A beer and food night.

'Ahhh ambasador wiz zis two posts in two days you are spoiling us'

Righo, another evening with Mark from Pencil and Spoon and my friend Nathalie. Nathalie, like most girls doesn't drink beer, leaving all the more for us to work through!

The menu was as follows:

Starter
Spanish omelette with balsamic roast pepper salsa and wild rocket salad.

Main
Herby pork sausage stew with butterbeans, served with roasted garlics and fresh bread.

Desert
Rich, dark chocolate pots with sour cherries.

Cheese
Montgomery's Cheddar, Montenebro Goat, Dorset Blue Vinny.

The food went down really well, some really great pairings were discovered. The sausages were paired very well by Mark with Hopdaemon Leviathan, a 6% ruby coloured beer that fitted well with the earthy herbs and sweetness of the tomatoes.

BrewDog Paradox Longrow with the blue cheese worked beautifully, as did BrewDog's hardcore IPA with the super strong cheddar.

The real winning combo of the night however was the chocolate pud with cherry beer. At Mark's request, here is the recipe for the chocolate pudding.


To make 6-8 portions you will need:

300g of good quality plain chocolate (about 70% cocoa solids)
two egg yolks
A pint of double cream
25g salted butter
75g chopped unsweetened dried cherries

First, melt your chocolate in a bain marie (a bowl suspended over boiling water in a saucepan). When the chocolate has melted, add the cherries and butter and stir until the butter has then melted. Turn off the heat. Add your egg yolks and stir quickly, if you stir too slowly you will end up with chocolate scrambled eggs (that wouldn't be good would it now?). The egg yolks will thicken things up considerably, slowly stir in the cream until the mixture is shiny and unctuous. Put the mixture into espresso cups and chill in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.

Served with a sweeter cherry beer (proper lambic is just a bit too sour) makes for an amazing combination. I'm going to stick my neck out and say it is in the top three I have come across. It will be repeated soon!