An American Classic

Dinner for a working man.
James has been out putting up insulation and walls in the new little barn/ farm office (I call it the Man Palace) so I figured the least I could do was a hearty dinner to replace some of those calories spent. Chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes covered in cream pan gravy.
It's the kind of dish I love to make but honestly I can't make it too often. Pity. It goes together quickly. Never fails to please. Is Affordable. And, let's face it -- is delicious. But Oh, the damage it can do to an innocent waistline.
Using sides of cube steak (cube steak is machine tenderized beef) about 1/4" thick I first dipped them in seasoned flour and then in beaten eggs (with a  little milk whisked in). After the eggs, the steaks took one more dip in the flour and went right onto a pan holding a shallow cover of hot oil. As one side turns golden brown I turned the steaks until the other side browned deliciously and set the steaks aside while I made the gravy.
I wish I could tell you how much of what I used. Some how a dinner like this just cries out to be brought together by feel not measurements. I poured out most of the remaining fat from the skillet and sprinkled in a dash of flour and let it cook for a couple minutes. Then I poured in enough milk to get a creamy consistency, seasoned the gravy with salt and pepper and served it up piping hot.
Crispy. Crunchy. Salty. Creamy. Classic.

Steak and Potatoes

We had so many guests and big meals over the holidays in the aftermath we were surviving on leftovers and fruit for days. With James packing for a trip I couldn't let him face one more plate of re-heated green rice and salad. I had to make a dinner he would remember (and want to come back home to).
I couldn't just let the leftovers go but I could disguise them. Starring into the white void of a bowl of mashed potatoes I added in 2 egg yolks, 2 TB of flour, S&P, and 1/2 cup of grated parmesan. After thoroughly mixing I rolled the newly formed mixture into walnut sized balls which I left to chill in the fridge.
Meanwhile I marinated sirloin tips cut into manageably-sized triangles. Kind of a leftover too, the sirloin was the last package of meat from our recently expired CSA membership. I mixed one of my favorite flavors harissa (1/2TB) with 4 chopped cloves garlic, 1 TB brown sugar, 2 TB soy sauce, and 4 TB olive oil and left the meat to marinate (refrigerated) until dinnertime. Easy. Dinner waiting in the fridge just waiting for a salad.
Just before I was ready to serve I heated 1/2 inch of canola oil in a sauce pan and breaded the potato balls first in a beaten egg and then in seasoned bread crumbs. The potato croquettes fried for about 2 minutes on a side until golden brown while the meat sizzled in an olive oil coated pan for 3 minutes on a side.
A flavor twist on an American classic combo.

Bistro Supper

Perched down among the area cattle ranchers we are every now and then lucky enough to get a paper wrapped, grass fed gift. Recently, as if giving evidence to the value of our friendship, it was the chef's favorite -- hanger steak. Richly flavored, there is only one on each animal and for many years -- before it became popular with restaurants -- it was the cut butchers kept for themselves. A meaty secret.
For some reason when I saw that steak ready to be pan seared I thought French -- a bistro dinner of steak and fries -- steak frittes, as they say. Besides I had a little red wine to use up, perfect for sauce in a familiar Parisian style with plenty of shallots and butter.
First I seared the seasoned meat in a hot pan with s lick of oil for about 4 minutes on each side, and set the meat aside. I added 1 TB of butter to the pan and about 5 thinly sliced shallots which I cooked stirring for about 4 minutes. Next I added in 2 TB of red wine vinegar and cooked until it evaporated and then poured in about 1/2 cup of red wine. When the wine had reduced by half I tossed in another TB and 1/2 of butter and some chopped parsley, stirred and served the sauce drizzled over thin slices of medium rare steak.
Vive La France.

Top Sirloin

Nothing fancy. A couple defrosted sirloin steaks from our meat CSA and roasted sweet potatoes. I didn't feel like dashing the meat over to the oven so I pan roasted them with a technique I use for stove top burgers. I let a cast iron pan get good and hot on the stove then put in the seasoned steaks, slicked with just a thin coating of oil.  Resting on high heat for about 4 minutes the meat sears beautifully. When I turn the steaks I cover the pan briefly (and bring it down to medium heat) to let the meat cook through to just medium. The steaks rested (off heat) for a good five minutes while I tossed together a crisp mixed green salad with tangy caper vinaigrette -- my new favorite spring side.

