Wine-Soaked Steak

My kitchen began to smell familiar, like a ski lodge serving mulled apple cider, or a stall at Kristkindlmarkt serving glühwein. I saw this recipe over a year ago and it has stuck with me ever since. I forget now what aggregation of little forces brought me to take the time to prepare it, but lucky for me.

The recipe is simple: a ribeye marinated in a bold red wine and mulling spices for several days, and then grilled at high heat, sliced, and eaten. It comes from this article by Mark Bittman. Watch the associated video; it tells you all you need to know.

I started with the wine. It calls for Amarone, which I have never seen, but notes that any bold red wine will do. I had some Malbec open, and that's what I used. In to a pot with some sugar. (I believe the sugar does a lot for this dish; don't skimp.) You boil it, then you simmer til it reduces a little (they say 10 minutes). Add the spices: whole cloves, a cinammon stick, grated nutmeg, and citrus zest (it says orange, but I had a lemon). Cool the wine completely, immerse the steaks (I used a Ziploc), refrigerate, and come back in 3 days.

Brioche Strata (Bacon, Ham, Spinach, Onions)

It was my turn to bring something into work in the morning and, as always, I had waited until the last minute to decide what to make.  The decision of what to bring is really the most dubious of tasks and one I take quite seriously. I find myself worrying about what to make.  It's got to be something new, and something relatively easy to transport.  It can't be too similar to what someone else has brought recently.  Oh, and it has got to be fabulous. 

In general, sweets are very popular.   In fact, if it's homemade then it's generally some sort of sweet treat.  The only savory options anyone ever brings are bagels.  Which is in a way strange, since there is nothing inherently 'breakfast' about cookies or brownies. Eventually after a few hours of meditation (with one or two chocolate breaks), I had come to what I thought fulfilled most of my requirements and broke some ground into the savory baking dilemma. - strata.    

**I had always assumed that strata was a savory Italian bread pudding.  Probably something about the way 'stra-ta' sounds (it is so much more fun to say with an Italian inflection).  I was surprised to find (according to Wikipedia, my source of all knowledge) that it is an American invention with the first recipe appearing  in 1902.  Seems questionable to me, but who am I to disagree with the Wiki? 

Figs with Apple Juice Zabaglione Cream

Figs with Apple Juice Zabaglione
Originally uploaded by KidItamae

It seems that reading Animesh's post from Napa has made me hungry and a little bit jealous. So I took out my frustration on the kitchen (whisking is amazingly cathartic); unfortunately, the fridge was a bit depleted.

A while back I read about an apple juice sabayon from La Tartine Gourmand and thought it would be fun to try making a zabaglione. And with the fridge a bit deleted, a simple recipe was just about all I could pull off.

I started with essentially the same recipe as LTG but thought folding in some cream would add some cream and lightness.

Ingredients:

4 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup apple juice
1-2 Tbsp lemon juice
Pinch of salt
1 cup cream
1 pint figs

Optional additions:
cinnamon
vanilla

Start by heating the apple juice with the lemon and salt in pot. Then in a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until light. Set up a double boiler with a pot and a large mixing bowl. Pour the apple juice mixure into the mixing bowl. While whisking, slowly add the egg yolk and sugar mixure. Whisk vigorously for a good 5 minutes, until the custard has almost doubled in volume and is light and yellow. It's done when the mixture coats a spoon.

Let the mixture cool, stirring every so often. In the meantime, whip the cream till stiff. When the custard has cooled fold into the cream to taste*.

*I ended up using about 1/2 - 2/3 of the custard for this amount of cream.