Sonoran Carne Asada Tacos

Some could say that, in one way, Sonora is to Mexico what Texas is to the United States. Both states are major producers and exporters of beef. Underlying that common relationship are those who raise the cattle. The cowboys or vaqueros. Lifestyles that have faded over time and are on the verge of disappearing.

The history of the vaqueros goes all the way back to the Spanish conquistadors and colonialists, who brought cattle to the region in the sixteenth century. Missionaries encouraged the indigenous people to raise cattle, alongside the beans, corn and squash that they planted. Over the decades and centuries, cattle production increased so much that Sonora was among the top producers of beef in Mexico. 

However, recent times have made that livelihood harder to maintain. The Sonoran region has suffered from droughts. The interplay of both conditions has made it more difficult to raise cattle in the Mexican state. Back in 2021, the ongoing drought forced authorities to cut off water to farms that produce alfalfa, which is used to feed the cows, because of the falling water levels. That led to the doubling of the price of alfalfa, which made it harder to continue to raise cattle. The situation will only get worse, as experts predict that the average rainfall in the area will decrease by 20% to 30% by the second half of this century, while temperatures will rise as high as 122 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Despite a very uncertain future, beef plays an important role in Sonoran cuisine. The Sonoran way of preparing beef is particularly simple, emphasizing certain cuts, like brisket or top sirloin, over an open flame. Indeed, as one person put it, "red meat is considered a birthright" in Sonora. It is a tradition borne from the cattle ranchers. Another key component of Sonoran cuisine are tortillas. 

Carne Asada brings together beef and tortillas; and, the Sonoran preparation stands on its own. I have made carne asada many times in the past; and, those efforts usually begin with a marinade of citrus (orange, lemon and lime), along with chiles, herbs and spices. However, in Sonora, carne asada does not begin with the marinade. That caught me off guard. When I found a recipe for Sonoran Carne Asada, which is the one below, I had to do further research to verify that was the preparation. And, it makes sense. Vaqueros would not have had easy access to oranges, lemons and limes out on the prairie; they would not have small plots to grow chiles or cilantro. They had beef, and the makings for a fire. This explains why Sonoran carne asada revels in its simple preparation.

SONORAN CARNE ASADA TACOS

Recipe from NYT Cooking

Serves 6-8

Directions:

• 1/4 white onion, for cleaning the grill
• Beef fat (cut ffrom the meat, if fatty), tallow or vegetable oil, for greasing the grill
• 2 pounds of chuck roll, sliced into 1/2 inch steaks
• 2 pounds of top sirloin, sliced into 1/2 inch steaks
• 4 teaspoons kosher or sea salt, or to taste
• Frioles de Fiesta, for serving
• Salsa Tatemade Nortena (Fire Roasted Salsa) or other salsa, for serving
• Chile Verde Guacamole or other guacamole, for serving
• 12 to 16 large tortillas

Directions:

1. Start the grill. Start a charcoal or gas grill and get it very hot. For gas, set to high heat. For charcoal, the grill is ready when the coals are red but entirly covered with gray ash, adn you can hold your hand about 5-6 inches above the coals for only about 4-5 seconds beffore it becomes too hot.

2. Clean and season the grill. Using a pair of tongs, rub a quarter of a white onion over the grill. Next rub the beef fat or a paper towel soaked in vegetable oil over the grill to season it further.

3. Grill the meat. Working in batches if needed to avoid crowding, place the meat over the hot grill. Season the meat generously with salt on top right before trowing it on the grill, salt side up. (Alternatively sprinkle the top of the meat once it is on the grill). Grill for 4 to 5 minutes until the bottom has seared, deep grill marks have developed and the meat juices have started to rise and bubble over the top. Flip to the second side and grill for another 3-4 ,minutes for medium. Remove the meat and place in a lidded dish or container. Cover the cooked meat while you grill the remainder. Allow the meat to rest 5 minutes.

4. Prepare the meat. One by one take out the pieces of meat and cut into 1/2-inch dice, placing them back in the lidded dish until all of the meat has been chopped.

5. Ready the sides. Make sure that the refried beans are hot. Set them on the table, along with the salsa and guacamole in separate bowls.

