Cooking with Ancient Fire Wine

Every adventure has some twists and turns. The Manly Housewife is guest posting today with the conclusion of the Stuffed NY Strip story.

There is a lot to be said about the old adage that things happen for a reason. At the very least, a good argument could be made for this saying from my particular situation. I truly believe it happened for a reason. See, I just started blogging not that long ago, less than a month, actually, and it has been a great experience. Any blogger, as I am sure can tell you, gets very excited when he or she discovers site hits. Having recently re-watched the movie “Julie & Julia,” I now see it through different eyes. I had to laugh at the part when she gets all excited over her first blog comment. While just beginning my blogging adventure, I stumbled upon a site called Foodbuzz (if you’re a food blogger, visiting Foodbuzz is a must). Now that I have successfully launched my blog, it has sent me on an exhilarating rollercoaster ride of interesting visits and intriguing comments. I mention all of this as a preamble to an exciting story that happened all because of Foodbuzz. Three days after launching my new blog on Foodbuzz, I received a comment that one of my dishes had been paired with a wine. To let you know just how excited I was, I called everyone who knew I was doing this blog (and a few that didn’t) to tell them all about it, which really was a lot of people. Not only did this recipe (Smothered Pork Chops) receive great honors by being featured on Foodbuzz’s Top 9, it now had been paired with a great wine. We all have visions of grandeur in the things that matter most to us, and I love to cook. It’s not only fun, but it’s a passion to me. Only a few will understand the elation of having well-respected people pay respect to one of your dishes. After this great honor of pairing my dish with Pinot Noir and, specifically, the Francis Coppola Diamond Collection, I felt my desire of cooking elevate to a whole new level. I immediately contacted Jason at Ancient Fire Wines to thank him for granting me such a great honor, and I told him that I would love to do some additional pairings with him in the future. You see, The Manly Housewife has been an idea of mine for quite awhile, albeit an live-in-motion, ever-evolving idea, but an idea none the less. Each achievement only helps to confirm that this is exactly where I need to be. Jason and I had several conversations back and forth about ideas we could incorporate into our respective blogs to increase traffic, of course, but also to emphasize and complement one other’s talents. We finally decided on choosing a dish and both making our renditions of this dish. Now, before I go into my interpretation of the dish, let me quickly state that I did not fully keep up my end of the bargain, but that’s all explained as you read on below. . . .

Jason and I agreed to do a replica of a dish I had at Chef Pointe Café (an amazing, contradiction of a place, not far from my house). This is the craziest place you might ever eat. It’s been featured on Food Network because of its 5-star quality food, inspired, prepared, and served in, of all places, a gas station. Recently when I was there, I had the stuffed New York Strip Steak and was so intrigued that I was inspired enough to try to re-create it at home. We thought this would be a great dish to try and see what combinations we could each come up with. To fully explain how I didn’t keep up my end of the bargain is this: I did not use a New York Strip; instead I chose a ribeye. I like the ribeye better (and they were on sale). Also, because of a mishap on my part, which you can read about here Mandolin Safety, I omitted the potatoes and did not take as many pictures (it’s hard to snap photographs when your thumb is wrapped in a pressure bandage). And, lastly, after the mishap, I decided on stiffer drinks than what I had initially intended, knowing that Jason would totally rock that part with his recipe, and he did! But the show must go on. So my wife and I invited my parents over to enjoy a quiet evening of good food, good drinks, and good company.

Now that I am done rambling let’s get it on with the recipe. . .

Stuffed Ribeye Steaks
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 20-oz Ribeye Steaks (we’re talking about ¾” to 1” thick Fred-Flinstone-Style Steaks)
• Smoked Gouda Cheese (I used approximately ¼ -pound block of cheese and divided it between the four steaks)
• 8 Slices Canadian bacon
• Salt and Pepper, to taste
• 2 Yellow Squash, cut into ¼ inch rounds (again, careful with the Mandolin slicer)
• 2 Zucchini, cut into ¼ inch pieces
• ½ Small Red Onion, cut into wedges and then separated
• 1 ½ Cups Your Favorite Prepared Italian Dressing
• ¼ Cup Red Cherry Tomatoes
• ¼ Cup Yellow Cherry Tomatoes

 Directions (Steak Prep)

1. Sprinkle both sides of the steaks with salt and pepper.
2. Cut a slit along the fatty edge of the steak, ¾ length of the steaks.
3. Into each steak, add a generous slice of cheese and 2 slices of bacon (I would suggest quickly pan searing the bacon 1 minute both sides to help it crisp up).
4. Secure the stuffing inside the steaks with 3 to 4 toothpicks.
5. Let steaks sit for covered in the fridge for about and hour (this will allow the steaks to soak up the salt and pepper).

