Valentine’s Day Treat

Valentine’s Day comes once a year, but if you want to stay in the good graces of your significant other, the planning and preparation take much, much longer.  With Valentine’s Day falling on a Tuesday this year, I opted on cooking a special dinner at home rather than take the risk of an over-priced “special” meal and poor service at a crowded restaurant.  Besides, I had the perfect wine in mind to go with the meal. 

It all starts with the card(s).  We have a tradition that for all card-giving holidays (Valentine’s Day,

 Birthdays, Christmas, etc.), we exchange two cards; one sentimental, one funny.  I had my cards purchased well in advance, so I was good there.  Next up, the meal.  I picked up two, one and one-half inch thick ribeye steaks from the local butcher.  The secret benefit is that they’re so big, we won’t be able to finish them, so I’ll have steak leftovers!  Also on the menu were green beans and mushrooms, seasoned with salt, pepper and whole garlic cloves and then sauteed.  Yum! 

For wine, I selected a 2016 Chateau Fonroque Right Bank Bordeaux.  For those in the know, LeftBank means primarily Cabernet Sauvignon, Right Bank means mostly or solely Merlot.  French wine labels don’t tell you the grape, so you kind of have to know how to read the label to know what you’re getting.  This wine was from the Saint-Emilion Right Bank region of Bordeaux, known for particularly good Merlot.  

I cooked the Ribeye using the chef’s favorite technique of a reverse sear.  That means cooking in

 the oven at low temperature (275 degrees) until the meat comes to 125 degrees for medium-rare.  After the oven, cover the steaks with foil to rest for 5 minutes, to allow the juices to return to the center, then into a super-hot cast iron pan for 1 to 2 minutes on each side.  This was my 1st attempt to do a reverse-sear, and it was a hit! 

The selected wine made the perfect food and wine pairing.  I opened the bottle at 10:00 am to let it breathe, decanting it about an hour before our 6:30 pm dinner.  The nose showed pencil shavings, graphite and a blast of black cherry.  The palate showed the same, with some additional plum and sweet tobacco flavors.  The tannins kicked in mid-palate.  That’s the dryness you get in your mouth when drinking some red wines.  All and all, this was a spectacular meal that definitely earned me some brownie points!