For yesterday's lunch, we needed something fortifying, given the lousy weather we've been having. We both have head colds. Walt is coughing a lot.
I decided to make a variation on steak au poivre. I substituted red wine for white in the sauce, and I added mushrooms. I made it with ground beef, the way I used to make it for my friends in Paris. Ground beef is tender and lean. Grass-fed beef, which is what we get in France, can be a little tough, unless you spend a fortune on the very best cuts. A nice Côtes du Rhône Villages red wine (for less than four euros) went well with it all.
To finish the meal, I made a salad of escarole (scarole in French) and beets (betteraves) dressed with vinaigrette. All this is standard French fare — the kind of food you might get in a little neighborhood café or brasserie. It's hearty and tasty served with good French bread and wine. Beets are a classic addition to winter salads made with "bitter greens" like scarole, frisée (curly endive), and endives (Belgian endive).
Nothing better to mangé when you have a winter cold, and it looks so appetising. Get well soon! Pats🚜
ReplyDeleteThanks Pats. So right you are. We have hunkered down for the duration. Today: tartiflette
ReplyDeleteOh, my, wonderful meal! And, tartiflette today? Woo hoo!
ReplyDeleteYes. Every day must have its lunch.
DeleteLooks wonderful. Very cold here in the DC area. I have pickled beets in the pantry I canned last summer.
ReplyDeleteHere we get steam-cooked beets at the supermarket. Or fresh, raw ones at the open-air market.
DeleteWhat a fine meal! I hope you both are on the mend now. I'm going to get my knees looked at tomorrow and while I'm there I'll ask him about my shoulder which isn't perfect either. We need to keep ourselves tuned up somehow.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to see my GP in a couple of weeks. I'll talk to him about my knees and hips. Maybe I'll have an MRI done so I can understand what's going on.
DeleteEverything looks great Ken. I especially like salads with frisee, which I don't think we see in the markets here.
ReplyDeleteI think I used to get frisée (curly endive) in San Francisco. Escarole is also really good. We still have some that looks perfectly fresh and good, even though I bought it a weeks or more ago.
DeleteLooks scrumptious! I am cooking with a broken collarbone but think I can take it out for a spin and handle this recipe. As always, thank you for the food porn.
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