To celebrate a friend’s 20th birthday, I got him a vintage port from his birth year and an accompanying dinner. Since I know he loves blue cheese, it wasn’t difficult to decide what to prepare to go with the vintage port: steak with a blue cheese sauce. The tannins in the port go well with the beef, and the blue cheese goes well with the sweetness of the port. The sauce is easy to make, just melt the cheese in some cream. As a side I decided on witlof (also known as Belgian endive or chicory) cooked on the griddle and sautéed oyster mushrooms. It was a winning combination that works very well together and is quite easy to prepare as long as you know how to cook a steak (which this post is not about). Here’s what I did…

Ingredients

For 3 servings

3 steaks (I chose blade steak sous-vide that I seared right before serving)

3 witlof/chicory/Belgian endive

180 grams (6 oz) gorgonzola, roquefort or other strong blue cheese, crumbled

60 ml (1/4 cup) heavy cream

100 grams (3.5 oz) oyster mushrooms

olive oil

clarified butter

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

This dish isn’t difficult, but it does require a bit of timing.

Start with the mushrooms. Cut them into wide strips and sauté them in clarified butter or olive oil…

…until they are tender and nicely browned. Turn off the heat, and turn it back on for a bit just before you are ready to serve to heat them back up.

Put the cream and the blue cheese in a saucepan over low heat…

…until the blue cheese has melted, stirring now and then. Make sure that the sauce won’t boil, as that would separate it. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Meanwhile, remove any damaged outer leaves from the witlof and wash and dry them on the outside. Brush them all around with olive oil.

Heat up a griddle pan and cook the witlof over medium high heat for about 5 minutes.

Then turn them over and cook them on the other side for about 5 minutes as well, or until they are barely tender and have nice grill marks on both sides.

Meanwhile, cook the steak to your liking and make sure the sauce and mushrooms are hot. Season the mushrooms with salt and freshly ground black pepper just before serving. For additional flavor, I deglazed the pan used for searing the steak with the sous-vide juices, added the mushrooms (which were already cooked), and reduced.

When the steak and witlof are cooked to perfection, serve everything on preheated plates. Season the witlof with salt.

Wine pairing

This is great with a vintage port. Keep in mind that most vintage ports need at least 20 years before they are ready to drink, although they can also be enjoyed in their infancy.

If you think port is too sweet, try and amarone.

Flashback

Banana nut muffins are yummy and so easy to make. Just mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients separately, then fold them together until only just mixed, and bake until a tester comes out clean.