Food & Wine Steak with Herb Nut Salsa

Tonight, the man & I had steak with an herb nut salsa. The recipe came with our Food & Wine Adventurer Club wine shipment.

Aside: Food & Wine introduced two wine clubs last Fall/Winter: a collector edition & an adventurer edition. They ship us 6 bottles with a recipe booklet that pairs each wine with a primary recipe (& 3 alternates). Some wineries also do the same, which is pretty awesome.

The wine was really good for a cheapy wine, & it paired really well with the recipe. Good job, Food & Wine!!

Wine: Domaine de Baumard - Logis de la Giraudière - 2005. Fancy name for a red table wine... but it is really nice. Don't pay over $20 for it. Rating: 3.5/5

Recipe: Hanger Steak with Herb Nut Salsa Rating: 3.5/5

The salsa was salty herby goodness - So, I made very simple sides: roasted potatoes & onions with very little salt & some pepper and halved grape tomatoes with leftover herbs, basil, & shallot. Both cleansed the palate nicely after bites of the steak/salsa & sips of the wine. We made a few minor modifications: no tarragon, no chervil, anchovy paste in lieu of anchovies, less oil.

Also, ignore the recipe's note about 12 minutes for toasting the hazelnuts. Toast until fragrant, & don't wander away. Otherwise, it's a mad dash to open the door, turn on the fan, & cover the smoke detector.

Overall, the dish was very good together. We will probably make this again when the vegetable & herb garden is in full force. I recommend the wine & recipe together as a semi-fancy meal.

Easiest Chilis.

On a cold day, nothing warms the body like a good bowl of chili. Here are two of my favorites:

This is super easy & really delicious. Sometimes, I add a little cumin & oregano to the mix, but it's almost always well seasoned by the salsa.

Trader Joe's Sample Turkey Chili
1 jar of salsa - preferably something punchy such as mango habenero (same ol' same ol' salsas just don't cut it!!)
1 lb. ground turkey or lean beef
1 box of Pomi diced or crushed tomatoes or a 28oz can
1 bag of frozen roasted corn
(You can also add more veggies etc to this.)

Brown ground meat. Add salsa, tomatoes, corn. Heat thoroughly & serve.


My mom always makes chili on the first cold day of the season. This is a tribute to her tradition.

The First Cold Day Chili
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 box of Pomi diced or crushed tomatoes (or a 28oz can if you can't find the box)
1 green bell pepper
2 tablespoons chili pepper
1 tablespoon chipolte chili pepper (optional - gives a smoky flavor)
1-2 tablespoons of oregano
1 tablespoon of cumin
(sacrilege: Sometimes I add a can of kidney/black beans or corn or carrots depending on if we need more veggies or carbs for the day.)

Brown the beef. If there is fat to skim, skim it. Add the seasonings & mix well. Add the bell pepper & cook it for 1-2 minutes. I like to keep it relatively firm & only slightly cooked. Add the tomatoes & anything else such as corn or beans or both. Heat thoroughly & serve.

Beef Bourguinon

There are high expectations when you attribute a quintessential French recipe to a renowned French chef. You expect melting deliciousness with a well-rounded flavor profile.

Food & Wine listed a recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon with the name Jacques Pepin with it. I thought, "Well if something can pull me back into the cooking game, it's Jacque Pepin's beef bourguinon."


The Preparation Area: Complete with Digital Recipe laptop

First, let me say: There were a few items that I couldn't/wouldn't comply with. The man called me from the grocery store & couldn't find pancetta or cippolini onions. We got bacon & "white boiling onions" that basically resembled large pearl onions. Also, I didn't peel the baby carrots. Who peels baby carrots? The French, that's
who. Nobody else. Being not French, I plopped those right into the mix. (I blow my nose in their general direction!)

When the recipe called for boiling the pancetta, I cooked my bacon in the skillet instead. I wasn't going to boil bacon. That is le gross. Then, I crumbled it into the vegetables (or garnishes as Chef Pepin calls them).

How was it? Well, the sauce was very good. Originally, I didn't put any butter in the sauce as we were fresh out, but it definitely tasted better once I added it.

Words of advice:
1. Get the pancetta. Bacon didn't make it better. There is something about chunks (not scraps) of lardons that make recipes better.

2. Get a full flavored Burgandy, Cotes du Rhone, or Beaujolais wine. I used a South American Syrah, which was rather flat. The French recipe poo-pooed it.

3. Let it stew for longer. The broth wasn't reduced enough as per Food & Wine's pictures. It would've been much better if it was more concentrated.

The man gives the broth a 4/5 stars - but the stew together got only 2 or 3 stars.
I'd give it a 3/5 stars. I liked it, but I'm on the look out for something better. Neither of us packed it for lunch the next day.

Next boeuf bourguinon is going to be Julia Child's from Mastering the Art of French Cooking (recipe here). I hope it's better!