My favorite beer of all beers... period.  When tasting this beer, immediately nuts and malts engulf my taste buds.  Sweet caramel and a balance of earth make this beer very easy drinking and very palatable with many different foods.  For starters, I would pair Fat Tire Amber Ale with a salad.  Simple.  Spinach, spiced pecans (cayenne, salt, light brown sugar - toss to coat and toast in oven), apples, and a sherry shallot vinaigrette.  For second course, this beer would go well with a number of dishes.  From a chestnut soup with crème fraiche to a lentil pate to, my favorite, an open faced ravioli with Coca-Cola braised pork shoulder (preferably from your local hog farmer) and shitake mushrooms in a light reduction sauce.  The sweetness of the cola with the caramelization and umami of the mushrooms, make this a match made in heaven.  To finish any meal with Fat Tire Amber Ale, I would pair this with the cheese Gjetost.  The sweet caramelly notes of this goat's milk cheese with the earthiness that it suggest, lend it kindly to be paired with Fat Tire Amber Ale.

Fat Tire is a perfect example of a beer that pairs with lots of different flavors. Its sweet malts and aromatic, bittering hops allow a choice of a robust cheese. I like to go big with either a farmhouse cheddar or Parmigiano-Reggiano. The cheddar is creamy and plays with the sweetness of the malts for a swirl of difference; the dry nutty undertones of the parm allow the fullness to come through.

Spicy banana peppers cut the sweet malts as the stuffing of the sweet hickory smoked chicken and fennel scented sausage complement.  The fontina adds a pepperey element, complimenting the hops.  The tomato sauce, cooked with Fat Tire, blends and smooths the ingredients, and the sweet corn flan cuts the spice while adding and intensifying the sweetness of the malts.

Ingredients:

2 pounds flank steak

1/2 cup Fat Tire

8 peeled garlic cloves

2 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled and seeded

1 poblano chili, roasted, peeled and seeded

6 ancho chilies

1 bunch parsley

3 tbs. chopped cilantro

1 tbs. red chili flakes

1/2 cup tomato juice

3 cup olive oil

Salt and black pepper to taste

* Combine all ingredients in a blender except olive oil. On low speed puree ingredients and then slowly add oil.

* Place flank steaks in a dish that will fit both steaks. Pour marinade over steaks and refrigerate for 24 hours, turning the steaks once during that time. Take the remaining marinade and heat until just warm.

* Preheat a broiler or fire up your favorite barbie and grill steaks about 5-6 minutes per side. Pull off and let rest for 5 minutes. Thinly slice steaks on a bias and place on a serving platter, top with the rest of the marinade.

Ingredients:

•  5 Tbs. Butter
•  1 Red Onion
•  Enough Bread to diced into dice size pieces and fill your cupped 2 hands
•  2 Tbs. Flour
•  3 Garlic Cloves
•  3 Tbs. Cream (Half and Half)
•  3 Egg Yolkes
•  600 ml. Water
•  500 ml. Fat Tire Beer
•  1 Whole Clove
•  1 Bay Leaf
•  3 Tbs. Sugar
•  Salt and Pepper
•  Sprinkle of Nutmeg (Optional, we forgot it)
•  Toasted Almonds (Optional)
•  Sprinkle of parsley (For Color)
•  1 MouCo ColoRouge (for Yumminess)

Preparation:

1. Brown Butter
2. Set up a pot to warm with 3 tbs. butter on medium high heat.
3. Set up a skillet to warm with 2 tbs. butter on medium high heat.
4. Cut onion into desired size pieces, we went with a small dice, browns nicely to a lot of flavor while still maintaining some texture. Also dice garlic.
5. Dice Bread into Die size pieces; create enough to fill your two cupped hands.
6. Once the butter is browning add the onions to the pot and the bread to the pan.
7. Stir both frequently for 3 minutes, add Garlic to the pot and continue to stir frequently for another few minutes.
8. When the bread has achieved a nice color remove it from the heat.
9. Once onion and garlic are quite brown add 2 tbs. butter in one spot and let it melt, then add flour to this pool and stir it around to get it wet.
10. Toast this mixture for another 3 minutes; turning up the heat to high for the last 30 seconds.
11. When the flour/butter mixture, Rue, has achieved a light brown color stir it into the onions.
12. Then...add the beer and water. Turning up the heat at the end onions will set you up for faster boiling for the water and beer addition. You could substitute broth (50% beef, 50% chicken) for water, but we think this adds more calories than necessary, the flavor is already there from the onion and rue.
13. Reduce the heat to lightly boil for the next 10 minutes. 
14. While the soup is boiling separate 3 eggs; yolks for this recipe.
15. Whip the egg yolks and slowly add the sugar after about 1 minute. Once the mixture turns a pale white stop whipping and add the cream slowly while stirring lightly.
16. Once the egg yoke mixture is done, stop the mixing and add the cream while lightly stirring.
17. When then soup is done boiling, remove it from the heat and wait one minute then add the egg yoke mixture while stirring the hot soup lightly. 
18. Return the soup to the heat, but do not boil.
19. Once you have achieved the heat that you desire it's time to plate.

Plating:

• Slice MouCo ColoRouge cheese into small pie slices or long strips just 1/8 inch think.
• Fill a bowl with soup
• Top with Bread Croutons and ColoRouge mini pie slices.
• Immediately cover hot bowl of soup with a plate to arrive at table hot and melt the cheese.

For more cheese excellence visit http://www.mouco.com

When pairing food with Fat Tire, remember:

1. Find harmonies.

2. Match strength with strength.

Fat Tire is a feat of balance–sweet caramel, toasted malts; bright, crisp, fruity esters; and subtle herbal, earthy hops. Harmonize these flavors with caramel or fruit sweetness, and anything with grill marks. The strength is the versatility of Fat Tire. It pairs with almost any meat: poultry, pork, lamb, and lighter fish. The sessionability lends itself to pasta and pizza, which is why Fat Tire has a place on any table from a BBQ or pizza joint to 5-star white linen haute cuisine!

Sample Menu:

Gjetost Cheese or Aged Parmesan

Spinach Salad with fennel and a sherry vinaigrette

Beer Cheese Soup

Charcuterie: serrano ham, tartufo salami, fennel sausage

Pork or Veggie Pot Stickers with hoisin sauce

Prosciutto-wrapped Quail & Scallops with balsamic reduction

Bread pudding with caramel pecan ice cream