International Eats - Paris: Steak Frites and Such

Our first meal in Paris was at La Fontain De Mars, just beyond the Eiffel Tower. Naturally, the Eiffel Tower was the first thing we had to see and it was spectacular. I'm sure if I was a Parisian the tower would be to me like Empire State Building is... Just Another building. But this is Paris and it was awesome!

We walked around the park below for a bit then headed to the restaurant. Without reservation we were able to get a seat in the corner but we didn't mind at all. We happened to be sat next to New Yorkers so that was kind of fun too. While purusing the English menu their meal arrived. They order potatoes au gratin that looked absolutely heavenly... Covered in creamy, golden cheese. Who wouldn't want that!? We immediately asked for them as our appetizer. People have potatoes as an appetizer, right? 

I ordered fried duck as my main course. It seemed like the thing to do, well that and gluten free entrees were a bit limited since most of their steak sauces contained gluten. 

I couldn't complain though. The duck was crispy and perfectly juicy on the inside. 

After a few glasses of wine, dessert seemed like a great idea!! I had a bowl of strawberries with vanilla ice cream and pistachios. The combination of sweet and crunchy was phenomenal! 

On night two, we stopped for an afternoon glass of wine at cheese in Saint Germain. Cafe De Flore was highly recommended by my former boss as well as our travel book. Since being back in NYC, I saw that Scott Conant from Food Network was there as well so this is obviously a great place. 

We sat outside people watching, sipping wine and sharing a cheese plate. Christiana had bread along with her cheese that looked so good! Gluten free bread is not really common at restaurants so it was just cheese and wine for me (no complaints here!)

Across the street from Cafe De Flore is Brasserie Lipp which was frequented by Julia Child's when she lived in Paris. It was pretty awesome to be around restaurants that fed one of the culinary worlds biggest legends. 

We walked off our wine and cheese as we made our way to Bastille for dinner. Chez Paul was recommended by several colleagues so we were excited to check it out. Again, we were fortunate enough to be sat without a reservation. This meal launched our "dinner plan" for the rest of the trip. We learned the hard way our first night that two entrees was just too much food. Instead, we both ordered an app and shared an entree. 

At Chez Paul, Christiana had French onion soup and I ordered my first plate of escargot for the week (there was plenty more to come!) Her soup arrived first and was loaded with cheese - which in my book is the best part!

My escargot was so delicious!! Who wouldn't love butter, garlic and basil with anything? The escargot was the perfect texture, not too chewy or rubbery. I could have eaten six more. 

For our main meal we split steak and au gratin potatoes. While the portion of potatoes was smaller than the night before, there was a different balance of cheese and cream that we loved! 

For dessert I had a poached pear with vanilla gelato. I was certainly not hungry enough for it but just curious enough to try it and it turned out to be quite refreshing.

I would highly recommend Chez Paul to anyone traveling to Paris. The scene was not touristy at all and our meal was very authentic. 

On night three a miracle happened. Christiana had searched for top rated French cuisine and came across Socre Fleur. After two attempts to call and make a reservation we could not get a table for dinner at any time. We were both bummed. We had just visited Sacre Coure nearby so we popped into a local wine bar recommended by the owner of another wine bar we stopped at earlier that afternoon for wine and cheese. 

While drinking our wine, we started searching restaurant options... Until Christiana realized we were right across the street from Socre Fleur. I figured we had nothing to lose so I ran over to see if a table had opened up. Sure enough one had and we had 5 minutes to fill it! I ran back across the street, we chugged or wine and we were back at the restaurant in no time. Success!! 

The ambiance was beautiful. It felt like we were tucked away in a little French farm house enjoying a farm to table meal... Which we were but in Paris rather than the farm. ;)

We started with nice bottle of red wine then placed our order: French onion soup, escargot and steak frites. This time, the French onion soup came out much less cheesy than the night before but equally as good (according to Christiana.)

