HopHeadSaid
  • Blog
  • pintsandpairings
  • ABOS

Sidecar Restaurant: Beer and Bacon Dessert

10/2/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
If you don't have any dinner plans for Sunday then I suggest you pencil in Beer and Bacon Night at The SideCar Restaurant! Yep, Beer and Bacon Night features local beer pairings with the best bacon inspired food you have had! This is an ongoing event that happens every Sunday so if you can't get there this week there is always next week.

A few weeks ago, I was invited to try out this newly themed night. One look at the menu and I knew I couldn't pass up this opportunity. Since the invite included a guest, I called up a friend to share the experience with.  It was a good thing I did, and I suggest you do the same thing as there is just too much for one person to try.

If this review encourages you to go to the Sidecar Restaurant and try their bacon and beer pairing offerings, please let them know you read about them here.

To view the appetizer and entree beer pairings click HERE.

Beer and Bacon Dessert

Tasting tip: Try each part of the meal individually first, batter, waffle, sloppy joe, etc.  Then take a sip of beer, make mental notes about the flavors you taste. Then try each part with sip of beer. Then start combining all the parts and sipping beer along the way.

Picture
No, your eyes are not deceiving you.  That is a bacon and brown ale cheesecake, made with Ouroboros' Old Bar Brown Ale and bacon bits! The beer's assertive roastiness balances the sweet cheesecake filling and resonates with the crumb crust.  The bacon adds a crunchy texture and wonderful subtle bacon flavor to each bite.

Pairing the cheesecake with the same beer that is used as an ingredient, is a great place to start as it will help you pull out the beer's flavor in the cheesecake.  The cheesecake's sweetness also counteracts some of the pronounced roastiness in the beer smoothing off some of its rostier edges.

However, if you have any of the Ouroboros' Purple Iris leftover from the entree then try that, as well. This pairing is more about contrasting flavors than the brown ale pairing as it sets the citrus/resiny hop flavor up against the sweet cheesecake. The two meet up somewhere in the middle and the cheesecake moderates the aggressive hop flavor and bitterness while the hop flavor and bitterness prevents the cheesecake from becoming too sweet.


Chef Tim Kilcoyne

Picture
Meet Tim, the mastermind behind all the wonderful bacon and beer pairings at the Sidecar Restaurant in Ventura, CA. Tim is a graduate of the Le Cordon Bleu Western Culinary Institute in Portland and has worked throughout California in such places like Cafe Melisse and Louise's Trattoria in LA.

You can read more about Tim in the Sidecar Restaurant's website, but all you really need to know is this guy knows how to cook bacon!-)

Bacon and Beer Pairing Menu

Picture
Please Note: These options and prices are subject to change at anytime without notification.  It is always best to call ahead and make a reservation.

Disclaimer: This was a delicious comped meal, but I wouldn't be writing this glowing recap if it hadn't been. 
0 Comments

Sidecar Restaurant: Beer and Bacon Entree

10/1/2012

2 Comments

 
Picture
If you don't have any dinner plans for Sunday then I suggest you pencil in Beer and Bacon Night at The SideCar Restaurant! Yep, Beer and Bacon Night features local beer pairings with the best bacon inspired food you have ever had! This is an ongoing event that happens every Sunday so if you can't get there this week there is always next week.

A few weeks ago, I was invited to try out this newly themed night. One look at the menu and I knew I couldn't pass up this opportunity. Since the invite included a guest, I called up a friend, Matt, to share the experience with.  It was a good thing I did, and I suggest you do the same thing, as there is just too much bacon goodness for one person to try.

If this review encourages you to go to the Sidecar Restaurant and try their bacon and beer pairing offerings, please let them know you read about them here.

To view the Bacon and Beer appetizer or dessert beer pairings click HERE.

Bacon and Beer Entrees 

There are three bacon and beer entrees from which to choose. We ordered the bacon and pork belly sloppy joe in a sweet sauce and the fried chicken on a bacon-sage waffle (yep, bacon and sage bits in the waffle) with bacon infused maple syrup.  Unfortunately, we didn't have enough room in our bellies to try all three but you can bet that I will try the 50/50 burger (ground bacon/beef topped with a fried egg) next time I am there on bacon and beer night.

Tasting tip: Try each part of the meal individually first, batter, waffle, sloppy joe, etc.  Then take a sip of beer, make mental notes about the flavors you taste. Then try each part with sip of beer. Then start combining all the parts and sipping beer along the way.

Picture
The Sloppy Joe is paired with Ouroboros' Old Bar Brown Ale, an assertive American brown ale.  The sloppy joe comes in a slightly sweet sauce and as you can probably guess it is quite savory, as well.  The Old Bar Brown's malty sweetness resonates with sweet sauce building base layer that ties the two together, but it doesn't stop there.  This is one of the roastier (think slightly burnt toast or lightly roasted coffee) brown ales out there and that roasty flavor resonates with the browned bacon and BBQ pork. 

