Cheese & Beer Pairings at Dierbergs - Urban Chestnut

I was beyond thrilled to be invited to a new series at Dierbergs Cooking School called "The Tastings", which is a monthly series of cheese and beer pairings. That's right! Cheese! And what a unique idea to pair it with beer...actually a different local craft brewery each month!

To kick off the series, Urban Chestnut was the featured beer and the cheese was selected by Michael Landis, a cheese and beer pairing expert from Gourmet Foods International.

Urban Chestnut

Urban Chestnut was kind enough to kick off the evening with a "welcome beer", which was their easy-to-drink Zwickel lager. You can see the pale yellow lager in the cup on the left and you know that it's perfect for drinking on a summer afternoon.

Completely opposite was the first beer paired, the Harwood Myth English-style Porter. You can see how dark brown this beer is in the second plastic cup as compared to the Zwickel in front of it in. Yet, the beer still had a smooth finish and I'd classify it as an easy-to-drink winter beer. This was paired with the Cypress Grove Lamb Chopper cheese. (YES! The same Cypress Grove who also makes my favorite cheese, Midnight Moon!). The slight bitterness of the goat cheese helped to cancel out any bitterness in the darker beer.

We went back to a lighter beer with the Stammtisch German-style Pilsner, although there was a definite crispness to this beer, which helped to cut through the sharpness of the 24-month aged cheese. The Barbers 1833 cheddar is an English cheese that has been passed down through six generations and has a slight maple flavor.

The Roth Kase Grand Cru is actually a Gruyere cheese, but since this Wisconsin cheesemaker is actually owned by a Swiss company, they had to play by the rules and change the name to avoid any conflicts with Swiss Gruyere. This cheese is very mild and was an evenly balanced match with the H.M.S. English-style India Pale Ale. Now normally I would not even get close to an IPA, but this one was so incredibly mild, that I would have never guessed it was an IPA! I would definitely order this beer again.

Another popular Urban Chestnut beer is the Winged Nut, which to me is very hoppy and therefore has that strong grapefruit finish. An equally strong cheese is needed for an IPA, and the La Bonne Vie ("The Good Life") Garlic & Herb fresh goat cheese stood up to the big flavor of the beer by coating the inside of your mouth. You definitely needed the beer to help cut through the cheese!

The last beer we tried was a traditional IPA, but since it's a mix of styles, it really cannot be classified, although it is said to be similar to a chestnut ale. Again, the hops flavor required a cheese that could stand up to it and the Beehive Creamery "Barely Buzzed" cheese did just that since it is rubbed in coffee grinds, giving it more of a bitter chocolate flavor.

The next class will take place on February 11th, 6pm at the Dierbergs Des Peres. You can sign up here: https://www.cookingschoolsofamerica.com/dierbergsdesperes/index.php?page=classes#685

Resources:

Dierbergs Cooking School = http://www.dierbergs.com/School

Urban Chestnut = http://urbanchestnut.com/

Gourmet Foods International = http://www.gfifoods.com/

Cypress Grove = http://www.cypressgrovechevre.com/

Barbers 1833 = http://www.barbers1833.co.uk/

Roth Kase = http://us.emmi.com/

La Bonne Vie = http://www.labonneviecheese.com/

Beehive Creamery = https://www.beehivecheese.com/

STLCheesegirl 2014 Top Posts

Since my "Top Posts" was a big hit last year, I thought I should do a "best of 2014" as well. Most of the restaurants in this list are quite popular, but there are a few surprises as well!

Libertine Fried Chicken - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2014/01/the-libertine-fried-chicken.html
Top of the list is one of the best restaurants in St. Louis (imho) and I got to enjoy the Sunday night Fried Chicken dinner a couple of times. I also got to try the regular menu as well as the lunch menu and I never get tired eating there. Definitely someplace you must visit.

Bishop's Post - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2014/08/bishops-post.html
This is one of those surprises because this post was very short and did not include any pictures. I actually was just there for a happy hour, not even for a full coursed dinner. This restaurant is in the old Oceano Bistro Chesterfield so perhaps that got it some attention.

Sweetology - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2014/11/sweetology.html
This was a wonderful "treat" since I got invited to review the new "make your own cake or cupcake" adventure as a food blogger. The owners are great with social media and I really do hope everyone checks it out. I also wanted to support my friends and family, especially when they're women-owned businesses!

Peacemaker Lobster & Crab - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2014/08/peacemaker-lobster-crab.html
This is probably my most favorite new restaurant and one of my favorites in St. Louis. Fresh seafood cannot be beat. You can't go wrong with Kevin Nashan. I cannot wait to go back!

