Bacon Wrapped Shrimp & Brown Ale

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

Servings – 2

·         ½ pound large shrimp – about 10-12 (deveined & peeled)

·         4 pieces turkey bacon (if you use regular bacon you will want to precook longer)

·         Garlic Powder

·         Spray olive oil

·         Skewers

1.       Precook turkey bacon in microwave for about 2 minutes.  This is a very key step, otherwise the bacon will be undercooked or you will overcook the shrimp

2.       Cook each bacon strip into thirds

3.       Spracy shrimp with olive oil

4.       Sprinkle with garlic powder

5.       Wrap shrimp with bacon and skewer

6.       Grill about 2 minutes, flip and grill 2 more minutes until shrimp is opaque

This is a very basic recipe and is a go to for me when I don’t know what to make.  I always have shrimp in the freezer and usually have some sort of bacon on hand.  I prefer turkey bacon over regular bacon for this recipe, one because its healthier, two because it’s a little less overwhelming to the shrimp and third it seems to crisp up better than regular bacon. I served with potatoes with garlic and corn with a little butter and cayenne.

I paired this with a brown ale.  Newcastle is probably one of the most well known brown ale’s, so this is likely a good reference for knowing a brown ale.  They are described as mild ale’s and are malty with light hops.  One of my favorite brown ale’s is a seasonal from Sierra Nevada called Tumbler Autumn brown ale.  I love Sierra Nevada and have used their beers in other pairings.  Their fall seasonal was amazing this year and you can likely still find it.  It’s a pretty popular beer and I have seen it on tap a lot this year.  It’s very mild, very drinkable and light sweetness balances well with the sweetness of the shrimp and the saltiness of the bacon.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken & Brown Ale

Bacon Wrapped Chicken

Servings – 2

4 large chicken tenders
2 slices of bacon
4 ounces of shredded cheddar or Colby cheese
½ can of condensed cream of chicken soup
¼ cup of sour cream
¼ cup of milk
Splash of lemon juice
Dash of salt
Dash of pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Pre cook bacon for 2 minutes in microwave
3. Cut bacon in half
4. Salt and pepper chicken tenders
5. Wrap chicken tenders in bacon and place into baking dish
6. Cook for 20 minutes
7. Mix cheese, soup, sour cream, milk, lemon juice, onion powder and pepper and salt
8. Pour mixture over chicken
9. Cook 20 more minutes

I served this with angle hair and side of green beans. It would also be good over rice or egg noodles using the topping as a sauce for the pasta.

This time of year we are in between fall and winter beers. This is rich dish, but has more subtle flavors, nothing too overpowering or strong. A brown ale with a nutty flavor would go great with this dish, supplementing the flavors of this meal and cutting through the richness. As always, I try to focus on domestic, especially microbrews. I am choosing a beer from Texas, Real Ale English Brown Ale. This can typically be found year round, but I consider these beers great for this time of year. As with most brown ales ales, it has a malty taste and aroma with little hops but has a slight sweet, toffee flavor. Great together with this recipe.