The finished result arranged with all the fixings and the Avery White Rascal.

Due to a lot of watching the Travel Channel, I have become reinterested in cooking as of late.  And if you are going to cook why not pair it with some good beer.  So I decided to do exactly that with my first entrance back into cooking.  So a couple weeks ago to my parents’ surprise I let them know I would be making dinner for them one night.

My thought behind that pairing was mostly to match up a beer and a dinner that my dad would enjoy.  He is a pretty picky eater so finding a dish that he would like was key.  I sort of decided first that I wanted to do the beer as a white ale.  It is summer and the white ales are just so refreshing during this time of the year.  So I thought why not make a citrus marinated chicken.  I figured the citrus taste from the chicken and beer would compliment each other nicely.  I also decided to add some yellow rice and grilled veggies, the veggies of which my dad would not touch but for the rest of us.

I went shopping with my mom and picked up all the needed ingredients include zucchini, asparagus and sweet bell peppers.  Then we returned to my parents’ house and marinated the chicken thighs in salt, pepper, vegetable oil, zest from oranges, limes and lemons, juices from those as well and a little thyme and hot sauce.  I let that marinate for an hour and half before putting them on the grill.  We prepped the veggies and started cooking the rice and right before a big thunderstorm started we had everything done.

Everything came out really well as the chicken was very juicy and retained the citrus taste to it a lot better and I really anticipated.  The veggies were a nice compliment and the Avery White Rascal ale just brought it all home.  I was also pleased that everyone enjoyed it.  I had a good time making it and really feel good about starting to cook again.  I plan on doing more of these for my family and friends in the future and will try to take some pictures during the prep and cooking process as well.  But overall it was a great success, I am proud!