Like Father (and embarrassing photos)

My dad’s taught me a few things over the years:

Pops & me, c. '98

• How to throw a softball
• How to swing a golf club from the tee box and how to putt from 10′ away
• How to pronounce “gewurztraminer”
• How to play chess (kind of)
• Why a Sauvignon Blanc goes well with salads and other greens
• How to peel, de-vein, and boil or saute shrimp
• What the differences are between Champagne, Cava, and Prosecco

(Picture: I’m in 8th or 9th grade… In this pic, we’re visiting Dad’s family in Mobile, AL)

One of my favorite things he taught me? How to saute the perfect steak mushroom.  The best part?  It couldn’t be easier.

mmm baby bellas

We start with baby bellas and slice them, and kind of thick; those suckers shrink up a lot!

While I’m slicing the mushrooms, he’s got a saute pan on the stove heating with red wine, butter, and Worcestershire sauce. That’s the jist of it. The shroomies go into the pan and simmer and soak up the sauce until they’re a lot smaller than they were when they started and until you’ve eaten about 10 or so out of the pan to test for the perfect texture and flavor.

Here’s what the finished fungi looked like (I’m also so excited that my new camera picks up on little things like steam and oil bubbles and STILL looks good):

mmm baby bellas soaked in delicious

Before we did the mushrooms, I chopped up all of the of the red potatoes that were then sprinkled with extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper (fresh ground peppercorns), and topped with rosemary (fresh, from the potted plant in their kitchen).  Really basic, but oh-so-tasty.

taters (400* for about 20 min, by the way)

Ok, this was kind of a silly little post about mushrooms and potatoes, but spending quality time with my dad is something I enjoy more and more as I get older.  Ma’s been telling my sister and I for years how much fun we are as we get older, and well… the same is true of them.  I’m grateful for solid relationships with my folks.

We started with a pretty Chardonnay and had a Nebbiolo to go with the steaks.

Oh, and as for the steaks?  I’m SO excited that for the first time in my adult life, Pops cooked mine almost just the way I like it.  Medium.  I prefer it medium-rare – I want to see some pinkage in there! – and well, he tends to overshoot that and always cooks it all the way through despite valiant effort. Tonight? I got a steak that was perfectly pinkish. Yum!

But I loved it – and the taters and shrooms were perfectly seasoned and perfectly chopped. Because I get to help with the veggie chopping when we cook together. It’s my thing.