6. Prepare the tortillas. Reduce the heat of the grill to medium if using gass or if using charcoal, set the flour tortillas on the cooler part of the grill. Heat the flour tortillas about 1 minute or so per side until puffed, lightly browned and completely heated through. Keep warm on a clean kitchen towl or tortilla warmer and bring to the table. 

7. Finish the dish. To assemble the tacos, a common practice is to grab a warm flour tortilla, spread some refried beans on the middle, add a generous amount of meat, then add salsa and guacamole on top to taste. 

PEACE.

Espetada

It has been referred to as "meat on a stick, the Madeira way." The word in question, Espetada, actually refers to the cooking method. The method basically involves skewing food on sticks and cooking it over charcoal. However, on the Portuguese archipelago of Madeira, the Espetada rises to a completely different level.

Madeira consists of four groups of islands: Madeira, Porto Santo, Desertas and Salvagens. Only Madeira and Porto Santo are populated, Desertas and Salvagens are both set aside as nature reserves. Yet, it is Madeira that is the most popular, mostly due to its long history of wine making. (Or, if you watched the recent Star Wars series, Acolyte, the beautiful landscape, as scenes were filmed at Fanal Forest and the parishes of Canical and Ribeira de Janela.) While Madeira may have some very beautiful scenery, it is the wine that has in many ways defined the islands, and certainly defines its espetada.

The history of Madeira wine dates back to the 15th century (before that, Madeira was principally known for sugar, as well as all of the negative things that came with it at the time, like slavery and plantations). Madeira wine is a fortified wine, which means that - much like Port - it is fortified with neutral grape spirits. The wine tends toward the sweet side, and often is served with desserts. 

For espetada, it serves as the liquid for the marinade. The marinade itself is fairly simple: adding crushed bay leaves (or laurel leaves), black pepper and garlic. After the meat marinates for at least four hours, one would skewer it and whatever else you want to add -- such as tomatoes, bell peppers, or chorizo -- to long laurel skewers. Those skewers then get placed over hot coals, which would be traditionally produced using grape wood. I didn't have laurel skewers on hand, so traditional metal skewers are just fine, as is using a gas grill if that is all you have ready to go. 

One last thing about the Madeiran version of espetada: it is traditionally made with beef, along with bell pepper and tomatoes. However, beef could be substituted with chicken or pork, as well as seafood like shrimp or squid. (Obviously, cooking times will then vary.) 

ESPETADA

Recipe from Curious Cuisiniere

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds beef sirloin, cubed into 2 inch chunks
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 12 bay leaves, crumbled
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup Madeira wine
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 Roma tomatoes, halved
• 2 green peppers, halved and seeded
• 2 teaspoons salt

Directions:

1. Marinate the meat. In a small bowl, mix together minced garlic, crushed bay leaves, and black pepper.  Rub the beef chunks with the mixture and place them in a flat baking dish or ziploc bag.  In another small bow, mix together the Madeira wine and olive oil. Pour the wine mixture over the beef cubes, making sure that they are well coated.  Refrigerate the beef for at least 4 hours or overnight. 

2. Prepare the skewers. Preheat the grill to medium high heat. Place the beef chunks on soaked, sturdy wooden skewers (or metal skewers) interspersed with tomato and green pepper halves. Sprinkle the beef and vegetables with salt. 

3. Grill the skewers. Grill the meat for 3-5 minutes. Flip the skewers and grill for an additional 3-5 minutes, until the beef is just starting to become firm.  Remove the skewers from the grill to a platter. Cover the skewers with aluminum foil and let them stand for 10 minutes before serving.

4. Finish the dish. Serve the skewers on a bed of crusty bread, drizzled with any juices that pooled in the platter as they rested. 

PEACE.

Chinese-Style Steak

When I first started cooking as a hobby, there were two things that motivated me.  First, it was Italian cuisine.  This was due to my food-based trip through Emilia Romagna and Tuscany, which I took back in 2006.  However, the other source of motivation came from the other side of the world ... it was the original Iron Chef.

