If you will recall, back in December, I wrote about my use of Strongbow Cider as a featured ingredient when making chicken and onions. Since then, I have contemplated how else I can incorporate beer into the meal experience, besides letting it sit at the corner of my placemat. So Tuesday night, amidst doing laundry, cleaning my bathroom and kitchen, I figured I would add one more project - make my own sauce. I reviewed the options - Abita Purple Haze, Philadelphia Brewing Co's Walt Wit and Victory's Prima Pils. Thinking of each of their flavor profiles, Victory won. I poured about 4-5 ounces into my pan to deglaze from the chicken I just finished. As a point of reference, that was all of the beer in the neck and some change. Once the beer was warmed up, I started whisking to get all of the flavor off of the pan. After about a minute, I added a spoonful of grey poupon mustard to the pan. Prima Pils has a clean but hoppy finish so I figured the mustard would help cut the concentrated hops taste. I let all of those flavors meld together for about another minute. I dipped my pinkie. It tasted great. The chicken had been resting for a few minutes at this point. As you can see from the photos, I placed the chicken on a bed of greens and then used the sauce more as a dressing for the whole dish. I tried to be crafty and place the sauce in a shot glass for added effect in the presentation. How did it taste? Not half bad! The chicken had a nice peppery crust. As for the sauce, I think it complemented the meal well. The mustard helped cut the floral flavors of the beer but there was a slight bitter aftertaste.
What would I do differently next time? I probably could have even used a little more mustard or perhaps a squeeze of lemon for added acidity. Prima Pils was my best choice among the selection in my fridge, but a beer high with malts and low in hops may have yielded a better sauce. I am thinking maybe Yard's Brawler or Philadelphia's Kenzinger could be interesting choices.
Slainte!
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