February 6, 2017 Lunch – PPI French Onion Soup on Steak and Mushroom Omelet. Dinner- PPI Ostrich Hanger Steak with Rapini, tomato and onion Couscous

February 6, 2017 Lunch – PPI French Onion Soup on Steak and Mushroom Omelet. Dinner- PPI Ostrich Hanger Steak with Rapini, tomato and onion Couscous

Today was a day of eating PPIs.  I had granola, blueberries, yogurt, and milk for breakfast.

For lunch I ate the PPI steak and Mushroom frittata with rapini from Sunday brunch with the PPI Onion Soup left from last night’s dinner spread over a slice of toasted French bread.

Suzette was busy , so I cooked dinner.  We decided to saute the PPI Ostrich hanger steak from Friday night’s dinner at Lambert’s.

I prepared Couscous with a diced Roma tomato, 1 oz. of diced onion, and the rest of the rapini, which I chopped blanched in salted water with 1 oz. of butter, while I sautéed the onion, tomato, and Couscous in a separate pot.  I then added the rapini and boiling water to the Couscous and cooked it until the Couscous was soft, adding water as needed.  The result was a soft moist couscous infused with chopped rapini, onion, andn tomatoes, very delicious.

When Suzette finished her phone call, we sautéed the thin slices of ostrich in a small skillet to reheat them and we plated up our simple dinner.

February 6, 2017 Lunch – PPI French Onion Soup on Steak and Mushroom Omelet. Dinner- PPI Ostrich Hanger Steak with Rapini, tomato and onion Couscous

Today was a day of eating PPIs.  I had granola, blueberries, yogurt, and milk for breakfast.

For lunch I ate the PPI steak and Mushroom frittata with rapini from Sunday brunch with the PPI Onion Soup left from last night’s dinner spread over a slice of toasted French bread.

Suzette was busy , so I cooked dinner.  We decided to saute the PPI Ostrich hanger steak from Friday night’s dinner at Lambert’s.

I prepared Couscous with a diced Roma tomato, 1 oz. of diced onion, and the rest of the rapini, which I chopped blanched in salted water with 1 oz. of butter, while I sautéed the onion, tomato, and Couscous in a separate pot.  I then added the rapini and boiling water to the Couscous and cooked it until the Couscous was soft, adding water as needed.  The result was a soft moist couscous infused with chopped rapini, onion, andn tomatoes, very delicious.

When Suzette finished her phone call, we sautéed the thin slices of ostrich in a small skillet to reheat them and we plated up our simple dinner; a mound of couscous topped with slices of sautéed ostrich.

I opened a bottle of La Granja Rose (Trader Joe’s $4.99).  Its dark Rose color of 100% Grenache matched the dark color of the seared ostrich hanger steak before we sautéed it.  The Rose is from the Carinena wine region of Spain located southwest of Zaragoza.

CARIÑENA WINE REGION
MAY 17, 2014 BY JOE LEAVE A COMMENT

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Carinena wine
CARINENA WINE REGION
D.O.P CARIÑENA WINE REGION

The D.O. Cariñena is little known to most in the world of Spanish wines. There are only 29 wineries in the Cariñena wine region, and only a handful of the wines are exported to the United States. The closest we have been to the Cariñena wine region in Spain was on a train ride from Logrono, in the Rioja region, to Barcelona. We passed through the city of Zaragosa. Although Zaragosa is not in the region of Cariñena, it is very close by and in the same autonomous area of Aragon. Until this past week, we had not tasted a single wine from this region.

The wines of the region are mostly red with Garnacha and Cariñena (Carignane) being the most predominant. In 2012 the Cariñena wine region launched an awareness campaign to showcase the wines from this region. Part of that campaign was a seminar and tasting held at the Piperade restaurant in San Francisco on Thursday, May 15, 2014. We attended as part of the media and trade. We tasted six wines, with Master Sommelier Andrea Robinson leading the discussion. The seminar was followed by a walk-around tasting of additional Cariñena wines. Those we enjoyed with delicious Tapas dishes prepared by the chef at Piperade.

ABOUT THE D.O.P CARIÑENA WINE REGION

carinena map
CARIÑENA MAP PROVIDED BY BODEGAS SAN VALERO
The Cariñena wine region was named an official Denominacion de Origen in 1932. In 2011 Cariñena was declared a “Protected” area. Protected designation is an extra layer of control over what grapes are grown and how the wine is made. The region survived the Phylloxera blight that devastated most of Europe’s vineyards in the 1860’s. The reason, the mite that causes this vine disease could not survive in the stone soil of this region. This soil is unique to this wine growing area and the Cariñena wineries have adopted the mantra “Crafted in Stone.” The terroir of the region is also influenced by the Ebro River and Valley. The vineyards are located from 1300 to 2600 feet in elevation. There are very large differences between day and nighttime temperatures. Add in the Cierzo winds, and you have the total factors that give the Cariñena wines their character. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cierzo. In the Cariñena wine region, there 1600 growers and 35,000 acres of vines. Many of the small growers belong to cooperative wineries. One of the largest and most notable is Bodegas San Valero, managing 700 growers.  

I like a 100% grenache because it usually has a fruity flavor and a reasonably high amount of acidity that makes it a very refreshing wine.  La Granja is a good example of a Spanish grenache Rose at a good price from my favorite area in Spain, the Ebro River Valley.  I recommend you try this wine with sautéed or grilled pork or ostrich dishes.

Bon Appetit