This weekend we had some friends over for dinner, featuring roasted vegetables and “grilled” steak (cooked on the stove in my Staub my grill pan, since my apartment does not allow for an outdoor grill…), paired with an Argentine Malbec. This bottle of wine was the last of a “Wine Explorer” collection we received as a wedding present. I have been saving it for a night when we were having steak–a somewhat rare occurrence!

While most Malbecs are cosidered “smooth” reds, this Argentine Malbec was in the “juicy” category.

Unlike its French counterpart, Argentine Malbec offers exuberant fruit, a velvety texture, and characteristic spiciness…Malbec’s sweet, spicy fruit complements all kinds of beef dishes, especially those cooked over an open flame. [from the William Sonoma Wine Explorer booklet]

This wine was good, but not our favorite. It had a heavy, velvety texture, tastes of dark fruits, smoke, and spice, with a touch of coffee in the nose.

To accompany the wine, I roasted up some vegetables,

Broccoli, Carrots, and “Cheddar” Cauliflower

and took a risk with a new approach to mashed potatoes. I started by peeling and chopping the potatoes and tossing them with olive oil and garlic. I had opened a bottle of beer for the marinade for the steak, and I decided to pour the remainder of the can over the potatoes.

Beer-roasted potatoes

Once the potatoes were soft, I transfered the potatoes and the liquid to a pot, added some milk, butter, and cheddar cheese, and mashed the potatoes.

I give my attempt a B+… it had potential, but the beer I used (Guinness Extra Stout) was a bit too bitter. If I try this again, I will probably drain most of the beer off the potatoes so that I can add more milk without the potatoes becoming too liquid.

The steaks were marinated for about 3 hours in a mixture of beer, soy sauce, brown sugar and garlic, leaving them wonderfully tender and flavorful.

The meal paired well with the Malbec, and while I am still working on the perfect mashed potatoes, it was an enjoyable meal, and a nice evening with friends!

-L