This weeks' winning couple is:
Mudville's Portobello Salad and the crisp Sea Dog Apricot Wheat Ale
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The Chemistry:
Welcome back! I see you've made it to 2012. Congrats! Feeling sluggish yet? Are your New Year's resolutions in full swing? Well, I know you weren't dumb enough to cut out beer so I've picked a pair this week to keep it light on the "remainders of 2011" (aka, your beer gut).
Don't worry, Mudville's portobello salad isn't small by any means. And there's so much flavor going on here you'll forget it's actually good for you. The standout flavors though will come from a couple of key ingredients - the goat cheese and the marinated portobello (overnight-ed in balsamic vinaigrette dressing).
As many of you know, cheese and beer were meant for one another. Usually, the rule of thumb follows that the more pungent the cheese the stronger flavor you'll want in your brew. Even more, wheat beers tend to go great with all cheeses. So, following this formula (carry the one), having a lighter goat cheese means we need a lighter wheat. I took it up a notch and chose a nice flavored wheat beer to accompany this week's meal. The Sea Dog Apricot Wheat Ale isn't your normal wheat though. The mouth-feel is light-bodied and sweet with not too much complexity to steal the thunder from the salad. It has strong elements of apricot (of course) and a bit of a creamy finish. The wheat yeast brings out the very subtle nuances of the goat cheese and the crispness of the fruit cuts through the tangy vinaigrette. Beer geek tip: let this beer warm a little bit...it gets better!
See (dog), you're feeling better already!
Bon Apetit!
P.s. If you can't have a meal without meat, ask your server or barkeep to top the salad off with some grilled chicken.
Cheers!
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