This week, I was invited to attend a very cool food and beverage event; the Short's Beer Dinner at the Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center in East Lansing.

The Short's Dinner was a 4 course meal with several special pairings presented to us by the Short's Brewery's Beer Liberator, Jon Wojtowicz. The dinner was the first in what will eventually become a series of beer and dining events at the Kellogg Center. Wojtowicz, along with State Room General Manager, Jon Trasky, paired Short's beer offerings perfectly with the culinary creations prepared by Chef Matt Wilson. Below is a glimpse of the fabulous menu they prepared for the event.


Starters
Charcuterie
Artisanal Cheeses with Stone Circle Bakery Hearth Breads
Beers – The Golden Rule & The Curl
Second Course
Wasabi Encrusted Red Snapper
Quinoa Risotto, Meyer Lemon Confit
Beer – Hangin’ Frank IPA
Entree
Grilled Duroc Pork Loin
White Bean & Sweet Corn Succotash, Balsamic Cream, Ancho Chili Oil
Beer – Good Samaritan
Dessert
Kahlua Chocolate Torte
With Michigan Strawberry Mousse
Beer – Woodmaster

"The Liberator" even brought a special surprise which really made the event - Short's Key Lime Pie beer. In high demand and currently only in underground supply, this brew isn't even available until July! I know many of you might be thinking, "Key Lime Pie BEER???!!!" Sound crazy? Impossible? Unimaginable? It's not as crazy as you think!

Craft brew enthusiasts know that the sky really is the limit when creating new and interesting batches. Skeptics might doubt the probability of this beer actually tasting like a slice of Key Lime goodness, and definitely might doubt that it lives up to how Short's describes it - "Made with fresh limes, milk sugar, graham cracker, and marshmallow fluff, we were able to recreate this popular dessert into a heavenly drinkable version. The prominent flavors are immensely sweet, yet tart, with subtle hints of graham cracker coming through in the nose and remain on the back of the palate". After we tasted it, there wasn't a cynic in the house; everyone who enjoyed a glass was convinced, this was INCREDIBLE.

Based on the quality of the food, as well as the generous libations, I can only guess that this is the next big thing for State Room at Kellogg. Currently, The State Room hosts monthly chef dinners, featuring chefs from around the country. This week, the featured chef is Brian Goodman of the Greenhouse Tavern in Cleveland.

As a chef, it is always really exciting to learn more about food, but it is even more exciting to learn how other industries are celebrating and embracing the principles of flavor profiles from a culinary point of view, and using real ingredients (nothing artificial) to create such flavorful gastronomic brilliance. Discovering these gems is a treasure of its own, but then also experiencing them in a pairing is a chef or foodie's dream-come-true.

As The Liberator explained, some people are referring to the development of these craft beers as a revolution, when it is in fact, a renaissance. As so often happens in the culinary world, many things we have come to love have been done before, but experiencing it with a fresh approach is when renaissance become revelation.

Saturday morning on my way into the office, I noticed a sign for grass-fed beef at my neighborhood makeshift Farmer’s Market. Many of you know that I have real reservations about, and mostly abstain from, eating meat and poultry, for numerous reasons, ranging from animal welfare, economics, to unabashed food-snobbery.

As a chef, I’m passionate about good food, of course, perhaps bordering on somewhat of an obsession. From a political or economic standpoint, the issues of food quality, point of origin, processing, distribution, and consumption can be so complex on so many different levels (which we’ve very briefly explored in previous blog posts). Because our first love is our love of food, we offer almost any kind of class you can imagine. Tonight as I type my blog, the wonderful aroma of garlic and onions are wafting underneath my closed door, as the students in the classroom are learning about vegan & vegetarian cuisine.

At Mirepoix, we believe that good health, quality of life, and excellent tasting food can all be enjoyed simultaneously. Surrounded by conflicting and sometimes complicated messages about food and nutrition, we strive to help people to make educated choices.

Over the years, we’ve all been inundated by fad diet philosophies (low fat, low carb, Sugar Busters, vegetarian, raw food, vegan, etc.) only to find out that a new plan will hit the Best Seller list. Good foods, bad foods, on and on. The Mirepoix Cooking School credo is simple – If it’s not food, don’t eat it!

