Now Let’s Mess Up The Kithchen!

Let’s just begin with your palate but whether you’re new to wine or a connoisseur. We have not only the wine but many tips to assist you, after all, we don’t just enjoy drinking the vino but use it for so much more.
If you belong to a wine club, I’m sure you receive a variety of flavors. Some are bold with cherry with a hint of oak, some are a clean white crisp, some are sweet, some are buttery some are very dry as a champagne but very tasty.
My job is to take you thru these. Introduce you to the different varieties of flavors and what more can be done with the precious vino than just drinking it. Don’t get me wrong, we love the flavor and enjoy how it savors in our mouth but we can also add so much more of that flavor into dishes, what to serve at what time of day, the dish you’re making.
If you enjoy the flavor of a warm cherry or blackberry with a hint of a wood, Merlot may fit your palate. It’s generally served with a beef dish. Speaking of a beef dish. Here is the secret to a simple great wine reduction sauce that you will find in many restaurants and is simple to make at home. NOW, let’s mess up the kitchen!
2 bottle of merlot (one to cook with, one to drink, 3 if having company)
1 garlic clove
1 cube of butter
1 red onion
Your choice of beef (filet mignon, t-bone, a New York Steak, a porterhouse, you get the idea)
Prep time 20 minutes

Dice the garlic and onion very fine. Cube the butter in slices, about the size of your finger tip. In a sauté pan on a very low heat set your beef. All we want to do is brown it very slightly so that the blood juice comes out and I do mean slightly. Once again, make sure the temperature is very low, we aren’t cooking the meat and this is very important. All you want is the juices for the wine reduction sauce. Once you have browned the meat and can see the bottom of the pan has a nice amount of liquid, remove the beef and set it where you plan to finish cooking it, be it the grill or the oven. The sauce will take about 20 minutes to cook and the meat probably won’t. In the sauté pan that has the juice, add the garlic and onion first. Let them simmer in the juices as you add the butter, and don’t be bashful about the butter as you will need it. Once you see the color of the onion has changed and you can smell something so nice and warm, start adding the wine. Don’t be shy but also keep in mind how much you have to work with given the amount of juices from the meat and how many pieces of meat you are cooking. 2 nice filet mignon, about a 10 count (this means as I pour the wine, I count to 10, stop drinking the other bottle of wine while cooking) and start steering while adding more butter. Stir very rapidly or the butter will burn versus blending in. You will be able to tell when everything has mixed by the texture. It should be runny but also a little thick from the butter. The smell will tell you everything. Take a spoon and taste it. If you don’t like it, add more vino with butter and stir. Taste it again, until you have the flavor you desire.