asian cuisine to me. 

Course 5 - Strawberry marscapone tart paired with Behemoth Sweet Barley Wine (10.5% ABV!). The tart was crunchy with a light layer of creamy marscapone and beautiful strawberries. Nice and refreshing at the end of the meal. The dessert pulled out the sweet notes of  caramel in the barley wine and again a great pairing.

These beer dinners have really taken off for Bernie's Tap Room and if you want to stay in the loop on all things happening at Bernie's - like specialty beer tastings, dinners and new menu items, send an email to berniestaproom @ att (dot) net to get on the list. 

I'll have my brain-pick with Brooke from Bernie's on the blog tomorrow and Waukesha has a huge weekend coming up for downtown - Cancer Walk, Farmer's Market, Art Crawl and more. Come to downtown, take a stroll, enjoy a bite or a drink and check out all that downtown has to offer. 

Wauk Wednesday: Bernie's Beer Dinner

When my friend Brandon invited me to Bernie's next Beer Dinner by Founders, I didn't hesitate to respond. Founders has great beer and Bernie's has excellent food. I couldn't want to see what Chef Brooke would come up with for this one.

We sat at the table with Chef Brooke's boyfriend and the Founders rep. The boyfriend (name eludes me) let us know we were in for a treat as she tested this entire meal out on him the week prior. The theme was St. Patty's Day and I was excited.

First course: Irish brown bread with two different butters - one sweet and one savory. The sweet cinnamon butter was delicious, but not overly sweet. I cleansed my palette on the Founders pale ale, which was nice and not too hoppy.  I then tried the rosemary savory butter and it brought out other flavors of the nice crusty bread.

Second course: Leek potato soup. I wasn't sure what it was going to taste like as I don't know what a leek tasted like. Onion was prevalent on the nose but the soup was creamy and warmed me through and through on another snowy Wisconsin night. This was served with Dirty Bastard. I can't believe this happened, but when I took a sip of soup and chased it with a sip of beer, the reaction in my mouth was wonderful. There was a sweetness that the soup brought out that you otherwise wouldn't have known was there.

Third course: Shepard's pie with Gorgonzola cheese and buttery mashed potatoes. The meat was so tender and the carrots were just adorable. The Centennial IPA showed its citrus notes in this pairing.

Fourth course: Irish stewed pot roast in a bread bowl. I got so full with this course and took the majority of it home as I had to have dessert! The roast juices soaked into the bread for a delicious treat! Red's Rye was served with this course and the maltiness came through.

Fifth course: Chocolate stout cupcake with van bean frosting. I love cupcakes and I have experimented with a few beer cupcake recipes myself and love them. Brooke outdid herself with this one. The cupcake really pulled the chocolate out of the breakfast stout it was paired with. The sugary treat paired so well with the beer! After eating some of the vanilla frosting, the coffee really comes through.

After the dinner, Brooke came out and said a few words. I got to speak with her a bit and asked if I could interview her for my blog and see where her ideas come from. I hope to feature her soon!

Another successful dinner at Bernie's Tap Room and I can't wait for the next one. Looks like Three Floyd's will be the next one on March 26th. I unfortunately have plans that night, but I did get insider info that the dinner will be repeated on April 9th and it's on my calendar.

Catching Up

Sometimes I am on top of all things regarding my blog (and life), and sometimes I fall a bit behind. It's one of those behind times now. I don't have a good excuse as to why I haven't stayed up on the blog as I have cooked and eaten plenty lately :) But here is what will be coming up on blog in the next few weeks:

Another amazing beer dinner at Bernie's Tap Room - can't wait to pick Brooke's brain later this month for a chef feature!

 Sweet potato muffins - to die for!

Copycat Reese's peanut butter cup bars

My Lucky Leprechaun book and nail polish swap!

My trip to the Harley Museum

Virtual Run for Alzheimer's #Race2Remember

Lobster rolls from Key Westconsin

Energy Balls :)

Spending more time at Energize Zone and invite you to this event!

Easiest crockpot meal so far - chicken based! 

Prepping for the Lucky Leprechaun 7k with my ProCompression socks!

Training for the 7k continues in the snow - dedicated!!!!

