This piece features a PA beer paired with a homemade dish by BIPA Contributor Cooper Rivers (Paired Pints on Instagram.)
To me, there isn’t anything better than to enjoy an early summer night’s meal outside with a great IPA. This pairing was the harmonious balance of taste and sustenance everyone should experience before we jump into the sweltering days of summer. What we have here is an oven baked salmon on a bed of quinoa next to sautéed asparagus spears, and paired with 2SP’s Up and Out, Hazy IPA.
2SP’s Up and Out is an excellent choice for this dish is because of how well it goes with the fish. The complimentary flavors of citrus and pine play nice with the bitterness of the asparagus and is grounded by the earthiness of the quinoa. The Hazy IPA comes in at 6.0% ABV. This will be a summer staple for sure.
Note: please don’t use frozen fish. You won’t get the same flavors, and the texture of your fish will lack that smoothness (work on).
Ingredients:
• 2 Salmon Fillets
• 3 cloves of Garlic
• 1 Bunch of Asparagus
• 1 1/2 Tsp of capers
• Olive Oil
• 1 Cup of Quinoa
• 1 Lemon
• 1/4 stick of butter
• Feta Cheese
Directions:
• Preheat the oven to 325F
• Take out a 9×13 deep baking pan, line with aluminum foil and oil. Lay your filets on the pan (skin down).
• Using half of the lemon, cover filets, catching the seeds. Discard lemon on either side of the baking dish.
• Sprinkle capers, and some of it’s pickling liquid atop the filets.
• Finely slice garlic and sprinkle half of it atop filet, saving the rest for the asparagus.
• Slice even pads of butter (about a 1/4 inch thick) and place two pads on each filet. Place in the oven for 20 minutes.
• About 8 minutes into the cooking of the fish, start boiling the water with quinoa. After that, take out a cast iron, set to medium-high heat and add olive oil and garlic. Wait a minute then add asparagus. Lower heat to medium.
• Cook Quinoa to package instructions and until you can fluff it with a fork.
• Cook asparagus until its color resembles lime green or until the fish is done. I still like my asparagus to have a little crunch to it so I usually only cook it for 8-10 minutes.
• Plate asparagus.
• Plate Quinoa, use the other half of the lemon and lightly cover the quinoa. Then top with feta.
• Plate fish atop quinoa, find a nice spot outside, crack open your beer and enjoy the night!
Want to see more paired pints from Cooper? Check out his other delicious features on our site.
Cooper Rivers is a marketing and advertising professional from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. He started Paired Pints as a passion project and to explore the world of food. Follow him on instagram @pairedpints to see more pairings.
