Beer Dinner With Celina Tio!

Fresh from her appearance on Sunday's Iron Chef America, Julian chef Celina Tio stopped in at Beer Kitchen Monday for a night of delicious foods and beers.

We had a new photographer tonight. He wanted to go a more artistic route with this one.

The first course of Trumpet Royale with foie gras butter, toasted brioche, and watercress & lemon paired with Orval was a strong start to the meal.

I LOOOOOOVE mushrooms. Yes, all caps and like six O's worth. These had a lovely earthy flavor, and meaty, that complimented the foie gras butter and watercress. The house-made brioche tied it all together. And the Brett  in the Orval lent some more earthiness. Orval's a really good beer. One of the hoppier Trappist Ales. This was all so good.

Up next a nice, light salad - baby wild arugula, grapefruit, olio verde, celery root, and brazil nuts - and a Stillwater Beer Table - Table Beer. 

The Stillwater is a light, effervescent farmhouse ale, coming in at just under 5% ABV. The hops in the beer add citrus notes that tied in with the grapefruit, and there was a bitterness that went throughout everything in the course. Sweet from the grapefruit, more earthy in the arugula, and funky in the beer. A light course all around. 

Now some meat. Crispy trout "almondine," wild rice pancakes, and bacon-y mustard greens. Boulevard Harvest Dance.

This is not just some trite statement. I don't like fish (well, cooked fish. Sushi is amazing and I really, really like shellfish). But this was great. The trout was tender and the skin was tasty, the greens were full of flavor, and the beer is one of my favorites from Boulevard. It was picked for this course to kind of mimic a Sauvignon Blanc that would be traditionally paired with the dish. If all fish is this good, maybe this dish will get me into eating fish.

The fourth course paired Emelisse Russian Imperial Stout with a lamb shepherd's pie. 

This was so good. Mashed potatoes and lamb and fantastic stout, what's not to love? Everything was rich and delicious. I would eat this every day forever. Some sweetness in the stout and smooth mashed potatoes provided a counterpoint to the for the lamb. 

Ahh dessert. I like desserts. As does my official photographer.

Thank you to Mr. Jeremy Danner for taking photos and this video. He actually was sideways by this point. Luckily, technology is amazing and things like that can be fixed.

Orange-almond cake, orange caramel, and whipped vanilla bean mascarpone, with some New Belgium Trippel.

A warm cake and mascarpone is a fantastic combination. This was a light and delicious dessert, perfect for the end of this meal. Sometimes a dessert can be too much (not really, dessert is usually awesome), but this hit the spot. The Trippel wasn't too much for the cake, and the orange flavor was muted and didn't overpower the whole course. 

Another successful beer dinner! A heartfelt thank you to Celina Tio, the food was wonderful! 

Now, if you'd like to have an opportunity to have some of Chef Tio's food for yourself, visit her at Julian in Brookside soon. In fact, on February 12, she'll be having a special meal, preparing the same courses from her episode of Iron Chef America. Contact Julian at 816.214.8454 for more details on what will be a unique experience!

As for the next beer dinner at Beer Kitchen, keep March 4th free for the annual Grain vs. Grape Dinner. French food, French wines, and Belgian beers. Yes, we'll be skipping February, but luckily it's not a leap year, so it won't be too long. Check back here, Facebook, and Twitter for more details when they're released. And we'll have some cool stuff coming up over the next couple of weeks!