Wine Country Recipe

Coffee Dusted Bison Rib Eye with Smoked Tomato Coulis, Roasted Finger-ling Potatoes, Sauteed Spinach and Fennel

Courtesy Lawson's Station and Shotgun Restaurant

For the Potatoes

Cut assorted fingerling potatoes in half lengthwise. Toss in a bowl with a light amount of olive oil, fresh chopped herbs, (such as basil, rosemary, thyme, Italian parsley) and kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Roast in oven skin side down @ 400 degrees until just tender to the touch. (About 20 minutes.)

For the Smoked Tomato Coulis

Mix in a bowl
1 Tb. Kosher salt
1 Tb. Sugar
1/4 ts. Chili powder
1 ts. Toasted and ground coriander seeds
1 ts. Toasted and ground cumin seeds

Take about 1/2 pound tomatoes. (Heirlooms preferred), cut in half and generously sprinkle cure over them. Let sit for at least 1/2 an hour. Place tomatoes in a smoking vessel for about 20-30 minutes. You want to achieve a smokey flavor but not too over powering. --in a blender or food mill, puree tomatoes with about 2 Tb. Olive oil, 1/2 Tb. Sherry vinegar and mixed herbs. *optional-- You may add reduced red wine or a little demi-glace to add depth and body. Finish with a little kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

For the Fennel/Spinach Saute

On a mandoline or deli-style slicer, shave half of a fennel bulb very very thin. In a saute pan, add a ts. Olive oil and 1/2 ts. fresh chopped garlic and 1/2 ts. Fresh chopped shallots. Toss shaved fennel and baby spinach into pan and rapidly turn spinach. (Be sure not to brown garlic or shallots.) Add a small pinch of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.

For the Bison Steak

1. 10-12 oz. Bison steak
Coffee dust--
Take ground coffee (about 3 Tb.)
1 ts. Ground corriander
1 ts. Ground cinnamon
1 pinch of cocoa powder
2 Tb. Kosher salt
1 Tb. Fresh ground pepper
-- lightly dust steak just before grilling.
--grill to desired temperature.

For the Garnish

On a deli style slicer, shave a yellow onion ultra thin and lightly dust with kosher salt. Let sit for 10-20 minutes. (This will help to draw out excess moisture). Then lightly dust with chili powder and deep fry at 300 degrees until there are no more bubbles releasing from onions. Once the bubbles stop, you should have nice golden/rusty onion rings which are very crisp. --add a few chives to the onion rings.

(This recipe may be altered to the desired taste of the individual as all recipes. It is more of a general "base" recipe so if you don't have fennel, just use spinach. If you don't have heirloom tomatoes, don't sweat it. One of the things we enjoy most about cooking is to be able to put a fun little "twist" on any given recipe or idea. We encourage you to try the same.