Coconut Shrimp – Witbier

Coconut Shrimp

Weight watchers – 8 points/serving (Serving is ¼ lb of shrimp)

Servings – 4 people

1 lb de-shelled, deveined raw shrimp with tails on

¼ cup of Flour

2 eggs whites

1/2 cup French’s French Fried Onions

1/3 cup flaked Sweetened coconut

½ cup Panko bread crumbss

1 t Garlic powder

1 t Onion powder

Spray olive oil

1.      Preheat oven to 450

2.      Spray cookie sheet with olive oil

3.      Pulse fried onions in food processor for a few seconds

4.      Combine fried onions, coconut, panko, garlic powder and onion powder in dreding bowl

5.      Add flour and eggs (slightly beaten) to separate dredging bowls

6.      Dredge shrimp in flour

7.      Drede shrimp in egg whites

8.      Dredge shrimp in coconut mixture

9.      Palce shrimp on cookie sheet & spray with olive oil

10.  Cook about 10 minutes, flipping once and until shrimp are opaque.

The original recipe for these is just shrimp, eggs, onion & coconut.  However, I added some additional ingredients for added crunchiness and flavor & to make the crust stick better.  These can of course be pan fried, but baking them keeps them healthier.  This is definitely a little higher in points then many of my recipes due to the fried onions and carbs, but it’s worth it.

I chose one of Mike & I’s all time favorite beers, blue moon.  For the most part in this blog I am trying to support American micro & craft breweries.  Blue moon is actually manufactured by Coors Brewing Company and I am generally not a fan of Coors or other similar large brewing companies in the US.    However, the original blue moon is so good and so good for pairing; I’ll let it go this one time.  I will likely also pair the blue moon seasonal at a later date and time.  All of them are delicious, even if they stupidly changed the names of the seasonals recently.

Anybody who reads my blog knows what a fan I am of coriander in my beer.  Blue moon has this as well, but it’s must more subtle then other beers.  It’s balanced out by the fruity, citrus action of the orange peel.  This beer pairs beautifully with seafood due to these two prominent flavors.  Blue Moon is often served with an orange slice, however if the orange slice is too much orange for you a lime goes well to cut the sweetness.

Chicken Vesuvio – Wheat Ale

Chicken Vesuvio

Weight Watchers points – 7-8 points

Servings – 4 (1 thighs or ½ breast per person)

·         1 t olive oil

·         1 chicken breasts and 2 chicken thighs

·         1.5 lbs of red potatoes, quartered

·          1 T chopped garlic

·         ½ cup dry white wine

·         ½ cup chicken broth

·         1 T dried oregano

·         ½ T dried tyme

·         1 - 8 ounce can of artichoke hearts, drained and quartered

·         ½ cup frozen peas

·         Salt/Pepper

1.     Preheat oven to 450.

2.     Heat olive oil in large skillet on high heat.

3.     Put salt and pepper on both side of chicken.

4.     Brown chicken on each side, about 5 minutes on each side.  Remove chicken

5.     Then brown potatoes on each side, about 5 minutes on each side.  Remove potatoes

6.     Turn down heat and add garlic to pan.

7.     Add wine, broth, oregano and thyme to pan.

8.     Add Chicken and potatoes to baking dish.

9.     Pour sauce over chicken and potatoes.

10.  Cook 20 minutes.

11.  Add artichoke hearts and peas to baking dish

12.  Cook 5 more minutes.

I have been MIA with my posts due to being away in Chicago.  I thought it was appropriate to have my next post be one of my favorite Chicago dishes.  Chicken Vesuvio is one of my all time favorite chicken dishes.  Chicken, potatoes, garlic…what’s not to like.  It typically has a lot of olive oil and butter.  The potatoes are often deep fried as well.  This is a slimmed down version, but with all the flavor.

I paired with Goose Island 312.  Being back in Chicago, I always have to have at least one 312.  It is an urban wheat ale, made in Chicago.  This is great, crisp, refreshing summer beer.  It’s fairly light and is well balanced with wheat and hops. Its fruity and smooth, a great pair to the garlic and oregano of the chicken.

