Goose Island Beer Dinner

The day after Meatopia I was lucky enough to visit Resto again for their “American Beer Dinner”: Goose Island Beer Dinner

Goose Island Brewmaster Greg Hall
Executive Chef Bobby Hellen
Resto, 7pm, July 12 2010

First Course:

Cherrystone Clams, Guanciale and Basil

These were HUGE and just SO delicious. The most amazing baconiness from the Guanciale… and the touch of basil… YUM. These were devoured SO freaking fast, gone in a blink of an eye. I only got two :[ I was too busy helping pass out the food that I was left with practically none :[ Haha.. bitter.

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Guanciale (Italian pronunciation: [ɡwanˈtʃaːle]) is an unsmoked Italian bacon prepared with pig‘s jowl or cheeks. Its name is derived from guancia, Italian for cheek. Guanciale is similar to the jowl bacon of the United States.

Pork cheek is rubbed with salt, ground black pepper or red pepper and cured for three weeks. Its flavor is stronger than other pork products, such as pancetta, and its texture is more delicate.

Guanciale is traditionally used in dishes like pasta all’amatriciana and spaghetti alla carbonara. It is a delicacy of central Italy, particularly Umbria and Lazio.

Source: Wikipedia

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Little Neck Clams, Smoke Paprika and Onion

Very very good with a touch of spice/heat to it from the paprika. YUM.

Steamers, Drawn Butter

So fresh and delicious. Nothing like a freshly steamed shellfish. These were my absolute favorite because you don’t even need the butter – just a touch of tabasco, but even tho there was none I was still licking my lips slurping them down.

Paired with:

Sofie
A Belgian style farmhouse ale fermented with wild yeasts and aged in wine barrels

One of my favorite Goose Island beers :] R and I have a couple of these almost every night.

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Second Course:

Scotch Egg

Rosemary & Sage Sausage, Glebocki Greens

Me focusing really hard on my scotch egg. It was so divine. Creamy inside and a nicely breaded outside. Divine. The salad on the side with a bit of bacon was perfection.

Paired with:

Matilda
A Belgian style pale ale

We had AWESOME neighbors at the table. We all drank, got merry and made friends.

He’s “Mr. Big Tooth” :]

All of us acting drunk and crazy.

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We were so lucky to be able to have many many conversations with Greg. He moved to each table talking about his beers, each beer pairing and answering personal questions – He told me that a wheat Imperial is hitting shelves soon OUTSIDE of Chitown WOOT!

Third Course:

Smoked Beef Rib

Corn Pudding, Alepo Pepper

Super creamy corn pudding with whole kernals in it… the meat was fall of the bone and I cleaned my plate and bone so well that my neighbors were poking fun at me. R just shrugged.. he’s used to it. But why waste good food?

Paired with:

Pere Jacques
A Belgian style dubbel brewed with Belgian yeast

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Fourth Course:

Salted Caramel Ice Cream Parfait

Stumptown Espresso, Bourbon County Stout Syrup

This was SO amazing, I wish they gave me a pool of it to swim in. Creamy and full of flavor. Greg was talking about beer and I was just eating.. devoured.. INHALED.. R felt bad and gave me the rest of his as well :] He keeps my belly happy…

Paired with:

Bourbon County Stout
Belgian style stout aged in bourbon barrels

An amazing stout. It was thick, creamy and paired SO well with the ice cream. Def not a beer I’d drink on it’s own, but the sweet totally helped cut thru it and just together made my tastebuds dance.

Me with the awesome Greg Hall :]

Another picture of us being crazy. I have NO idea why the waiter took a shot like this. It’s not even angled down the right way :P hahaha…

Another AWESOME night at Resto… another beautiful pairing… and how come I haven’t shared a pic with my new Chef buddy Bobby yet? Boo.. ok, next time :D