I was pleasantly surprised to find my escargot floating in a creamy onion sauce. They were so delicious. I wanted to lick the bowl clean when I was done! (Don't worry - I didn't.) 

Our filet was served on a butcher block with three different (gluten free) sauces. The presentation was beautiful and the sauces paired perfectly with the meat. You'd think by now we were sick of potatoes but trust me, we weren't. We scraped up whatever bits of steak sauce were left with the frites. :)

On our last full day in Paris we walked so much that we needed a midday break. We stopped for a soda at a cafe near Luxemborg Gardens. We sat outside to take in the views around us. Within a few minutes the guest next to us began to receive the food he ordered. When I looked over to my surprise was a plate of escargot - in the snail shell!!!!!!

My jaw hit the table. Obviously I called the waiter over and ordered my own plate immediately. They came out filled with garlic and pesto butter with tongs to hold the shell for easier removal. It was just as fun to pull the snails out as it was to eat!

By night four we were at a loss of where to go for dinner. We hadn't visited the Latin Quarter yet so we narrowed our search and found Brasserie Balzar. There were so many reviews since the restaurant opened its doors in 1886!!! Crazy! 

We were immediately sat in a packed dinning room between an English family celebrating a birthday and an older French couple on a date. It definitely seemed like this was a very popular place to dine. 

Christiana ordered French onion soup to start, once again, loaded with cheese and looked so yummy!

I was a little snailed out after my mid-day treat so I ordered burrata. After cutting into the cheese, the center didn't ooze with creamy cheese like I am used too, however, the center was richer and full of creamy flavor!

We split steak frites for the last time (so sad!) and had potatoes au gratin on the side. The potatoes were super creamy and the frites perfectly crisp!

After finishing our meal and wine, we had just enough room for dessert. More so, because we saw everyone else's dessert come to their tables and knew we wanted it too! ;) Christiana had profiteroles that looks absolutely amazing!!

As the waiter was pouring chocolate over her dish, I asked to use what was left from her carafe (or as I saw it, vat of chocolate) and pour it over my strawberries and ice cream. That was the best decision ever. The chocolate sauce was awesome! Super creamy, rich and milky. Yum!

After dinner we summed up all of meals and realized it was nearly impossible to pick which was the best. Each was great in its own right and all worth recommending to friends. One thing we did agree on was that our waistlines could not afford us eating another potato for months!!

Grocery Bag - Night 3: Steak with Swiss Chard and Garlic Bread

The third night in the Grocery Bag series was Buttery Shrimp and Radish Pasta. As mentioned in my intro post to the Grocery Bag Series, I decided to pass on this meal and skipped straight to Thursday nights meal: Steak with Swiss Chard and Garlic Bread.

Who doesn't love a great steak? And to pair it with one of the most nutritious greens out there is even better! Before tonight, I personally never tried swiss chard before but heard many great things. I absolutely loved the extra punch of flavor the garlic added to the chard. This green will definitely be a new staple in my house.

Recipe:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 pound skirt steak, patted dry and cut into 4 pieces
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 large bunch Swiss chard (1 1/2 pounds), stems cut into 1/2-inch pieces, leaves torn into bite-size pieces and rinsed (with some water still clinging)
1 baguette, split lengthwise

Directions:
1) Heat broiler, with rack in middle position. In a small saucepan, heat oil and garlic over medium-high until oil bubbles at edges. Add 1 teaspoon garlic oil to a large skillet and heat over medium-high. Season steak with salt and pepper and cook, in batches if necessary, until well browned and medium-rare, 5 to 7 minutes, flipping halfway through. Transfer to a cutting board, tent with foil, and let rest while preparing vegetables.
2) Return skillet to medium heat and add garlic slices and 2 teaspoons garlic oil. Add chard stems and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, 3 minutes. Add leaves and season with salt and pepper. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook until leaves are wilted, 3 minutes. Meanwhile, brush bread with remaining garlic oil, season with salt and pepper, and broil until golden and crisp, 2 minutes. To serve, thinly slice steak against the grain and serve with chard and garlic bread.

