Last night Janet and I went to a beer dinner at Watts Grocery. The restaurant is fantastic; it's got great food, and a good beer selection. For this special dinner, food was paired with beers from Foothills Brewing, Triangle Brewing (right here in Durham), and Highland Brewing. We had a great time; the food and beer were delicious and we got to visit with our friend Oscar Wong from Highland. About the only complaint I could make is that there was too much food (I hate to leave great food like that on the plate!). I think the servings could have been halved and still been enough.
The food and beer pairings were:
-
Fried oysters with remoulade and deviled ham on toast points with Foothills Torch Pilsner. The deviled ham was incredible. The oysters were plump. What could be better?
-
Steamed mussels with andouille, onions, and pale ale, and french fries with remoulade and catsup served with Triangle Brewing Company Pale Ale.
-
Pan-seared quail with a mustard pan sauce and warm bacon slaw (so very good) with Triangle Brewing Company Belgian Golden Ale.
-
Smoked pork ribs with molasses beans and Foothills Seeing Double IPA. The ribs were smokey and chewy, like they should be. By this time I was starting to get full...
-
Southern raclette melted on bread, served with chowchow, artichoke pickles, and sausage. The beer was Highland Brewing Company Gaelic Ale. Janet and I were so full at this point we barely touched the raclette and sausage.
-
Hazelnut brown butter financier with praline cream and sauteed winter fruit with Highland Brewing Oatmeal Porter.