My dad is leaving Wisconsin. After over twenty years, he’s moving just south of the border into Illinois.  For those of us who live in California, that might not seem like a huge difference, but for native Wisconsites, this is high treason.  It’s the Benedict Arnold of relocations, trading in the Brewers, cheese, and beer for corrupt city politics, toll roads, and Lincoln.  (OK, maybe that last one isn’t so bad.)

This traitorous move however, is pretty easily forgiven when you look at the view from his new backyard with a beer from a local Chicago Brewery:

 

 

My girlfriend Eli and I set to work cooking dinner.  I was assigned grill duty, which she started prepping what would become some amazing salads.  As i explained later to everyone at the table, I had it easy: all I had to do was cook through a dozen Wisconsin brats, already loaded with midwestern porky goodness.  She was crafting carefully balanced salads with a complex interplay of flavors and textures, dressing and vegetation.  I was cooking pork over an open flame. 

 

 

Luckily, there was beer. My dad had picked up a case of Goose Island’s Honker’s Ale a local Chicago Brewery’s flagship English Bitter.  It’s a beer no one seems to object to, and it goes well with nearly everything, especially good weather.  It was very dry, with an amber malt color, and light hand with the English hops.  They went down easily which cooking over a hot grill in the late summer sun, and even more easily when the food was ready.

Eli made two salads:

A roasted yam and leek salad, dressed with sage and olive oil.

Grilled corn, bean & pepper salad, with habanero and lime dressing. 

 

Tags: Bitters, Brats, Goose Island, Honker's Ale, Midwest, Salads

This entry was posted on Monday, August 11th, 2008 at 1:15 am and is filed under Stories, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.