Leftovers At Our House

I try not to let James see leftovers that he can recognize from the first time he ate them. Okay, there's leftover pizza and the occasional spaghetti but those are snacks and lunches. I like dinner to feel new. The other day we had boiled potatoes and kale with fried garlic. Today after heating slowly with a splash of milk those lonely vegetables became creamy mashed potatoes with greens. Kind of a kitchen fridge colcannon, an Irish specialty of mashed potatoes and cabbage crisped in a skillet. The fried garlic joined thin slices of leftover steak quickly seared with olive oil and chili flakes.

Easy on me and brand new to James.

Meet The Bavette

Reaching into our monthly meat CSA from Victorian Farmstead Chop Shop I found a puzzling steak: Bavette. I guess I'd heard the term before but I am sure I have never eaten it and certain I have never cooked it. How exciting. It turns out bavette, in the US more commonly called -- however unappetizing it certainly is --  flap meat is the meat that covers the animal's diaphragm, more commonly and deliciously known as skirt steak. The butcher counter darlings of the last couple years skirt (and the similar but more rare -- there is only one per steer -- hangar steak are super flavorful if a bit more chewy. I love their super meaty flavor, James delicately prefers filet.
I figured if this bavette came from near the skirt it might also carry that wonderfully rich flavor and set out to cook this little steak up for dinner. I seasoned the meat generously with salt and pepper and then seared the steak on each side in a hot pan with olive oil. I popped the meat into the oven at 425º  -- where I was already roasting potatoes -- for almost 8 minutes.
Earlier, somewhat following a recipe I found online I cooked down red wine, bay leaf, garlic and onions into a thick reduction. As the steak rested I whisked cold butter into the warm, cooked wine for a beurre rouge.
As it turns out bavette has all the flavor and none of the chewy texture James dislikes. It's a low cost cut that dresses up easily. French steak, French sauce, great dinner.

Start The Weekend Right

Time for steak. Our CSA meat package held a beautiful grass-fed sirloin steak begging to be pan-fried. I started a skillet with thinly sliced onions and a bit of garlic sautéing in butter and olive oil. About 15 minutes later I removed the onions from the pan, added a bit more oil, and laid in the steak aggressively seasoned with S&P. After around 5 minutes on each side the steak was set to rest on a platter while I added about 1/2 cup of bourbon to the pan. The bourbon reduced by about half and then the onions went back in along with a knob of butter and the juices that accumulated under the resting steak to smooth out the sauce. I served the steak on top of fluffy brown rice to soak up the delicious sauce.
As a side a dish from James' childhood -- green beans and potatoes long stewed in bacon and chicken broth. More delicious sauce to soak up.

Tom's Steak and Potatoes

With a skirt steak in the freezer I came across a Tom Colicchio one pan recipe from his Craft restaurants. I'm a big Top Chef fan (even after all these seasons I'm still watching) and I love when judge Tom cuts right to the chase with a frank, sometimes biting appraisal of a competitor's dish. How would his recipe fare with my favorite judge?
I started an iron frying pan heating on the stove over high heat and added 1 TB of canola oil. When the oil was shimmering hot I added in the steak, already seasoned with salt and pepper. After 4 minutes searing on each side I turned the heat down to medium low and added 3 TB (when the pan had cooled down) of butter and 2 sprigs of fresh thyme. I basted the steaks with melted butter for about 3 minutes more (turning half way through). After I took the steaks out of the pan to rest I poured off the extra fat, wiped the pan clean and turned the heat up to medium. In went 4 diced slices of bacon to render and crisp for 5 minutes. Then I nestled in potatoes sliced about 1//2 inch thick (Tom uses fingerlings sliced in half but I had yukon golds so I just used those instead). The potatoes crisped for about 4 minutes on a side and then I added in a thinly sliced onion and a few more sprigs of thyme. TC uses a red onion but all we had today were white. I can see where that red onion might add an interesting depth to the sweetness of the dish -- next time I'll be better prepared. The onions and potatoes cooked for about 12 minutes more until the potatoes were crisp outside and tender inside. For a final touch I turned the heat down and added 1 minced clove of garlic and after about a minute 5 TB of balsamic vinegar. I gave everything a good stir around to incorporate the vinegar, sliced the steak and laid it on top to heat through.
This certainly was a pretty and flavorful dish. I'd happily serve this steak for company. It's kind of hard to go too wrong with beef, butter, and bacon. I don't think Tom would take the big prize with this dish but he wouldn't be packing his knives either.

