- Smoked Ribeye Roast - April 4, 2013
Even though it’s early April, we are experiencing unusually cool temps around these parts. I hope this means we’ll have a long spring! One of my favorite things to do on a cool spring weekend evening is to sit on the patio with college baseball on the radio and some meat on the grill. Last weekend I did a variation on prime rib. Smoked rib roast–not slow smoked because I’m a busy man, but smoked enough to be very different than a prime rib from the oven. Do try this at home:Smoked Ribeye Roast
Ingredients:
1 Whole or half ribeye
garlic powder
sea salt
fresh cracked black or mixed peppercorns
fresh rosemary
Preparation:
Season the ribeye with each of the above ingredients. Preheat your grill to at least 500 degrees and sear the ribeye for about 4 minutes on each side with the top open. Remove the roast to a roasting pan, fat side up, and reduce heat to 325 degrees. Place the pan with the roast back on the grill and using indirect heat, roast for about 90 minutes for a full ribeye roast or about 45 minutes for a half roast. (Cooking times will vary with the size of roast.)
If using a gas grill, after roasting for about 15 minutes, put some wood chips in a loose roll of aluminum foil for smoking. Allow the meat to smoke for at least 20-30 minutes. Use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of the roast. It is done to medium rare when it reaches 130 degrees. Remove it, tent it with aluminum foil and let it sit for 12-15 minutes before slicing. Serve with horseradish mashed potatoes and a medley of green beans, onions and carrots.
Wine Pairings:
Chateau Recougne, Bordeaux Superieur, 2009 $18.99
Chateau Lyonnat, Lussac St. Emilion, 2009 $28.79
Magana “Dignus”, Navarra, 2005 $18.79
Monchiero Reserva, Barolo, 2006 $48.99
Fontimple Rouge, Vacqueyras, 2010 $20.99
Pedroncelli Merlot, Dry Creek, 2010 $14.79
- White Bean and Ham Soup - February 21, 2013
This is a hearty soup that I love to eat in cooler months! It is simple, inexpensive to make and quite satisfying. The way I approach this is to buy a good smoked ham with the bone in it. Then I cut the meat off the bone leaving about a pound of meat right around the bone. You can then refrigerate the ham you have cut off for up to a couple of weeks or freeze it for later use. Set the meaty bone aside to make a delicious soup like this one!This recipe has an Italian feeling to it as I have adapted it from a white bean bruschetta dish and added carrots and greens to it. Like most stews, this will be even better after a day in the fridge. Don’t miss the wine pairings at the bottom. Salut!
Ingredients:
3 cans of Cannellini or Great Northern Beans
4 cups of chicken stock or ham stock
1 meaty ham bone
2 large cloves of garlic (peeled and smashed)
1 tsp of fresh rosemary (minced)
3 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp of dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1 white onion (minced)
1 carrot (diced)
2 cups of mustard or collard greens (chiffonade)
1 dash of nutmeg
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roast the hambone for 15 minutes.
In a heavy-bottomed stock pot, melt the butter. Add the onion, carrot, garlic, nutmeg, thyme and rosemary and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the stock, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to deglaze. Add the beans and roasted ham bone and bring to a simmer. Cover partially and cook over medium-low heat for 40 minutes stirring occasionally.
Remove the hambone from the soup and pull or cut the ham into pieces. Discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaves unless you want to use them as a garnish. Stir the ham pieces back into the soup. Season the soup with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper and serve. Optional – Try drizzling a very tiny amount of truffle oil over the top of the soup in your bowl.
Wine Pairings – This is a versatile dish that can be served with white, red, or rosé wine. Try some of these below:
Machherndl Gruner Veltliner, Wachau $13.99
Saddleback Cellars Chardonnay, Napa Valley $26.99
Vega Sindoa Rosado, Navarra $10.99
Caldora Sangiovese, Tuscany $14.99
Pedroncelli Merlot, Dry Creek $14.79
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