okPORK’s Swine and Stein Dinner Returns with Success

After a couple years hiatus, okPORK’s Swine and Stein dinner came back with a roar. Sean Cummings Irish Restaurant was the perfect venue for the group that gathered on August 12.

Chef Chris Bickel prepared four amazing courses featuring pork and the evening’s theme was Mexican. The first course featured puffed chicharrons with a salsa trio featuring guacamole, salsa fresca and salsa verde. These puffed and fried pork skins were far better than convenience store pork rinds and each salsa option was full of flavor.

To complement each course, our friends at Twisted Spike Brewing Company were on hand with four amazing brews. Their light Golden Spike was a perfect fit for the chicharrons.

Course two was a creamy Carrot Chorizo Bisque. The carrot’s provided and beautiful orange color and hint of flavor. But the texture of the chorizo mixed in with all the creamy bisqueness was the star of this dish. Twisted Spike’s Crew was also a big hit with the crowd.

Chef Bickel brought out the big guns for course three, Blood Orange IPA Carnitas Enchiladas with Mole sauce. The hearty homemade tortillas encased tender perfectly prepared pork carnitas meat smothered with a smooth, chocolatey mole sauce. All this was surrounded by amazing cilantro lime rice and a borracho bean trio. The Cerveza paired with this course had a wonderfully fresh flavor, kind of like a beer mixed with a mojito, and was delightful.

It was hard to imagine eating any more at this point in the evening, but when the Bacon Vanilla Flan arrived, everyone decided they did indeed have plenty of room for this sweet treat. A light, fluffy vanilla cream encased perfectly crunchy, salty bites of bacon. On top was a dark chocolate and Russian Stout sauce and whipped crème that added more amazing sweetness to this dish. The chocolate notes of Twisted Stashe we’re the icing on the cake (so to speak).

Spectacular food and drink may be the perk of okPORK’s special pork pairing dinners. But the purpose goes deeper. The proceeds from these dinners support okPORK’s Non-Checkoff activities and they’ve become an important component of that budget. They are also a great way to invite other food interested folks into okPORK’s circle.

We greatly appreciate everyone who attended Swine and Stein and hope you will join us for another paring dinner again soon!