Help with Food list

Ok, the post with the beer tasting list... OMG!! That helped me a lot with my list of beers for my Brewing/Tasting event on 2-6-10.

I plan on offering up Pizza after the brew day is over and beer off my tap. But I had planned on a tasting session during the day while brewing up a Belgian double.

I got my list of tasting beers. All Belgian beers... Now just need to find them.

But what to serve with them for appetizers?

I've got lots of thoughts, but maybe some of you can offer assistance in pairings. Or help me avoid 'Bad" pairings!

The standard Bar items, Ball park roasted peanuts and pretzels, but now I need some other items.

Cheese and Crackers? Saltines and sliced american cheese (unwrapped from plastic wrap) just isn't going to cut it. So what would you serve?

Maybe.. as I'll have the oven on anyway... Some tasty Frozen baked appetizers? Anything you can recommend?

Would Cold chilled cooked shrimp and red sauce be something good to have? How would that go with Belgian beers?

So if you can't tell I have no idea what to pair with a Beer tasting event.

Please help!

Cheers and Thanks in advance!

Spent grain bread with brewers yeast... some awesome homemade pretzels.

What beers are you going to serve? French fries with mayo or else mussels (do you even get them there?) are pretty traditional Belgian fare...... but if you can give a list them perhaps we can suggest some specific combinations?

I'm trying to find 6-7 of the following for the tasting session.

Belgian Ales:
Hoegarden Orval, La Choaffe, Saison DuPont, Trappist Rochfurt

Belgian Strongs:
Leffe Blond, Westmalle Double or trip, Victory Golden Monkey, Russian River Damnation, St Bernards ABT12.

I'm thinking I'll be lucky if I can find 3 of the ales and 3 of the strongs.

Cool, well my suggestions would be :

Hoegaarden: Seafood, prawns (shrimp) or scampi, fresh fish, mussels cooked in a thin sauce using white wine, garlic and perhaps some celery..... basically some clean, not too strong flavours. Perhaps a really mild thai inspired dish (prawn toast? fish cakes?)

Orval: I've only had this once, and it was a few years ago. Perhaps with the slightly funky and peppery flavours you might like to try a good semi-ripe camembert or brie? Or again, some light seafood dishes may be a good option.... Orval and Hoegaarden do have some similarities (spicey lemony notes) so you may just want to serve 1 dish with the both of them.....

LaChouffe: I could imagine something featuring pork with apricot, a nice lean, light pork fillet roasted and sliced with caramelised or dried apricots? Or perhaps something featuring chicken (smoked chicken on crackers or savoury wafers perhaps? Maybe with a pesto)

Leffe blonde: Again, seafood would be good, but perhaps some more robust flavours (perhaps a smoked fish?). A rare light lamb might be good too.... or veal?

Unfortunately I haven't tasted the rest, so I probably cant be too much help..... perhaps do the ol' google......

My can't miss simple black mussel recipe...

1 bottle of white wine, Chardonnay or Pinot grigio cheap $5-$8 bottle, drink the unused portion
1 shallot (chopped)
1-1/2-2 pounds of fresh black mussels
1 pint of heavy cream
3-4 green onions (chopped)
dash of smoked paprika

In a saute' pan, add white wine, I perfer a Chardannay, about 1/2"-3/4" deep. bring to a slow boil while meanwhile gently scrubbing your mussels to wash them off (that sounded perverted). When the wine is gently boiling add the shallot, then the mussels. Gently Boil for about 5 minutes, stir occasionally. Once all the mussels open up (if they don't open up by now they are no good, fish those out and throw them away) pour in the heavy cream and bring down to simmer for 5 more minutes stir occasionally. Add the green onion,take off heat,cover,let sit for 5 minutes. Garnish with a light sprinkle of the paprika. Scoop out and enjoy! You can't go wrong with this and you will look like a gourmet.

These should go with any of the Belgian ales

+1 to the mussels (CrAzYmOuSe's recipe sounds great). Also, if you have a good cheese shop nearby I would recommend a variety of good cheese with mixed crackers. I also found that my local mega food mart had a fairly decent olive bar. At my last party, several people commented on how well that went with the beer flights.

A great selection of strongly flavored cheeses, like blue/Stilton, assiago's and other salty strong cheese with a some crackers or toast points would be a great start. A premium olive bar with assorted marinated/herbed and regular olives and even some lightly pickled mushrooms would great.

I can tell you that a belgian tripel and blue cheese is one of my favorite pairings. Maybe pair a tripel with a classic walnut/pear/bluechees salad?

Isn't orval very malty and spicy/hoppy? Something light and maybe even citrus based to cut all the rich flavors of the orval. Maybe, a lemongrass soup even?

A good cheese (don't know if you'll be able to find it) is Dutch Nettle cheese, and also Cumin cheese (I get them from a dutch shop near where I live...). Definitely hearing the olives too!

Here is what I was able to find at the best store locally.

Brother Thelonious (North Coast)
Chimay Peres Trappistes Premiere (Scourmont Abbey Belgium)
Three Philosophers Quad (Ommegang)
Tripel Karmeliet (Brouwerij Bosteuls, Buggenhout Belgium)
Mirror Mirror 2009 Reserve (Deshutes, Bend OR)
Duvel Golden Ale (Duvel Moortgat Belgium)

Then for fun a local...
Lazy BOY Belgian Golden Ale (Everett WA)

Picked up some cheeses to try, Some Crab meat salad, Cracker selection, Tuscan Rosemary flat bred... Trying these to see what might work.

Then picked up some Sausages (specialty) and some little frozen pastry hourdvous (sp?).

So I'm thinking, a soft cheese, a rogfourt (sp?) some olives/mushrooms/artichoke hearts pickled, some flavorful flat breads, some crackers, sausages and pastries.

Fingers crossed.

FxdGrMind said:

Here is what I was able to find at the best store locally.

Brother Thelonious (North Coast)
Chimay Peres Trappistes Premiere (Scourmont Abbey Belgium)
Three Philosophers Quad (Ommegang)
Tripel Karmeliet (Brouwerij Bosteuls, Buggenhout Belgium)
Mirror Mirror 2009 Reserve (Deshutes, Bend OR)
Duvel Golden Ale (Duvel Moortgat Belgium)

Then for fun a local...
Lazy BOY Belgian Golden Ale (Everett WA)

Picked up some cheeses to try, Some Crab meat salad, Cracker selection, Tuscan Rosemary flat bred... Trying these to see what might work.

Then picked up some Sausages (specialty) and some little frozen pastry hourdvous (sp?).

So I'm thinking, a soft cheese, a rogfourt (sp?) some olives/mushrooms/artichoke hearts pickled, some flavorful flat breads, some crackers, sausages and pastries.

Fingers crossed.

Click to expand...

Sounds pretty dang good to me! Nice list of beer! Too bad you didn't get Rochfort 10, what a treat - YUM.