dinner with Dad

I'm at home today and Mom will be at work till late, so it's just Dad and me for dinner. I was out running miscellaneous other errands across the street from a liquor store, so I decided I would make him beer marinaded grilled chicken. I made it once before for the family and received positive reviews, so I took the excuse to try something new.

I usually keep a short list in my wallet of beers I haven't tried, but the list was gone, so I found myself walking back and forth along the beer cases, staring, brainstorming, for a few minutes. I was standing by the case of 22oz beers near the door when a man came in who stared at the beers similar to the way I was. He said something about looking for a beer to marinade sausage that he wanted to grill tonight, and that he had just read somewhere that hoppy beers supposedly are good for preventing prostate cancer for men, so he was looking for an IPA. He ended up taking something entirely different, but that idea got added to my brainstorming, and I ended up leaving with a six pack of Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale.

Before I discuss this further, my marinade recipe:
1 cup beer
1/2 cup soy sauce (we use the low sodium kind in our house, having grown up without a lot of salt in my mom's cooking, we're pretty sensitive to it)
a tablespoon or so of oil (last time I used canola, this time, olive)
2 cloves garlic (1 heaping teaspoon of the jarred minced kind)
1 tablespoon chopped onion (I'm a little more generous than that)
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

You shouldn't marinade chicken for more than a few hours because it starts to break down proteins and whatnot. Grill it till it's not pink in the middle. Serve it to your favorite omnivores or carnivores (for those who don't know I'm a vegetarian). Tonight I'll be serving it up with a baked potato and some bean and corn chili.

Last time I made this, I used Magic Hat's Howl Winter Seasonal, a dark lager. I enjoyed drinking the leftovers-- definitely a strong flavor, almost like a porter, but drank light a lager, fairly light. As a marinade, even my picky eater little brother gave it a thumbs up and welcomed a repeat performance.

So this time, the Indian Brown Ale. I just finished making the marinade and there are some chicken boobies bathing in it in our fridge now. I drank the remaining 4 oz from the bottle I opened with high hopes of finding something similar to the Backdraft Brown Ale that Paul and I periodically refer to (we tried it together at Crystal City Sports Pub when I visited Northern Virginia). The Backdraft is one of the most bangin' beers I've ever had. It's dark, but not heavy. Malty, but not too sweet. Really, really good. I have found nothing like it since, but keep trying brown ales in hopes of finding something more readily accessible.

So today, Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale. Definitely a reputable brewer. I'm definitely tasting something nice under the hops-- the label did warn me that the brew is well-hopped, which I'm not generally into, not there's a nice brown ale under there, malty and smooth. The hops aren't even that bad. I don't totally dread finishing the six pack, though I may be inclined to share it with friends who may appreciate hops more.

As far as how the chicken goes, you'll have to ask my dad.

I was curious about the hops/prostate cancer thing, so I looked it up, and found the following:
Hope for Guys: Beer ingredient eyed in prostate cancer prevention
Beer can prevent prostate, breast cancers
Why beer is the latest hope in fight against cancer

Interesting. Well, that puts me at 190 to Paul's 172, and hopefully Dad enjoys dinner. I will enjoy my chili and potato, thank you, perhaps with another bottle of this Indian Brown Ale.