In the middle of winter grills often sit covered in snow, waiting for a nice day to come along so they can once again serve as man’s other best friend.  That leaves BBQ fans challenged to cook their steaks indoors and still get that grilled texture.  My father-in-law introduced me to this recipe that will scratch the itch for people who love a good grilled steak.

INGREDIENTS for STEAKS
2 8-ounce New York strip steaks (about 1″ thick), trimmed
2 TBSP olive oil
1 TSP coarse salt
1 large onion, sliced
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
2 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro
1 TBSP plus 1 TSP chili powder
1/4 TSP dried crushed red pepper
1/4 TSP Cumin
1 TBSP water
2 poblano chilies, seeded, sliced
Additional chopped fresh cilantro

Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Mix in onion, garlic, 2 TBSP chopped cilantro, 1 TBSP chili powder and crushed red pepper. Add 1 TBSP water. Cover and cook mixture 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chilies and sauté until tender about 6 minutes. Transfer mixture to plate leaving some bits in the skillet.

Rub each steak with salt, pepper, cumin and 1/2 teaspoon chili powder. Raise heat to high and add steaks to same skillet. Cook as desired, about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer to platter and cover with aluminum foil. Top steaks with cilantro. Serve with onion mix on top or on the side with salsa.

..

INGREDIENTS for CHIPOTLE SALSA
3 cups fresh corn kernals (about 3 ears)
4 scallions, white and green parts thinly sliced separately
2 TBSP unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1-½ TSP coarse salt
1-½ TSP ground cumin
1-TSP chili powder
½ TSP black pepper
2 plum tomatoes, finely diced
1 to 2 fresh chipotle chiles, finely diced, including seeds

Heat a dry large cast-iron skillet over moderately high heat until hot, then pan-roast corn, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

Cook white part of scallions in butter with garlic, 1 TSP salt, ½ TSP each cumin and chili powder, and ¼ TSP pepper in skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until scallions are tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in corn, tomatoes, and chipotles.

…

WINE PAIRINGS - With most steaks you can pair most hearty reds like Cabernet, Meritage blends or similar wines.  Because this steak has some heat, you want a hearty red with a ripe style so the sweetness offsets the heat.  Think of wines with a “jammy” component like some Australian Shiraz or Petite Sirah style wines.  The finished steak will have texture that is almost blackened.  Here’s a few wines that will marry up nicely:

one of my favorite Australian wineries

The Tapestry wines are phenomenal!  And they’re widely available in the U.S. in most states.  This wine should be between $15 and $20 on the shelf at most retailers.  I like it because you get the riper style without over extraction.  This gem comes in at 14.5% alcohol and is aged in French, Yugoslavian and American oak.

pronounced "key-oh-tee"

Quixote wines from Napa have reinvigorated my love for Petite Sirah.  The winery sits nestled away in the hills of the Stag’s Leap District right next door to Shafer.  Full throttle, dark, inky, naughty, funkified velvety goodness that’ll stand up to this meal.  Enjoy!

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INGREDIENTS

1 LB sliced andouille sausage or other smoked sausage
2 to 3 TSP vegetable oil
6 cups chicken broth
2 cans (14.5 ounces each) tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup Canola oil or olive oil
1/2 cup flour
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow or green bell pepper, chopped
2 TSP vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen thawed okra slices
1 teaspoon Creole or Cajun seasoning
1 bay leaf
1 LB medium shrimp
salt and pepper, to taste
hot boiled rice
chopped fresh parsley or sliced green onions for garnish

In a skillet over medium heat, brown the sausage in 2 to 3 teaspoons of oil; remove sausage to a plate and set aside.

In a large kettle or Dutch oven, combine the chicken broth and tomatoes. Put over medium heat.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, combine the 1/2 cup of oil and the flour. Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture is medium to deep brown. Don’t let the mixture burn. Add the chopped onion, celery, and bell pepper and cook, stirring constantly with a spoon, until vegetables are softened. Stir the vegetable mixture into the simmering broth mixture.

