I am very fortunate to live where I live. I have been lucky enough to travel some of this beautiful country of ours and abroad, but there is nothing in this world that can stack up to the fish that we have here in the waters of New England. When the Chefs and I sat down to discuss the next round of Beer Socials, we thought that it was important to showcase the bountiful catch from right here in New England. We feel that there are some amazing fish that is overlooked, so we decided to make an entire menu using nothing but locally sourced fish! And what would be better to pair with these dishes than Matt’s amazing brews?

 

We will be opening with some amazing local oysters from Maine, and will be having an array of mignonettes and cocktail sauces. From working at a brewery, I have learned that there is no better pairing with an oyster than a beautiful stout. Because of that, we will be pairing it with our Black Cat stout. The Black Cat stout is our take on a dry Irish Stout, but with an American twist. Something about the salty sweetness of the oyster pairs incredibly well with the stout, and I know you will enjoy.

 

For the first course we will be serving “Poor Man’s Lobster Roll”, which consists of butter poached monkfish tail with brioche croutons, tarragon aioli foam and Bibb lettuce. After reading this, I’m assuming that you are wondering why we are calling it a “Poor man’s Lobster Roll”. Monkfish is considered the “poor man’s lobster” of the ocean. Monkfish has that sweet and firm texture to it when you cook it up. Some people claim that you would have a hard time doing a side-by-side, blind-folded taste test and be able to tell the difference. It’s a really unique and underutilized fish from our local waters. The rest of the plate has the standardized lobster roll components with the brioche croutons, lettuce and of course the tarragon aioli foam. Matt decided to pair our Blonde Ale with this dish, which is a really light and easy drinking ale. He didn’t want to have a beer over pour the dish, but rather to complement its delicate flavors.

 

In between the first and second courses we have Intremezzo’s to cleanse the palate. Just wait and see to see what we have come up with!

 

The second course will be featuring seared Skate wing, which in my opinion, is another underutilized fish. Skate wing comes from a fish that looks a lot like a stingray. It’s a really thin fillet and sears up really quick. The flavor is a sweet and resembles scallops. We decided serve it with a sauté of pancetta, local mushrooms, tomato, escarole and finish it with a nage. Matt has decided to pair the Murphy’s Red Ale, which is a really malt forward beer and the sweetness of the beer should pair nicely with the skate wing and pancetta.

 

For the third course, we are doing a different take on Surf and Turf. We will be featuring a more well know seafood, the scallop. The scallop is such beautiful thing we could help but use it. We will be doing a nice hard sear on the scallops and serving them with seared king oyster mushrooms, torchon (duck liver pate), Okinawa sweet potato puree and finished with a Bordelaise. Bordelaise is a rich and decadent red wine demi glaze. It should be just the thing to bring this dish together. There are just so many rich and full flavors on the plate; we thought the Bordelaise is the only sauce to be able to stand up to these flavors. Matt has decided to pair the Vienna Lager with this. In general, lagers have very clean and crisp flavors and that will pair nicely with this dish.

 

Lastly we have dessert. When we were coming up with something to have for dessert after this meal, we looked back at the menu and realized that this is a very heavy and filling meal with so many big flavors, so we chose to do something on the lighter side. We decided to have some macerated berries topped with Sabayon and almond tuiles. Sabayon is a light and airy custard sauce. We will be macerating the berries in some of the Royal Impy Stout, which also happens to be the beer that Matt is pairing with this dish. It’s the perfect ending to a meal with the sweet overtones.

 

In closing, the Chefs and I are extremely happy with this menu. We feel that we are doing New England justice by showcasing a couple of fish common to the area, but that you might not see on a regular basis. It’s very important to us that we support our local fisheries and seafood vendors. It doesn’t get any fresher then coming right off the boat and driving down the road 5 miles to our back door and then to your plate. I really hope to see you on Sunday March 6th at 6 pm for the Poseidon Adventure. It’s going to be a fantastic time and we are looking forward to it.

 

Tickets are still available on our Web Store or in person at the Brewery.

 

Chef Jon