Wine Food Pairing - Rib Eye on the Barbie!

Wine food pairing .... the winters in SW Florida are mild and balmy ... OH MY!

This is the best time of the year for most Floridians where they practically live outside ... doors and windows open with soft breezes blowing through the house, bare feet and shorts are the norm and using the BBQ is something that is done at least a couple of times a week. After all, summer can have oppressive heat and humidity making outside activity brief, at best ... lol!

Is there a better way to have wine and food than a marbled rib eye steak that has been marinating for 24 hrs .... ? Stabbed with my tenderizer to perfection, with my favorite BBQ sauce seeping in along with some Caribbean jerk seasonings .... YUMMO!

I have a potato packet ready for the grill first ... these take about 1/2 hour ... place next to the fire to get them warm and then on the shelf for lots of indirect heat. I prepare these by slicing the taters into thin quarter size pieces along with green pepper and sweet Vidalia onions. Drop these "bad boys" into a ziploc bag, add a bit of veggie oil along with S & P and Emeril's original seasoning for a little "kick". Shake the bag to coat the potatoes and then seal into a neat foil package ...EASY!

Asparagus is always quick way to bring some greens into your dinner ... break off the woody ends, wash and toss into your steamer for a 5 minute "steam" when the steaks are almost ready. I like to garnish them with a drizzle of Pumpkin Seed oil from Austria and a few toasted slivered almonds. Gourmet cuisine made simple!

BigAl is in charge of the actual "grillmeister" duties ... searing the steaks to give them nice cross marks and then lowering the temp until done.

I paired this terrific meal with a James Marcus Malbec from Argentina ... dark purple in color, it smelled of raspberry and cherry. The Malbec tastes of plums and dry cherries and finishes with a pleasant spicy fruit taste. Perfect for the heavy rib eye!

An awesome wine food pairing adventure.

PS. don't forget to warm your plates on the grill ... nothing impresses them more than to serve on a sizzling plate.

CHEERS!