Simply by suggesting one of the flavors of a beer in the dish you pair it with can bring it to the forefront of your drinking experience. A mere sprinkling of raisins with the squash lets the esters from the yeast and malts have their moment to shine. Having this pairing followed by Fresh Ginger Cake for dessert will give you a chance to really appreciate everything Schneider’s house yeast has to offer.
Aroma: Low nutty and raisin; very low cabbage and caraway. Low caramel. |
Flavor: Semi-sweet raisin, toasted nut & squash. Low caramelization, low butter, low caraway. Balanced by low tannins from raisins and tartness from sauerkraut. Medium-low umami. |
Texture: Varied levels of chewy-crisp. |
Impact: Medium |
Pairing: Beer presents more estery with profound raisin. Phenols are muted and alcohol seems softer. First bite of food after beer seems almost candy-like, and umami aftertaste is more profound. The high carbonation, refreshes the palate, cutting the sweet squash, keeping the delicata from ever seeming heavy or cloying. |
Delecata w/ sauerkraut, walnuts and raisins
This dish comes together quickly and the prep work can be done in advance, so it works great when serving a multi-course meal. Making homemade sauerkraut is easy, though if you prefer to buy it try to source the real fermented deal which is crisp and complex, instead of soggy cabbage that has been boiled in vinegar.
generous ¼ t caraway seed
scant ¼ t white pepper
4-5 juniper berries
2 oz (1/3 cup) walnuts, roughly chopped to slightly larger than raisin size pieces
2 T butter
12-14 oz Delecata, ¼ inch slices, seed w/ spoon (spin slice about spoon on counter)
1.5 oz (1/4 cup) raisins
4.5 oz (1 cup) sauerkraut
½ cup chicken stock
1. Heat 12 inch skillet over med-low heat, toast spices 2-3 minutes until fragrant, transfer to grinder and coarsely crack.
2. Add walnuts to skillet and toast 5-7 minutes, until lightly golden; remove walnuts from skillet.
3. Turn neat up to medium, melt butter then add delecata, sprinkle with salt and cook about 5 minutes, till brown; remove delecata from skillet.
4. Add raisins, sauerkraut, walnuts and spices to skillet, stir to combine, add stock bring to simmer and let cook 2 minutes until liquid is reduced by ½.
5. Arrange delecata on top of pan contents browned side up, reduce heat to med-low, cover and cook 5 minutes.
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