MR.BEER® Community

I got a last-minute invite to a Beer Dinner hosted by Bj's Restaurant and Brewhouse yesterday, and decided to check it out. The menu featured items from the BJ's regular menu paired with a diverse selection beers from the Flanders region of Belgium. In general, the food was  no match for the beer, but there were a couple of very nice pairings. Here's my report:

Before the dinner began, we were treated to a brand new Belgian Tripel released by Papago Brewing in Arizona (the beer is actually brewed in Belgium, by Brouwerij Van Steenberge N.V.) called Oude Zuipers, which roughly translates to "old drunk" or "old boozer." The beer was strong, at 11% ABV, with a coppery color and a sweetish, slightly spicy aroma and flavor. The Alcohol was noticable but not overpowering, which was nice. 

Our second beer was Brugse Zot, a Belgian Blonde (or pale, depending on who you ask).  Slightly hazy, with a dry finish, this beer seemed a bit plain initially, but developed nicely as it warmed in the glass. It showcased soft Grainy sweetness with fruity Esters including pear and a hint of banana. The Bitterness was just there to balance things out, which it did perfectly.

If you are living in a vaccuum (or somewhere outside the good ol' US of A), you might not have noticed that our nations greatest holiday is right around the corner -- that's right, T-Day is a scant 3 days away. Just thought I'd give you a heads up.

T-Day, more than any other holiday, is a celebration of a magical blend of the tangible and intangible. Ostensibly, it is about giving our intangible thanks -- not gifts or love notes or flowers or candy -- for whatever you're most thankful for. This affords a great deal of freedom to the celebrator, which is quite nice. It is also about getting together with friends or family (whoever you like more), and preparing a very tangible spread upon which we gorge ourselves until we dang near burst, which is also quite nice.

This recipe takes a bit of work to prepare, but is well worth it. You'll need some good-sized chicken breasts (boneless is preferred), so that you can butterfly and pound them thin. I would not be myself if I didn't mention that this recipe also works really well with pork.