A Winter's Salad, Stilton, and Bogle Petit Sirah

It has been so cold and dreary, and we were expecting a snow day on Sunday which never really happened, we just holed up with lots of food and wine. I made one of my favorite salads with fennel, blood oranges, radish, and cilantro, dressed with just lemon juice and olive oil. Sort of makes you forget there is no sunshine or honest tomatoes to be had.

I don't usually make porterhouse steaks because they have two different muscles connected by the same bone, and the two muscles cook differently. Having said that, steaks with the bone attached are tastier, and this was the only bone-in steak at the grocery (I should have thought ahead and brought something from the restaurant) and it ended up being pretty decent. Of course being smeared with real Stilton didn't hurt. Stilton has one of those in-your-face personalities you either love or hate. There are few people in the middle with Stilton. Stilton is such a good winter cheese and it invites a wine with an equally sturdy personality. I found this Bogle Petite Sirah on sale so I thought I would give it a try.

The color was gorgeous deep garnet red, it had some fruit but was far from jammy, maybe some faint black licorice lingering in the finish. It was a very pleasant wine-not too complicated or complex but more than able to stand up to Stilton's sass.