All American Dinner

Steak, pepper-crusted filet mignon with red wine sauce, steamed broccoli, and baked potato.

Dinner With Eric and Shari

We started dinner with another great appetizer courtesy of Nancy Silverton. Her caprese with roasted tomatoes is always a hit around here. The September issue of Bon Appetit featured Silverton's recipe for home made ricotta with oven baked peperonata. We have a yard full of peppers and though I have made ricotta many times the goal of dinner was to use up ingredients in the fridge and freezer so I spread the pre-made ricotta on garlic rubbed crostini and topped with the pepper stew. I added a little olive oil to the mix and sprinkled the crostini with chopped basil for rave reviews.
Mini potatoes from our garden doused in olive oil and roasted in a hot oven (450º) with rosemary sprigs until they were crisp outside and tender inside. A perfect way to use those tiny potatoes. The steaks were the last of our store from Hearst Ranch. I marinated them in garlic, olive oil and lemon and gave them a turn on the grill.
Oven roasted green beans and grilled squash. I'd never tried roasting the beans before and I will certainly do that again. Tossed in olive oil and salt, after 15 minutes at 425º these were a real treat.
Simple ice cream sundaes for dessert. A couple days ago I put aside a bowl of plums, nectarines and grapes that were a bit past their prime. Today I cut the fruit into small pieces, mixed it with sugar and delicious, flowery Navarro vineyards Gewurztraminer grape juice and bubbled it down to a loose jam to use as a syrup with pistachio gelato and marsala whipped cream. I served cornmeal thyme cookies on the side.

Happy 4th

Some days you just have to grill. July 4th, though I'm certain it would be a surprise to our founding fathers (John Adams, yes -- John Q Adams no, sorry Sarah), is perhaps the holy mother of mandatory grill days. Everyone is out cooking hamburgers, sausages, hot dogs, chicken. Everyone is eating outside. From my post at the grill I can see our neighbors on their deck just readying to hear the comforting sizzle of meat on the hot grates.

On our deck it's bone in ribeyes, fresh steamed corn and roasted asparagus salad. Now that's a birthday dinner!

Flank Steak On The Grill

I know I've said it before, but when I need an idea for meat I turn to Bruce Aidells. He wrote the book on meat, the bible of beef, the tome I wish I wrote, The Complete Meat Cookbook. It's not exhaustive by any means (or else why would we need Aidells' Complete Book of sausage and Complete Book of Pork) but the book's collections of marinades, rubs and cooking techniques can still rescue a cook lacking ideas. Today I decided on a Bourbon marinade for our flank steak. I mixed 3 TB olive oil, 1/4 cup bourbon, 2 TB dijon mustard, 1/3 cup soy sauce, 4 cloves minced garlic, 2 TB minced red onion, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 TB salt, 2 TB red wine vinegar, 1 TB worcestershire sauce, and a good sized pinch of crushed red peppers (my addition not Aidells') and let the meat marinate in the fridge all day. If we weren't still celebrating the official grilling weekend I might have left it in the fridge for another day to let the flavor really soak in. I grilled the steak over medium-high flame for about 15 minutes, turning every 3 or 4 times as it cooked.

As a side I put sliced potatoes, olive oil, butter, fresh oregano, sliced garlic, thyme and marjoram in a tin foil packet and cook those on the grill for about 1/2 hour.

Welcome summer.

Just Plain Steak

Everyone needs an easy night now and then. I took a couple steaks out of the freezer. I coated the steaks in crushed peppercorns (black, red and green) and smoked salt and placed them on a hot iron skillet to sear on all sides (about six minutes total). The steaks finished in a 500º oven for about five minutes. Although I generally don't like smoked salt just sprinkled on food, as a crust on a steak or added to a pot of beans it adds a welcome depth of flavor -- a little bit of campfire, in a good way.

Dinner With friends

I couldn't sleep last night and lay awake watching an old episode of Two Fat Ladies. The girls were cooking for an abbey of nuns in a lush green corner of Ireland. But what really caught my eye was a dish of braised fava beans -- whole with the pods. We have a yard bursting over with fava beans, and though I love the taste I dread the shelling and peeling that comes with most "broad bean" recipes. I've grilled them whole in the pod but had never seen anyone braise them whole, and had to try it. We had friends coming to dinner and I dreamed up a simple steakhouse menu to feature my front yard beans.

