July 31, 2013 Lunch – Vintage Dinner – Sautéed Hamburger Steaks, Onions and Brussels Sprouts and Shishito peppers

July 31, 2013 Lunch – Vintage  Dinner – Sautéed Hamburger Steaks, Onions and Brussels Sprouts and Shishito peppers

 

I had a meeting with Ricardo Chaves in the morning that ended at noon.  He invited us to eat lunch at Vintage Restaurant because he knew its owner and it was in the neighborhood.  It is a huge restaurant with rooms that stretch across one side of the large strip center located on the Southeast corner of Wyoming and Paseo de Norte. 

We each ordered alcoholic beverages, so I tried a glass of 2012 Chateau de Campuget Rose from Costières-de-nîmes, France, a region of the Rhone Valley in which wine has been cultivated since Greek times, ($9.00) that was fruity but dry and very pleasant.  I love the concept of rose wine.  It is processed as soon as the grapes are picked in the Fall and then aged for only a few months and bottled in May and ready to be drunk in the summer.  It is my favorite summer wine.

The lunch menu was impressive but not exciting.  I ordered the Chicken Cobb Salad ($12.00), Dave ordered the Santa Fe Prime Rib Sandwich ($12.00), Ricardo ordered a Club sandwich ($10.00) and George ordered an entrée of mussels, tomatoes, mushrooms and linguini with a supreme sauce ($18.00).

All the dishes were generous and plated well.  I left when the desserts were served and they were extra generous, although I did not try them.  The restaurant is new and its bar area is particularly lovely and worth the price of a drink just to see.

My Cobb was served the way I like it with the different ingredients arranged in rows, but the kitchen forgot to dress the salad with the advertised Maytag Blue Cheese dressing.  I was brought two bowls of dressing by the accommodating wait staff, so had more than enough dressing.

After lunch I drove to Sprouts and purchased a 1 lb. filet of fresh Halibut ($9.99/lb.), 3 fresh sausages ($2.99/lb.), 2 red bell peppers ($.25 each), some dark chocolate covered fruits and nuts ($3.99/lb.), granola, 4 stalks of rhubarb ($2.49/lb.) for Suzette, and blueberries ($1.25/pint).

I had thawed out three hamburgers last night and we had decided to cook them and sauté some of the shishito peppers and the last of the fingerling potatoes we had bought at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday.   We decided to cook everything inside and watch TV, so I sliced one small onion and thinly sliced the potatoes and placed the slices in a large skillet with the PPI grilled Brussels Sprouts from yesterday's lunch at Standard Diner with 2 Tbsp. of olive oil.  After a few minutes of sautéing we added the hamburgers and sautéed the whole affair for fifteen or twenty minutes.  We placed 12 shishito peppers in another smaller skillet  and sautéed them with olive oil and sea salt.  I fetched a bottle of Cutler Creek Cabernet Sauvignon and opened it.  When the steaks appeared to be done, I put a slice of Delice cheese on each and Suzette put them in a warmed oven while the onions and Brussels Sprouts continued to sauté.

Finally we plated the sautéed hamburger steak, peppers, and onions and Brussels Sprouts.  As it turned out, the steaks were only half cooked, so I microwaved them for an additional 2 minutes and they were fine.   The cab has matured a bit during its two years in the cellar and now has a soft rounded taste and tasted far better than the $3.33 I had paid for it at either Sprouts or Jubilation. 

After dinner I toasted a slice of rosemary/olive loaf from Costco and smeared it with Delice and drank another glass of wine with it.  The Delice is a bit ripe and beginning to be rather acidic, so it needs to be eaten soon.  Then I ate several pieces of the dark chocolate covered fruits and nuts and they were good with the wine also.

Bon  Appétit