Iron Chef was a cooking competition show produced by Fuji Television.  Each episode generally pitted two of the three (and later four) Japanese Iron Chefs in an one-hour cooking battle focused around a secret ingredient.  The Iron Chefs were Japanese chefs who represent the pinnacle of a cuisine: Hiroyuke Sakai, who was Iron Chef French; Chen Kenichi, who was Iron Chef Chinese; and Rokusaburo Michiba, who was the original Iron Chef Japanese.  (Masahiro was later succeeded by Koumei Nakamura and Masahiro Morimoto as Iron Chef Japanese.)  The fourth Iron Chef was Masahiko Kobe, Iron Chef Italian.  

Iron Chef Chen Kenichi

While I enjoyed watching all of the Iron Chefs produce creative dishes, the one chef who I always seemed to root for the most was Iron Chef Kenichi.  The official records of the Iron Chef reveal that Chef Kenichi had the most losses of any Iron Chef, but that did not matter to me.  Chef Kenichi brought a Sichuan-inspired flair to his dishes, which earned him the nickname, "The Szechuan Sage." His dishes always left me hungry and his cooking inspired me to dabble with Chinese cuisine.  

Long after the show ended, and the reruns stopped, I came across Chen Kenichi's cookbook, Iron Chef Chen's Knockout Chinese.  While the book has sat on a shelf for a very long time, I have been wanting to make a dish from its recipes.   I paged through it one day and found a recipe for "Chinese-Style Steak."  Chef Chen writes that this was his favorite recipe as a child.  "If my mother said, 'Steak for dinner tonight,'" he recounts, "my head would be filled with mouth-watering visions all day at school."  The chef would head "straight home on those days" for that steak dinner.  

With that background, I thought that would be a good recipe for one of my Steak Nights. The recipe is incredibly easy to make.  That simplicity seems quite ironic for a chef who made some very complex recipes during his Iron Chef Battles.  In the end, this is just another lesson that has been become a theme in my cooking adventures.  Simplicity can be perfection.

(One last note: I did not have any watercress for the garnish.  But, who needs greens?  Steak and onions is a meal in and of itself!)

CHINESE-STYLE STEAK

Recipe from Chen Kenichi, 

Iron Chef Chen's Knockout Chinese, pp. 58-59

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 cut beef tenderloin

Dash each salt and pepper

1 onion

Beef tallow or vegetable oil

1 tablespoon sake

1 teaspoon soy sauce

Watercress, for garnish

Directions:

1.  Prepare the beef and onion.  Score meat diagonally along the surface of the beef and season with salt and pepper.  Thinly slice the onion against the grain.

2.  Cook the beef.  Melt the beef tallow in a wok and add  steak.  Grill on both sides to desired level of doneness and remove from the wok.  Use remaining fat in pan to saute onions.  Add the sake and soy sauce.  

3.  Finish the dish.  Cut steak into bite-size strips, top with sauteed onions and garnish plate with watercress. 

ENJOY!

Oaxacan-Style Grilled Sirloin

I am a very big fan of Steve Raichlen, who is the author of the Barbecue Bible and host of shows such as Primal Grill.   Maybe it is his straightforward presentation of recipes that are easy to understand and replicate.  Maybe it is the line of grills and smokers that are in the background of his shows.  Maybe it is understanding that, during the process of  following recipes, it is okay to make mistakes.  After all, Steve Raichlen has said, "there's no such thing as a mistake in a kitchen, just a new recipe waiting to be discovered.

In the end, I think it is the undeniable fact that Steve Raichlen is synonymous with grilling and barbecue, both of which are among my favorite cooking methods.  Many of his recipes have inspired my cooking, especially when it  comes to my Steak Night meals or Savage Bolek BBQ recipes.  (The Baltimore Pit Beef recipe, which is Steve Raichlen's take on the quintessential Maryland "BBQ" ranks as one of the most popular recipes on this blog.)

One particular recipe, Oaxacan-Style Grilled Sirloin, grabbed my attention and did not let go.  The reference to Oaxacan cuisine was one reason, because I am intrigued by regional Mexican cooking.   For examples, you can check out my Pollo a las Brassas, which is based on street food from Sinaloa, or my Mole Verde Zacatecano, which is based on the green sauce from Zacatecas.

