Malty beer, red meat. Good bet.
The beef stroganoff I make is from a 5 ingredient/15 minute cook book. Well, of course I can barely cook a hot dog in 15 minutes. Something like this takes me quite a bit longer. The guts of this are ground beef, mushrooms, a jar of [...]
Give me a break. What does it take to find a good beer pairing with this dish?
This time it was a homebrewed tripel. A fine example of the style if I do say so myself. Previously I’d tried two different IPAs with a big fail. In contrast, I’ve had some success with pairing Belgian-style beers [...]
Continue reading about Homebrew Tripel + Spaghetti With Italian Sausage
Yes, round two with my world famous spaghetti with Italian sausage with creamy tomato sauce. Still top notch even as a leftover. I credit the perseverance of tastiness here to my keeping all the parts separate in the fridge. Sauce separate from noodles separate from sausage.
Serve it all up on a plate and microwave for [...]
Continue reading about Harpoon IPA + Spaghetti With Italian Sausage
I had previously done a successful pairing with Sweetwater IPA and an Italian dish, but the food was kinda crudely thrown together, and it featured a cream sauce. I wanted to give it another go with a more properly-prepared Italian dish, and one featuring a tomato-based sauce. If I keep this blog going long enough [...]
Continue reading about Sweetwater IPA + Spaghetti With Italian Sausage
The meal was another kit dealie. Passable. It really needed mushrooms, and we didn’t have any on hand (and the box didn’t suggest adding them, gasp). And the flavor needed a little more punch. It was extremely mild. But decent.
So. Chicken Marsala. That’s made with wine (yes, there’s actually a packet of marsala cooking wine [...]
Leftovers. And this stuff was appreciably better fresh. Sigh.
The beer:
Monk’s Cafe is a relatively recent entry in the Birmingham market, brought in by the local Budweiser distributor. Which is a good sign. Unfortunately, it’s a bit hard to find. I was talking to the beer buyer at Whole Foods and he informed me he had [...]
Continue reading about Monk’s Cafe Flemish Sour + Clean-out The Fridge Pasta
Yes, a repeat of the beer style and food style from last night. It was such a winner, and I was in the mood for pasta.
This is the same homebrew that Doug recently paired. Highly phenolic, fruity and spicy. Close to four years old, but this is a style that ages very well.
The pasta was [...]
Continue reading about Belgian Strong Dark + Clean-out The Fridge Pasta
Eek.
The beer was good. And the pasta was good. But the combination, not so much. Which is the whole point of this blog. To explore these pairings and see what works and what doesn’t.
Wheat wine is an interesting topic. It still is not an officially recognized style by the Beer Judge Certification Program, the [...]
Continue reading about Terrapin Gamma Ray + Creamy Basil Parmesan Chicken Pasta
Yes, more leftovers!
This was good. It reinforces my belief that aside from macro lagers (which have almost no flavor of their own) pale ales are the most versatile beers out there for food pairings. They go with most foods, and this was no exception.
Continue reading about Sierra Nevada Pale Ale + Greek Chicken Pasta
Magnificent.
Today I found myself in the mood for an old standby. I don’t recall where I first saw the recipe, but now I make it from the hip. The essentials:
Chicken
Artichoke hearts
Tomatoes
Red Onions
Feta Cheese
Pasta
Sauté the chicken (cut into small pieces) with the onion (chopped) in butter. Meanwhile, start boiling your pasta. I’ve used penne in the [...]