As so many good ideas are hatched with the help of a little alcohol lubricating the wheels, so too was this one: a meal of all meat. That's right, a decadent meal with an equally sumptuous wine list to match. That's what came of an after-hours session at Strawberry Street Vineyard with three local wine aficionados — luckily, one is dating a butcher.
Henry Reidy, the stout and jolly owner of the Strawberry Street wine shop; Bob Talcott, white-haired wine director at Can Can Brasserie, and Ryne Hazzard, a wine representative for Potomac Selections (whose fresh face belies his sharp palate), make a habit of gathering for informal tastings at Reidy's shop on Wednesday nights. They talk old-world-versus-new-world wines and Parker's damned 100-point wine scoring, and one day, talk turned to beefsteak dinners.
Beefsteaks were early-20th-century political fundraisers in Manhattan that were men-only (they fell out of favor after women got the vote) and consisted of multicourse meat offerings. The trio decided they should throw their own — minus the politics — but it wasn't until said butcher-girlfriend, Tanya Cauthen, took over planning that their "Man Meat Dinners" came to be.
Something like the underground supper clubs propagating the West Coast, the dinners allow local chefs to experiment or showboat with dishes that might not fly on (or off) their menus. R•Home stopped in on the latest one, held in the Fan and filled with chefs, wine reps, servers and those they love. "One funny thing about chefs is that we actually feel really awkward at dinner parties because all we know how to do is cook," Cauthen says. The solution: A different chef prepared each course, with wine reps peppering the conversation with lively debates about "the Rhoney-ness of certain Bordeaux" and other hot topics, and although Reidy joked that dessert would be Lipitor cholesterol-lowering pills, it was a birthday cake — for him.
Six Courses, Six Juicy Hours
Appetizer
Ossabaw prosciutto, pâté maison and wild-boar salami, prepared by Chris Mattera of Belmont Butchery
2006 Cremant de Bourgogne Brut Rose, Michel Freres ($25), paired by Bob Talcott of Can Can Brasserie
First Course
Pan-seared sweetbreads over lentils with bacon-mustard sauce, prepared by Chef Bill Foster of Café Rustica
Second Course
Deviled lamb's kidneys with fresh baguette, prepared by Henry Reidy of Strawberry Street Vineyard
Dupont-Fahn Bourgogne Blanc "Chaumes des Perrieres" 2006 ($32), paired by Ryne Hazzard of Potomac Selections
Third Course
Grilled lime-, herb- and pistachio-marinated squab over sautéed Tuscan kale, prepared by Chef Billy Fallen of Aziza's
Vietti Barolo Castiglione 2004 ($47), paired by Katie Dorazio of Downey Selections
Fourth Course
Braised pork shanks served with a mire- poix, prepared by Chef Manny Mendez of Kuba Kuba
Ken Wright Pinot Noir Chez Vineyard 2005 ($59), d'Arenberg Coppermine Cabernet 2001 ($75) and Vieux Tele- graphe Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2005 ($75), paired by Harry Tatian of Roanoke Valley Wine Co.
Fifth Course
Local, grilled, herb-marinated, butterflied leg of lamb served with roasted fingerling potatoes, prepared by Chef Andy Howell of Café Rustica
Domaine St. Damien Gigondas "La Louisianne" 2005 ($32) and Domaine de la Bastide Blanche Bandol 2004 ($25), paired by Ryne Hazzard of Potomac Selections
Sixth Course
Local, five-week dry-aged standing rib roast served with buttered turnips and carrots, prepared by Tanya Cauthen of Belmont Butchery and Henry Reidy
Domaine Grand Veneur Chateauneuf- du-Pape Les Origines 2006 ($60), paired by Henry Reidy
Dessert
Carrot cake and seven-layer chocolate cake, prepared by Tommy Graziano of Mill Street Sweets
Recipes
Manny Mendez's Braised Pork Shanks Ingredients
- 2 pork shanks cut into six 2-inch-thick pieces
- 3 carrots
- 3 stalks of celery
- 1 large onion
- heaping tablespoon of garlic ("More garlic than you think," he says.)
- 1/4 cup of olive oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 10 peppercorns
- 1 cup of Sauvignon Blanc or other white wine
- 2 cups of veal stock
Directions Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Finely chop carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Brown the shank pieces in olive oil in a braising pan or deep pot with lid. Add the veggies, bay leaf and peppercorns until veggies are translucent. Then add white wine until the wine reduces by half. Add veal stock until half-submerged. Cover and put in oven for two hours. Take out and let cool the day before (so the meat will congeal and flavor stays in). Return to stovetop. Discard the bay leaf and set aside shanks. Purée the liquid-veggie mixture in pot. Return the shanks to pot and start to heat on stovetop, then put back in oven 30 to 45 minutes to reheat. By the time it's cooked through the second time, it should be falling off the bone. (At Kuba Kuba, Mendez alters this recipe slightly by deep frying a whole shank then finishing it off in the oven.) Serves six (3-ounce pieces). Pair with several other courses. Bill Foster's Sweetbreads over Lentils with Bacon-Mustard Sauce Ingredients for Sweetbreads
- 2 lobes of sweetbreads
- 2 bay leaves
- 8 peppercorns
- 2 ounces of salt
- 1 cup of Wondra flour
- 2 quarts of water
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
Directions for Sweetbreads Heat water, dissolve salt and taste. (It should taste like the ocean.) Add peppercorns and bay leaves. Do not let water boil but bring to a simmer. Add sweetbreads and poach 12 to 15 minutes until firm. Put in ice bath and cool completely. Peel membrane off sweetbreads. This can be done up to two days ahead. Cut sweetbreads into 2-inch slices. Season with salt and pepper. Dredge in Wondra flour and sauté in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until golden brown on each side. Approximately 2 minutes per side. Ingredients for Lentils
- 1 cup of lentils
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 stalk celery diced
- 1 small carrot diced
- 1 quart of chicken stock
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
Directions for Lentils Sweat onions, carrots and celery in olive oil. Add lentils, stir to coat lentils with vegetable mixture. Add chicken stock and bring to a gentle boil. Do not let it roll or the lentils will explode. When lentils are tender (approximately 45 minutes), add salt and pepper. Sauce Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon of arrowroot dissolved in 2 tablespoons of water
- 1 quart of chicken stock
- 1 heaping tablespoon of grainy mustard
- 4 thick slices of bacon cut crosswise into lardons and cooked off
- scallions
Sauce Directions Reduce stock by half; add mustard and bacon; return to boil. Check seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Add arrowroot slurry and stir until thickened. Add scallions right before serving. To Plate In a shallow bowl or rimmed plate, place a small amount of lentils in a pile. Place two pieces of sweetbreads on top and pour two ounces of sauce on and around sweetbreads. Serve immediately. Serves four to six.
