This particular wine pairing for Cameron Hughes was one I took great thought and caution with. The wine is one of their best, most popular, and easily one of my favorites. Lot 323 is a Cabernet from the Stags Leap district in Napa. World renowned for being big and bold in flavor, the Stags Leap Cab is one of my favorite wines, and can usually only be put up against a big red meat dish to compliment its complex and large flavors.
I wanted to stay away from involved sauces and keep the food really simple and high in quality. I knew I was going to use red meat, I just hadn’t landed on a cut that was going to work with what I had in mind. The direction for the dish was a small plate, or appetizer. I really wanted to do something artful and different than just throwing a good piece of meat on the plate and dressing it up with greens. Originally I had envisioned using the Rib-eye cut for this dish, but when I went to the butcher,the cut would have been too difficult to cut and mold into the shape I was thinking. I wanted to fold the steak in an “S” pattern over bamboo skewers with some other ingredients in between the folds. Luckily my choice was pretty easy, as right next to the Rib-eyes were some gorgeous NY Strips. I grabbed a few and it was back to the kitchen to start the assembly. To compliment the steak and the wine, I landed on using fresh cherries and some red onion to go into the folded steak. Cherries would bring a perfect sweetness to the dish that would really enhance the flavors of the big, bold wine. In addition, you can’t have steak without onions. So, some small chopped red onions were included as well. Following my plan of assembly, I cut the steak in to 1/4 inch thick strips, and pitted and diced the cherries. Folding one over the other as pictured, these puppies were looking delicious. Seasoning was kept very simple, brushed the skewers with some olive oil and sprinkled just some coarse sea salt and fresh pepper. Onto a hot grill, the skewers needed only minutes before being deliciously medium rare.
Served with some simple roast potatoes and on top of a bed of watercress, this dish was stunning and delicious. A perfect pairing of food and wine.