Raichlen's recipe is a nod to a under-appreciated fact about Oaxacan cuisine.  While Oaxaca may be known as the land of the seven moles, simply grilled meats wrapped in tortillas -- carne asado -- are as quintessentially Oaxacan as any of those seven sauces. Luke Pyerson, of the Boston Globe, recounted the experience of searching out carne asado at the Mercado Noviembre 20, a market locate just off the the zocalo or main square.  He described following the scent of grilled meat to the vendors, who served it in corn tortillas along with roasted onions and peppers, guacamole, and anything you purchased from the vegetable vendors at the market.  

If you want to transform the whole experience from print to video, I would assume it looked something like this: 

(Note: the first two and a half minutes are about the market, the rest of the video is about Oaxacan crafts and folk art, which is interesting too.)  After reading the article and watching the video, I wished there was an alley of smoked meats in my neighborhood.  Not just for the carne asado, but also the music.  

So, with a very hungry stomach, I made Steven Raichlen's Oaxacan-Style Grilled Sirloin.  Needless to say, I was not disappointed.  It was the best I could do without standing in the middle of the Mercado 20 Noviembre.  Given the ease of the recipe, as well as how tasty the results are, this recipe is going to be added to my quickly growing "go-to" recipes.   It is definitely a great summer recipe and, quite frankly, it is also a recipe that is worth standing in 3-4 inches of snow during the winter time just to grill the meat.

OAXACAN-STYLE GRILLED SIRLOIN

Recipe from Steven Raichlen's Barbecue Bible

Serves 8

Ingredients:

2 bunches scallions, white and green parts trimmed

8 chiles de agua, cubanelle peppers, jalapeno peppers or poblano peppers

Coarse salt

2 pounds of boneless sirloin steak, cut into broad sheets 1/4 inch thick

16 corn or flour tortillas, or more as needed

4 limes, cut into wedges

Guacamole

Salsa

Directions:

1.  Prepare the grill.  Preheat the grill to high heat.

2.  Prepare the vegetables.  If using charcoal, toss the scallions and peppers right on the coals.  If using gas, arrange the scallions and peppers on the hot grate.  Cook, turning with tongs, until nicely charred and tender, about 5 minutes.  

3.  Continue preparing the vegetables.  Transfer the grilled scallions to a serving plate and set aside until ready to serve.  Scrape the charred skins off the peppers with a sharp night (don't worry about removing every last bit.  Cut the peppers in half and scrape out the seeds.  Transfer the peppers to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and set aside.

4.  Grill the steak.  When ready to grill the beef, brush and oil the grate.  Generously salt the beef and place it on the hot grate.  Grill, turning with tongs, 1 to 4 minutes per side for well done (the way Oaxacans like their beef cooked).  While you are at it, arrange the tortillas, a few at a time, on the grill for a few seconds to ehat them, then keep them warm in a cloth lined basket.  Transfer the grilled beef to a cutting board and cut it into thin strips or 1/2 inch dice.  

5.  Serve.  Set out the bowls of lime wedges, guacamole and salsa, along with the scallions and peppers.  To eat, place a few pieces of beef on the tortilla.  Place a grilled scallion and half pepper on top.  Top with spoonfuls of guacamole and salsa, and a squeeze of lime juice.  Roll the whole thing up and eat it.

ENJOY!

Turkish Sirloin

Steak Nights are more than opportunities to cook steak; rather, they provide chances for me to be adventurous and creative. On this particular occasion, I decided to make a steak rub based upon spices that help define a particular cuisine.  I did this once before, but it was not a steak dish.  I made a Turkish-Spiced Rockfish.  I decided to take that idea and apply it to steak, making a Turkish Sirloin.

Making a steak rub based upon spices that define Turkish cuisine presented some problems for me.  I am neither Turkish nor an expert on Turkish cuisine.  My only qualification  is my love of Turkish food.  Given a lack of first-hand experience, I had to do some research into the spices that provide Turkish food with its unique character and flavors. This meant that I would have to rely upon the Internet, and, therefore, have to double-check everything for its veracity.

My research led me to select five spices from the wide array of ingredients used by Turkish chefs and home cooks.  The five spices are:

(1) Oregano: This herb or spice is found throughout the Aegean Sea, leaving its mark on both Greek and Turkish cuisine.  It provides a warm, slightly bitter taste and contributes to the aroma of the rub.  

