Marinated NY Strips and Caramelized Onion, Bacon and Gorgonzola Mashed Potatoes with Christopher Cameron Red Wine

I had a nasty cold for almost two weeks, so I was not preparing a lot of exciting meals. Now that I am healthy and caught up on everything else, I wanted to make my husband a special dinner. This marinade was inspired by some wine that was left over and forgotten from Friday night. If you want you can cook the remaining marinade and drizzle over the steaks themselves. The steaks were extremely tasty but the potatoes and the wine stole the show tonight. I have made several versions of these potatoes before. Tonight I actually used shallots instead of onions as it was what I had on hand. I have also used blue cheese instead of gorgonzola. I have peeled Yukon gold potatoes for guests who don’t like potato skins. It all works great. Tonight was actually the first time I added bacon to these. If you want a vegetarian option, I think you will still very much enjoy this dish without the bacon. However, the addition of the bacon took these mashed potatoes over the top. Ridiculously good! Now I just need to go to the gym.


WINE: 2005 Christopher Cameron Red Wine, Dry Creek Valley (Sonoma)
http://ccvwines.com/


This meal needs a substantial wine to stand up to the steak and the bold flavors of the mashed potatoes. A great Cabernet or Bordeaux/Meritage is the perfect accompaniment. Tonight I decided on this Christopher Cameron’s Bordeaux blend. Forgive me if I get ultra cheesy here as my taste buds are dancing. This wine is phenomenal!!! It smells so good that a couple of times I forgot to sip after breathing in the complex and delicious nose: berries, spice, hints of licorice, a little earthiness. Subtle cola and tea notes mingle with the plum, berry and spice on the palate. So smooth, so intricate. The the late spicy vanilla finish hits, and I can’t help but smile with every time taste. I am so glad I used some leftover Syrah in the steak marinade so I can savor every last drop of this bottle.

RECIPE: Marinated NY Strip Steaks
Servings: 2

Ingredients:
• ½ cup red wine, dry (not cooking wine)
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp garlic
• 1 tsp dried basil
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 NY Strip steaks
• Fresh cracked pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Whisk together everything but steaks and fresh cracked pepper.
2. Add marinade to Ziploc bag.
3. Place steaks in bag and marinate for `~8 hours.
4. One hour before cooking remove steaks from marinade and refrigerator. Let sit out at room temperature.
5. Heat grill to high. Wait about 10 minutes until grill is ~500°.
6. Carefully place steaks on grill, do not slide. Cook on covered grill about ~5 minutes letting them get a nice sear. Flip, uncover grill and cook for ~5 minutes. This cooked our steaks to a nice medium-rare.
7. Remove steaks from grill and let rest 5 minutes before eating.
8. Top with fresh cracked pepper and sauce if desired.

OPTIONAL: Sauce for steaks
Directions:
1. After removing steaks from marinade, save marinade in fridge.
2. When steaks are placed on grill, put marinade in small sauce pan. Bring to boil for about a minute then reduce heat to simmer. Simmer until it’s time to eat.
3. Drizzle over steaks.

RECIPE: Caramelized Onion, Bacon and Gorgonzola Mashed Potatoes
Servings: 4

Ingredients:
o 11/2 lbs red potatoes, cut into sixths or eighths
o 1 tablespoon olive oil
o 3-4 shallots or 1 medium (sweet) onion, diced
o 3 cloves garlic, minced
o 1 tsp dried rosemary or 2 tsp fresh rosemary
o 3-4 pieces of bacon, pre-cooked and chopped
o ¼ cup butter
o 1/3 cup half-and-half
o 1/3 cup crumbled gorgonzola or blue cheese
o 1/2 tsp teaspoon pepper
o 1 tsp salt

Directions:

Caramelized shallots

1. Heat oil in a skillet at medium heat. Add shallots (or onions) and cook, stirring frequently. Cook until they caramelize ~15 to 20 minutes.

2. Bring potatoes to boil in a large pot of water, cook until tender ~ 20 minutes.
3. Add garlic to onion/shallots and cook 3 minutes.
4. Stir in rosemary and bacon to shallots/onions and garlic, cook for one minute and then remove from heat.
5. Drain potatoes and add to mixing bowl.
6. Add butter, half-and-half, cheese, salt and pepper. Mix with electric mixer until blended. Taste. You can add more of any of the following if like.
7. Stir in onion/shallots,garlic, bacon and rosemary mixture.
8. If timing is off, transfer to an oven safe dish and place in warm oven until steaks have rested.