New Belgium Pairing: Grilled Jalapeno-Peach Goat Cheese Crostini

Recipe

When Foodbuzz asked several featured publishers to come up with a meal that paired well with any of the New Belgium brews, I knew exactly what to make:

A grilled-fruit salad with coconut shrimp and wit bier dressing.

It made perfect sense: wheat beers and citrus go together like peanut butter and jelly. {Think orange slices in pints…} Fruit plus tangy dressing- I was set.

But I need a little more than salad to satisfy me, so I started thinking outside the box.

See, wine and food pairing has been an art for ages. Luckily for those of us that like beer, beer and food pairing is becoming just as popular.

Just like wine pairings, there are a few basic guidelines to get you started. Like red wines with meat and white wines with chicken or fish, the same goes for beer: dark lagers with meat and light ales with chicken or fish. The same way each type of wine has a distinct flavor composition that’s brought out even more by certain foods, the same goes for beer. And of course for both wine and beer, the rules are meant to broken: drink what you like!

Back to the menu plan:

The New Belgium {most famous for their Fat Tire} beer I chose was the Mothership Wit, an organic wheat beer brewed with barley malt, coriander, and orange peel.

I asked a beer-brewing-connoisseur friend what went well with orange and coriander spiced beers besides, well, orange. As soon as he said goat cheese, my ears perked up. But just adding goat cheese to the salad would be boring and overdone…

Wit bier, a Belgian style brew, traditionally pairs well with spicy foods– the cool, lightly citrus flavored beverage refreshingly washes away the burn on your tongue.

So citrus, spicy, & goat cheese? Forget the salad. I had a better idea.

Grilled Jalapeno-Peach Spiced Goat Cheese Crostini

4 Tablespoons peach preserves

~ 20 slices pickled jalapeno

red pepper flakes

splash of lime juice

2 oz spreadable goat cheese {not pre-crumbled}

1 loaf crusty bread {such as French or ciabatta}

Cut bread into 1/4 inch slices.

Place on grill {or in the oven} just until the bread starts to toast- keep it crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. {I used a white wheat bread, feel free to choose whatever kind you like, as long as it’ll support the toppings.}

Dice jalapeno into small pieces.

Stir into peach preserves along with red pepper flakes and lime juice. Use more or less jalapeno & red pepper flakes depending on your spice preference. The sweet preserves do a good job at toning down the spice or the jalapenos, so if you’re not a spice fan, don’t be nervous; if you are a spice fan, ramp up those ‘penos!

Spread goat cheese onto grilled bread slices.

Top with peach-jalapeno jelly.

Eat while still warm, or enjoy cooled.

Enjoy with a nice, cold, Mothership Wit.

After sitting down with our drinks, we realized the bottle came with drinking instructions.

So we followed them:

Pour.

Swirl.

Finish.

Now drink.

Oh, and you might want to make extra jalapeno crostini. I’ve already made them twice and devoured them all. I need another loaf of bread…

Check back tomorrow for the grilled-fruit coconut shrimp salad with citrus-wit bier dressing tomorrow- the perfect accompaniment to the jalapeno crostini.

This meal was made fiscally possible by the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program. Consider this my FTC statement.