Post #101 ~ Roasted Yams with Herb Tenderloin and Crimini Mushrooms

This was a quick meal that went from ingredients to table in 30 minutes.  And half of that time was spent on my computer, so it's "walk-away" friendly!

Here's what you'll need:

~ 1 yam
~ Sesame oil
~ Honey
~ Cinnamon
~ Course ground salt
~ Butter
~ EVOO
~ 1 tenderloin steak
~ Fresh herbs of choice (I had oregano and savory on hand)
~ Crimini mushrooms

First, preheat the toaster oven (bake: 375) and wash and pierce the yam.  Then microwave it for one minute (my microwave is a 700 watt one, so time might vary).  Warming it makes it easier to slice.  When it's done, slice it into half-inch rounds.  Put them in a ziplock baggie with a dash of sesame oil, a bit of honey, some cinnamon, and some honey.

: : PAUSE : :

This was total improv work.  In our household, when we make sweet potatoes / yams for turkey dinners, we make a stringy, caramelly sauce to go with them.  It consists of butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, and quite possibly more butter.  It's absolutely heavenly.  However, I have the tendency to have very little control when I'm around a pot of the stuff, resorting to eating it not only on my potatoes, but also on turkey, stuffing, spoons, and even, in one desperate moment, off of my own fingers.  So I have yet to prepare it in my own home, for fear I would go into sugar shock and die.

And then what would we do?

So I totally improvised, figuring that roasting made things sweet, and honey made them sweeter.  And cinnamon... well, cinnamon's just plain great.

: : UNPAUSE : :

So into your baggie goes the ingredients and the slices.  Shake them around really well, then lay them on a pan and bake them for 30 minutes, turning halfway through.  Spend the first fifteen minutes doing anything you like, but be on hand for the next 15, because that's when you'll cook your steak.

I decided to keep this really simple, so I did the steak and mushrooms in one pan on the stove top.  Into a pan I put a tab of butter, the herbs, and a dash of EVOO.  I quartered the criminis and tossed them in.  When everything was good and simmering, I put the steak right in in the middle.  I turned it a few times and cooked it for the remaining time until the potatoes were ready.  You may need to toss it back on for a few minutes, or it might be done enough for you at this point.

I enjoyed this meal with a glass of merlot from Red Rock.  This merlot is round, bright and fruit forward, tasting of ripe bing cherries.  It was the perfect companion for this meal - bold enough to stand up to the earthy flavors of the herbed steak and mushrooms, yet soft enough not to fight the sweet, roasted yams.

All in all, a good meal!

Yours in the love of good food and wine,
AL



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The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Ninety-Eighth Post ~ "Mandie's Fancy" Steak!

Today was a red-letter day.  Not just because it's a full moon, or because it's the anniversary of the October Storm, but because today I met with my awesome adviser and awesome committee and defended my dissertation proposal.  Ten years of higher education have led me to this moment, and after today, I can see that I'm that much closer of reaching my goal of achieving a Ph.D.  Mind you, I still have to collect data, analyze said data, and do a heck of a lot of writing between now and May...

But today felt good.

So I decided to celebrate with food and wine.

: : PAUSE : :

This summer, I was a "party aid" for a dear friend, Vivian, whose mother-in-law was celebrating a milestone birthday.  There were many amazing dishes and terrific people at that party, but to be honest, the one thing that really stood out to me was the fact that I never realized what a turophile Vivian is.  That's "cheese lover/expert" to those of you who didn't realize that there's actually a word for this sort of thing.

Yancey's Fancy Steakhouse Onion Aged Cheddar Cheese.  That became my new love at this party.  I confess that as I prepared the cheese plate, this block of cheddary goodness was divided in a "one piece me, one piece plate" kind of way.  Being the fabulous person that Vivian is, she bought me some the last time she was at Yancey's Fancy.  It sat in my fridge for a perfect moment.

And I decided that NOW was that moment.

: : UNPAUSE : :

So after a successful defense, I drove to Wegmans and bought a petite sirloin and some other things:

~ 1 petite sirloin
~ Good handful crimini mushrooms
~ 2 shallots
~ EVOO
~ fresh thyme

You'll also need:
~ Yancey's Fancy Steakhouse Onion Aged Cheddar
~ Coarse ground sea salt
~ White wine

I also stopped by Premier and bought an "unadvertised special" bottle of Codici Primitivo Salento.