Tilapia with Mustard Cream Sauce – Cream Ale

Tilapia with Mustard Cream Sauce

Weight Watchers points – 7 points/serving

Servings – 4

Spray olive oil

4 (4 oz) trout fillets

½ t salt

½ t black pepper

1 T onion powder

½ cup white wine

½ cup fat free half and half

2 T Dijon mustard

½ dried tarragon

1.       Spray olive oil on skills over medium heat. 

2.       Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper.

3.        Add fish to pan and cook 2-3 minutes on each side. 

4.       Remove fish

5.       Add wine, half and half, mustard, onion powder, tarragon.

6.       Cook about 2 minutes until reduced and thickened.

7.       Serve sauce over fish.

8.       Serve with roasted or grilled vegetables.

This fish was delicious.  I typically don’t like mustard, but Mike loves it so I try to cook with it more often.  This was flavorful and rich.  I paired this with a Cream Ale.  Cream Ales are American beers similar to a German Kölsch. It is related to blond lagers.  It’s a very smooth beer, with limited malt and hoppiness flavor.  It goes well with light foods and seafood.

I chose the Lagunitas Sirius Ale.  Lagunitas Brewing Company is in Petaluma, California and has a great mix of beers.  The Sirius Ale has great citrusy notes, that pair well with the seafood. 

Basic Spicy Shrimp – IPA

Basic Spicy Grilled Shrimp

Weight watchers – 2 points to 1/4 LB

Servings – 4

1 lb raw peeled, deveined shrimp

2 t garlic

2 t lemon juice

1 t cayenne pepper

Spray olive oil

Salt/pepper

1.       Spray skillet with olive oil

2.       Add garlic, sautee for 30 seconds

3.       Add shrimp

4.       Sprinkle with cayenne, salt, pepper

5.       Cook until no longer pink

6.       Add lemon juice

I made this for dinner one night with rice from a packet and frozen mixed vegetables.  It was a 5 minutes, healthy dinner.  These are delicious as an appetizer as well.  They do have some kick to them, so they would be great with a cooling sauce.

Spicy food always goes greater with IPAs.  The spice and hops balancing well.  One of my all time favorite IPAs, is Dogfish Head’s 90 minute IPA.  Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales is located in Maryland.  This is usually ranked as one of the top American IPAs.  The strongest flavor is definitely the hops, as is with most IPAs.  It’s a very complex flavor with notes of fruit and citrus.  I love this with seafood and of course for the summer.

Thai Basil Chicken Lettuce Wraps – Strong Ale

Thai Basil Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Weight watchers – 1/wrap

Serving size  - 8 wraps, 4 people, 2/person

Spray vegetable oil

2 T minced garlic

1 pound ground chicken breast

4 Serrano chilies finely minced

2 T soy sauce

2 T fish sauce

1 cup fresh basil leaves or 1 T dried basil

About 8 Lettuce Leaves

1.       Heat wok or large skillet.  Spray pan with oil, add garlic and heat for about 20 seconds.  Add ground chicken and cook through, about 2 mins.

2.       Stir in chilies, soy sauce and fish sauce.  Cook about 20 more seconds.

3.       Add basil, cook another 20 seconds.

This was delivious and so easy.  It does have a good kick, so adjust the amount of chilies to your spice level.  You can also add some rice or rice noodles to the lettuce wraps.  Adding a little bit will about about 1 point per wrap, but it will make it more substantial and well round.  I served with brown rice, but I do think it would be delicious with rice noodles.

To pair with this I would pick a strong ale.  I chose the Ubu Ale from Lake Placid Craft B.C. in New York.  Mike loved this beer.  He loves strong ales though but this one exceptional.  It has fruitiness on the front end and a chocolate nuttiness on the finish.  This pairs really well with the chicken due to the big intense flavor of both.  They can stand up to each other.

Greek Lemon Artichoke Chicken - Summer Ale

Greek Lemon Artichoke Chicken

Weight watchers points - 5/serving

Servings - 4

2 chicken breasts

1 T Greek seasoning

1 can drained and chopped artichoke hearts

4T lemon juice

4 T reduced fat feta

Olive oil cooking spray

1.       Preheat oven to 450

2.       Cut Chicken breast in half

3.       Sprinkle each side of chicken & artichoke hearts with Greek seasoning

4.       Place chicken into baking dish

5.       Pour artichoke hearts over chicken

6.       Spray with olive oil cooking spray

7.       Pour lemon juice over chicken and artichokes

8.       Bake 20 minutes

9.       Add feta over top of dish

10.   Bake another 5-10 minutes until chicken juice run clear

I made this for dinner and served with orzo.  If you are going to serve this as an appetizer or bar food serve as kabobs or in pitas.  This was simple to make and very delicious.  I will definitely be adding this to my quick week night meal list.  I considered making my own Greek spice blend, but was simply to lazy.  I decided it was good to have it on hand because we do like Greek.  The premade blends – it usually contains salt, pepper, garlic, oregano (a key component), onion powder, parsley, paprika, cinnamon, nutmeg, thyme.  There are recipes online if you decide to make your own.