I stared the recipe but sautéing chopped shallot and garlic in a good quantity of olive oil. When the shallots were soft I added in the whole favas (I tried to get the strings off the pods -- I did miss a few) a 1/2 TB of sugar, salt, and the juice of half a lemon. I cooked the beans for about 20 minutes. Then I added in about a cup of hot water, a TB of chopped fresh oregano (the recipe called for dill but I didn't have any on hand and had plenty of oregano in the garden) covered the pot and allowed the beans to simmer for about an hour until the pods were very, very tender. My TV cooks served these beans cold but I mixed in a bit more oregano and brought them to the table piping hot.

After nearly an hour and half of cooking the beans I tended so lovingly as they grew looked anything but promising. They took on a grayish green color and the beans had fallen from their pods in a slump. We were all doubtful but one bite changed our minds. These braised beans are luscious and soft and I'll be making them again.
On the side of our home grown beans I cooked up two rib eyes with a mixed peppercorn crust and drizzled a red wine reduction on top. The potatoes I steamed earlier in the day were quickly pan fried in garlic and the leftover grease from cooking the bacon that topped the salad. That gave them a little crunch and a delicate smokey flavor no one could identify but everyone loved.
No steak dinner would be complete without the classic American salad. Crisp lettuce, homemade blue cheese dressing, and crunch pieces of bacon tossed on top. Hooray for the red, white and green.

Sort Of Goulash

Leftover steak in the fridge. A little while bubbling in a stove top sauce and it's our weeknight goulash. After perusing a Wolfgang Puck recipe I started to improvise. I sautéed onions and garlic in olive oil and added in good quantities each of caraway seeds, thyme, and marjoram with a pinch of sugar and let the onions caramelize over medium heat. I deglazed the pan with balsamic vinegar, added chicken broth, tomato paste, and both hot and sweet paprika. I gave that a stir around, added the steak (cut in to cubes) and a cube of butter, covered the pan and let my stew simmer over low heat for about an hour until the flavors had mellowed and the steak was tender. I finished the goulash with a bit of milk stirred into the sauce. James had his goulash over buttered noodles and never even suspected he had seen it once before.

Friday Night Steak Dinner

The Williams Sonoma catalogue sitting on my night stand boasted steakhouse recipes and all the utensils to cook them. It kind of got me in the mood to cook steak, and I happened to have a couple Hearst Ranch New York strips in the freezer.

I almost always cook steak the same way. I pre-heat the oven to 500º with an iron pan (this time I used my Le Creuset grill pan) inside. When the oven and the pan are super hot I put the pan on the stove over a high flame (make sure the fan is on) and lay in the steaks coated with olive oil and a crust of cracked peppercorns and sea salt. The steaks sear on each side and I pop them in the oven to cook through -- tonight it took about three minutes on a side and six minutes in the oven for these bone in steaks. I always let them rest for three to five minutes before slicing.

I generally melt some flavored butter on the steaks. But tonight, for a little something extra I whipped up a mushroom red wine sauce for the meat. I melted about four TB of butter and two TB of olive oil in a pan and added one thinly sliced leek and several sliced cloves of garlic. When the garlic started to color I added in a good quantity of fresh thyme and about 1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms. I let the mushrooms soften in the butter and then poured in about 3/4 cup of red wine and 1/2 cup of chicken stock and let the sauce bubble and reduce while the steak cooked. I stirred in a dash of balsamic vinegar for a little sweetness and let the pan simmer over low heat. To finish the sauce I swirled in a drizzle of cream and seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked until combined.

The salad came straight from our front yard -- picked about 10 minutes before I served dinner and dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Steak dinner --- a good way to start the weekend.

Back Home In My Kitchen

James has a knack for getting me just the right kitchen gifts. Things that are fun, have endless uses (the kind of things I wonder how I lived without), and look great besides. Under the Christmas tree this year was a super heavy Le Creuset square grill pan. In my favorite color (and Julia Child's) -- flame. It's just the thing for toasting grilled cheese sandwiches and paninis, "grilled" chicken, and for nights like tonight when steak is on the menu but the weather outside is far from summer BBQ ready.

I stayed inside and, following a recipe from meat guru Bruce Aidells. I patted a mixture of brown sugar (1 tsp), Spanish paprika (2 tsp), kosher salt (1 tsp) and black pepper (1 tsp) on the outside of my already super delicious Hearst Ranch grass fed sirloin steaks and laid the steaks in my new -- preheated -- grill pan for nearly 7 minutes on each side.