Cooking with Click, black beans and spinach for brownies - say what??

 

Amazing chicken taquitos from Burp! Blog

Chicken Fontina pasta from Duo of Chefs

And some wine...

Wine...

Wine...

Wine...

and more wine! :) It's what pumps my veins lately

Pin-It Tuesday: Beer Cheese Soup

Being a born and raised Wisconsin girl, I love my cheese and I love my beer and I love having the two together. My cousin introduced me to beer dip that I love to make for parties and serve with pretzels. And then I made this Guinness beer cheese dip for a recent party and it was a favorite by everyone.

But when the weather turns colder, I don't want a chilled dip, I want my cheese warm and with beer in a soup version. :) I have tried to make it before but it wasn't even blog-worthy the last time. It just tasted bland and needed something but I wasn't sure what.

It seems I'm not the only one that loves this trend as I have found beer cheese soup all over lately.

This past summer, my friend Tiffany and I took advantage of  the TGI-Friday's field seating during a Brewers game at Miller Park and ordered some pretzel sticks with beer cheese dip. Not only was the view amazing, but the pretzel sticks and beer cheese were heavenly! The dip reminded me of a soup and I would have licked that bowl clean.

Matt and I went to Friday's at Miller Park this past weekend and I told him we had to get the beer cheese dip. He too agreed it was fabulous and it was even better than I remembered. DO NOT calculate the calories though - its that good you just don't want to know!

My next encounter with Beer Cheese soup was at Bernie's Tap Room for the Milwaukee Brewing Company Beer Dinner. Chef Brooke (whom I hope to pick her brain soon for my blog!!) showcased her mad kitchen skills and wowed us all with a fabulous 5-course dinner that included beer cheese soup garnished with popcorn and a pretzel roll on the side. Read my review here

I then stopped by RiverMill Foods last month to have a great conversation with Laurie and grabbed a salad and beer cheese soup. It was so thick and creamy and the beer didn't overpower the cheese. I will have to find out what type of beer she used :)

Soup & Salad combo at RiverMill Foods

So after all these tastings, I decided it was my turn to jump back in and try my hand at it. I had pinned a recipe to my Pinterest Soups On board months ago and decided it was time to have at it.

Click here for the original recipe

I had almost all of the ingredients in the house already, just missing good Wisconsin cheese. I decided on Shullsburg Medium Cheddar and a small amount of Shullsburg Cheese & Bacon cheese. (I didn't tell Matt I used the bacon cheese and he despises the meat candy and I'm wondering if he will notice when he has some.)

Sweating the onions made the house smell heavenly and then it was time to add the beer. Yes I know I'm a traitor and used a Minnesota beer (Kayak Kolsch), BUT it's a micro brewery and all I had in the house that wasn't too heavy to overpower any other flavors in the soup. (Please don't exonerate me!)

Making the house smell heavenly!

I have never blended hot ingredients before and have heard horror stories about it exploding in the blender and all over the kitchen and the cook, so I was extremely cautious, went slow and never completely sealed the blender. It went rather smoothly overall with minimal mess in the kitchen (no more than average for me!)

Omit the PB in the background - Dad made a sandwich while I was cooking :)

Added a bit at a time so as to not explode all over the kitchen

Then it all goes back in the pot and I added a few spices before the cheese (paprika, chili powder, garlic powder).

The I added the cheesy, gooey yum part. I added the amount suggested and let it all melt. Unfortunately I felt it tasted like flour and beer and no cheese was coming through to my buds.

So I brought out the grater and added a bit more of both cheeses (1/2 - 3/4 cup more maybe?). Except for the fact that the additional cheese never melted completely (any ideas why cook friends?), it really added dimension and massive flavor to the soup.

See the unmelted cheese? It was almost boiling and wouldn't melt - any thoughts?

I wasn't a fan of the unmelted cheese texture in the soup but the flavor was great. Just enough beer and cheese and the bacon cheese added a hint of smokiness to the flavor, but I wouldn't say it tasted like bacon. I used some whole wheat rolls to dip in the soup (yup - Wisconsinites love their carbs too!) 

I'll try this recipe again and hopefully have all the cheese melt this time and probably use a bit heavier Wisconsin beer.