I was watching an old episode of “Good Eats” and decided to try Alton Brown’s recipe for Steak au Poivre – served with my Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta.
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Another reason I wanted to try this recipe was to pair it with De Garde Brewing’s Temps & Poivre – a farmhouse ale aged in Pinot Noir barrels with peppercorns.
I had planned to cook this dish last year, but the Mother Nature had other plans that weekend. You can find the recipe for the Garbure Gersoise here.
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After much consternation, I decided to go with a bottle of last year’s Wendas from Propolis Brewing.
Once in a blue moon, my wife will offer to cook for me. Not as infrequent as Haley’s comet or a Bigfoot sighting – but still quite a rare occurrence.
This time, she wanted to try my mother’s Fried Tilapia with Meunière Sauce and Pecan Butter recipe – especially since my sister had given us an emersion blender for Christmas. But she did not want to cook tilapia… So, I told her to talk to the fishmonger and see what he would recommend. And he talked her into using catfish.
Originally, she had planned to grill some asparagus (which you can find the recipe here). But the asparagus weren’t looking to good, so she bought some broccolini – since we had some grilled broccolini the weekend before at Interurban. But since it was raining pretty heavy while she was cooking, she decided to wrap them in foil and roast them in the oven.
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I decided to go with a bottle of the Saison Desay Blend No. 3 from De Garde Brewing.
As per my New Year’s Day tradition, I did my Corned Beef and Cabbage – but skipped the Black Eyed Peas this year… You can find my Corned Beef recipe – as well as the Crispy Rosemary & Sage Fingerling Potatoes recipe – here. The Braised Cabbage with Slab Bacon recipe was from an issue Saveur Magazine.
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Also breaking with tradition, instead of my usual Delirium Nocturnum from Brouwerij Huyghe, I went with the DoubleCross [Banished] – a Belgian Strong Dark Ale aged for a year in Oregon Pinot Noir barrels – from the Crux Fermentation Project.
We decided to stay in for New Year’s Eve, so I loaded up on some goodies from around town: Bourbon chicken liver mousse and pheasant pâté from Chop, some cheeses, olives and bread (a baguette and a ¼ loaf of Pugliese) from Pastaworks, Matiz octopus in olive oil that I had picked up from Oso Market, a little Jamón Ibérico from Zupan’s, and some homemade pickled carrots and golden beets.
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With the smörgåsbord, I had the Not The Stoic from Deschutes. As the night progressed, I had Upright’s Coffee Stout followed by Epic Brewing’s Big Bad Baptist.
Jouer avec le feu. 