Italian Steakhouse Night

Food Network Magazine for March is titled the Italian issue. When I saw this, I almost screamed! I absolutely love pasta and just recently made homemade pasta for the first time and loved it. Naturally, I have been dying to try other sauces and now have the resources!

Since I just did one red sauce, I decided to go with another for comparison and went with their Chunky Tomato Sauce. I served the pasta in small ramekins along side fillet Mignon.


Recipe:
1 oz diced salami (I left this out)
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 28oz can plum tomatoes
6 basil leaves
pinch of sugar, salt and pepper
12 oz cooked rotini

Direction:
1) Cook salami and garlic in a skillet with olive oil over medium heat, 1 minute.
2) Drain plum tomatoes (reserve the juice); crush into the skillet and cook 5 minutes.
3) Add the tomato juice, basil and salt, pepper and sugar; cook 5 minutes. Stir in 3/4 cup of water and simmer until thick.
4) Toss pasta and top with grated parmesan and basil.

Over the next week or so I'll be trying out a few of the different sauce recipes. I hope they inspire you to try something new. ;)

Special Valentine Meal(s)

My love for food is evident in my daily life. If I am not watching Food Network or the Cooking Channel, I am reading food magazines or looking up recipes. I couldn't let Valentine's Day pass me by with out expressing this love for my loved one. :)

I let my boyfriend know ahead of time that I'd be cooking a special meal for him in Sunday night since he had Monday planned for us already. I was so excited! I've had filet mignon in my freezer and thought this was the perfect time to prepare. I really wanted to make this a memorable meal so I decided to serve the steak with LOBSTER TAILS!!! YUM! Who doesn't love a little surf n' turf for a special occasion? Plus, I've never cooked lobster before so I was down for the adventure.

After watching video on YouTube for how to prepare lobster tails for broiling I set out on my new adventure. I have to say, it was pretty easy. If lobster was a little cheaper priced, I'd probably make it more often.


I served my surf n' turf over roasted asparagus with mushrooms. Boy, were we stuffed! It was one of the best meals I had eaten yet! Well.... until Valentine's day.

What I didn't know on Sunday was that my boyfriend had planned on cooking ME dinner!! He has watched me in the kitchen for almost two years now trying new recipes and making delicious meals for him and wanted to take the time to return the favor.

He chose to prepare Rack of Lamb with Rosemary Roasted Potatoes and Shallot Vinaigrette. He found this recipe on Foodnetwork.com under holiday dishes. And guess what? This dish also happens to be from "The Best of Detroit!" Which is where I am from, if you didn't know.

Watching my boyfriend cook was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. He was so excited to be cooking for me and paying extra close attention to detail to make sure he did not mess anything up. (AND he wouldn't let me help at all...which was tough on me.)

Once the meal was finished, I was in heaven!! He made the most succulent lamb chops I have ever had in my life! They were so tender and flavorful. I could have eaten them all. We really had a great Valentine's Day (or two) this year and I couldn't have been happier that it revolved around cooking!!


For the Lamb recipe, click here to visit Food Network's Recipe. (Please excuse my awful photos!! I was way too excited to eat to pay attention to the photo quality. Sorry!)

Steak... in a hurry

Steak is always a nice treat and lately, my local grocery store has been selling it for the right price. You can't go wrong with a London Broil for only $1.99 a pound, right? The one thing I have learned from my recent steak endeavours is that the London Broil is a pretty tough cut of meat. I've really only been able to cook it to perfection once. It's kind of upsetting, but what can you do?

Tonight, I didn't want to bother waiting for the grill to heat up so I decided to cook it on my grill pan. I cut thin strips of steak and threw it in the pan with some butter. (Butter? You might be saying? Yes... this is a little trick I learned from preparing Hobo steak in my cooking class last month.) So in it went with some salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder. I cooked the strips until they were medium, then threw in diced red onion, continuing to cook until the onion was tender. To round out my meal, I lazy baked some potatoes (i.e. microwave) and threw them in with the meat.


