Cucino per il cugino

My cousin David was in town so we had him over and threw some lovely organic ribeyes on the grill, after giving them the customary espresso rub, along with some ramp bulbs on skewers. Meanwhile, I steamed parsnips and puréed them with truffle salt, olive oil, chives from the deck, and yogurt, and made ramp pesto with the ramp greens plus truffle oil, salt, pepper and then cooked it briefly in melted butter since the raw pesto was wickedly strong and hot. So sliced steak went on parsnips, with grilled ramps finished in wine and the pesto on the side plus steamed kale tossed in oil and balsamic.

We began with a Pleiades XIV and ended with another super 1992 Beringer Private Reserve; this strong-flavored plate could have handled a huge Aussie Cab or Shiraz but went just fine with these two.