Katie's Pizza and Pasta Brunch - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2014/05/katies-pizza-and-pasta-and-brunch.html
I was a backer of Katie's Pizza and Pasta new location in Rock Hill and I always love going there. I got to enjoy their brunch a few times, especially since my Sunday School of Wine class was not that far away. I have even gotten my boss to take me to Katie's for lunch. This is always a top recommendation for me.

STLwinegirl 5th Business Birthday Party - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2014/03/stlwinegirl-fifth-biz-birthday-party-at.html
The STLwinegirl appears twice in my list, which  makes sense since I attend a couple of her events a month and she is the inspiration for me starting this blog. Can you believe it's been 5 years? This event was held at The Libertine, which is why this was a huge and popular event. It is also nice that STLwinegirl is big in social media.

Inaugural Wine Girl Wednesday at Scape - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2014/08/inaugural-winegirl-wednesday-at-scape.html
STLwinegirl started a new type of event this past summer called "Wine Girl Wednesdays". The first one was held at Scape. Each month, on the first Wednesday of the month, the event is held at a new restaurant and there are wine and food pairings "special" for the night.

PW Pizza Six Row Beer Dinner - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2014/08/pw-pizza-six-row-beer-dinner.html
Patience and I made it to all but one PW Pizza Beer Dinner this year. Who doesn't love a beer and pizza pairing? Each month, a different craft brewery is featured. Feel free to go back and review all the different breweries we got to taste!

Annie Gunn's - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2014/05/annie-gunns.html
This had been on my "must try" list for a very long time and luckily I needed a top place to take a friend out to dinner. The wine selection and entrees are pretty amazing. It might not be one of those new, hip places, but I feel like it's a St. Louis staple for a restaurant with class.

PW Pizza Excel Beer Dinner - http://www.stlcheesegirl.com/2014/07/pw-pizza-excel-dinner.html
Again, when you have a monthly event (and St. Louis is a beer loving town), I can see how these would be popular posts. I certainly hope everyone will come out and try their pizza!

The Marketing Lush: Entering the Court

My friend, Megan Vogel, runs a marketing + wine website and she published my story about taking the Level 1 Court of Master Sommeliers certification test.

You can check it out here: http://themarketinglush.com/2014/12/29/entering-the-court-studying-wine/

Wittmond Hotel

I didn't really know where I was going when I agreed to a short road trip to the Wittmond Hotel, but I was promised a smorgasbord when we got there so I was in. Some food adventures are a little heavier on the "adventure" side of things.

Wittmond Hotel

Not only had I never been to Brussels, IL before, but I had never been in a car on a ferry before! The unseasonably warm December day and stretches of sunshine really made for a pretty day overall. We drove north of New Town to the Golden Eagle Ferry, where we crossed the Mississippi river. More windy roads awaited us on the other side and I was so glad our friends knew where they were going.

We got the tour of the small town of Brussels on the one main street where you'll find the bank and post office are all one building, right across from the Wittmond Hotel. The hotel was built in 1847 and started out as a trading post built by Conrad Wittmond, a German immigrant. When you first walk in, you pass through the regularly used (and modern) bar, cutting through a "store" full of knick-knacks, and then over to the restaurant side.

The restaurant serves family style meals Friday-Monday so they stop coming with food only when you give in. We tried to have a small breakfast in order to have room!

Before you even sit down, a relish tray is waiting for you! There were beets, carrots, celery, apple rings (this was new to me), corn relish (also new), and peach preserves, which I spread on the hot rolls they brought out. You can see the applesauce on the side as well as the cole slaw below, which I mistakenly filled up on since it was so good.

Relish Tray

Cole Slaw

Then they bring out Chicken Noodle Soup and Sausage. (Unfortunately, Cinnamon Rolls only come out on Sundays.)

Chicken Noodle Soup

Sausage

This probably would have been enough for lunch on most days, but that was just warm up!

Next up was the main course...or should I say courses? There was roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, green beans, and the star of the show, fried chicken. My friends were nice and left me the legs! Patience tried to get a little of everything on her plate.

Fried chicken, roast beef, green beans, corn, mashed potatoes and gravy

Then we tried to "save room" for dessert. Luckily, there was nothing chocolate to tempt me, but I did help out and shared the peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream a la mode!

Peach Cobbler

Needless to say, we had to roll home...all the way down to the river. By the time we got back to Missouri, we were all very sleepy.

If you go, make sure you have an appetite raring to go!

Resources:

Wittmond Hotel = http://www.wittmondhotel.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon

Grilled Cheese Latkes

This article was too good not to share. I can't believe I never thought of this before. Truly brilliant!

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/food/2014/12/04/grilled-cheese-latkes/