Beer, Cheese, and Garrett Oliver - A Photo Post

Garrett Oliver came back for another tour of Austin. He comes every few years, and it is always a pleasure to meet Garrett Oliver. I've written about him before, and a blog post on his work wouldn't do him justice. But you get to enjoy some fun photos of his last appearance at the Draught House.

He always wins the "Best Dressed Man in Brewing" award from me. He's more put together than I am.

Antonelli's Cheese supplied the delicious cheese. If at any time Antonelli's is supplying the cheese, you want to be there.

Here's my unmolested plate and beers. Because I can just take pictures of a place without touching it.

While I don't have a long list of take-aways from this post, I will leave you with a short list of all the cheeses you should always have in the fridge in case company comes over.

• Cheddar
• Brie
• Goat Cheese
• Feta
• Blue cheese of some kind

And always have a variety of beers in the fridge to go with the cheeses.

Colt and Gray: New Find in Denver

A great friend, Taylor Shaw, invited us to an amazing place, Colt and Gray.  Colt and Gray can only be described as an cellar of gluttony and fulfilling hedonic desires.  The environment is a little grey - dark, mysterious, yet elegant.  After a week of drinking beer at the Great American Beer Festival, I only looked at the cocktail menu, and it was very pleasing to me.  Get the Steve Holt. 

To keep your tummy happy, there are amazing little cheesy poofs.  On the menu, they are called blue cheese dusted gougères.  They are pungent, flavorful, soft with a nice chew texture.  I love these things. 

Over the last several years, piggie has been all the rage.  I grew up eating mostly pork, and it was oddly a nostaligic even though the pork wasn't prepared in any way that I had growing up.  Before we arrived, some of our fantastic friends had ordered the half pig head.  Chef Nelson brought out the "oh so lovely" pig head. 

The pig head was served with pickled vegetables and a cauliflower / pig brain puree.  It tastes much better than it sounds.  This type of dish is a fun adventure.  Restaurants should be offering interactive foods more often.  I can only think of a few other interactive meals: Korean BBQ (gogigui), Korean pork belly grill (Samgyeopsal gui), Chinese Hot Pot, Japanese shabu shabu, or fondue. 

I'm not sure how it happened, but I took responsibility of carving this beasts of a meal.  There was some cheek meat, crunchy skin, tongue, and moist fatty skin. 

I guess you could tell that I was pretty aggressive with the carving of this beast of a dish. 

And I probably had too much fun playing with it later too!  Colt and Gray has earned a spot on my "must go to" Denver list. 

The World of Cheese with Juliet Harbutt

I was delighted to be invited to take part in a cheese tasting hosted by Central Market and Juliet Harbutt.  Juliet Harbutt is the author of the new book, The World of Cheese, and if you don't already have a copy, you ought to go out and get one.  The book is guide to all things cheese along with beautiful pictures of cheese that will make your tummy scream, "FEED ME!"  What you won't find so easily in the book is Juliet's incredible sense of humor.  She's like a comedy act for food nerds an cheese whores.  That's not even mentioning that she knows her beers and wines.  Thank you to Juliet and Central Market for an incredibly fun-filled lunch.   The cheese tasting event was not only enjoyable, but very educational.  Some important tips that we learned about cheese was that cheese should come to room temperature prior to eating.  This will let the full aromas and flavors to truly develop in your mouth.  Cheese should also be eaten soon after it is purchased.  Don't keep it in the fridge for weeks thinking that it is still going to be good.  It might still be edible, but it probably won't be as good as it was several weeks ago.   Cheese that is warmed in your hands also has a different smell.  Try it next time with your cheese (but not brie, goat cheese, or other soft and creamy cheeses because that will just make a nasty sticky mess).  Roll a bit of the cheese around in your hand, smoosh it up, and take a whiff.  Does it smell like how the cheese book describes?  Does it smell like fresh cut grass, smoky wood, wet wool, dirty gym socks, or almonds?  Now savor that cheese (not the smooshy one, feed that to someone with a less discerning palate) with a complementary wine or beer.  I won't dive into cheese and beer pairings, but let's just say that there is a plethora of information out there about it.   Enjoy some photos (by John Knox) from the event, and don't forget to savor your cheese and check out Juliet Harbutt's World of Cheese. I'd like to take this home. YUMMY! I mean delicious *in a very ladylike fashion*. Cheese plate, up.  Smoosh the cheese.  Get those aromas going.  I love blue mold.