I am pairing this with Brooklyn Summer Ale.  I actually got the idea from another website talking about as a good pair for Greek food and they were right.  http://www.examiner.com/beer-pairing-in-new-york/beer-pairing-101-what-beer-goes-with-greek-food

Brooklyn brewery as you may have guessed is located in Brooklyn, NY.  To date Mike and I have had a lot beer from Midwest and Texas, being our home states as well as Colorado and the west coast due to vacations.  But the east has been minimal exposure.  Brooklyn Brewery is definitely one we have tried many times though.  Mike loves Brookyln Local 1, their strong pale ale which I am sure I will pair in the future.  We gave Brooklyn Local 2, their Belgian strong dark ale to a friend for his birthday and it was a big hit. 

For the Brooklyn Summer Ale, I am definitely still inspired to stink with summer beers.  It is 100+ everyday in Dallas these days and anything less isn’t refreshing enough or is simply too heavy.    This is an easy drinking beer.  It is malty with slight hops.  It definitely has a strong lemony and citrusy flavor.  This allows it to pair well with Greek food that often as that lemon flavor through it, this dish definitely does. 

Whiskey BBQ Sausages - Bock

Whiskey BBQ Sausages

Servings – depends on size of sausage

Pecan Smoked Jalapeno sausage (can substitute other sausages, but would use something spicy.  This is not one of my healthy recipes, but definitely would be if you used chicken sausage instead)

¼ cup of whiskey

1/2 cup ketchup

2 T brown sugar

1 T apple cider vinegar

1 T Worcestershire

.5 T lemon juice

1.5 T Dijon

1 t Louisiana hot sauce

1 t onion powder

1 t garlic powder

Dash salt and pepper

As I said before this wasn’t the healthiest with the pork sausage, but if you use chicken sausage you could definitely have one to two of these for a point.  I made these for a 4^th of July party and they were a hit.  I usually don’t even like sausages and I had several.  The mix of spicy and sweet was perfect.

Because these are a little spicy, I would use a strong beer to stand up to them.  Since was the 4^th of July I chose one of the most American Beers I know, while at least in Texas and that’s a Shiner Bock.  Shiner of course is made in the small town of Shiner, Texas.  Shiner Bock is their main beer.  When you visit Texas you must drink shiner.  Every time my Dad comes to visit he looks forward to having it.  It’s a dark beer that can stand up to the strong flavors of these sausages.  It smooth and malty.

Blue Cheese Mini Chicken Burgers – Fruit Beer

Blue Cheese Mini Chicken Burgers

Weight watchers points – 2-3/burger depending on size

Servings – about 8 burgers, 2/person depends on size

4-8 - Sandwich thins (depending on size of burgers and ability to cut into smaller sizes)

12 oz raw lean ground chicken

4 T blue cheese

4 T Sweet BBQ Sauce

4 T Grill seasoning

2 T hot sauce

Sweet BBQ Sauce:

1/2 c ketchup
1,5 T Splenda brown sugar blend
1.5 T apple cider vinegar
.5 T worchestershire
.5 T lemon juice
2 t Dijon mustard
Dash of louisiana hot sauce
Dash of onion powder
Dash of garlic powder
Dash of pepper

1.      Mix together in bowl all ingredients for BBQ sauce

2.      Heat on stove for 30-60 minutes to let flavor meld

3.      Place ground chicken into bowl, add grill seasoning and hot sauce, mix to combine

4.      Form chicken into mini patties

5.      Place on grill or in plan on stove top

6.      Cook a few mins on each side, until cooked through

7.      Cut sandwich thins into smaller buns to fit mini burgers

8.      Put ½ T of BBQ sauce on top of burger

9.      Put ½ T ofblue cheese on top of burger

10.  Place burger between buns and enjoy.

I am definitely still making lots of summer recipes.  Recipes that are great for parties and light.  I made Chicken Tikka Masala the other day and decided meals like that are better for winter.  So I am sticking with grilling and fresh ideas.  I am also still sticking with summer beers. 

