Because Sometimes Beer is Better

Our loyal readers have been asking us, "What happened to the wine wall dinners?" The answer is that we were a little bit busy this winter, but we are now getting back to business. To celebrate our return to cooking and pairing, we decided to head to Seattle's Fishermen's Terminal, buy whatever looked good off one of the boats, and then find some wine to go with it. We made it as far as the boats, where it became apparent to us that our plan was full of holes. Hole #1: There is no fresh fish sold off the boats, only frozen, because it comes from Alaska and it would be none too fresh by the time it got to Seattle. Hole #2: fish off the boats are big. When faced with large, frozen, whole salmon, only 2 hours before dinner for 2, we decided the plan required some amending. We headed to Wild Salmon Fish Market (also located in Fishermen's Terminal) instead, where there is a good selection, but it's not necessarily fresher than any other reputable fish market's. We decided that what looked good was clams and that the best thing to do with clams is to make chowder, which leads us to hole #4; while one can drink wine with chowder, it's really better with beer. The result of this realization? The inaugural Beer Pairing Dinner. It was deeelicious and fun to make! Clam death results in the little bivalves popping open like popcorn, which is great to watch through a glass lid while sipping an Alaskan Amber.