Chef Kerr's Recipe Box
Pinot Noir 2005
Has plenty of ripe round black cherry fruit with a touch of pomegranate and plum. It is a little tight right now so a little protein will soften the layer of tannin to make the wine more enjoyable. Decanting it fours hours before serving allows the wine to air out and open up. Watch out for those annoying little fruit flies as they love Pinot too. I cover my decanter with a tea towel to keep them out.
A piece of your favourite steak, mine is rib eye, with a simple marinade or spice paste and grilled to your liking will be just perfect with this Pinot. I like to keep the marinade simple, thus allowing the natural flavours of the meat to take centre stage. A marinade is not meant to tenderize, it is intended to bolster the flavour of the meat.
There are many places to buy quality beef, but a trip out to Hommer’s Meat, located at 2909 Point Abino Rd N in Stevensville (905-382-2629), pays dividends as one can buy beef that is not only tender, but has great flavour too.
Spice paste for steaks
Enough to coat four large steaks
2 cloves of minced garlic
a few leaves of roughly chopped oregano
15ml paprika
10ml ground cumin
30ml grainy mustard
50ml olive oil
10ml red wine vinegar
Juice of 1 lime
Mix together to form a paste
4 minced green onions
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste.
Rub 75% of the paste over steaks and leave for one hour
Grill steaks over a hot fire and cook until they are still quite rare
Remove the steaks from the grill, brush on the reserved spice paste and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
Sprinkle the minced green onion and salt and pepper onto the steak
Place them back on the hot grill just enough to brown the onions while being careful not to over cook them.
Asian vinaigrette
50 m rice vinegar
15 m Kikoman soy sauce
100 vegetable oil
15 m sesame oil
15 g finely minced ginger
1 clove minced garlic
A few red chili flakes
Mix and dress greens
Enjoy
Alan