My choice for this meal is Pyramid Apricot Weizen Ale.  I do not think I have talked about Pyramid before.  Pyramid is from Seattle, Washington.  Those of you who have visited Seattle or live in Seattle, know that Seattle knows how to make good beer.  The Weizen Ale has nice subtle flavors of apricots for sweetness which balances well with the hoppiness of the ale. 

Sweet potato fries – Fruit Beer

Sweet potato fries

Weight watchers points – 3 points for ½ of sweet potato

Servings - 4

2 sweet potatoes

2 t olive oil

1 T Splenda brown sugar

Pinch of cayenne

Pinch of cinnamin

salt/pepper

1.      Preheat oven to 450

2.      Peel sweet potatoes and cut into French fries

3.      Mix together brown sugar, sprinkle of pepper and salt and dashes of cayenne and cinnamon

4.      In bowl mix fries with olive oil and then sugar mixture

5.      Spread fries in thin layer on cookie sheet

6.      Cook 20 mins, flipping once

I am yet again keeping towards the lighter, summer beers.  I am absolutely enamored with so many of the great summer seasonal this year.  Another leinenkugel which I love and you can rarely find in Dallas and would go great with these fries is the Summer Shandy.

Summer Shandy basically tastes like lemonade mixed with a wheat beer.  It is definitely sweet with a hint of honey in it.  It’s very refreshing and is perfect on a hot summer day.

Spinach artichoke flatbread – Witbier

Spinach artichoke flatbread – Witbier

weight watchers - 1 pt/piece

Servings - about 20 pieces

1/2 box frozen spinach (cooked and drained)

1/2 can quartered artichoke hearts (drained & chopped)

2 cloves garlic

3 T light sour cream

3 T light cream cheese

1T ranch seasoning

3 T parmesan cheese

3 T part skim mozzarella

Refrigerated pizza dough or fresh dough or Naan

1.       Pre cook pizza dough on cookie sheet for 10 mins at 400 degrees

2.       Put all ingredients (except cheeses) in bowl and microwave for 1 min

3.       Spread mixture over pizza dough. 

4.       Sprinkle cheese over top

5.       Cook 10 more minutes

6.       Cut into squares

I made this for a 4^th of July party and it was a hit and very easy to make.  I would pair a Witbier with this and serve this a summer appetizer.  I chose flying dog woody creek Belgian white.  It is a summer seasonal beer.  It is refreshing, light, citrusy and has a touch of coriander.  A very nice beer for a hot summer day.  Flying Dog is a Maryland base brewery that we love.

Chicken, Spinach Artichoke Pinwheels - Wheat Ale

This week has been a tough one for me not cooking and obviously not posting.  I have been sick yet again.  This was a really easy recipe I made with left over spinach artichoke dip from my previous post.

Chicken, Spinach Artichoke Pinwheels
Weight Watchers Points – 4 points
Servings - 4

2 chicken breasts
4T leftover spinach artichoke dip
salt & pepper

1.      Preheat oven to 400

2.      Butterfly and pound chicken breasts out to about ¼ of an inch

3.      Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper

4.      Place 2T of spinach artichoke dip ontop side of each breast

5.      Roll chicken breast up and secure with toothpicks or string

6.      Bake chicken for about 25-30 minutes

7.      Slice chicken into slices creating pinwheels, can be secured with toothpicks if using as an appetizer

When I made this for dinner for me and mike, I served with sweet potato fries and it was a full, easy and delicious dinner.

A new favorite summer time beer of mine is Rahr & Sons Summertime Wheat Ale.  This also has a sweet spice in the background of cloves, which I love!  This is also a local beer being brewed in Fort Worth which we love to support.  We plan to tour that brewery when its not so hot anymore so if you want to join us, let us know.  It does have a pretty strong wheat and grain flavor to it, but then again its called a Wheal Ale.  The spice and the sweet citrus background adds a great contrast.  It’s a little expensive in liquor stores, so look for it on sale.