The Session: Beer and Food

Dinner at the Brewer’s Art

Bacon wrapped shrimp burst
Through ale infused tangyness.
Balanced by Westmalle

Portobello and Beer Chilli

Bold sweet and spicy
carried by earthy mushrooms
on ale’s firm shoulders

Written by Captain Hops.

References: This is my contribution to The Session for October. On the first Friday of each month the beer blogging community writes on a common theme. I am the host this month and I chose the theme Beer and Food. I chose this theme because I love good beer and good food and not because I have any particular skill in this area. However I have full confidence in the beer writing community to provide me with tastings and pairings, recipes and descriptions that will keep my mouth watering for months to come.

My first haiku is a reminiscence of the meal I ate this week at the Brewer’s Art. Their Resurrection Barbecue Shrimp (with their signature Resurrection Ale used in the sauce) were truly fantastic and went very well with a goblet of Westmalle Dubbel.

The second haiku is about my famous Portobello and Beer Chili. I created it for the Super Bowl one year when I knew there were vegetarians coming over. If it wasn’t for the vegetarians it would be my famous Steak and Beer Chilli. Here’s the recipe:

Olive oil
3-4 Portobello mushrooms, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can black beans
1 beer, good (IPA’s work well)
5 cloves garlic, unpeeled
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tsp black pepper, or to taste

Sauté mushrooms and onions in large pot. When tender add tomatoes, beans, beer, garlic, jalapeno, chile powder, oregano, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Stir thoroughly, bring to boil, then cover and let cook on low for 1.5 hours. Retrieve garlic cloves, cut off ends and squeeze garlic into pot. Stir in brown sugar, salt and pepper. Serve with corn bread, sour cream, cheese, green onions or whatever.

Meat-Loving Alternatives: Feel free to substitute steak, pork, chicken or any other type of meat in place of (or in addition to) the Portobello mushrooms.

Update: Here is the round-up of the Beer and Food Session.

Technorati Tags: beer, haiku, food, The Session
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