Put the skillet back on the heat and add 2 teaspoons of oil; reduce to medium. Add the okra and cook, stirring, until lightly browned and not sticky.

Add the okra to the pot along with the Creole or Cajun seasoning, the bay leaf, and cooked sausage. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, over medium-low heat for 1 hour. Add the shrimp and cook for 15 to 20 minutes longer, until shrimp is cooked. Taste and add salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve over hot boiled long-grain white rice. Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley or green onions.

Thanks to About.com for this recipe

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I’m finding salmon to be a really great fish for wine and food pairings.  There are so many different ways to prepare salmon, and a wide range of wines to pair with.  One of my favorite grapes is Pinot Noir, and Pinot just happens to go hand in hand with salmon.

This dish makes good use of the Balsamic vinegar to cover up any fishy taste.  Norwegian salmon is nice and fatty, and has a flavor perfect for this dish.  When you grill the salmon, the grilled flavor really gives the salmon a nice glaze.

Check out the 1996 Domaine Leroy Bourgogne from Burgundy. Burgundy Pinot Noirs take longer to come together in the bottle so you have to be patient.  When you get a good one, it’s magic in a bottle.  Burgundy has 4 levels designated on their labels:

Bourgogne - when you see that on the label, it means the grapes were sourced from anywhere in Burgundy.  Pretty broad area.

Villages - Burgundy is broken up into villages, such as Cote de Nuits.  This zooms into a smaller area within Burgundy.  Grapes from that village are in a Villages bottle, pronounced (vilaj).

1er Cru - Also known as Premiere Cru.  This zooms in even more to a specific vineyard that’s within a village, which is within Burgundy.  Pinot really starts to express terroir when you get into a specific vineyard.  Quality and collectility goes up.

Grand Cru - When you get a wine from a Grand Cru vineyard, you have something special.  This is the ultimate expression of terroir and winemaking.  Some Grand Cru wines from Burgundy fetch upwards of $2,000 a bottle because the quality is the highest, but supply is the lowest.

Leroy is one of the top producers in Burgundy, so although her Bourgogne is the lowest of the four levels, hers is still spectacular.  The 1996 is very youthful, velvety and complex.  Aromas out of the glass are like a tractor beam bringing the glass to your lips—you’re powerless to stop it.

recipe from Chef Ron Barber

INGREDIENTS
4 salmon steaks – about 6 ounces each, 1 inch thick
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup Cabernet Franc
1 TBSP fresh lime juice
1 TSP sugar

Combine the balsamic vinegar, wine, lime juice, and sugar in a small saucepan.  Bring to a simmer and reduce the mixture by half – allow to cool.  Add the salmon steaks to the marinade and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Prepare a charcoal or gas grill.  Remove the salmon from the marinade and pat dry.  Season with salt and pepper and grill over high heat for about 4 minutes per side.  Serve with grilled vegetables and steamed rice.

photo via SheKnows

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INGREDIENTS for CRAB CAKES
1 egg, beaten
1 LB fresh Dungeness crab
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1/3 cup grated pecorino cheese
1/4 cup mayonaisse
3 shallots, finely chopped
2 TBSP dijon mustard
juice from one lemon
1/4 cup green bell peppers, minced
1/4 cup red bell peppers, minced
1 TBSP green onions
2 TBSP parsley, finely chopped
1 TBSP butter
1/4 TSP cayenne pepper

INGREDIENTS for SALAD
4 cups watercress, rinsed
4 oranges, peeled and separated
juice from one lemon
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
1 fennel bulb, cleaned and sliced thinly
Salt and Pepper to taste
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To prepare the crab cakes, heat butter in a sauté pan over medium low heat. Add shallots and sauté until soft, about 3 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix together shallots, grated cheese, lemon juice, mayo, egg, mustard, bread crumbs, bell pepper, salt and cayenne.  After mixing, add in crab meat, then divide into 8-10 balls.  Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

To prepare salad, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.  In a separate bowl, toss watercress, orange segments, fennel and onion together.

