Red wine and steak

Ruarri — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:00:54 +0000

For the reward given – cooking steak is probably one of the best things you can do to entertain guests. It’s so easy and there’s really no better accompaniment for steak than red wine.

I like to buy a whole Angus fillet and cook it first before cutting it into fillet steaks, this way you can keep the juices and really preserve a lot of the flavour. It also presents a perfect opportunity to do what any male wine millennial, or any male for that matter – likes most… marinade. Like making hot-sauce, there is perhaps no time more satisfying to a man than when given the chances to marinade something. There’s a certain feeling of alchemy in preparing the meat that really doesn’t come with other pre-preparation chores like peeling potatoes or rolling pastry flat.

The ingredients for getting a steak ready are quite simple: rock salt, English mustard, lemons, pepper, red wine, olive oil, chopped garlic and mixed spices. Adding lemon juice helps seal the steak and within minutes the pinkish colour will disappear and the fillet will start to gain a more cooked sort of colour. At this point I roll the fillet in a bed of rock-salt before smothering it in a healthy dose of English mustard mixed with spice and crushed garlic. Once done, leave it to soak in a pool of red wine on top of a bed of diced onions allowing the blood and fermented juice to comingle.

At this point it’s time to pour yourself a glass of wine and get down to preparing a simple salad (feta, tomato, cucumber, rocket, red lettuce and sesame seeds with a balsamic glaze always goes down well) together with some baked vegetables (onions, courgettes, egg-plant and butternut are perfect.)

After about 3 hours of marinating or so – once the guests arrive; you can chat and get the barbecue going for about half an hour. The veg will take about an hour to cook and the meat will take 15 minutes (if you like it burnt and bloody); 20 minutes if you want it medium rare… so stick the veg in in a pocket of tin-foil – and half an hour later gather people around as it’s always a bit of excitement to watch the meat go on.

Generally if the steak is sealed – leaving it on one side should do fine; and at a medium temperature it should cook through. At this stage you can heat the marinade up, add a lamb stock cube and a cup of water along with some diced mushrooms and pepper and you have a great red wine and mushroom gravy.

The perfect wine for steak on a summer’s day is a Shiraz Viognier – especially if you’ve used mustard, and garlic as they really complement and bring out the spice flavour. Some people would argue cab – but I think that that would more be for an evening event if there’s a chill in the air.

For our Angus Fillet I chose the Graham Beck Joshua 2003 – which turned out to be a perfect accompaniment. It may not have been March 14th, but any chance for steak and red wine is something to smile about.

Cheerz!

Bellingham 2005, The Maverick Viognier

Ruarri — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 14:12:06 +0000

Rich straw colour with a bouquet of fresh cut nectarines, tinned peaches, dried fruit and perhaps even a touch of ginger spice, leave this wine in the back-line with plenty speed, lively character and yet a sharp and tough character. Both tropical and spicy with bright acidity, refreshing fruit and a full bodied palate, this is a perfectly integrated wine, which is greatly educational if, like me, you haven’t had much Viognier as a predominant varietal. A great ambassador, and a definite player on the South African side.

Backsberg Elbar, 2005

Ruarri — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 14:00:29 +0000

Anything associated with ‘Back’ be it Charles Back, Backsberg, Fairview, MAN Vintners or Senga Wines is tipped for greatness. I’m out of my league drinking such a wine, as it runs circles around my 5 year old palate being predominately Malbec, with lashings of Shiraz, a dollop of Mourvedre, essences of Sangiovese, a taste of Petit Verdot and smatterings of Zinfandel and Viognier. This wine is a melange of wine in one wine and thus is one to drink with intrigue and wonder, a wine of such integration is a symbol of the new South Africa and a pleasure to drink.

Grape Thinking » Viognier

Red wine and steak

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