Rickard’s White Grill-Roasted Chorizo and Mussel Bake

Taken from Beerlicious: The Art of Grillin’ & Chillin’. 

Discard any mussels with broken shells and any dead open ones. Place in large pot. (Note: Mussels will double in size during cooking process.) Pour in Rickard’s White. Cover and cook over high heat for about 6 minutes to get the steam going. Stir once, cover, reduce heat to medium-high and cook for 5 minutes more or until all of the shells have opened and flesh is fully cooked.

Remove from heat and drain, reserving 2 cups (500 mL) of the cooking liquid. Set aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, remove flesh from shells, then cover and refrigerate until ready to use. (Note: These will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.)

Preheat your grill to medium-high (450–550ºF/230–280ºC).

Place sausages on grill and cook for 6 to 8 minutes per side or until fully cooked. Remove sausages from grill and let cool. Slice into half moons, about the size of mussels and ½-inch (1 cm) thick. Set aside.

In a bowl, toss together tomatoes, onion, oil and Bone Dust BBQ Seasoning to coat. Place tomatoes on grill, skin-side down, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until skin is charred and flesh has softened. Place onion on grill and cook for 4 minutes per side or until slightly charred and about half-cooked. Remove vegetables from grill, set aside and let cool. Roughly chop into mussel-sized pieces and set aside.

In a second bowl, toss together Oaxaca cheese, green onions and cilantro.

In cast-iron pan, arrange even layer of tomatoes, then top with layers of sausage, mussels and onion. Drizzle with enough reserved cooking liquid to come ½-inch (1 cm) up side of pan, discarding remaining liquid. Top evenly with Oaxaca cheese mixture.

Preheat grill to medium (350–450ºF/180–230ºC).

Place pan on grill. Close lid and grill for 25 to 30 minutes or until juices are bubbling and cheese is turning golden brown.

Remove pan from grill and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice into wedges. Serve with lime wedges on the side.

Tasting Notes: Rickard’s White is a nice Belgian-style witbier. The appearance is very cloudy, almost orange, and the head is quite dense and creamy. The nose is mostly citrus (orange) and there is a slight spice note (coriander or clove). The body is quite sweet, with more orange coming through. The finish is really smooth with no aftertaste from the bottle conditioning.

The Professor’s Pairing Notes: This is a cool recipe to match beer with. The mussels are light enough and should be paired with a beer that will not overpower them — enter the Rickard’s White. Now it gets cool — the chorizo sausage is spicy and the smooth finish of the White will reduce the heat and, at the same time, cut the fattiness of the sausage. On top of all that, the coriander in the beer is a nice fit with the cilantro.