(2) Paprika: This is the Turkish sweet red pepper powder that, by its name, provides a little sweetness to offset the bitterness from the other ingredients.  It also provides the rub with a bright red color.

(3) Cumin: The Turks call it kimyon, and this spice is often used in meat dishes.  Cumin provides a very strong earthiness and a small amount goes much further than other spices, such as oregano.

(4) Aleppo pepper: Turkish cuisine uses a lot of different peppers to spice the dishes.  Aleppo pepper is grown in both Turkey and Syria.  It is the principal source of heat for this rub.  

(5) Sumac: Ordinarily, sumac is used by Turkish chefs and home cooks as a garnish.  However, I wanted to use its burgundy hues to give the rub a darker color, and, I wanted its tangy, citrusy flavor to provide some depth and complexity to the rub.

I think that these spices make a wonderful rub for steaks.  The rub is not too spicy, but it is full of flavor.  I think that I can mark this as one of my more successful, creative endeavors!

TURKISH SPICED SIRLOIN

A Chef Bolek Original

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

1 grass-fed sirloin, about 1 pound

1/2 teaspoon of paprika

1/2 teaspoon of sumac powder

1/2 teaspoon of Aleppo powder

1/4 teaspoon of cumin

1/4 teaspoon of oregano

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup of canola oil

Directions:

1.  Marinate the steak.  Combine all of the ingredients in a Ziploc bag.  Add the steak and work the marinade around the steak.  Seal the bag and allow the steak to marinate for at least one half hour to overnight.  

2.  Grill or broil the steak.  Grill the steak on medium high heat or under the broiler for about four minutes per side, rotating the steak ninety degrees after a couple of minutes and then flip and repeat. 

Now, if only I could get my hands on a red wine from one of the vineyards in the Marmara or Aegean regions of Turkey.  If you are like me and do not have access to any of those wines, I good Californian Syrah or Chilean Carmenere would probably pair well this dish.

ENJOY!

Steak Gaucho-Style with Argentinian Chimichurri Sauce

They stood with with their wide rimmed hats buffeted by the wind, which also worked its way around their woolen ponchos and beat against the loose, baggy bombachas.  They stood their ground, watching over the herds of cattle who quietly grazed on the pampas.  They are the gauchos, the cowboys of the Argentine, Uruguayan or Southern Brazilian plains.

This dish is inspired by the cooking of the gauchos.  Out on the open plains, the principal food that they ate were the cows that they herded.  However, they had no way to store or preserve the meat.  This meant that they had to cook all parts of the cow as soon as possible over an open fire and eat it with the same dispatch. 

This food tradition was aptly portrayed on an episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, which is one of my favorite food shows.  Andrew was visiting Buenos Aires to explore the Argentine meat culture.  Of course, he sampled dishes such as achuras (cow innards) and chinchuhlines (small intestines).  Andrew also visited the Bamba Chica Ranch, where he learned about the lifestyle of the Argentine gaucho.  Andrew tells the story in his expert style:

"The gauchos started working on this about 12 hours ago, butchering a 9-month-old calf, removing the organs and then butterflying the entire carcass over the coals.  From here on, it looks simple, but there is an art to managing this fire.  The wood is going from the pile over here onto the fire over here, where it will burn down as coals, as the coals become the right color and temperature, they get spread underneath the animal.  In the end, they'll use more than a ton of wood to cook this asado con cuero....  After about ten hours on the grill, it's ready to go.  So in true gaucho style, grab a knife, a hunk of bread, and throw some elbows to get a piece of your favorite cut."

What could be better than having a knife, a hunk of bread and your favorite cut of meat?  I looked for a recipe and found the Steak Gaucho-Style with Argentinian Chimichurri Sauce recipe on Food Network's website.  In any event, I did not have that expertly maintained fire to cook this dish.  While I could have started a charcoal fire using my smoker, I decided to go with the easier, more straightforward route ... my gas grill.  Although some of the authenticity was lost, the grill still worked perfectly.  I will definitely make this recipe again, and again, and again!