Sounds over-simplified, but it’s true. The American diet has shifted from eating whole, natural, and local (or even home-grown) foods, to consuming more than half of our daily calories from processed, packaged foodstuffs made in a factory somewhere. Most of the meat and dairy products we consume in this country are raised, produced, and processed in a manner that would appall and disappoint almost any responsible human.

At Mirepoix, we have very strict and straightforward quality standards for our ingredients (we use natural & cruelty free meats and dairy products, and choose local ingredients & products whenever possible).


Now more than ever, there is a serious disconnect from the source and origin of what we pile onto our plates. Behind even the most ubiquitous shrink-wrapped boneless skinless chicken breast is a story, and most of the time, you wouldn’t want to hear it.

The good news is, you have choices!

When people hear “vegetarian”, they typically think of tofu and other meat substitutes. I, however, always stress the opposite. Many people decide to “go veg”, and their eating habits sometimes become worse than the habits they held to before! Many people on a vegetarian diet tend to eat too many carbohydrates and processed foods, rather than the healthy whole foods they need.

Tonight’s class has a recipe that features tofu and soy milk (vegan chocolate cupcakes). Typically tofu, temphe, seitan, and other “meat replacements” are more processed than I personally prefer. If my ultimate goal is to eat “real food” or “responsible food”, for me, these things do not fall into that category. Though I am a supporter of animal rights, and anti-animal cruelty, I would prefer to eat a naturally raised, free-range, non-commercially processed local chicken than to eat faux chicken or something out of a package. Stricter folks than I would never consider eating animal protein, and for them, there are other excellent and healthful ways to keep protein in their diets.

Soy milk is often flavored and high in sugar. The only soy milk we use in our classes is Eden Unsweetened Soy Milk (although I prefer West Soy plain). For me, soy “cheeses” are completely out of the question and I would NEVER, from a chef’s or a natural foodist’s perspective cook them, eat them, or recommend them.

Because or starting point is our genuine love of food, all of our cooking classes feature nothing artificial, and very few “reduced fat” items. Instead, we reduce the amounts of full fat ingredients where appropriate, and compliment them with naturally lower fat (read: not chemically stabilized) ingredients.

When you’re a chef, having access to all of this incredible food can be a dangerous thing! Most of the staff at Mirepoix watch our waistlines for practical reasons. 4 cooking classes a week can add up to some SERIOUS calories! For those of us who still want to enjoy great tasting food, without compromising the integrity of the dish, we eat less of the full-fat stuff and know that we can be satisfied with just a taste or two. We believe in moderation, quality, using proper cooking techniques, and stressing ingredient knowledge, so that we can make delicious recipes everyone can enjoy.

Many can rightly argue that eating better quality food (unprocessed) is expensive and out of reach for many. I will never argue against that point, or try to marginalize the desperate economic restraints that impact the quality of food served at the dinner tables across our country and all over the world. The economics of the plate can be complicated, but, for the purposes of narrowing them for the average middle-class American, responsibly raised and produced food can be within reach.

Because I feel so strongly about the quality of the food I eat and serve, and the story behind it, there are certain things I will not buy. Personally, I do not buy Land O Lakes dairy products because reports have shown that their treatment of livestock is inhumane (and that’s being polite). This doesn’t mean that I buy excessive amounts of expensive European style butter to stock my fridge at home, or even pounds and pounds of the pricier, but local “Calder’s”. It simply means that I spend my money on what seems appropriate, and I use it sparingly. There is also an innate ability that chefs have to enjoy pure food and its nuances (real food without all of the butter and salt!)

There is a notion in America that we “need” to eat heavy portions of meat and other animal products, and we’ve even fooled ourselves into thinking that it’s good for us. The fact is, a true serving size of animal protein is much, much smaller than what we typically eat (think 2/3 less) or “need” to feel satisfied. With the money spent on all of the extra, mass-produced chicken you don’t really need, you could buy (albeit less) higher-quality, more responsibly raised and processed ingredient(Bell & Evans, or a local farmer, etc.).

Of course, these are just our recommendations and guidelines, and I’ve only superficially scratched the surface of the economic, political, and social issues surrounding this topic. Regardless of what we recommend, you will make the best selections in your kitchen at home, based on your unique lifestyle.

Whether flexitarian, vegetarian, vegan, or omnivore, focus on flavor, good food, and moderation, and your body will run like the beautifully designed machine it is.

Don't forget about our Cooking From Scratch Recipe Contest! The deadline for entry is August 7!