The annual sausage and beer dinner at Blue Hill at Stone Barns started out two years ago as a small dinner in the half of the private dining room. This past Sunday, it became a huge event: the third annual, where more than 190 people ate four courses of fresh, cured and smoked sausages of all kinds. Three local breweries brought out their best stuff. And so did chef/kitchen director Adam Kaye, who spent more than four months planning for (and close to a year curing for) this meal.

The dinner started in the hay barn — normally reserved for activities and conferences at Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture. We took it over for passed hors d’oeuvres and Xtra Gold, American Triple from Pleasantville’s own Captain Lawrence Brewing Company. An appropriate beverage because it comes in a 750 ml champagne bottle and was served in champagne glasses, too!

Scott Vaccaro, the owner at Captain Lawrence, said it was “light and fruity good with the passed hors d’oeuvres.”

I wish you could rely on me for better tasting notes on beer, but it’s really not my bag. Apologies to the brewmasters! All the drinks were delicious and I enjoyed them…. I just don’t have the vocabulary and experience to describe them.

Food, on the other hand? Yeah. I’ve eaten around. Here’s are the hors d’oeuvres:

Pork Liver with Madeira Gelee:

Testa Croquette with Sauerkraut:

Fried Salsify with Pancetta and Sesame:

Smoked Shrimp and Chorizo:

Polenta topped with lardo (my favorite!):

The tastes were tiny explosions in your mouth, and I loved the varied textures and temperatures. If you’ve ever had Blue Hill’s aparagus with sesame, you know what to expect from the salisfy — crisp crunch with the unctous pork. The others were great, too, but that polenta was addictive — warm, sweet and decadent.

Adam told me it was the first time they’d done a cocktail hour, and he was thrilled to be able to find new and interesting ways to serve sausage.

Then we moved into the dining room.

First course:

Stone Barns Charcuterie
saucisson sec, venison salami, mortadella, lanza, bressaola, coppa, veal terrine
Captain Lawrence Brown Ale, Pleasantville, NY

It was so special knowing that Adam cured the meats and made the terrines. The course came with house-pickled vegetables:

My plate:

See the mustard at 7 o’clock? I think my favorite was the mortadella. The little green pistachios were like little gems. And I so admire the craft of making a sausage so smooth and creamy.

I was sitting next to Spencer Niebuhr of Southampton Ales & Lagers, so he was especially looking forward to the next course. It featured his ‘Grand Cru,’ which had an orange flavor.

Cotechino
this morning’s soft /fried farm egg, black beluga lentils
Southhampton ‘Grand Cru,’ South Hampton, NY

You guys are aware I like eggs, right?

Cotechino is a fresh sausage. It’s traditional to serve it with lentils, so Adam did a little warm ones under a small salad. The sausage was flavored with nutmeg, cinnamon, cayenne and black pepper, but what I tasted most was clove, which matched great with the orange flavor of the beer. (Adam told me he liked the beer so much he split a case with Blue Hill owner David Barber.) The sausage and beer were great, but I love the egg. They poach it at a low temperature for a long time, and then quick fry it in a batter with almonds. It is one of my favorite things on the planet.

If you’re wondering about the crowd — there were a lot of men, but there were some women. I’d say the ratio was about 65-35, which feels about right to me when it comes to sausage and beer.

Adam says people were very enthustastic about the dinner (it sold out in about 4 hours after an e-mail blast went out to regulars), but that he didn’t take them for regular beer drinkers. That’s OK. Most people wouldn’t take Adam for a regular sausage-maker.

But perhaps they should; he’s got it in the genes. When Adam was growing up in South Africa, his grandfather had a butcher-supply company, and he used to import and sell natural casings to all the butchers.

“I have these disctinct childhood memories of the aroma of sauage casings in my grandther’s garage,” Adam said, laughing. “It’s not something most kids remember is a salted hog casing!”

(No, I guess not.)

His grandfather died before Adam could compare notes. Adam got into charcuterie through the restaurant: before Blue Hill at Stone Barns opened, Dan, the chef-owner, charged Adam with learning everything he could about the craft. After all, if you’re going to buy whole animals — as Blue Hill does from the farm at Stone Barns and throughout the Hudson Valley — you’ve got to find an economical way of using the whole hog, if you will.

Adam found that it was a difficult art to learn.

“There’s no great books written on it — in English, at least — and there’s no great tradition here as there is in Europe,” he told me. “Our tradition of sausage-making is Oscar Meyer, in terms of what’s filtered down, so it’s hard to get into. It’s a bit of a cryptic world, and people aren’t always willing to share that knowledge.”

And it’s not just because of the old adage — “two things you don’t want to see getting made …” It’s because it’s a really difficult thing to master.

“It’s taken me a few years to start gathering informaiton thorugh hard work and perserverance,” Adam said. “I’m a little protective of the recipes myself.”

Well, he did share a few of the ingredients for the next course…Hudson Valley Chicken Sausage
braising greens, ham hocks, pastured chicken consomme
Southhampton ‘Biere de Garde,’ South Hampton, NY

That’s also a crispy fried chicken skin on the top. That was nice… it matched the pop of the sausage… but then the texture inside the sausage was a little chunky but oh-so-juicy. Inside were fines herbs — tarragon, chives, parsley and chervil — apples and onions.

That’s also Spencer’s beer.

The next course was a mind-blowing mix of subtle spices and assertive, fatty flavor.

Smoked Belly, Boudin Blanc, Garlic Sausage
braised red cabbage, smoked lady apple puree, lardo
Kelso Brewery ‘Hop Lager’ Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY

I mean. Just look at that. The pork belly was so tender, smoky and sweet; the boudin blanc was delicate with warm spices (Adam told me his spice blend was with nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, coriander and white pepper); and the garlic sausage was more forward (pimenton and alleppo peppers, and coriander).

Even though it was our main course, I savored it like it was dessert.

Look at this fun palate cleanser: A beer float!

It was made with dulce de leche ice cream (great with the caramel of the beer), and everyone loved it.

I had to get up and stretch a bit, so I snapped these at the entrance to the restaurant.

They always have such a lovely seasonal arrangement at the door.

And on the farm table in the center of the restaurant.

OK, dessert.

Milk Chocolate Terrine
kelso ‘chocolate lager’ ice cream, almonds and dried fruit
Kelso Chocolate Lager Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY

I couldn’t really taste the beer in the ice cream, but the chocolate was decadent and I adored the almond paste underneath. It was like eating an adult version of a Butterfinger.

At the end of the dinner, I snapped this of the beermakers and the chef. From right, Kelly Taylor and Sonya Giacobbe of Kelso of Brooklyn; Adam Kaye of Blue Hill; Spencer Niebuhr of Southampton; Scott Vaccaro of Captain Lawrence.

Any one else go? Or wanting to now?