Food and Wine Pairing: Flank Steak Salad with Roasted Shallots and Goat Cheese and Firesteed Oregon Pinot Noir 2007
I’ve been craving steak salad for weeks, and finally decided to get on with it and make one, fer cryin’ out loud. And I am very happy with the results.
This is another recipe that’s super easy to make, but will wow your guests. Now, I know I say that about most recipes I share with you, but it’s true – this one fits the profile.
In fact, I try to only select recipes that are simple to prepare, have not an enormous amount of ingredients, contain some things that you are likely to already have on hand, and turn out impressively.
(One of these days, I’ll cook from Mastering the Art of French Cooking and share the results here, but I typically gravitate toward simple, yet elegant. Whether I manage to pull that off is another story. It’s the “simple” part that’s pretty important to me, hence the many nights per month of frozen pizza. Which I thaw and cook first. Ahem.)
The Pinot Noir and Steak Salad match was very nice indeed. The light and fruity Pinot Noir was perfect with the steak and goat cheese. I’ve successfully paired Pinot Noir with dishes that include goat cheese in the past, so I had a strong feeling this would work well, especially as it involved steak. And steak + red wine usually = lotsa joy.
Recipe: Flank Steak Salad with Roasted Shallots and Goat Cheese (from epicurious.com)
Ingredients
•1 cup olive oil
•5 tablespoons red wine vinegar
•2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
•2 large garlic cloves
•1 1 1/2-pound flank steak
•18 large shallots, peeled, halved
•8 cups mixed salad greens (about 8 ounces)
•1 cup crumbled chilled soft fresh goat cheese (such as Montrachet; about 4 ounces)
Preparation
• Blend oil, vinegar, thyme, and garlic in blender until garlic is chopped; season dressing with salt and pepper.
• Place steak in 13×9x2-inch glass baking dish. Add 1/3 cup dressing; turn to coat. Cover and chill 30 minutes. (Can be made 4 hours ahead; chill steak and dressing. Bring dressing to room temperature before using.)
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450°F. Toss shallots and 2 tablespoons dressing on baking sheet to coat. Roast shallots until caramelized and tender, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes; set aside.
• Preheat broiler. With marinade still clinging to steak, broil steak to desired doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Let steak rest 5 minutes; slice thinly across grain on diagonal.
• Place greens and shallots in large bowl; toss with enough dressing to coat. Mound greens on large platter. Surround with steak; sprinkle with goat cheese. Serve, passing remaining dressing.
From the Firesteed website: Vibrant cherry and sweet spice aromas jump out of the glass and the taste of the first round of summer raspberries and strawberries push the burst of fruit straight through to the surprisingly long finish. Grapes for this wine, as in previous years, were sourced from throughout the Willamette, Umpqua, Rogue and Walla Walla Valleys, creating a truly Oregon blend.
Firesteed Oregon Pinot Noir 2007 (pic from Firesteed website)
It was very tasty, well-priced, and easy to find , in addition to being a spot-on match for the steak salad and goat cheese. Remember, Pinot Noirs match well with a really wide range of foods. Normally around $15 retail in my market, though I did find this bottle on sale at the Teeter for about $12. You can also find it at World Market.
Recipe Tips:
• I halved this recipe, and substituted balsamic vinegar for the red wine vinegar
• I used arugula for the salad greens
• Next time, I’d cook the steak a bit longer. I broiled it for 4 minutes per side for medium-rare, as the recipe calls for, but it was definitely on the more rare side.
Bon Appetit!
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