So far this is pairing has been all about building and accentuating individual flavors and now it is time for some contrasting flavors. Old Bar Brown is a medium bodied beer and it finishes dry. This means there is little sweetness in aftertaste, perfect for this pairing.  It builds, and builds on flavor commonalities then right before you swallow, the beer (alcohol and carbonation) cleanses everything away and leaves you with just a hint of roasty flavor that will resonate with your next bite of Sloppy Joe. 


Picture
The fried chicken, bacon-sage waffle with maple bacon syrup is paired with Surf Brewery's County Line Rye.  This pairing works on so many levels. 

First of all, this fried chicken was perfectly prepared. "Light" and crispy batter and super moist chicken underneath.  The batter also has a special mix of spices that resonate with the dry, rye spiciness in the beer. 

The waffle is a treat, as well.  The bits bacon scattered throughout give the waffle a bit hidden texture and, of course, flavor. The sage is an excellent counterpoint to all the sweet and savory flavors with its slight peppery accent. It is the sage that makes this beer pairing so perfect.  Again, the dry, rye spiciness in the beer resonates with the sage in the waffle. 

And then comes one of my favorite parts of any beer pairing. That moment when you take a sip of beer and the carbonation lifts up all the flavors mixes 'em up. If you aren't paying attention you may just miss it which would be a shame. The carbonation causes a brief explosion of flavor and aroma before the beer's malty and/or hoppy flavors take over.

Now, take a bite that has all of the components (batter, chicken, waffle, syrup)and savor the flavors as they mix and resonate with each other. Swallow. Now take a drink of County Line Rye. Note the momentary explosion of flavor as all of the components are lifted up off the palate and mixed together, again. 

Something to consider: 
The picture doesn't do this entree any justice. It is delicious and HUGE!  That is half of a chicken stacked on that waffle. This is definitely an entree that you can share or take home and eat for lunch the next day.





Disclaimer: This was a delicious comped meal, but I wouldn't be writing this glowing recap if it hadn't been. 
2 Comments

Sidecar Restaurant: Appetizers

9/21/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
If you don't have any dinner plans for Sunday then I suggest you pencil in Beer and Bacon Night at The SideCar Restaurant! Yep, Beer and Bacon Night features local beer pairings with the best bacon inspired food you have had! This is an ongoing event that happens every Sunday so if you can't get there this week there is always next week.

A few weeks ago, I was invited to try out this newly themed night. One look at the menu and I knew I couldn't pass up this opportunity. Since the invite included a guest, I called up a friend to share the experience with.  It was a good thing I did, and I suggest you do the same thing as there is just too much for one person to try.

If this review encourages you to go to the Sidecar Restaurant and try their bacon and beer pairing offerings, please let them know you read about them here.

To view the Bacon and Beer Pairing entrees or dessert options click HERE.

Bacon and Beer Pairing Appetizers

Tasting tip: Try each part of the meal individually first, batter, waffle, sloppy joe, etc.  Then take a sip of beer, make mental notes about the flavors you taste. Then try each part with sip of beer. Then start combining all the parts and sipping beer along the way.

Picture
The meal started with appetizers, as any meal should, and there are two bacon themed selections to choose from. First, was a bacon steak (not pictured because it was a horrible picture) a four inch long, half an inch thick piece of bacon. But it doesn't stop there, it was also rolled in sweet coffee (brown sugar and coffee beans) to add a counterpoint to the savory bacon. Delicious! The second appetizer was bacon battered (yes that is right, bacon bits in the batter) corn dog with bacon mustard.  It is even better than it sounds!

Both of these appetizers were paired with Surf Brewery's Cream Ale. A big THANK YOU to my friend, Matt, who insisted I try this pairing. Normally, I don't go for Cream Ales and so I was ready to pass it up for what I thought would be a better pairing.  You know, because I'm the expert!?  Well, every once in a while it is good to get an old fashioned smack down!-) Do not pass on this pairing. It was so perfectly perfect and a highlight of the meal.

Tasting tip: Try each part of the meal individually first, batter, dog, mustard, etc.  Then take a sip of beer, make mental notes about the flavors you taste. Then try each part with sip of beer. Then start combining all the parts and sipping beer along the way.

The sweet corn-like malt flavors (less than most cream ales) paired well with the corn dog batter (of course) but also with the sweet coffee crust on the bacon steak.  Then the crisp hopping of the Cream ale helped cleanse savory flavors from the palate. Then combine the corn dog and the mustard and sit back and enjoy how the mustard resonates with the hops and momentarily explodes the hop flavor, in a very delicious way)  

Entree and dessert pairing descriptions coming soon!