Remove crab balls from refrigerator and flatten into one inch thick cakes.  Heat 2-3 TBSP oil or butter in a skillet and cook for 4 minutes on each side over medium heat.  Distribute salad mix on chilled plates, top with dressing and crab cakes then serve.

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Wine pairings for this dish are pretty easy.  It’s a flexible dish suitable for many Chardonnay’s or rich whites.  The crab cakes are pretty hearty, so make sure to serve with a white wine that can hang.  I’ve tried oaked Chardonnay’s and unoaked Chardonnays.  The both worked.  Pinot Grigio, Semillion, Viognier and other whites also work.  If I had to pick one wine as the most ideal pairing, it would be the Wente Riva Ranch Chardonnay from Livermore.

I’m more of an unoaked Chardonnay kinda guy, but once in a while, you just want that buttery butter ball that even Mrs. Butterworth thinks is buttery.  The Riva Ranch Chardonnay isn’t obnoxious — still refined and a great expression of the vineyard.  Many people don’t realize the Wente’s were one of the first wine family’s in California going back to the 1850’s.  They’ve quietly gone about producing consistent well-priced estate wines.

The Riva Ranch has a creamy “dusty” texture with mineral highlights that can best be described as a combination of wet rocks and smoke.

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I’ve always wanted to know how to do that thing you see on TV and movies where someone is throwing pizza dough into the air without having it end up all over the place.  Here’s a quick little step by step video showing how to do it like a pro.  I’ve also added one of my favorite pizza recipes with a few wine pairing suggestions:

The Lowrider Pizza

This recipe is based on a pie served at Proto’s in Colorado. We took something good and made it orgasmic! How? you might ask. By adding more crisp, savory bacon.

Get yourself an unbaked pizza crust (we like the Pilsbury pizza dough at most grocery stores). In a bowl, mix together tomato sauce with about a TSP of chipotle Tabasco sauce or some other chipotle sauce. Add a little more to give the sauce a little Jackie Chan kick to your tongue if you’d like. Cover the pizza with shredded mozzarella, crisp bacon bits, small red onion slice and pineapple chunks. Don’t hate on the pineapple going on the pizza, it serves a purpose which is to counter the spice of the chipotle. Bake the pizza as fast as you can, then cover the pie with chopped cilantro.

Of course, when in doubt, add some more crisp savory bacon bits. It’s a simple pizza to make, but a good twist to feature the bacon.

lowrider baby, yeah!

Pizza and wine are one of the easiest wine pairings to do.  You could practially pull any red wine out to have with pizza.  Because of the spicy kick from the chipotle, I’d go for a red wine with a little more sweetness.  Jammy style, lighter wines like Quinta do Crasto from Portugal, Flora Springs Sangiovese, Cougar Crest Syrah and many Australian Shiraz will do the trick

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This was based off of Mario Batali’s recipe on FoodandWine.com but modified to pair with the wine(s).  It’s such a simple recipe, but the final dish benefits from the texture from the eggs on top.  We roasted broccoli with a little olive oil and a pinch of sugar to enhance the browning of the vegetables.

INGREDIENTS

1/4 LB pancetta
1/4 LB thick cut bacon
1 LB dry spaghetti
1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated
4 egg yolk, separated
Black pepper, freshly ground
Salt

pork products cooking together

In a 12- to 14-inch sauté pan, render and cook the pork products together until it is crispy and golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Do not drain the fat from pan and set aside.

Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons salt. Cook the spaghetti (we use wheat or whole grain), until tender yet al dente. Drain the spaghetti, reserving the pasta cooking water.