The photo definitely does not do this meal justice. It was very tasty and created very little mess for me to clean up! ;)

Grilled (To Perfection) Steak

London broil shoulder steaks were on sale this week so I had to pick one up. I am getting my wisdom teeth taken out tomorrow so I want to take advantage of having full chewing capabilities for one last time so tonight was the perfect night to grill these babies up! Besides, what's better than a grilled steak in the summer?

I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and make a citrus marinade for the meat. I searched Food Network and found the perfect recipe for influence. (I say influence because the recipe I found contains Tequlia, and I am NOT a Tequila kind of person.) I was successfully able to tweak this recipe to add the perfect fresh and tangy kick to my steak.

When I was set and ready to pass the meat off to my boyfriend to grill, I found myself in quite a pickle. He had just gotten home from the gym and desperately needed to shower. It was going on 9 o'clock and time and sunlight were not on my side, so I was on my own. I marched up to my rooftop on my own and set out to grill the most perfect steak. After cooking about 15 minutes on 400 to 500 degrees, I pulled the meat off the grill. The roof was pitch dark so I had only the light of my cell phone to see whether or not my steak was fully cooked. It looked done, so I took it to my apartment for the final look. And to my shock... IT WAS PERFECT!! I was so proud of myself... it was a light shade of pink and was incredibly moist and tender. Now on to the recipe!



Recipe:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1 shallot, roughly chopped
5 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tsp dry cumin (FN recipe called for 2 tsp toasted cumin seeds)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (FN called for lime juice)
1 tbsp vinegar (I added this in last minute to add some tang to the marinade since I was not adding the required 1/4 cup of Tequila needed in this recipe.)

Combine all ingredients in a zip lock bag. Add meat, shake to coat and let sit in fridge for 1 hour. Before grilling, remove meat from grill, shake access marinade and let rest until room temperature before cooking.

Click here for actual marinade recipe from FN. It is quite intense! Sounds delicious!

2 Dinners and a Baby!

My brother Chris and his wife Ashley just had their first child, Grady. He was born on Mat 23rd weighing in at 8 pounds, 2.5 ounces and 18 inches long. He is such a cutie! (and I am not just saying that because he is my nephew!)


It was so exciting to spend time with him and watch as he cried, slept, ate, etc. I was mesmerised. He is so precious. But I could tell from watching my sister-in-law, that having a new baby is as challenging as it is joyful. Having to constantly feed, change and play with him leaves my sister with little time to take care of herself, let alone prepare dinner so to help, I did what I do best: I Cooked!

Night one: Grilled steak and corn with Mojito lime shrimp, chickpea salad and rosemary potatoes.


Chris prepared the steaks with salt, pepper and fresh rosemary then grilled them to perfection. Thanks to the help of Ashley, the corn was covered in butter then grilled in foil. It turned out great. To go with the meal, I marinated fresh shrimp in McCormick's Grill Mates Mojito Lime marinade and fried them for 6 to 7 minutes, until crispy. I followed my own recipe for chick pea salad and to make the potatoes, I sliced them thinly and covered them in olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh rosemary. I baked them for 20 - 25 minutes on 400 degrees. Everything tasted delicious and we had plenty of left overs for lunch the next day!

Night two: Baked salmon with mushroom and herb cous-cous and left-over chick pea salad.


I prepared the salmon just like I did in my post in the past. The cous cous took about 10 minutes, thanks to the directions on the box and the chick pea salad was ready to go. It couldn't have been easier and tasted delish!

It was great to finally cook for my family, especially new parents that hardly have time to cook. If I could, I would cook for them all the time. There is no better feeling than to know that the meal you prepared was appreciated by so many.

