Thanks Ian for the Tres Picos, I Love That Wine!!

Tuesday I helped my friend Ian pack up his apartment to move back to Florida. It's sad to see him go, not only is he a great guy but he is the friend that got me to play golf. After I helped him pack the U-Haul he gave me a bottle of Tres Picos. He use to work for a distributor in Mass. that sold this wine. I love this wine! It is a wonderful Spanish Garnacha from Borsao, lots of rich, spicy dark fruit with sweet and pleasant tannin. I could drink this every day! Garnacha (in the rest of the world it is known by it's French name Grenache) is a wonderful grape that is grown heavily in Spain and France. In France it's grown widely in the southwest most notably in the Rhone valley where it is the major grape in Cote du Rhone wines. I knew I was going to open the bottle that night so I wanted to make a meal that I thought would help the wine shine. I decided to remake a meal that I have already posted about Too much food, too much oil, too tired to care. This time I made it right!!

The recipe is for a steak cooked in a skillet. This time I had all the right ingredients at home. Last time I used olive oil even though it called for canola oil. A few weeks ago while shopping at my favorite store Russo's I came across one of their stir fry oils, a garlic and ginger infused canola oil. This was perfect from this recipe. I followed it to the letter this time. I used the right amount of oil and let it warm up just like it said. I cooked the steak two minutes a side to sear the meat then another three minutes a side to cook the steak. After the steak was done I took it off the skillet and let it rest while I made the sauce. I added cut up shallots and rosemary and cooked them until the shallots and rosemary made the kitchen smell of greatness. Then I added a fourth a cup of Tres Picos and with a spatula I got up all the brown bites on the skillet then added a tablespoon of butter. The sauce came out outstanding this time and the steak was cook to perfection!! Even Noel said I didn't over season the meat and she always thinks I over season the meat. This time I used just a little sea salt and pink pepper corns. I served it with Near East's parmesan couscous and steamed broccoli that I topped with a tablespoon of fresh parmesan. This was one of the better meals I have made in a long time. I am not one that usually eats everything off my plate in one sitting, I usually leave a little and go back a few hours and snake on the rest, but this meal I even finished Noel's plate. I love when everything comes together perfectly!! Great bottle of wine and a great recipe this made my day.