The feasting holidays are upon us, so let’s dig in. We got the details on four upcoming dinners to help you prep — nay, pamper — yourself before Thanksgiving. Here are all the details:
• Great Storm Brewing will kick-off a pre-Thanksgiving lineup of drinking and dining events with their pairing dinner on Sunday, November 13 from 6-9 p.m. Featuring crusty, flaky goodness from local, hidden gem 3.14 Sweet & Savory Pi to compliment their specialty beers. This will be the only opportunity to taste the 2015 and 2016 vintages of the Barrel Roll Red side by side.
Appetizer: Traditional English Sausage Roll: 3.14 house-seasoned pork sausage wrapped in flaky pastry served with Branson Pickle and HP Sauce and a side of creamy curry and jalapeño slaw. Served with the Jollification Sour, a Belgian golden ale, mildly soured in oak barrels.
Entree: Pork Green Chili Hand Pi: Slow roasted, seasoned pulled pork, locally grown Milberger Farms green chilies and manchego cheese stuffed inside a flaky pastry served with Pi bar’s sweet and spicy 3.14 Degrees House Sauce. Served with 2015 Barrel Roll Red, an imperial red brewed with caramelized, locally produced, wildflower honey, aged in a Bordeaux barrel.
Entree: Steak and Drunken Mushroom Hand Pi: Top round braised for several hours in red wine, herbs, mushrooms and onions stuffed inside a flaky pastry served with a blue cheese aioli with the 2016 Barrel Roll Red.
Dessert: Bourbon Dutchman Apple Pi: Apples, spices and bourbon covered with a sweet and crunchy crumble with the Thunderstroke Barleywine. A special preview of our Christmas high- gravity English ale, aged in a Woodford Reserve Bourbon barrel.
• JAKs Brewing Co. will host a Southern-style food pairing dinner, partnering with The Great Southern Food Truck on Tuesday, November 15, 6-9 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase in JAKs tap room for $30.
Aperitif: Chicken and waffle slider with Vienna Ale
Soup: File Gumbo with Blonde Bombshell
Entree: A Cajun duo, red beans andouille over rice partnered with shrimp étouffée over rice with the Double IPA
Dessert: Bourbon glazed peach cobbler with candied pecans served with vanilla bean ice cream and the coffee stout on nitro
“Our company Great Southern Foods is about celebrating Southern flavors, gathering around the table, and enjoying the company of family and friends. We feel this event is a great opportunity to share our dishes in an all new way,” say GSFT owners Allison and Jason Ledford.
• Peaks N Pines Brewing Co. kick off their anniversary festivities Tuesday, November 15 6-8 p.m. with another pop-up dinner courtesy of Fly Boys. The event will include an early release of their black cherry bourbon aged barley wine that’s been hanging out this fall in Stranahan barrels. Tickets available at for $45 here.
Appetizer: Ginger-honey shrimp, with Ginger NOT Mary Anne
Soup: Butternut squash and pumpkin soup with Peak Pumpkin Ale
Entree: Pork loin with cherry sauce coupled with the black cherry barley wine
Dessert: Creme Brûlée with Ohana Macadamia Nut Porter on nitro
• More barley wine, food and celebrating will follow Friday and Saturday, November 18 and 19, on Peaks N Pines anniversary weekend (below).
• The Axe and the Oak Distillery has teamed up with Alchemy to bring patrons its “Walk into the Woods” whiskey pairing dinner on Tuesday, November 15 at their new whiskey house in Ivywild. Social hour starts at 5 p.m. with hors d’oeuvres and an adult punch bowl. The four-course dinner begins at 6 p.m. Individual tickets are $60, $100 for couples.
“Alchemy offers a great communal atmosphere with energy and sound that, to me, feels like whiskey,” says Axe and the Oak manager Ryan Toth.
“We worked with them to construct a menu that will show off a different aspect of our whiskey with each course. [It starts] light and fun with community punch bowls, pulled right out of history, progressing into our moonshine, which is where our whiskey starts before it goes into the barrel … then moving through three expressions of our bourbon that emphasize the maple, stone fruit and sweet nuttiness.”
Appetizer: Shine and grapefruit paired with carrot and ginger vichyssoise
Entree: Maple Flip paired with Bourbon cherry, kale, spaghetti squash nest
Entree: Bourbon Sling paired with moonlight short ribs. Bourbonaise, portobello mouse and root vegetables
Dessert: Manhattan paired with forbidden rice pudding, pears and pecans
No matter where you like to loiter around town there are lots of opportunities to pre-game next week leading up to turkey day. Beer, bourbon and winter comfort foods are officially ready for you.
[Images: Courtesy]
