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I make this at the beginning of the cold weather, and have it ready all winter. Vary the flavor of your mix by trying flavored nondairy creamer; I like the cinnamon.

A chocolate cake made with boiling water. Frost with your favorite chocolate frosting.

Bar Crudo, a raw bar in San Francisco (we’ve written about them before), is having an “Extreme Beer Dinner” on February 24th. From their website:

Sunday, February 24, 2008
6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Celebrating strong ale month in San Francisco, Bar Crudo will be continuing their monthly beer dinner with the Extreme Beer Dinner. Chef Mike Selvera will create an all Cajun menu(think gumbo, oysters, and crawfish) in crudo style. Beer Director Tim Selvera will select some amazing beer.

Pioneering breweries such as Russian River, Allagash, Jolly Pumpkin and, yes, Samuel Adams are creating complex beers that go beyond traditional beer styles. This dinner will exemplify how serious beer matches with serious food. It will also be delicious!

5 Cajun courses paired with 5 extreme beers
$70
Tickets for this event can be purchased by e-mailing us at tim@barcrudo.com, or calling us directly at 415-517-3768
There are only 31 seats available so contact us soon.

Although the menu isn’t posted, we’re definitely liking what Bar Crudo is doing. And given the large number of high-quality high-gravity beers that are present on the left coast (think Lost Abbey, for instance), this is a wonderful way to sample a variety of “extreme” brews.

If anyone in the San Francisco area attends and takes photos or wants to write a review, feel free to pass it on here and we’ll pimp your work.

There’s a beer dinner coming up at Tuscarora Mill in Leesburg, Virginia, with the featured beer coming from Flying Dog Brewery on February 19, 2008.

Tuscarora Mill welcomes a new dog to the neighborhood! Flying Dog Brewery, now of nearby Frederick, Maryland, will be our guest for a 5-course dinner with beer to celebrate their move to the east coast. You will enjoy the broad range of these fine brews and the way they so perfectly compliment good cooking.

Greet’er Beer: Old Scratch Amber Lager

Honey-Lime Glazed Shrimp
With Toasted Couscous and
Coriander-Tomato Coulis
paired with Doggie Style Pale Ale/ Snake Bite IPA

Tea Smoked Quail
with Napa Slaw and Tamari
paired with Road Dog Porter

Spiny Lobster Salad
with Baby Cress, Roasted Tomatoes, Lemon Oil
paired with Wild Dog Dopplebock

Gonzo Porter Braised Venison Short Ribs
Balsamic - Molasses
paired with Gonzo Imperial Porter

Cambozola Cheese with Apple Quince Compote
paired with Horn Dog Barley Wine

$65.00 - Inclusive
Click here to request a reservation.

This month’s session is about Barley Wines with The Brew Site being the host. Flying Dog Brewery had a sales and marketing soirée up in Steamboat last weekend, and we decided to prepare our own beer dinner. Among our courses, we decided to include our Barrel-Aged Horn Dog Barley Wine paired with smelly Stilton cheese. Barley Wine pairs extremely well with the Sharpness of the blue cheese. If blue cheese isn’t your thing, barley wine also pairs wonderfully with chocolate.

We decided to shoot some HD video of the event, and you can click the image below to be taken to the HD video.

Course 1: Stilton Cheese on toasted bread paired with Flying Dog Barrel-Aged Horn Dog Barley Wine (an über-limited release based off our standard production Barley Wine). Blue Cheeses pair well with Barley Wines.

Course 2: Maryland crab puffs paired with Flying Dog Tire Bite Golden Ale. Our Jim Lutz brought a $30 can of Maryland crab out to Colorado and showed us how to make crab puffs. Basically it’s crab, old bay seasoning, salt and pepper, scallions and Flying Dog Road Dog Porter. Next the crab gets placed into some crescent rolls (crescent, croissant…) and baked for about 18 minutes (whatever it says on your croissant recipe).

Course 3: Salmon pie paired with Flying Dog Double Dog Double Pale Ale. Recipe available here.