December 9, 2013 Sautéed Rib Steak and Mushrooms with Sautéed Sweet Potatoes and Squashes and Creamed Kale with Chanterelle Mushrooms

December 9, 2013 Sautéed Rib Steak and Mushrooms with Sautéed Sweet Potatoes and Squashes and Creamed Chard with Chanterelle Mushrooms

I was working on a case with a client and could not help Suzette in the kitchen this evening, so this meal description will illustrate her skills with PPI’s and menu creation. 

After lunch with Mike at Taj Mahal, I went to Quarter’s on Yale and bought two cases of Marchesi Chianti Superiore for $.599/bottle and one case of Casa D’Avalo Grillo from Connie Nellos that he is featuring that we had drunk and liked at Kylene and Barry’s Christmas party last night and were offered by him at the party.

Then I went home and thawed out a rib steak I bought at Albertsons a month or two ago (graded Choice $5.99/lb.), which is a very good price for that cut and grade of meat.   When it became evident that I was too busy to help, at around 6:30 Suzette began dinner by sautéing in one large non-stick skillet, the PPI white acorn and Hokkaido Squashes and sweet potatoes we had baked last week.  In another small cast iron skillet, she sautéed three sliced white mushrooms in butter and olive oil. 

At the same time she chopped up several chanterelle mushrooms and sautéed them with a handful of the chopped chard I had picked from the garden last Wednesday before the storm hit and when those two ingredients had softened and cooked a bit, she added ¼ cup of heavy cream to create a cream sauce.

She went to the basement and selected a bottle of 2008 Wellington Vineyards’ Sonoma Valley Syrah grown in its Englandcrest vineyard and opened it to breath a bit.

Finally at 7:00 she made me stop working when she told us dinner was ready and I went to the kitchen and she heated up the small cast iron skillet and sautéed the steak and warmed up the other side dishes.  Finally at around 7:15 she removed the steak from the skillet and sliced it.  a bright line of red indicated that It was a little bit rare in the middle so I put a piece of aluminum foil over the slices and we plated the vegetables and after another minute of two when the steak had cooked more laid slices of steak on our plates and garnished the steak wit the sautéed slices of mushroom.  Suzette poured glasses of Syrah and we began eating while watching Dallas go down in flames in a chilly Soldiers’ Field to the Chicago Bears.  The meal was super delicious.  As I have said before I was raised on beef  and sweet potatoes (yams) in Texas and I love creamed spinach.  I found the substitution of chard to be fine and even interesting.  I loved the dinner.

I am not a fan of Syrah because it tends to be earthy and complex and I usually like fruity and clean tasting wines that do not interfere with the flavors of the food.  But, If you like earthy and complex, you will like Wellington Vineyard’s Syrah.  In fact, it has those peppery spicy notes that one often finds in California Zinfandels.  Its complexity and earthiness, perfectly complemented the fatty, heavily marbled steak.  As Suzette, said, “A forkful with the combination of the creamed Kale and the creamed kale and the steak makes a perfect bite.”  

 

 

I agreed and could only add, “Especially when washed down with a good Syrah.”

After dinner I ate a bowl of European yogurt ($2.99 at Trader Joe’s) with three slices of fresh pineapple I had sliced up yesterday afternoon (Pro’s Ranch Market $.50/lb.).  I often let the pineapples sit in the fridge a week or two, which seems to concentrate their sweet flavor a bit.

Bon Appétit