As the title would suggest, I had Thomas Keller round last night to cook rib of beef for me. Actually I did not. I recently received from my charming and very thoughtful wife a signed copy of his new cookbook, Ad Hoc At Home, based on recipes from his restaurant in Yountville, Ca. One of these is his recipe for Blowtorch Rib of Beef (bone-in), which involves browning the meat and fat with a blowtorch, and then cooking it slowly at a lower temperature to ensure that there is a much more even pinkness throughout the interior, rather that cooking it at higher heat and having decreasing pinkness from centre to edge, with the aim of the blowtorch being to get the yummy exterior crust as if it had been cooked at a higher heat. And may I say that a combination of this technique and my superlative cooking skills ensured that the meat turned out perfectly. And served with some roasted root vegetables (parsnips, carrots) and homemade horseradish, it made for an extremely pleasant way to pass a Sunday afternoon. I also preceded this course with the first soup (not a stew, or casserole) I have ever made, a sunchoke soup, the recipe for which I found on epicurious.com. Awesome. I served the beef with an outstanding bottle of 2004 Tardieu-Laurent Cotes-du-Rhone Cuvee Guy Louis (50% Grenache, 50% Syrah), which has to be one of the best CDR I have tasted in several years. It is a little tight straight out of the bottle, but after an hour or so of decanting it had opened right up. For $15 you get a nose of ripe red and black fruit, coffee, spice, and a little oak. The palate reflects the nose very well, but also gives you a full-bodied, velvet-textured mouth feel, some good acidity and some grippy tannins, with a pretty long finish, culminating in a very well-balanced wine, which could easily pass for a good Gigondas I would say. All for $15!! Bargain!! There aren't many of those around these days! All I can say is that I'm bloody glad I've got 4 more bottles of this left.
To conclude then, maximum kudos to me for a splendid meal, and a great wine selection. Well done me..
Lovin your posts - combination of self-congratulatory domestication and handy cooking tips - of which I will avail myself shortly when I finally move out of my current inner-London hovel into something resembling a home - still an inner-London hovel but with a real kitchen hoorah - I always wanted a blow torch - also great tip oh blog guru in the sky - love the link button thingy will start to use asap especially for my up and coming trip to the Jura - so expect a lengthy and anorak laden post on that
Posted by: jakcom | Tuesday, 02 February 2010 at 22:02