Reheat the bacon & pancetta in the pan with the fat and add approximately 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water. Toss in the cooked spaghetti and heat, shaking the pan, until warmed through, about 1 minute. Add the grated cheese, egg whites and black pepper and toss until fully incorporated. Divide the pasta among 4 warmed serving bowls. Make a nest in the center for the egg yolk. Gently drop an egg yolk into each serving, season with more freshly ground black pepper and grate additional cheese over the top. Serve immediately.

Hahn Estate winery makes some exciting wines, and at Chéz Bakas we love the SLH series of wines which stands for Santa Lucia Highlands.  The Pinot Gris and Chardonnay are exceptional wines.  For this recipe, the Pinot Gris makes an ideal pairing because the wine compliments the flavors in the main dish without overpowering it.

I like pairing local foods with local wines, and because this is a dish rooted in Italian cuisine, an Italian style wine is my first choice.  We didn’t have a Pinot Grigio readily available, so I went with the next closest thing—Pinot Gris.  The wine and food stimulate the senses in a menagerie of wonderful smells, taste and texture.  This is a fairly simple dish, but chock full of flavor.  And hey, it’s got bacon in it!  Cheers

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Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

4 Filet Mignon Steaks
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 LB fresh porcini mushrooms, stemmed, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup crumbled Purple Haze blue cheese (with lavender)
2 TSP minced canned chipotle chiles or Chipotle sauce
1 TBSP fresh tarragon, chopped
Salt & Pepper

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add porcini mushrooms and tarragon and sauté until soft, about 4-5 minutes minutes. Add garlic and stir 1 minute. Add cream and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer sauce until thickened. Stir in blue cheese cheese and chipotle sauce. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD Sauce can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

Season steaks with olive oil salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in another heavy large skillet. Cook steaks in skillet until brown on both sides and cooked to desired doneness, about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Rewarm sauce. Transfer 1 steak to each of plates. Spoon sauce over steaks and serve.

This recipe is fairly easy to execute as there aren’t many ingredients.  Julia Child or Jaques Pepin would (hopefully) like that there’s simplicity, yet extreme tastiness here.  The sauce is cream based, which means it’s thick and you need a wine to cut through the creaminess to stand up to all the flavor.  Keep it simple, a good Cabernet Sauvignon will be a nice pairing to the beef and rich sauce.

I liked the St. Supéry Dollarhide Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon because it has a tinge of spice on the palate.  It’ll mingle nicely with the hint of spice you get from the chipotle in the sauce.  In addition, the Dollarhide Cab is complex, but it won’t overpower the tender cut of beef.

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We love cooking with wine at Chez Bakas, and although leftover wine in the bottle doesn’t happen often, when it does I get excited about recycling the wine.  Leftover wine usually happens when we either try a bottle we don’t care for or when it just wasn’t necessary to finish the entire bottle.

Recycling and reusing is a good practice around the house, especially in the kitchen.  Use as much of each food item as possible, and reuse every drop of wine when you can.  Here are a few great uses for leftover wine:

1. Sauces

courtesy of getty images

Reduction sauces are an ideal way to use leftover white or red wine.  If you haven’t experimented with reduction sauces, take a run at it and play around with the basics of making a sauce.  Often times a stock (ie. Beef, Veal or Chicken) mixed with wine can be simmered for a while until the liquid is reduced to a sauce.  Stocks that are homemade are flavorful and easy to do, but they can also be found at most grocery stores, sometimes know as broths.  The Julia Child stock recipe is tried and true.

A 1:1 ratio of wine to stock is an easy recipe for sauce.  Pour them together into a saucepan and bring to a boil, then simmer down until the sauce is thick and almost not liquid.  I love doing this with ports or red wines for beef.  Pasta sauces simmered with red wines and a bay leaf are also more flavorful.