Meanwhile I heated 1/4 cup of olive oil in a pan and added in 2 sliced shallots, 3 minced cloves of garlic, 1 TB of capers, and a heavy pinch of rubbed sage. The vegetables cooked around for a bit (about 3 minutes) -- just until soft -- and I added in 8 chopped piquillo peppers (Spanish roasted peppers with a distinctive fruity taste), a tsp of Dijon mustard and 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce. The "sauce" simmered for about 12 minutes while the steaks were cooking.

The potatoes, for whatever reason I really can't say, I decided to oven braise in olive oil. I've never done it before. I sliced the fingerlings in half and put them in a small oven proof dish along with 2 peeled cloves of garlic, a sprig of rosemary, a sprig or fresh oregano and a couple peppercorns. I poured olive oil over the mixture until the potatoes were just about submerged, covered the dish with foil and popped it in a 450º over for about 35 minutes. The potatoes came out super tender and lightly perfumed with the herbs. They just needed a sprinkling of salt and pepper to come to the table.

An easy dinner made even better with a bright orange Christmas gift. Thank you, honey.

Steak For Dinner

James likes filet mignon. I always make it the same way. I coat the steak in olive oil and then rub cracked peppercorns and coarse salt over the meat to make a nice peppery crust. I heat a cast iron pan on the stove (dry) for about 5 minutes until it is super hot and sear the steak for about 2 minutes a side (thin sides included about 10 minutes total) or until browned and crisped. I top the steak with a pat of flavored butter (or even plain salted butter) and the pan and the steak go into a pre-heated 450º oven to finish cooking through -- usually about 6-7 minutes total.

Steak for dinner, the perfect way to start a weekend.

Joyce For Dinner

We found out late in the afternoon we would be lucky enough to have our neighbor Joyce over for dinner -- she has been out of town working and James and I were both looking forward to a visit.

But, our last minute plans left no time for elaborate recipes or lingering over shopping or even defrosting.

I made quick run for the meat counter and came up with two skirt steaks I rubbed with olive oil, minced garlic, chopped thyme and salt and let sit to marinate at room temperature for about an hour. As a sauce -- Joyce is company after all -- I made a quick blended Chimichurri (parsley, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, crushed red peppers).

We have plenty of vine grown tomatoes and so I started out to make a tomato salad, but since James isn't a fresh tomato eater (sauce fine, salad no) I added in halved heads of baby romaine, thinly sliced red onions from our garden, chopped parsley and chucks of blue cheese and topped the salad with a buttermilk dressing I saw in September's Bon Appetit magazine. Delicious.
Along with fresh corn on the cob I used some of the squash from our garden in this dish, from a recent Food and Wine magazine, of roasted squash with ricotta. I cut the squash into 1/4" dice and popped it in a hot oven, seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper. Then I sprinkled the cooked vegetables with cumin seed, fennel seed, and crushed red pepper and let them roast until just browned around the edges. With fresh mint leaves on top and creamy ricotta on the side this was a super simple side dish bursting with summer flavor.

I grilled the steaks for about 8 minutes total, let them rest while I brought the sides (well, a couple minutes more -- maybe 6 or 8 minutes total) to the table and dinner was served.

"Dinner was good," James said twice. "I liked that better then some of our fancier dishes."

So much for planning -- last minute dinner might just be the new plan around here.

Super Quick Cuban

James is from Florida, so he always has a soft spot for Cuban style dishes. This simple pan fried steak, Bistec De Palomilla, is one of my weeknight favorites and makes use of economical and tasty round steak (or cube steak -- same as chicken fried steak).

Marinate thinly sliced seasoned (just S&P) round steak -- I cut ours not quite 1/2" thick and tenderized them well-- in lime juice and minced garlic. For our heavy half pound of steak I used 2 limes and 4 cloves of garlic and left the meat to flavor for about an hour.

I combined olive oil and butter in a pan over medium heat and when the butter started to foam added in one thinly sliced yellow onion. The onion cooks for about 5-8 minutes until soft and just beginning to color. Set the onions aside and add the steaks to the pan over medium high heat, flipping as the juices start to come to the surface.

I plated the meat over cooked white rice and quickly added the onions back into the pan with the juice of a lime and a big handful of chopped parsley. Serve the steaks topped with the warm onions. Dinner that takes longer to eat than it does to cook -- a busy cook's treat.