Sip + Savor Serves Up Local Foods with Farmers + Make Miner Beer Mac and Cheese
Hungry for Truth and local farmers hosted more than 60 women business owners from the Sioux Falls community at Prairie Berry East Bank in September for an elegant evening filled with food and conversations. Guests were invited to Sip + Savor beverages from Miner Brewing Co. and Prairie Berry as well as craft beer infused creations such as Miner Brewing Mac and Cheese and cupcakes from Oh My Cupcakes!
Farmers Morgan Kontz and Jerry Schmitz welcomed everyone and shared stories about their farms, including plans for soybean harvest. Morgan explained how family farms of all sizes contribute to the local food supply and use practices to ensure safe and healthy choices for families.
“Buying food from local farmers is a great way to support our community,” said Morgan. “Sometimes you’re buying local and you don’t even know it. The beef from my farm is sold in grocery stores, but it doesn’t have a local label.”
Farmers Jeff Thompson and Dawn Scheier also mingled with guests, answering questions about everything from the safety of GMOs and pesticides, to the truth behind food labels and even the surprising connection between South Dakota soybeans and Whole Foods.
“Prairie Aquatech in Brookings sources soybean meal to create its fish food from South Dakota Soybean Processors in St. Lawrence,” Jeff said. “The fish food is sold to a fish farm in Wisconsin that raises trout for Whole Foods. It’s an unexpected farm-to-fork connection that was fun to share with our guests.”
Hungry for Truth hosts gatherings like these to help South Dakotans better understand how food is grown and raised on local farms. You can bring the flavor of Sip + Savor to your kitchen with this recipe for Miner Beer Mac and Cheese. We suggest using Dimock Dairy cheese. Get the scoop on how it’s made by reading this. Then let us know how this recipe turns out in the comments below.
Miner Beer Mac & Cheese
Ingredients
For the macaroni
- 1 pound pasta
- 5 quarts salted water
For the cheese
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 5 oz Butter
- 1-1/2 cups Heavy Cream
- 1 cup Miner Brewing craft beer Recommended: Stout
- 3 cups shreadded white cheddar cheese
- 1 cup shredded Montery Jack or colby jack cheese
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- In a large pot, place 5 quarts of water and add 2 tablespoons salt. Bring to a boil and add dry pasta. Cook on high, uncovered, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes or until noodles become al dente. Strain and set aside in a large mixing bowl. Lightly oil, if needed, so noodles do not clump together.
- To assemble the beer cheese, melt butter on low in a large sauce pot. Using a whisk, add the flour and combine with the melted butter. This is called a roux.
- Add the heavy cream to the roux and whisk until the sauce begins to thicken and just reaches a low simmer. This is called a béchamel.
- Now add the Miner Beer to the béchamel. This will thin it and create bubbles. Continue to whisk on low until the bubbles are gone and it’s warm.
- Add the 3 cups of shredded white cheddar cheese and whisk until the cheese has melted.
- Remove from the heat and add all the beer cheese to the cooked noodles. Mix to coat, then add the remaining 1 cup of shredded jack cheese and mix.
- Place this into a casserole dish. Mix the panko with the grated Parmesan and spread evenly over the cheesy pasta.
- Bake at 325 degrees for about 12 minutes. Enjoy!