STEAK GAUCHO-STYLE WITH ARGENTINIAN CHIMICHURRI SAUCE

Recipe adapted from Food Network

Serves 4

Ingredients (for the Chimichurri Sauce)

1 cup lightly packed chopped flat leaf parsley
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves (optional)
2 tablespoons shallot or onion, minced
3/4 cup vegetable or olive oil
3 tablespoons sherry wine vinegar, or red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons lemon juice

Ingredients (for the steak):
3 tablespoons salt
2 1/2 pounds sirloin steak, 1 1/2 inches thick
2 baguettes, sliced into 1/4-inch-thick slices

Directions:

1.  Prepare the chimichurri sauce.  Place all chimichurri sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until well chopped, but not pureed. Reserve.

2.  Grill the steak.  Season the steak with salt and pepper.  Place the steak directly over a hot grill and grill until the outer portion of the meat reaches the desired degree of doneness.

3.  Slice the steak and serve.  Remove the steak from the grill and slice long strips from the outer edges of the steak. Instruct guests to pick up a steak slice from the cutting board with their fingers, place it on a slice of baguette, spoon chimichurri sauce over the steak, and enjoy.

4.  Repeat, if necessary.  If the remainder of the steak is still too rare, return the steak to the grill, and grill until more of the steak is cooked. Remove and repeat the slicing and serving procedure until steak is consumed.  Spoon chimichurri sauce over the remaining steak.

Obviously, this dish calls for a pairing with an Argentinian Malbec wine, such as the Bodega Luigi Bosca Malbec.

ENJOY!

Dundicut-Rubbed Sirloin Steak

As a follower of the craft beer movement, one of the trends is for brewers to produce Pale Ales or Imperial Pale Ales that are brewed with only one hop.  The idea is to showcase that hop, revealing its effect on the aroma and taste of the beer.  I decided apply this trend to cooking, and make rubs that showcase a particular chile or pepper.  The first rub that I made was a mixture featuring the Dundicut pepper.

The Dundicut is a small, round, dark-red chile that is grown primarily in the Tharparkar region of the Sindh province in Pakistan.  In fact, some say it is the national chile of Pakistan.  According to Wikipedia, the chile shares some characteristics with the Scotch Bonnet pepper, although the Dundicut has much fewer Scoville Heat Units than the Scotch Bonnet.  This means that the Dundicut is not as hot and spicy.  However, one should not be fooled, the Dundicut still packs anywhere from 30,000 to 65,000 Scoville Heat Units, which is far more than the jalapeno or serrano peppers.  

For this particular rub, I used three Dundicut pods.  (Obviously, if you would like reduce the heat of the rub, you can use 1 or two pods.)  To fill out the rub, I used not only traditional rub ingredients (onion powder, garlic powder, and salt) but I added a nod to Pakistani cuisine by the use of cardamom peppers.  In particular I used black cardamom and green cardamom, both of which are used in Pakistani dishes and spice mixes (like garam masala).

Finally, one caveat.  This is the first time that I made this recipe, and, as such, it is a work in progress.  The rub is very spicy and I would suggest using less than three Dundicut pods unless you have a high tolerance for spicy foods.  As I work on this recipe, I will post any changes or refinements.  So, check back every once in a while.     

DUNDICUT-RUBBED SIRLOIN STEAK

A Chef Bolek Original

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

1 grass-fed sirloin steak

3 dried Dundicut peppers, ground

2 black cardamom pods, ground

4 green cardamom pods, ground

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

1 teaspoon of onion powder

1 teaspoon of sea salt

Vegetable oil

Directions:

1.  Prepare the rub and the steak.  Combine the peppers, cardamom, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt.  Mix well.  Drizzle vegetable oil over all sides of the sirloin steak.  Apply the rub to each side of the steak.  Let the steak sit for a few minutes.  

2.  Cook the steak.  Preheat the broiler.  Broil the steak for about six to eight minutes.  Flip the steak and broil for six to eight minutes more until the steak reaches your desired doneness.

PAIRING THIS DISH

Given the intense heat and spice of the rub, I would not recommend this dish be paired with wine.   Pairing spicy foods with wine is hard enough, but when the level of heat is toward the top of the charts, it is not worth the endeavor.  Instead, a nice, cool beer would be in order.  A lighter beer, such as a pilsner or a pale ale would probably work best with this dish.  

ENJOY!