The entire weekend was fabulous. Getting to know Grady and spending time with my family was great. It was so hard to say goodbye but I am looking forward to visiting again soon.

Here are some more shots of my adorable nephew! I can't get enough of him!

It's Grilling Season!

One of the joys of living in a new building in NYC is having a beautiful rooftop. Last weekend I took a trip up to my roof to enjoy the sunshine and came across a BRAND NEW grill! Our landlord kept mentioning that he was trying to get a licenses to have a grill for us, but I always had my doubts...until now.

I ripped off the cover to find that not only did we have a grill, but it has a built-in sink and direct lines connecting the grill to both water and gas. It's AMAZING! And lucky for me, I had just bought steaks at the grocery the day before.

Once it was about dinner time, I threw together my favorite chickpea salad, fake baked some potatoes in the microwave, seasoned my steaks and went straight to the roof.


The meat cooked perfectly...beautiful grill marks and just the right shade of pink! (I prefer my steak cooked medium.) We enjoyed our meal on the roof as the sun was setting. How good does it look!?

One a side note: check out this panoramic view of me on the roof. So beautiful!

Ole!

If you keep up with my blog, you'll remember me telling you a few weeks ago that steaks were on sale at my local grocery store, so I stocked up. Since I typically make some sort of marinade when I cook steak, I decided to change it up a bit and make FAJITAS!!!!

I could have easily just used the packet of seasoning from my store-bought fajita kit, but I figured that wouldn't make for a very good post. I searched through some recipes from my friends at Foot Network and found this tasty little mix.

Recipe:

1/4 cup vegetable oil, divided
3 tbsps lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds steak

Directions:

1) In a heavy duty resealable plastic bag, combine 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, hot sauce, salt, pepper and your choice of meat. Seal and toss the bag around to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator for about an hour (or in my case, 20 minutes - since I was in a rush! haha!)

2) Cook steak for about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare then slice steak into strips.

While the meat was cooking, I whipped up a small batch of guac by mashing one avocado, mincing one slice of red onion, dicing one half of a tomato, a splash of lime juice, and salt to taste. It was a great topping for the fajita.

Again, I have to apologize for poor picture quality, but check out my fajita monstrosity. It was sooooooo good!

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FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!

Yup, it's true. I had my first kitchen fire last week. It happened so quick that I didn't even have time to process what happened.

Per the directions, I placed my brolier pan on the closest rack to the flame to cook. You'll read below that you are suppose to cook full tomatoes and scallions in the pan with the steak after coating them with oil, so that's exactly what I did. Once both sides of the meat cooked per directed, I checked the steak then popped it back in to cook a little longer.The vegetables didn't need anymore time so I removed them. When the steak was ready to be removed, I carefully pulled the pan out of the oven and POOF! half of the pan was in flames!

I screamed and wafted the pan. Luckily, the fire immediately burned out. I'm assuming the grease from the veggies splashed up at the flame and ignited. Weird, right? What's crazy about the whole thing is that not only was the flame huge, but it was contained to only one small portion of the pan and the meat was safe!!!! (Seriously! Isn't that great?) Unfortunately, my pan did not make it out alive. The heat immediately warped the pan and even after cooling, it never settled flat again. Oh well...lesson learned: Even when directions say to place pans closest to the flame, DON'T! If I had placed the pan lower, I would have had to cook it longer, but would have avoided the loss of my pan.

All crazieness aside, the steak was delish! I chose to use the relish to top my garlic toast, and I must say - it was soooo good. And to complete my meal, I grilled up some shrimp for a little surf and turf! Mmmm mmm mm!

Recipe:
Steak:
1 flank steak (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Extra-virgin olive oil, for rubbing steak pluse 1 tablespoon
1 tablespoon herbes de Provence (I subbed in all-purpose seasoning instead...much better) ;)
Kosher Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Relish:
3 ripe medium tomatoes
1 bunch scallions, trimmed
8 whole garlic cloves, unpeeled
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic or red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Toasted crusty bread, for serving.