Some recipes that use wine for the sauce:

Poached Chicken in Truffles & Cream Sauce (uses white wine)

Chicken with Rosemary & Lemon Sauce (uses white wine)

Seared Duck Breast w/ Cherry Port Sauce (uses port)

Presidential Rack of Lamb a la Richelieu (uses white wine)

Filet with Mushrooms & Madeira (uses madeira)

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2. Marinating Meats

courtesy of prevention.com

Marinating beef in red wine is an awesome way to add flavor and tenderize meat.  This is a great thing to do when making stews or even before grilling.  I especially like reusing wine this way because red wine can get kind of nasty to drink if it’s been open for longer than a few weeks, but not too nasty to use for marinating.  Here’s a recipe to try where the meat gets marinated over night:

Bouef Bourguignonne (marinate with red wine)

3. Hearty Stews

courtesy of getty images

One of my all time favorite recipes is the one listed above.  Bouef Bourguignonne not only uses beef that’s marinated but it’s slow cooked all day with an entire bottle of wine poured in.  On a cold day, a warm hearty stew-like dish warms the soul.

The idea isn’t too dissimilar to the concept behind sauces where slow simmering creates a thicker, richer sauce, but with stews, all the ingredients soak up the flavors and gain a wonderful texture.

As mentioned above, red wine can get too nasty to drink after being open too long, but works fine in stews even if it smells a bit off.

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When President and Mrs Reagan visited Paris in the mid 1980’s they did have many official functions including a diplomatic dinner with President and Madame Francoise Mitterand at the Elysee Palace (the White House of France)
Naturally, the diplomatic decorum demanded that the American guests of honor should return the invitation.
The Reagans were staying at the US Embassy and decided to honor the French President and first lady with non American food. The chefs at the US Embassy were French chefs.
The Lamb recipe is very fancy in terms of prestige. It was put together by chef Auguste Esccoffier at the turn of the 20th century. It was named in honor of Cardinal Armand de Richelieu, who was chief minister to King Louis XIII in the 17th century.

INGREDIENTS
2 racks, 6 chops each., have the butcher cut the chine bone for easy serving of chops.

Marinade:
1/2 bottle of white wine
1/2 cup of quality olive oil
1 medium onion sliced
1 whole bay leaf crumbled
1/2 teaspoon of dried marjoram, or 2 TBSP of fresh if available
8 black peppercorns, coarsly crushed
1/2 TSP of dried thyme, or 2 TSP of fresh
salt to taste

Marination needs to be a minimum of 4 hr. Overnight would be good. Keep turning and spoon over the rack.

Place in the oven and grill at 450 degrees for 30-40 minutes depending on cooking level preferred. Keep to lamb warm in the oven while the sauce is being made.

Sauce:
Place the drippings in a fry pan. Remove some of the fat. Add a cup of port or madeira. Reduce under high heat. Whisk in 3 tablespoons of butter one at a time. Serve the sauce in a gravy boat at the table.

marinate lamb AT LEAST 4 Hrs.

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INGREDIENTS
1 cup Soy Sauce
1 cup Sherry
4 6-OZ duck breast halves
12 frozen dark sweet cherries, thawed and halved
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup beef stock
1/2 cup ruby port
1 fresh thyme sprig
1 TSP cornstarch dissolved into 2 TBSP water
1/4 cup butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Whisk soy sauce and Sherry in medium bowl to blend. Using a sharp knife, make diagonal slits on the duck breasts 1/2-inch apart making sure to not cut too deep (not through meat). Place duck, skin side up into glass baking dish. Pour marinade over. Cover duck with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 6 hours.
Bring cherries, chicken stock, beef stock, port and thyme spring to boil in a heavy medium saucepan over high heat. Simmer until mixture is reduced to 1/2 cup.

marinate the duck breasts

Meanwhile, heat heavy large skillet over medium heat. Remove duck from marinade. Add duck breasts, skin side down to skillet. Cook until skin is crispy, about 10 minutes. Turn duck over and continue cooking to desired doneness, about 5 minutes for medium. Transfer duck to cutting board or other surface.
Add cornstarch mixture to port-cherry sauce. Bring to simmer, whisking constantly. Add butter one piece at a time until melted.

Slice duck breast and fan out on plates. Spoon sauce over duck then serve.

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