My brother came up with a fun idea to have a food and beer pairing dinner so he sent out an e-mail to see who might want to participate. Naturally, I was in. My husband's favorite beer is an IPA and we always have it on hand here at home. I looked up what food went well with an IPA and apparently spicy foods pair well with it so a curry dish it was. (Although, before this dinner I really never thought it mattered what you ate with beer) We had four courses and each couple brought one, an appetizer, a salad, an entree, and a dessert. We all got approximately a 6 oz. serving of beer to sample with each course. I think the pairing makes a difference because all the beer was so good, yet so different. I'll outline below all the pairing we sampled tonight.
We started out with appetizers of homemade spring rolls, an original recipe from one of the couples. They were made with pulled pork, bean sprouts, carrots, cabbage, etc. and served with soy sauce. We each got two spring rolls with a 6 ounce of Elysian Stout.
We gobbled down those babies so fast since we were all sort of hungry at the beginning. Why a stout with spring rolls? Because there was a dragon on the label…not what a beer and food pairing is really about but it tasted delicious just the same.
Next course was an apricot salad
paired with Pyramid's Apricot Pale Ale, another one of our favorite beers.
We often go to the Pyramid Ale House before Mariner baseball games in Seattle so it's high on our list of favorites. I think we started having a little more than 6 ounces at this point.
Then it was my turn for my Chicken Curry which I made the night before. Dishes such as this will taste better after it sits a day to let all the spices and seasonings simmer together.
We paired it with Alaskan Brewing IPA. I found the recipe for the chicken curry on epicurious which had information on food and beer pairing with recipes that go with certain beers, a perfect website for the occasion.
Makes 4 servings
3 Tbsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped shallot
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons ground chili paste or dried chili flakes, or to taste
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2 lemongrass stalks, cut into 3-inch pieces, bruised with the flat side of a knife and sliced into very thinly slices
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
1 1/2 cups fresh chicken stock or store-bought low-sodium chicken broth
3 carrots, peeled, cut on the diagonal into 2/3-inch pieces
1 13.5 oz can unsweetened coconut milk
1 yellow onion, cut into wedges
1 medium sweet potato (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
GARNISHES
1/2 cup Asian basil leaves, cut in half
8 sprigs cilantro, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 scallions, chopped
1. Combine 2 tablespoons of the curry powder and the salt in a bowl. Add the chicken and turn to coat the meat evenly. Set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a medium pot over moderate heat. Add the shallot, garlic, chili paste and the remaining 1 tablespoon curry powder, and stir until fragrant, about 10 seconds.
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped shallot
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons ground chili paste or dried chili flakes, or to taste
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2 lemongrass stalks, cut into 3-inch pieces, bruised with the flat side of a knife and sliced into very thinly slices
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
1 1/2 cups fresh chicken stock or store-bought low-sodium chicken broth
3 carrots, peeled, cut on the diagonal into 2/3-inch pieces
1 13.5 oz can unsweetened coconut milk
1 yellow onion, cut into wedges
1 medium sweet potato (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
GARNISHES
1/2 cup Asian basil leaves, cut in half
8 sprigs cilantro, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 scallions, chopped
1. Combine 2 tablespoons of the curry powder and the salt in a bowl. Add the chicken and turn to coat the meat evenly. Set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a medium pot over moderate heat. Add the shallot, garlic, chili paste and the remaining 1 tablespoon curry powder, and stir until fragrant, about 10 seconds.
3. Add the chicken and cook until the edges of the pieces are golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the fish sauce, sugar, lemongrass, ginger and chicken stock.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat. Add the carrots and cook for 10 minutes.
5. Add the coconut milk, onion and sweet potato and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
6. Transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with Asian basil, cilantro and scallions, and serve.
We were so full at this point but dessert was still to come. The dessert beer was unbelievably delicious! It was a German beer
and was slightly sweet, paired with a homemade banana cream pie.
This beer was so tasty that it made drinking beer with dessert not seem so unusual. We still had to have some after-dinner coffee to top the evening, along with the guys going out on the patio to smoke cigars that Bruce brought back from our Florida vacation.
It was a wonderful and delicious evening. A great idea for a dinner party.
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