I was in a quandary the other evening when my wife asked me what we should have for dinner.  Hemming and hawing, jumping from one food group to the other, I just couldn’t get my palate excited about anything.  It was one of those searing hot mid August days with just enough humidity to add discomfort but not enough to fuel any storms.   Speaking to my wife and dog who was only half listening, I pondered a summer salad………no not enough body…….....then a steak……..nope………..too filling.  At that point, my wife said, let’s have a steak salad.  Suddenly, I had my solution.  Here I go mumbling and my wife cobbles it together in a second.  Do we make a great team?

While she whipped up a very hearty salad, I salted, peppered and hickory smoked a juicy sirloin.  I also swabbed some butter on the steak to add some richness to the flavor.  To give the salad a bit of added earthiness, I suggested sautéing some sliced portabella mushrooms in butter and garlic and for “kicks,” several smoked Hatch New Mexico Chiles.  This would add some great summer smoked scents to the salad.   I fired up the grill and let it heat for about 30 minutes, wanting to get the temperature to around 500 degrees.  Once it was there, I seared the steaks on both sides, turned the heat down to low and allowed the steaks to cook inside.  With the outside well cooked yet the steaks still plump with juices, I removed them and proceeded to remove the fat and cut the lean portion into very thin slices.  I layered the steak tastefully (no pun intended……….really) on top of the salad and then came the first challenge……………….dressing…………….no dressing…………….what do I do?  Fortunately, my palate directed me all the way because my brain was of no help.  I was in the mood for blue cheese.  It pairs outstandingly with steak.  Even better, I had some fresh blue cheese to crumble in as well.  This all got my taste buds jumping in anticipation. 

Now for the final touch……….what to do about a wine?  Here I had a summer salad, “beefed up” with sautéed mushrooms, steak and Chiles and lots of blue cheese.   Vying for attention here was the steak and mushrooms, asking for a red while the blue cheese and chiles were requesting a white.  My first thought was to bridge the gap with a Tavel Rose.  I was psyched until I realized that I had no more in the fridge.  I love Roses in the summer.  With its low alcohol, delicious summer fruits of strawberry and watermelon and one foot in the white world and the other in the red, it would have been perfect.  For the next choice, I opted to go for a white, knowing that it would work with blue cheese.  I had a bottle of Dr. Loosen Riesling which I knew would work well………………nice acidity and sweetness…………..It’s a great everyday wine.  Then I recalled that I had a bottle of Piedmont Moscato sitting in the cooler.  This is nearly tantamount to a summer cooler with its bubbles, sugar and exceedingly low alcohol of 5.5%.  Well chilled, it was refreshing, fun, and worked off the blue cheese.