Directions:
Position a broiler pan on the rack closest to the broiler and preheat to high. Rub the steak lightly with some olive oil and sprinkle with the herbes de Provence and salt and pepper, to taste. Put the whole tomatoes, scallions, and garlic cloves in a large bowl, drizzle with about 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Turn the vegetables until they are lightly coated.

Carefully lay the steak in the center of the hot pan, arrange the vegetables around it, and broil until the steak is brown but still tender to the touch and the vegetables are charred, 5 to 6 minutes. Turn the steak and the vegetables and broil another 5 to 6 minutes, until the steak is medium rare (an instant-read thermometer inserted crosswise into the side of the steak registers 130 degrees F) and vegetables are charred. Transfer the steak and vegetables to a cutting board.

For the relish: Core the tomatoes, squeeze the garlic cloves from their skins, and chop them both with the scallions to make a chunky relish. Transfer the vegetables and all their juices to a bowl and stir in the remaining 1/4 cup or so of the olive oil, the vinegar, and the Worcestershire sauce. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Slice the meat against the grain and on an angle, transfer to a plate or platter, and serve with the relish and toasted bread.
(This is not going to look very appealing but trust me, it tastes delicious! Because of this relish, I ended up eating 5 pieces of garlic toast!)


Recipe courtesy of Foodnetwork.com

Arizona Eatin'

It's been a great few days of vacation here in Arizona. The weather could be better, but who could complain about being here rather than in chilly New York City? Not me!!! And to make things even better, my bestie Chanelle and her husband, Corey, have been feeding me like a little piggy!

Night 1: Surf & Turf!! Grilled sirloin with shrimp skewers, homemade mashed potatoes and pan fried green beans (covered in bacon!)



Night 2: Chicken and spegatti a la vodka! (My treat to them!) with a steak and onion appetizer.

How delicious do these meals look!? I'm honestly surprised I haven't gained any weight since I've been here!

Arugula Salad with Steak and Blue Cheese

I'm going to just put this out there...when I have something in my fridge or freezer, I will cook with it until it is gone. For instance, all of my chicken recipes over the last three months or steak, over the last three weeks. Is that weird? To me it just makes sense. Why let something go to waste when you have perfectly good steak or chicken in your freezer? Plus, we're still kind of in a recession so I honestly can't afford to be buying extra food when I don't need it.

Now that I have that covered...let's move on. I had steak in my freezer, not a lot of money in my wallet and was too tired to go to the store after work. Needless to say, I visited my friend Giada De Laurentiis at Food Network and came up with the perfect solution!

Arugula Salad with Steak and Blue Cheese

Recipe:

2 8 oz filets or top sirloin steaks, panfried or grilled with mild seasoning

5 oz fresh baby arugula

2 oz blue cheese

1/4 red onion, finely chopped

small hand full of pine nuts

small hand full of crushed walnuts

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

1 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1) In a large bowl, combine arugula, onion, pine nuts, walnuts and blue cheese.

2) Stir evoo and balsamic vinegar together to create dressing. Toss in with arugula mixture to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3) Cut the steaks crossways into thin slices. Arrange the steak slices atop the salad. Drizzle extra dressing if desired.

This salad was a great fix to a long day. (And I LOVE blue cheese, so what could be better?)

Meat and Potatoes!

Growing up, meat and potatoes was a staple in my house. My dad grew up eating it so that is what he always wanted to eat as an adult. We would literally eat some form of meat and potatoes 4 to 5 nights a week. I never found this odd because that is what I thought dinner was suppose to be.

Now that I'm older, I see that I missed out on a variety of different foods, which is why I enjoy trying new recipes. But tonight, I channeled back to the early 90's and made steak and potatoes!