Disclaimer: This was a delicious comped meal, but I wouldn't be writing this glowing recap if it hadn't been. 

0 Comments
    Picture
    CraftBeerClub.com-The Finest Beers!-125x125 banner
    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    November 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012

    Categories

    All
    21st Amendment Brewery
    3 Stars Brewing
    7 Layer Dip
    Abt 12
    Alesmith
    Amber Ale
    Amber Lager
    American Brown
    American Pale Ale
    American Strong Ale
    American Wheat Or Rye
    Aperitif
    Appetizer
    Artichokes
    Arugula
    Asain
    Avery
    Avery 18
    Avocado
    Bacon
    Barleywine
    Bass
    Beer Dinner
    Beer Pairing Basics
    Belgian Dark Strong
    Belgian Golden Strong
    Bigfoot
    Big Sky Brewing
    Black Butte
    Black Currant
    Blonde Ale
    Bock
    Bohemian
    Bohemian Pilsner
    Bonbon
    Bonfire
    Bo's Man Cave
    Boysenberry
    Bread Pudding
    Brooklyn Brewery
    Brown Ale
    Buddha
    Burrata
    Butternut Squash
    Cabots Clothbound
    Cake
    Cal-Belgique
    Caramel
    Carnitas
    Carrot Cake
    Cassis
    Chai Cream Ale
    Cheese
    Chicory Stout
    Chocolate
    Chocolate Chip Cookies
    Chocolats Du Calibressan
    Cider
    Cinnamon
    Coconut
    Coconut Porter
    County Line Rye
    Cream Ale
    Cucumber
    Cupcakes
    Denver Pale Ale
    Dessert
    Dip
    Dogfish Head
    Donuts
    Doppelbock
    Dortmunder
    Double Jack
    Dragonstooth
    Dr. Bill Sysak
    Duchesse De Bourgogne
    Dupont
    Eisbock
    Elysian Brewing
    English Pale Ale
    Esb
    Ewephoria
    Feta
    Firestone Walker
    Fish
    Flying Dog
    Food Pairing Basics
    Four Points
    Frittata
    Fruit
    Full Sail
    Game
    Ganache
    German
    Ginger
    Grapefruit
    Great Divide
    Grilled Meat
    Halftime
    Half Time
    Ham
    Harpoon
    Heavy Seas
    Helles
    Hennepin
    Hinterland Brewery
    Hopsickle
    Horny Devil
    Hoss
    Ice Cream
    Imperial Ipa
    Imperial Stout
    Ipa
    Kolsch
    Kona Brewing
    Kwak
    Lager
    Lamb
    Lasagna
    Levitation
    Light Hybrid Beer
    Light Lagers
    Lilikoi
    Longhammer
    Loose Cannon
    Maibock
    Marzen
    Maui Brewing
    Meatballs
    Melon
    Mexican Cuisine
    Milk Chocolate
    Mission St Brown Ale
    Monviso Blue
    Moose Drool
    Moylan
    Munich
    Nachos
    New Belgium
    New England
    New York
    Nfl
    Oaked Arrogant Bastard
    Oktoberfest
    Old Bar Brown
    Old Bar Brown Ale
    Ommegang
    Orval
    Ouroboros Ales
    Oysters
    Pairing Categories
    Pale Ale
    Paradise Pantry
    Passion Fruit
    Pepper Jack
    Pilsner
    Pilsner Urquell
    Pleasant Ridge
    Pondhopper
    Pork Sliders
    Porter
    Prosciutto
    Pumpkin
    Quadrupel
    Rauchbier
    Ravioli
    Red Brick
    Red Dragon
    Redhook
    Red Hook
    Ruthless Rye Ipa
    Saison
    Salad
    Salad Witbier
    Salsa
    Salted Caramel
    Samuel Adams
    Schwarzbier
    Scuttlebutt
    Sidecar Restaurant
    Sierra Nevada
    Smoked Meat
    Somersalut
    St. Bernardus
    Steinhaus Brewing Co
    Stone
    Stout
    Surf Brewing
    Sweet Potatoes
    Taste Of Home
    Tdac
    Telegraph Brewing
    Teriyaki
    Terza Birra
    Thanksgiving
    The Bruery
    They Draw And Cook
    Tipsy Turkey
    Tiramisu
    Titan Ipa
    Tome De Savoie
    Trade Winds
    Tripel
    Truffle
    Truffles
    Union Jack
    Uplands
    Veggies
    Vienna
    Wassail
    Weizenbock
    Winnemere
    Winter Warmer
    Witbier
    Woody Creek Whit

    food pairing
All Content © Curtis Taylor 2010-2020