Directions (Vegetable Prep)

1. Slice Squash and Zucchini into ¼ inch pieces, discarding the stemmed end pieces.
2. Cut onion into wedges and separate into individual pieces.
3. Keep tomatoes separate from the rest of the veggies.
4. In a large bowl combine Squash, Zucchini, onion, and Italian dressing and mix well.

Directions (Cooking the Meal)

1. Spray grill grate with grilling spray prior to lighting.
2. Fire up the grill to medium high heat. You want it warm enough that you can only hold your hand for 2 seconds 3 inches from the grate.
3. Places steaks on the grill and don’t touch (moving them will cause the juices to leak out and make the steaks cook unevenly). Now here is a trick of mine: if the grill is to the correct temperature, you should cook ¾” to 1” steaks 7 minutes on each side for medium-rare steaks. For this recipe, I suggest closer to 8 minute each side to allow the cheese to fully melt and the center to warm up.
4. In a grill pan, add vegetables, excluding the tomatoes, and sauté’ over the grill.
5. Cook the vegetables until you begin to see that nice charred look around the edges.
6. Add tomatoes to the pan and continue to roast.
7. If done right, you should finish the veggies and the steak right about the same time.

To serve, add a couple of spoonfuls of vegetables to a plate. Remove toothpicks from steaks and serve over the top of the vegetables.

I hope you enjoy this meal. I still have my war wound from the mandolin accident, but the food was fantastic and well worth the pain. My original plan was to pair these steaks with a Grenache wine and a Hefeweizen beer. But, instead, due to my painful injury, my wife and mom enjoy a simple glass of White Zinfandel, while Dad and I jumped straight into the whisky stash. This was truly a fun and exciting co-blog that Jason and I did. He an I would both entertain offers to do this kind of combo blog with any other food bloggers. If you would like to pair up and do a joint blog like this one, please contact Jason at his Ancient Fire Wine Blog, or leave a message here.

Good Food, Good Drinks, Good Friends. . .

The Manly Housewife

Cooking Stuffed NY Strip Steak with The Manly Housewife

A few weeks ago I saw a post on a blog named “The Manly Housewife”. I can’t recall what the post was about, but the name of the blog certainly attracted my attention. I inquired about the mission behind the blog and found someone promoting more men in the kitchen. Preaching to the converted for sure. Without hesitation, and being a newly minted Foodbuzz Featured Publisher, I suggested we collaborate to help give something more to our respective readers.

We selected a Stuffed NY Strip to recreate based on his recent experience at the Chef Point Café in Watauga, Texas. I hadn’t heard of this place before and the description of five star dining at a gas station was certainly intriguing. The steak is stuffed with Canadian bacon and smoked cheese, served with roasted potatoes and mixed vegetables.

We decided we would each make the dish, with a couple of modifications, and pair it with both a wine and a beer and then blog about our experiences. During the initial planning we talked about anything that might need to be done differently. Additional seasoning for the steak was highlighted. We went with the addition of caramelized onions and a maple bourbon reduction to add some texture and flavor.

Margot and I cooked our meal on Sunday June 6th. I picked up two 20oz NY Strip Steaks at McKinnon’s in Salem, NH where I also found the Canadian bacon and a smoked blue cheese that I felt would go nicely in the steak.

Here are the recipes and preparation steps for everything but the vegetables, which were simply cut, steamed and served with some spray butter and a little fresh grated parmesan cheese.

Oven Roasted Potatoes

5 medium Yukon Gold Potatoes
2 Tbsp butter
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder
Dash of ground mustard
1 tsp kosher salt, divided
¼ tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp crushed dried oregano

Cut the potatoes into bite sized pieces. Heat the roasting pan in a 375 oven with 2 Tbsp butter. Add spices, ½ of salt and pepper to melted butter and set pan back in oven for 2 min. Add potatoes, olive oil and return to the oven. After 10 minutes add and stir oregano. Stir every 10 minutes for a total of 45 minutes. Turn down heat to 325, add remaining salt and stir with 15-20 min. to go.

Caramelized Leeks

2 large leeks

2 Tbsp butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Wash and clean the leeks. Slice the white/light green part of the leeks ½ inch or less thick. Melt the butter in sauté pan over high heat. Add leeks. Once they are starting to brown, turn heat down to medium low. Saute, stirring occasionally for 25 minutes.

