Ted’s Butcherblock beer tasting with food pairing September 20

The wife and my 5th wedding anniversary is this weekend and we have all sorts of things planned including last night’s trip to Ted’s Butcherblock for the 4th installment of their Beer tasting and food pairing. As usual it was a wonderful evening with fantastic beers from all over the world (none of which I had had before) and great food from the head chef.

Rowan’s Creek Bourbon

Well it was time to find another bourbon to try so I scurried (yes scurried) down to the local liquor store to see what was going to be next. After the last two reviews I has going to have to find something that would stand up. Sitting right next to Noah’s Mill was this bottle of Rowan’s Creek. You can tell that it comes from the same people that gave us Noah’s mill by the familiar brown “rustic” style label. This bourbon is named after the creek that “Noah’s Mill” resides on. The creek was the sole source of the limestone filtered water that is used in both Noah’s mill and Rowan’s Creek bourbons (as well as others).

 

Rowan’s Creek is stored in charred oak barrels Twelve years and it is bottled at 50.05% alc./vol. (100.1 proof). As is Noah’s Mill, Rowan’s Creek is hand bottled in small batches. It is almost as rich and dark a color as it’s bigger brother and you can tell by the smell and assume by its proof that it is a slightly lighter product. This is not a bad thing by any means, it is just different. It’s quite fragrant although not as rich as Noah’s Mill. Expected hits of Caramel, fruit, and vanilla. The taste is less in your face as Noah’s but very smooth and still quite rich. The taste has vanilla, smoke, oak, leather, some pear, lemon, and floral notes. Very drinkable with a medium body. It’s not as super charged as Noah’s so have a few (like you don’t have a few Noah’s?). I think I paid $30.00 a 750ml so it is a little bit more affordable than buying the big costly bourbons like Bookers and Noah’s. This is one that I’ll keep around. Less kick that the high octane Noah’s but keeps the high quality standards of its sibling. Very nice.

I think I’ll try and track down some of this next.

Grilled Rubbed pork tenderloin with BBQ sauce, Roasted Poblano Creamy Grits and Chipotle Slaw

So you’ve made the ribs and have some of the rub and sauce left over, what now? This is a great recipe to use some of the condiments from the ribs for another meal.

Classic Smoked BBQ pork spare ribs

This is an easy rib recipe that should make anyone happy with the results.

Ingredients and equipment

• Two racks of pork spare ribs trimmed (these have the skirt removed but the rib tips are still attached, up to you)
• plain yellow mustard
• Dry Rub (recipe follows)
• wet mop
• BBQ Sauce (recipe follows)
• hickory chunks or chips soaked overnight
• Good real charcoal (Cowboy Charcoal is the brand I use but any real charcoal will work)
• Chimney Charcoal Starter
• mopping device
• Smoker (I use a cheap Brinkman offset firebox model – if you have different you’ll need to adjust- if you have better, I’m jealous)

Dragon’s Milk Ale

Picked up a bottle of this from Winston-Salem’s finest beer store (City Beverage) last time I was in the area. Coming in a dark glass bomber style 22 oz bottle with white screen printing. Dragon’s Milk Ale is brewed by New Holland Brewing Company in Holland, Michigan.

I poured it into a pint glass after chilling it overnight. It pours dark with some red/amber highlights has a strong malty aroma with some vanilla and some oak. The creamy head is slightly tan and didn’t hang around too long. It is not as strong a brew as I expected but was pretty good overall. Tastes of caramel, dark roasted to chocolate malt, vanilla and a slight bit of coffee. It does have a creamy smooth mouthfeel and is very easy drinking for 9 ABV. Similar “weight” to a Guiness, but with a more noticable kick. A good ale that I’d drink it again but I doubt I’ll search it out.

Shrimp, Tasso Ham and Okra Gumbo

 

Since I made the Tasso ham a while back I’ve been wanting to make some gumbo. Tasso with its strong cajun flavor and nice texture is a perfect addition to any gumbo. I also wanted to use local shrimp and fresh okra. Charleston and many of the neighboring towns in the Soth Carolina lowcountry are shrimping communities. Imported shrimp have a large negative impact on the SC shrimping industry so I always buy local or I don’t buy. Period. Besides the obvious impact on my neighbors I always try and buy food and produce that is local to the area. It’s always fresher and fresh equals better flavor and quality. Plus who wants to eat shrimp that have been frozen and flown half way across the world? Ok now I’ll step down off the soapbox and continue…