Left Hand Beer Dinner

LEFT HAND BEER DINNER at RESTAURANT 4580

Thursday July 29th 2010

Menu

FIRST

johny blue hill mussels in JuJu ginger broth with juju ginger onion rings

SECOND

400 lb Monkey Salad fried plantains, spinac, mango, cilantro, 400lb vinaigrette

THIRD

sawtooth glazed grilled quail, roasted fingerling potatoes, grilled patty pan squash with a clover honey sawtooth sauce

A SWEET ENDING

oatmeal cookie and milk stout ice cream sandwiche

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Brown Palace Installs Rooftop Beehives

Culinary Colorado

Honey from above to be served at high tea in the lobby

A colony of honey bees has checked into Denver's landmark Brown Palace Hotel and Spa -- or rather checked onto its roof. The colony's mission is the production honey for the traditional, elegant afternoon tea and hopefully in the future toward signature spa treatments. While past Brown Palace guests have included crowned royalty, the hotel started with its own two resident queen bees supported by a court of 20,000 worker bees that are expected to grow to 140,000 by the end of the summer. The hotel has named this "the Bee Royalty Initiative."

The Brown has long had its own historian, and now it also has hired a dedicated beekeeper, Matt Kentner of Kentner Farms. He removes bees for people who don't want them and sources beehives to local farmers and ranchers who do want them for essential pollination of their crops. He's also a "personal beekeeper" and now is working with the Brown's colony. In the city, the bees buzz around landscaped city avenues and parks dipping into the pollan of flowering trees, bushes and other fblossoms to make honey out of their haul.

Colony collapse, unexpected decrease in bee communities, has been a real concern to growers, and the Brown is doing its part to improve the situation. As Kentner reminds people, “Unfortunately there are a lot of misconceptions about the nature of bees and what crucial roles they play in our food supply and environment. The affects of the decline in bees is extremely alarming and it’s important that we build awareness and do our part to help,”

Toward that held, the Brown Palace has donated two beehives to the Denver Beekeepers Association to assist in establishing hives in the Denver community and has also partnered with Denver Parks & Recreation to plant bee-friendly flowers in the nearby Civic Center Park.

“We’ve worked for years to bring urban beekeeping to fruition in Denver and The Brown Palace has demonstrated a true commitment to fostering these efforts in our community,” according to Marygael Meister, president of the Denver Beekeepers Association.

The hotel is running a "Name the Hives Contest," with contributors of the two winning names rewarded with a weekend getaway at The Brown Palace. Enter by going to the Brown's dedicated Facebook page.

Beet Salad with Lemon Mustard Vinaigrette

Serves 4

For the Beets:

1 lb medium sized beets, sliced
1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Place beets on baking tray and toss with rosemary and olive oil. Roast beets at 400 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes until tender. Allow to cool.

For the Salad:

1 bunch mixed greens
4 Tbsp delicious mustard(I used a whole grain horseradish mustard)
4 Tbsp agave nectar or honey - Agave provides slightly less sugar sweetness than honey
4 lemons, juiced(about 4 Tbsp lemon juice)
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk mustard, lemon juice and agave nectar until combined. Toss the salad with the dressing and top with beets.

Snowmass Chili and Beer Festival

A festival devoted to chili and beer, how can you go wrong? The event featured over 30 different varieties of chilies and 50+ breweries pouring everything from beer laced with chamomile(Crazy Mountain Brewery of Vail) to the hottest beer in the world(Ghost Face Killah from Twisted Pine in Boulder). Top everything off with performances by Kyle Hollinsworth of String Cheese, The Wailers and P-Funk and you’ve got a party.

As far as the chili went, there were definitely some standouts this year. My vote goes to the friendly girl with the pulled pork chili. One of the most unique chilies I’ve ever had, both in flavor and ingredients – bacon, pork, beef, 3 kinds of beers and 3 kinds of beans. It was savory, sweet and hearty all at the same time.

Breckenridge Brewery brought out an Imperial Pilsner that was perfectly balanced at around 40 IBU’s and had a nice subtle malt backbone and just over 7% alcohol . Brew Dog, out of Scotland, was also pouring at the fest. Now, I consider Brew Dog one of the best breweries of our time, but they definitely out did themselves with a barrel aged IPA that picked up an incredible smoky peat flavor. While the peat flavor was the dominate flavor in the beer it was not overpowering in the least bit. This one is sure to be a favorite of the scotch drinkers of the world.