Steak with Carriage House Sauce

Recipe:
2 8 oz rib eye steaks
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tbsp spicy brown mustard
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp ground black pepper

1) Score steaks on both sides and set aside.
2) In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, sugar, mustard, soy sauce, olive oil, garlic and black pepper. Brush mixture all over both sides of steak.
3) Heat grill pan on high and add steaks. Grill, turning once and basting several times with mustard mixture. Flip steak periodically until cooked to your liking (10 - 12 minutes for medium-rare.)

When finished, heat up any left-over mustard mixture and pour over steak. This sauce is very tasty, you'll want a lot of extra for dipping!

Obviously, you can't have meat without potatoes. I am very comfortable baking, mashing or frying potatoes so tonight, I tried something new. I found a great recipe for baked potato wedges in my Better Home & Garden New Cookbook: Prizewinning Recipes cookbook. This recipe called for Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning, but I skipped these ingredients and instead, sprinkled blue cheese over the potatoes half way through cooking. It was a nice touch!


Potato Wedge Recipe:

6 medium baking potatoes

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 glove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line 15x10 baking pan with foil; set aside.
2) Cut each potato lengthwise into 8 wedges. In a large bowl stir together butter, salt, pepper and garlic. Dip wedges into butter mixture and place on baking pan.

3) Bake, uncovered for about 30 minutes, or until tender.

I hope you enjoy!

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!

Flat Iron Steak in a Red Wine Mushroom Sauce

I'm keeping this whole "cook something new" thing going as long as I possibly can. I know that if I fall back to my old ways, I'll probably end up cooking a different variation of chicken night after night. Don't get me wrong, I love chicken. There's nothing wrong with grilling a quick piece on a busy night, but I wouldn't necessarily post about it, unless of course there was an amazing secret ingredient.

With that said, It's time to make myself a new goal. Here it is: at least 3 times a week I will cook new, out-of-my-comfort-zone, blog-worthy meals! (And since prior to October, I was constantly cooking pasta, the sky is my limit!)

It's been a while since I've had a good piece of steak so I thought it would be the perfect meal to make tonight!

Flat Iron Steak in a Red Wine Mushroom Sauce

Recipe:
2 (6 ounce) flat iron steaks (My grocery store did not have flat iron (or skirt steak) so I picked up thinly sliced sirloin. I wouldn't advise doing this - the meat was too thin and cooked too way too fast to follow this recipe - but still delicious!)2 tablespoons olive oil
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon ground paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard powder
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 1/4 cup sliced portobello mushrooms


1) Allow the steaks to come to room temperature.
2) Stir together 2 tablespoons of olive oil, cayenne pepper, black pepper, ground paprika, salt, mustard powder, and garlic powder in a small bowl to make a paste.
3) Prick steaks all over with a fork and rub them well with the spice rub paste, working the rub into the meat. (This rub is insanely delicious!!!!)
4) Heat a large, heavy skillet over high heat and add the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Heat oil until it just begins to smoke and quickly sear the steaks until the outside has browned but the center is still blood red and just warmed, 2-3 minutes per side.
5) Remove steaks from skillet with tongs. Pour the dry red wine into the skillet, and bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of food off of the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
6) Stir in sliced portobello mushrooms, and cook on high while stirring until mushrooms are fully cooked and have released their liquid, about 5 minutes.
7) Return steaks to the skillet on top of the mushroom-wine sauce. Reduce heat to LOW and cook until sauce reduces and thickens, about 5 minutes.
8) Remove steaks to serving platter and pour mushroom sauce over steaks to serve.



It's hard to make out the mushrooms in this picture, but that is because they are packed full of flavor! The rub for the steak is orange in color (because of the cayenne mixed with the black pepper and mustard.) Once combined with the red wine and the steaks, the mushrooms absorbed this color and the flavors of the entire pan.
I don't usually like spice rubs, but this rub was fragrant, spicy and savory. It would be delicious on almost any kind of meat - and probably taste even better if it was cooked on a grill!
Enjoy!