Tag: Wormtown Brewery

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The Civic and B.T.’s Team Up for an Evening of Award Winning BBQ

No restrictions; Introducing a new dinner series, Chef's Best: The Nemeroff Experience. Kicking it off at Old Sturbridge Village with Chef William Nemeroff. Limited number of tickets still available.

Chef Rick Araujo of Civic Kitchen & Drink knew who to tap for an evening dedicated to “award winning barbeque.”

B.T.’s Smokehouse has cultivated a rich barbeque culture in New England for over a decade. Fueled by quality natural meats, a coveted dry rub, and a whole lot of patience, B.T.’s Smokehouse slow smokes its bounty over local apple and hickory – sometimes for days on end. This illustrious eatery may have found its start in a roadside trailer, but today, B.T.’s Smokehouse in Sturbridge is consistently recognized among the top barbeque joints in New England.

Chef William Nemeroff is the Director of Operations at B.T.’s Smokehouse. Nemeroff is an “award winner” himself having secured the title of Champion at Worcester Best Chef’s Iron Chef Competition in both 2016 and 2017. On Wednesday, March 21st, he teams up with Araujo to bring his barbeque prowess to Westborough.

“We are all about local product and the community, so we love taking this opportunity to showcase our local heroes in the culinary landscape,” shares Araujo. “Bill is respected throughout the region for his fantastic BBQ dishes, and we can’t wait to welcome him to our kitchen on March 21. We’re going to be cooking up some amazing BBQ – I can’t wait to learn some of his secrets!”

The evening will kick off at 6 p.m. with B.T.’s 3 year aged prosciutto as well as sausages and accoutrements by The Civic. Wormtown pairings will accompany each of the five courses. Other featured dishes are set to include a smoked Faroe Island salad, double smoked pork jowl with Four Star Farms cheddar grits, and a 26 hour smoked beef brisket. Save room for dessert; Araujo and Nemeroff are sending guests off with a pudding of bourbon roasted banana puree and smoked nuts.

This is the first in a series of guest collaboration dinners at The Civic. It promises to be no ordinary dinner party. Limited tickets remain on The Civic’s website for $59 per person.

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The Land Picks the Pairing at Four Star Farms

House milled 4 Star Farms wharthog wheat & baby carrot pappardelle, roasted baby carrots, kale & green garlic, carrot top salsa, aged goat cheese, carrot crumb and Honest Weight Branch Bridge.

Four Star Farms is located on the prehistoric lake bottom of Lake Hitchcock in Northfield, Massachusetts. This family farm boasts several feet of the best topsoil in the world – Hadley Silt Loam – ensuring peak conditions for thriving grains and hops. As a result, more than fifty local purveyors have taken to using Four Star’s crops to make beer, pasta, and pastries, among dozens of other grainy iterations dreamed up by our creative culinary community. If the key to a great pairing relies on terroir (the French term for ‘earth’) it was written in the stars for the L’Etoiles.

Armsby Abbey's Chef Damian Evangelous makes a visit to Four Star Farms.
Armsby Abbey’s Chef Damian Evangelous makes a visit to Four Star Farms.

Four Star Farms was built and passed down through fourteen generations of L’Etoiles. You’ve likely enjoyed the fruits of their labor at Central Mass breweries like Wormtown, Medusa, KBC, and Homefield as well as countless area restaurants. When it comes to Four Star Farms, it’s best to let the land do the pairing.

Four Star’s grains are something of a constant on the menu at Worcester’s Armsby Abbey where Western Mass breweries like Honest Weight and Brick and Feather have quickly risen through the ranks. Both Honest Weight and Brick and Feather benefit from Four Star’s plentiful harvest, making them natural pairings for dishes like the Abbey’s Pappardelle.

Kitten with a Whip at Brick and Feather Brewery
Kitten with a Whip at Brick and Feather Brewery

The Baby Carrot Pappardelle is made with juiced carrot and a house milled whole grain from Four Star Farms called Warthog Wheat. The dish is served with roasted baby carrots, kale and green garlic, carrot top salsa, aged goat cheese, and carrot crumb. Liz L’Etoile explains, “The warthog is used by lots of bakers for sourdough loaves and has a very strong wheat flavor; it can also be used in strong pastas.”

Warthog is a hard-red-winter-wheat variety. “‘Hard’ relates to the type of protein – a rising protein great for making breads, ‘red’ is related to the color of the berry – there are red or white berries, and ‘winter’ relates to the time of year the grain is planted – late fall,” says L’Etoille.

As for beer pairings, keep an eye on the draft list for selections like ‘Kitten with a Whip’ – Brick and Feather’s new Munich Helles Lager, or ‘Lightworks’ – Honest Weight’s American Blonde. Both brews are light and crushable, ideal for easy summer drinking. Brick and Feather’s head brewer, Lawrence George adds, “We are about to release a new beer that uses some of Four Star’s hops and also includes elder flower and honey. We don’t have a name for it yet but it is the 100th batch of beer we’ve brewed, and it’s a farmhouse style Belgian ale.”

You can find Brick and Feather and Honest Weight along with Damian Evangelous of Armsby Abbey at the Lettuce Be Local Farmer Dinner on Sunday, July 23rd. The event will be held at Four Star Farms at 3 p.m. and promises a heartfelt showcase of local and traceable ingredients.