Take a gander at a Leight repast

 Dinner is served aboard the Leight: Steak, home-fries, pickled beets, and a cheap Chilean red wine will certainly delight the crew. Photo by David Buckman

April 2020

By David Buckman

I’m responding to Capt. Mike Martel, who ran on about his famous chowder and clam-cake recipes in the Midwinter issue. I mean, it’s bloody boiled fish. Aboard the sloop Leight, we aspire to greater culinary heights, amply demonstrated by this photo of my home-fries, steak, pickled beets and red-wine dinner.

The home-fries are the pièce de résistance. A 60/40 mix of potatoes and onions, it requires constant tending in a hot, oiled pan to achieve that elusive sweet spot between well caramelized and badly burned. The steak, a sirloin, is aged at least four days in the Leight’s bilge, and slowly sautéed to the rare side of medium-rare, with a splash or two, or five, of wine.

The best wine for this is a cheap Chilean red. I recommend Santa Rita 120, priced at $5.82. It’s possessed of grape overtones, a gnarly finish, and aged at least a month. Aunt Nellie’s pickled beets provide an acidic counterpoint that melds all the flavors into a symphony of deliciousness.

Eat your heart out, Mike.

David Buckman
s/v Leight
Round Pond, Maine