Bourbon Maple Reduction


1/2 cup bourbon
1/2 cup real maple syrup
¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Combine ingredients and bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until thickened

Stuffed NY Strip Steak


2, 1 LB NY strip steaks
Smoked blue cheese
6 slices Canadian bacon
Salt
Pepper

Pat steaks dry, season with salt & pepper. Grill to a good sear on both sides. Slice open back as close to fat end as possible to create a nice pocket. Stuff with bacon & cheese. Use tooth picks to secure the gaps. Wrap in foil, with the slit in meat facing up, and bake at 450 until meat temperature is 150 for a medium cooked steak. The meat will continue to cook as you unwrap and plate it.

I had never cooked a steak (intended as a single serving) as large as this, nor had I ever ordered or eaten one of this size. To truly honor this dish and make for some good pictures size mattered!

The aromas in the kitchen from the caramelized leeks and potatoes were very enticing and adding the permeations from the maple bourbon reduction got us hungry well before it was time to eat. To make sure we could separate the influence of the wine/beer from that of the food we opened both early and tried a few sips of each. When the food was served we tried the steak and potatoes without the beverages first.

For wine I chose a Burgess 2004 Napa Cabernet and for the beer I chose a recently homemade Belgian Trappist Ale. The Cab was a sure bet with the richness of the steak and is fantastic on its own. This selection came to me as a present from a former co-worker who does indeed have good taste in wine. With a deep red color the wine had some mocha and wood flavors and had the familiar green pepper aroma. The beer was malty and hoppy with about 8% alcohol and moderate carbonation. I was hoping the malty flavors would help surround the steak in a similar way the red wine would, and that the hops would add a bit of spice to each bite.

The meat was just slightly more cooked than medium-rare, juicy and extremely flavorful. Margot said it had a wonderful crunch on the outside without being burnt, obviously from a good sear to start. The smoked meat and cheese provided a nice foundation for each bite, and the maple bourbon reduction provided a good deal of zip without being overbearing. The caramelized leeks provided additional crunch and had soaked up some butter which added a creamy texture. The potatoes included a mix of spices that intermingled well and came out wonderfully. They were crunchy on the outside and soft inside, with a hint of mustard in each bite. A very good match with the steak. These will be made again by themselves or maybe for breakfast.

The Cabernet paired exquisitely with the steak and didn’t overpower or become overwhelmed by the strong flavors in the dish. It was not a good match for the potatoes which Margot was the first to notice.

The beer on the other hand paired with both the steak and potatoes. As I had hoped the flavors in the beer surrounded the meat and cheese and played off those flavors to create a warming, exciting bite, umami I would imagine. The earthiness of the beer, an influence I believe from the Belgian Trappist yeast, paired nicely with the potatoes, much better than the wine.

The finished masterpiece!!!

This was one of the most exciting food and wine experiences I have ever had. I haven’t focused on cooking beef too much as we don’t it as often. The method I used this time definitely helped retain the moisture, something I will do well to remember since I generally like my steak medium-well which means overcooked to many people. Researching what Canadian bacon actually was prompted me to think about making it at home. And of course collaborating with the Manly Housewife gave me opportunity to think creatively about yet another food and wine adventure.

Today I am guest posting on The Manly Housewife's blog. Be sure and check out this post over there today and check back tomorrow when the he will be our special guest cooking a similar meal here at Ancient Fire Wines.

Cheers!

--Jason

What to Drink with Steak au Poivre

I grabbed a recipe from the Foodbuzz Flavor of the Month section where they are featuring steak in May. This month's flavor is being sponsored by Beringer Wines as they announce their Great Steak Challenge. I have entered recipe contests in the past but I am going to pass on this one in favor of some other ideas we are brewing up. If you are interested in this contest check it out at http://www.greatsteakchallenge.com/

The Joseph Erdos from the Gastronomer's Guide blog posted a recipe in 2009 for Steak au Poivre with Shallot Pan Sauce. Check it out at http://www.foodbuzz.com/blogs/us/new_york/new_york/midtown_west/980687-steak-au-poivre-with-shallot-pan-sauce.

I am going to recomend the Thomas Hyland Shiraz from Penfolds. My friend Wayne brought this to dinner a couple of years ago and although I had fouled up my own steak recipe the wine was fantastic and gave us something else to talk about. It even paired well with the insane chocolate cake Wayne is famous for. The wine is a deep red color with full aromas of dark berries and spice. The flavors were again the dark berries, pepper, spice and even some mocha that was best expressed with the cake. The finish was nice and smooth and the bottle was empty way too soon. I think the peppered steak and the zip from the shallots in the sauce of the featured recipe will go quite well with this wine. In my area I believe this wine can be found for around $15.

Cheers!

--Jason