Beer-brined fried chicken with gouda on aged cheddar and cornmeal waffles Makes 6

Aged cheddar and cornmeal waffles

1¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon white sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1½ tablespoons baking powder
1 cup aged cheddar cheese, shredded
¾ cup milk
1 cup beer, Stone City Ale's Unchartered IPA
2 eggs
1 tablespoon canola oil

In a mixing bowl, add the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder. Stir in shredded cheese. Add the eggs, milk, beer and oil. Using a whisk, blend until all the ingredients come together and there are no longer any large lumps.

Preheat your waffle maker. To make each waffle, scoop 1/3 cup of batter onto the waffle iron section. Close the lid and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the waffle is cooked through and the cheese starts to get crispy.

Beer-brined fried chicken with gouda Serves 8 to 10

4 5- to 6- ounce chicken breasts
6 ounces Glengarry Fine Cheese's Lankaaster Gouda - divided into four pieces
1 16-ounce can of beer, Evergreen Craft Ale's Around the Corner IPA
1 tablespoon sea or Kosher salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon barbecue seasoning
1 egg
6 to 8 cups frying oil

Pour the entire can of beer into a medium-sized bowl. Add the salt and stir. Rinse the chicken breast under cold water and pat dry with a towel. Place the chicken breasts into the brine covering with a small plate to keep the chicken submerged. Refrigerate for 24 hours.

In a medium-sized pot bring oil up to a temperature of 350F.

Remove chicken from the brine. Rinse with cold water and pat dry. Using a sharp knife cut a pocket into the chicken breast. Stuff each breast with cheese.

Into a small bowl, mix together the flour and barbecue seasoning.

Crack the egg into another small mixing bowl. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of brine into the egg and using a whisk, mix well. Discard brine. Dip the chicken breasts into the thinned egg mixture, then into the flour, covering the chicken completely (don’t worry if it gets a little clumpy).

Carefully drop the floured chicken into the hot oil cooking it on all sides until it becomes golden brown and reaches an internal temperature of 165F.

Remove chicken from oil and plate onto a cooling rack or a plate lined with paper towel. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper. Serve on top of waffles with a drizzle of honey or maple syrup.

Evergreen Craft Ales

Named after the suburban street it is located on, Evergreen Craft Ales is Ottawa’s tiniest brewery. Inventively built inside the 200-squarefoot garage of brewer Chris Samuel in Bells Corners, the brewery has already built a neighbourhood following and is gaining momentum across Ottawa.

Producing approximately five batches of beer monthly, adding up to more than 900 cans and 425 litres of beer — it's the little brewery that could. In its regular lineup is Maiden Voyage pale ale, Evergreen's flagship brew, as well as two mainstays — Around the Corner India pale ale and a stout, currently Dark is the New Light. Samuel also gets playful experimenting with one-off brews to offer something unique to customers.

Because the beer is only available at the brewery, Samuel gets facetime with all his customers, which he sees as a great advantage. “Local beer and local food benefit from freshness and transparency,” says Samuel. “Freshness is obvious because you are buying the product from the source — just like buying produce directly from the farmer. Transparency means when you buy it at or close to the source, you get to meet the people that make the products you consume.”

The beer is available exclusively at the garage brewery with availability and hours posted on the website weekly. When visiting in person, feel free to ask Samuel for pairing tips with his brews.

Evergreen Craft Ales
36 Evergreen Dr., Ottawa, Ont.
evergreencraftales.com

Stone City Ales

Stone City Ales, located on bustling Princess Street, in the heart of downtown Kingston, has been serving fantastic ales since 2014. That was when owner Ron Shore was connected with brewer Justin Da Silva. Da Silva had been learning his craft brewing at Ottawa’s Clocktower Brew Pub and Beyond the Pale Brewery and working as a sales representative for Nickel Brook Brewery in Burlington. Though Shore initially hired Da Silva to design his four mainstay beers, the relationship blossomed and Da Silva has stayed on as the head brewer.

Billed as a brewery, tap room, bottle shop and kitchen, Stone City Ales offers an impressive menu complete with pairing suggestions, making as much as possible in-house and working with local farmers, ingredients and suppliers.

"There are endless opportunities for interesting pairings with beer and cheese," says Da Silva. "They both have such variety of styles that cover a broad spectrum of flavours, complimenting or contrasting one another which makes for a fun eating and drinking experience. It's awesome when you put two things together and they elevate one another, after all isn't that the point?”

Stone City Ales
275 Princess St., Kingston, Ont.
stonecityales.com, 613. 542.4222

Black River Cheese Company

As one of the region's oldest farmer-owned dairy co-operatives, Black River Cheese Company has more than 100 years of cheddar cheesemaking experience to its credit. Located just outside of Milford, in Prince Edward County, Black River Cheese has been producing naturally aged (meaning aged on a shelf over time, with no imitation flavors added) award-winning cheddar cheese since 1901.

Black River uses the milk of Prince Edward County dairy farmers with no modified milk ingredients or preservatives and mainly animal-free rennet in the cheese-making process. The cheddar cheeses are aged for two, four and six years, which can vary the flavour profile increasing the sharpness, bite and sweetness of the cheese as it ages, as well as the texture — from smooth and soft to crumbly and drier with tiny crystals.

Black River also has an impressive lineup of specialty cheddars. The garlic and pepper cheddar was launched in 2011 to celebrate Black River's 110th birthday. The maple cheddar is handcrafted using local milk, maple syrup and sugar. And the newest addition, a wine-cured cheddar has been winning awards and selling out.

Black River Cheese Company
913 County Rd. 13, Milford, Ont.
blackrivercheese.com, 613.476.2575