May 13, 2013 Dinner – Grilled Ribeye steak with sautéed mushrooms, spaghetti, leeks and greens

This was another quick, simple dinner.  I thawed out a rib eye steak in the morning.
We had a half bag of greens and lots of leeks that we had picked Sunday morning.

Suzette and I are determined to lose weight, so we decided to minimize the carbohydrates.  I sliced up ½ lb. of baby portabella mushrooms, and about 3 Tbsp. of the leeks, which we have started using instead of onions and shallots.  We had a bag with about ½ lb. of PPI broccoli that we chopped up.

Suzette started the steak broiling on the grill while I sautéed the mushrooms and leeks, then Suzette took over the skillet and added the spaghetti, broccoli and then the greens.  We ended up with sautéed vegetables and spaghetti. 

 

 

I went to the basement and got a bottle of Claudia Springs 2004 Zindandel grown in Redwood Valley at the John Ricetti Vineyard (www.claudiasprings.com) that we bought on our first trip to Anderson Valley in 2008.  Claudia Springs is a wonderful winery located at the westerly end of Anderson Valley in Mendocino County, California, not too far from the Pacific Ocean and Mendocino.  The owners, Claudia and Bob Klindt, make elegant zinfandels, Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris.  

 

When the steak was cooked to medium rare, we sliced it and filled one-half of the plate with the spaghetti and vegetable mixture and the other half with slices of steak.  I had warmed the PPI Bearnaise Sauce to soften it so I could dab some onto my steak for a lovely, relatively light steak dinner.

In Anderson Valley there are lots of growers who only grow grapes and sell them to the wineries and there are lots of wine makers who only make wine and buy their grapes from the farmers who raise them.  This wine appears to be one of those unions of grapes raised by John Ricetti with the exquisite wine making abilities of the Klindts.  The wine was smooth and yet earthy, not at all peppery, just like you would imagine a wine made from grapes raised in a redwood forest would taste.  I call these zinfandels, New California style zinfandels.  The first one I tasted that tasted like the grapes had been gown in the redwoods was Pacific Star Winery, which at the time had a tasting room and production facility in Myers Flat in the Redwoods National Park in Humboldt County and is now based in Fort Bragg, just up the road from Anderson Valley.   Redwood Valley is just north of Ukiah, in Mendocino County, California.

Bon Appétit