Smoked, Grilled and Sauced Class ~ Smokes!

Sizzzzzzleeeee…is all you heard last nite in a room chucked full of almost 40 people for a very fun  Smoked, Grilled and Sauced Class @ Cooks of Crocus Hill in St Paul  with Minneapolis Culinary Superstars:  Chef Mike Shannon, Sommelier Leslee Miller and Cicerone Michael Agnew. 
First thing you ask is…what’s a Cicerone and what’s he doing with Mike and Leslee?  Michael is a new friend of this culinary team and we welcome him wholely with his wonderful knowledge of BEER.   Beer, that’s right I said it…and, a Cicerone is a person with a certification in beer knowledge.  ‘Kind of’ like a Sommelier.  The program is new to the US so they are, as Michael says, still figuring it all out.  But look out, the world is full of beer dorks, and I have to say…I like it. 
With a full menu ranging from:  Pulled Pork Cobb Salad, Smoked Salmon Pizza, Grilled Lamb Chops, Jamaican Chicken with Caribbean Slaw and Mike’s Specialty (who knew?!) Cheesecake with Chocolate Almond Crust and Tart Cherry Sauce.  Yum-my.    Between Cicerone and Sommelier, each course was paired off to alternate courses until the two libation dorks went head to head with the Lamb and Cheesecake courses. 
Here’s a run down of my favorite hits…
The starter wine ~ Famega Vinho Verde~ A Perfect Portuguese Treat, especially this time of year!  I love this wine.  A fresh, slightly fizzy Alvarinho (not Albarino, which would be from Spain) – that leaves a little tingle on your palate.  Very, very low in alcohol, a whoppin’ 9.5% alcohol and OMG, easy on the budget, maybe $8 on the shelf.  Milka what?!  That’s something you should be filling the bathtub up with on a Saturday afternoon!
The Pulled Pork Cobb Salad and the Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier.  First, let me just say that my Mike knows how to do anything that involves Smoke and Meat!  I mean he, in my book, is sort of like a little southern God.  His pulled pork, I’d throw on my pancakes!  The Hefe Weissbier was a perfect pairing to this Cobb.  With a slight egg like note of soft, yeast and floral aromas and mouth-filling creamy wheat, it was a perfect refreshment to this down home meaty Cobb.
Next, Korta Katarina’s Croatian Rosé (if you haven’t had the run down of these tasting notes, hit the blog entries below!) and the Smoked Salmon Pizza.  I love funky things on my pizza and this was a real winner for me.  The full salmon flavors, yet the supple strawberry fields of the rosé went hand in hand. 
The Jamaican Chicken with Caribbean Slaw was a lovely treat with probably my new favorite IPA.  Meantime Brewing Co. made India Pale Ale.  I love hops!  I love the floral aromas and the zesty little kick that they give beer, this was a very good pairing with the slaw having a slight kick to its profile.
The next two course were my favs…
The Grilled Lamb Chops ~ 1.  I have to give it up for one of my favorite Brunello di Montalcino producers, IL POGGIONE.  My 2004 Brunello di Montalcino rocked the lamb.  The herbal elements to the Sangiovese paired to the lamb chop and its Italian like chickpeas and tomato side…get out of town.  I mean, it was like that old Elvira Pinball Game, I was rocked!   
2.  I do however, have to hand it to my beer friend.  His pairing to the dish, Flat Earth Ovni Ale.  A local group of really great peeps.  I will tell you, I’ve been over there in St Paul to visit them a few times, and their beer is killer!  You must check out their Tues and Thurs Happy Hour!   This traditional farmhouse Biere de Garde was malty, rich, nutty and heavy with caramel.  Absolutely terrific with the lamb.
 
Last but not least ~  1.  The Tart Cherry Cheesecake with Chocolate Almond Crust.  And, I don’t even like sweets!  This was it for me.  What did I pour?  A very cool, old school producer from Germany, Schlink Haus, and their Dornfelder.  The Dornfelder grape produced slightly sweet had almost a nutty, sour cherry peel to it and oh boy, it was unbelievable.  I loved it!  And, I think I licked the bottom on the plate – c’mon Mike, you didn’t tell us you could cook cheesecake like that?  2.  Our Cicerone paired one of my favorite Sunday morning sippers, the Lindemans Kriek Lambic.  A spontaneous fermented wheat beer with a lush, bubbly content – ripe with cherry yet sour with strains of yeast.  I’m not sure what pairing I liked more on this one?  They were both just rock solid pairs in my opinion.  Very cool.
There you have it.  If you missed out again, what the heck are you waiting for?  These classes have been named: 
   THE TWIN CITIES’S  BEST FOOD AND WINE PAIRING CLASSES! 
With a class full of 40pp, we still had 30pp on our wait list.  Looks like we’ll have to teach another soon.  And really, if it wasn’t for our ‘peeps’ that support us with these amazing classes and the fun that YOU ALL bring to the room, we wouldn’t be here.  Thank you! for all who make these classes a blast. 
Don’t forget to sign up for these classes early, they have been known to fill up immediately.  Check ’em out if you can, in the meantime…keep drinking and pairing!