Trouble With Toast

A real sausage-fest

No, not THAT kind of sausage-fest, you dirty birds.  An actual festival of sausage, courtesy of Chef Gillian Clark and the fine folks at Colorado Kitchen!

When we visited for dinner a few weeks ago, we noticed that the table tents were advertising an event called “Bangers and Beer.”  Intrigued, my boyfriend and I coughed up the $45 per person fee and got our names on the list.  I must admit, I was skeptical that we’d get our money’s worth.  However, when we returned on the eve of the blessed event (which was held on a day when the restaurant is usually closed), we were treated to an incredible variety of sausages and suds, the latter of which came from the Oskar Blues Brewery and were all in cans.

The first round was homemade (by Chef Clark) seafood sausage with braised cabbage.  The sausage was delicious, and the cabbage was tender and mild.  The second round was maharlika longanissa (a Polynesian pork sausage) with pineapple salsa.  YUM–probably my favorite of the evening, the meaty sausage meshed perfectly with the sweet, slightly tangy pineapple.  Both of these dishes were paired with the Ten Fidy Imperial Stout (10% ABV).  I was VERY concerned about how a stout would taste with something as delicate as seafood sausage, but it was a wonderful pairing.  I don’t normally like dark beers like that, but despite its motor oil-esque consistency, it was actually quite good.

The third plate of sausage was New York-style with caramelized onions and potato salad.  This one was just okay for me (though the gentleman from the Bronx sitting to my right thought it was quite authentic), but the onions were sweet and tasty.  The fourth plate was a boudin blanc with smoked onions.  I wish I had kept some of the caramelized onions to compare with the smoked, as both were really good but very different.  The boudin’s texture was out of this world, but it was incredibly rich and I couldn’t finish more than a few bites.  These courses were served with the Gordon Strong Ale (8.7% ABV).  It had a great amber color, was quite floral, and managed to be hoppy without being overwhelmingly bitter.  Probably my favorite beer of the night.

The fifth type of sausage?  Hot links, served with cole slaw.  The links were just okay, and I didn’t like the cole slaw as much as the braised cabbage from the first plating.  The sixth variety was andouille with curried potato salad.  Hooray!  The sausage was incredibly spicy, but the potatoes cooled the tongue and added great dimension to the dish as a whole.  The beer for these rounds was Dale’s Pale Ale (6.5% ABV), which was similar to the Strong Ale but had a more honey-like color and a lighter, mellower, more effervescent taste.  I still liked the Strong Ale the best, but Dale’s came in a close second.

The meatstravaganza closed with sausage numbers seven and eight, a venison and juniper berry version (served with baked beans) and a wild boar, black currant, and blueberry version (served with German potato salad).  I liked both of these sausaged VERY much, although I think the wild boar slightly edged out the venison because you could really taste the interplay between the meat and the berries.  I also didn’t really care for the baked beans (they were a little dry), but the potato salad was quite good.  Our last beer was the Old Chub Scottish Style Ale (8% ABV).  To be honest, I was so full and drunk at this point that I didn’t taste much of this beer–but I recall that it was way too heavy for the end of the meal (at least in my personal state).  I’d like to try it again, though, as I’m sure it would have been good on an emptier stomach.

Dessert did not contain sausage, thank goodness–it was chocolate and nut stuffed tuilles, and it was the perfect finale to a wonderful evening.  After sipping some coffee and thanking the chef and her staff, we ambled to the bus stop, fat and happy.  If you haven’t been to one of Colorado Kitchen’s special events, you should definitely do so–you will get more than your money’s worth, you’ll learn a few things, and you’ll have a helluva time.