Cook, Prep and Unwrap!

Omaha Steaks! What could be a better holiday gift!? A Wusthof 6" Cook's Knife!!! That's what! This morning I left my house knowing that I was going home to cook the gift of Omaha steaks. It was a great thought... until I received the best Christmas present EVER from my co-work Gina, and her Chef-in-Training husband, Jonas. (They also got me a clip-on spoon rest, which I can't wait to use.)

Some may think a knife is just a knife, but these people are wrong. They clearly have never tried one of these babies!

This knife can chop through anything with ease. I've literally never sliced and diced like this before. I'm looking forward to using this knife often! (Thanks Gina, Jonas & Madison!)


Back to the meal at hand: Omaha Beef Rib Eye! I couldn't wait to rip these babies open. Since I cooked skirt steak in a spice rub last week, I decided to keep this recipe simple, but add a little optional kit. I chose a great Red Wine-Shallot Sauce recipe from Food Network.

Rib Eye with Red Wine-Shallot Sauce with Twice Baked Potatoes and Green Beans with Almonds

Steak Recipe:

2 8 oz Rib Eye Steaks

Salt

Ground black pepper

1 large shallot, minced (with my brand new Wusthof Knife!) ;)

3/4 cup red wine

2 to 3 tbsps butter, cold

1) Remove the steak from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking. Heat a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Pat the steak dry and season generously with salt and pepper on all sides. Place the steak flat in the pan and sear until deep brown on one side, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn and cook on the other side until a thermometer inserted sideways into the thickest part registers 120 degrees for medium-rare, 3 to 4 more minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 10 minutes. Reserve the drippings in the skillet.

2) Add the shallot to the drippings and cook over medium heat until golden, about 2 minutes. Add the wine and scrape up any browned bits with a wooden spoon. Bring to a boil and cook until reduced by half and slightly syrupy, about 7 minutes; remove from the heat. Whisk in the butter, one piece at a time, to make a glossy sauce. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper or season to taste.

This sauce reminded me of A1 Steak Sauce. It had a really nice tangy bite to it!

On to the next ...

Twice Baked Potato Recipe:

4 Russet potatoes

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup fat free milk

2 tbsp butter, softened

1 tbsp cream (I used 2% milk)

1 cup mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup chopped shallot

1) Scrub potatoes, then generously poke wholes with tongs of a fork to prevent from exploding while baking. Bake on 400 degrees for about an 1 hour and 15 minutes (or until fully cooked.) To save time, you could microwave for approximately 15 minutes.

2) Allow potatoes to cool to touch. Slice top third lengthwise off the top of the potato. Use a spoon to scoop out the insides, forming a canoe, leaving about 1/4 inch of potato on the skin.

3) Place the scooped out potato, sour cream, milk, cream and butter in a large bowl. Mash with potato masher. (Be careful not to over beat potato.) Next, mix in cheese and shallot.

4) Spoon filling back into shells and bake on 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

(recipe adapted from simplyrecipes.com)

To view green bean recipe, check out one of my older posts.

I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that this meal was DE-licious! The tang in the red wine shallot sauce was a great compliment to the wholesome creamy flavor of the potatoes. It was a little combination of homemade comfort food meets specialty steak house flavor. (Or something like that! haha!)

Give it a try...trust me, you'll enjoy the entire meal!