Seared Ahi Saturday Night.

Another Saturday night, and while many restaurant options were discussed, it wound up being so much more convenient to just make dinner at home. But with nothing exciting in the fridge or the pantry, I wasn’t sure what we’d end up with. A little trip to see Joe made it all work.

And by Joe, I mean Trader Joe. If you’re lucky enough to live near a Trader Joe’s, then you know what I’m talking about. This great little chain of neighborhood markets always seems to have exactly what I need, even if I don’t know exactly what I need.

This was one of those nights where I had no idea what I needed; the only thing that was kinda on my mind was seafood as we had briefly discussed going out for sushi. So I parked the car and walked into TJ’s…

The place is always packed -the stores are a little too small with narrow aisles and lots of stuff, so it either feels claustrophobic, or on nights like this one, it felt warm and homey. And the staff is warm and homey too. With a stroll down 2 or 3 aisles, I was inspired and sped back home with bags of goodies and a plan.

The plan involved me sauteing some spinach in olive oil, and then mixing it with cream cheese, shredded cheese, and a little bit o’ chopped onions- and cramming it all into the underside of some portobello mushroom caps-and baking them for 20 minutes or so.

And while that was baking, I took two sashimi-grade ahi tuna steaks, coated them in olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt and pepper, and then dropped them into a nice hot skillet, and proceeded to sear the heck out of each side before plating them with some caesar salad and the aforementioned portobellos.

Dinner was SERVED! Cheaper, fresher and yummier than the sushi, and I didn’t have to change out of the shorts, t-shirt and sandal ensemble that I was wearing. Oh, and I picked up a bottle of wine as well…

If you’re following the blog you know that we have a soft spot for Paso Robles here at WineExpedition… (it’s a mere 3.5-4 hour drive from Los Angeles, and the wines are fantastico.) Within Paso, Eos is one of my fav’s, particularly for their Petite Sirahs. That said, all of their wine is good, and good ol’ Trader Joe was selling the 2006 Eos Reserve Chardonnay for $13. WOW! Considering that’s what the regular, ol’, non-reserve sells for most places, I grabbed that bottle up quick.

This wine is a gem of a California Chard. A nice light golden hue, with a sweet nose of summer fruit and cream. On the palate, I got apples, a bit of lemon/lime and creamy, creamy, creamy oak. It was a substantial (did I mention creamy? (though not OVER-oaked)) mouth-feel, with a balanced acidity, and it worked really well with my lemon-juice-coated-seared Ahi.

In the rush to get home and prepare this Saturday evening feast, I neglected to pick up a desert. So I poured one more glass and the click-clack of my sandals was heard as I retired to the living room with my creamy Eos Reserve chard with a smile on my face.