: : PAUSE AGAIN : :

My most observant readers may have noticed that there's been a lack of black pepper in my posts of late.  I have learned over the past months that what I've been euphemistically considering a food "sensitivity" is, in reality, a food allergy.  I, the Accidental Chef, am confessing to you now: I am allergic to black pepper.  Not allergic in the "keel over and die" kind of way - more in the "carry Benadryl and request restaurants not to use it in my food" kind of way.  So I've cut black pepper from my cooking, but there are certain dishes that, if I weren't such an oddball, I'd be sprinkling liberally with the stuff.  Coarse ground.  Mmmmmm....  So, assuming you're not as sensitive as I, feel free to add black pepper to this meal.

(I secretly think that the "Accidental Chef Who's Allergic to Black Pepper" belongs on the Island of Misfit Toys... But anyway...)

: : UNPAUSE AGAIN : :

After answering some emails and playing with Ginny, I decided to have an early dinner.


I learned about using repeat ingredients (cooked different ways) to create an overall harmony in a dish while providing textural variety on ABC's The Chew.   Over a few episodes, I've seen chefs Mario Batali and Michael Symon use this concept to marry a few ingredients into a really interesting dish or two.  I decided to try this idea with thyme, crimini mushrooms, shallots and olive oil.

After starting the toaster oven heating (broil, 350) I sliced the mushrooms and set them aside.  Next, I finely minced one of the shallots, two slices of mushroom and some thyme and added it to about 1 tbps olive oil to make a coarse pesto of sorts.  I added some salt and some dry white wine.

In a stick-free pan, I added the other shallot (coarsely chopped) to some olive oil and dry white wine with some thyme and sea salt.

I put the steak on a piece of parchment and topped it with a good spoonful of the mixture.  I put it in and set the timer for five minutes.  In the mean time, I grated some cheese into a bowl.  This cheese is a little on the soft side, but I was still able to grate it.  Immediately after grating it, I put it in the fridge.

When the five-minute timer went off, I started the oil, wine, thyme and coarse-chopped shallots simmering in the pan.  I turned the steak and topped the other side with the pesto mixture.  Back in it went for another five minutes.

In the mean time, I started the mushrooms sauteing away merrily with the already-simmering ingredients.  When the timer went off, I topped the steak with the shredded cheese (about 2 tbsp in all) and popped it back in for the remaining 3 minutes.  In that time, I finished the mushrooms and readied the plate.

I'm including a photo to show what the 5+8 minute scheme amounts to with a tenderloin of this cut.  I realize, after seeing the photo, that I like my steaks pretty rare.  Adjust the time to your liking, but remember that it only takes about three minutes under a broiler for the cheese to toast perfectly.

The pairing of the food to the wine was perfect.  Using shallots rather than garlic gave the meal a nice sweet onion overtone without ever being too pungent.  The shallots that were mixed with the mushrooms were sweet and well-cooked, while the ones that went under the broiler maintained a crispiness that was a nice pairing to the rare meat.  The topping of Yancey's Fancy Steakhouse Onion gave the whole meal a certain richness without ever being "overboard."  And as the tasting notes suggest, the Codici Pimitivo Salento was a rich, earthy wine that both complimented the meal's flavors and cleansed the palate between bites.

All in all, a great meal, and a fun return to blogging after a few weeks away!

Yours in the love of great food, wine AND cheese,
AL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Eighty-sixth Post ~ Pesto marinated steak

This is a quick and fool-proof way to create a savory, tender steak.  MARINADE!  As long as your marinade contains some acidic compound (such as wine or soy sauce, even orange juice) your odds of having a far more tender steak increase exponentially.

Tonight's marinade was thrown together so hastily, it felt like I was just taking a little of this and a little of that and dumping it in a bowl.

Which, actually, is precisely what I was doing.

Here's what you'll need for the marinade:
~ Olive oil
~ Soy sauce
~ Truffle oil (why not?)
~ White wine (I had some leftover vidal blanc that's a little past the enjoyable drinking mark)
~ Basil pesto (premade from Wegmans)
~ Dash of sea salt

Obviously, you'll also want a petite sirloin to put it on.

Combine the ingredients in a bowl that is just the right size to nearly submerge your steak.  Whisk together with a fork.  Marinate the steak for a few hours, turning every so often and spooning the marinade over it.

I broiled it for 8 minutes on one side, 5 on the other.  This is the magic number of minutes for a petite sirloin, I believe.  I served it with green beans sauteed in garlic.  I paired the meal with some more French Maid cabernet sauvignon - so yummy!  It was fruity enough to stand up to the savory marinade, but full-bodied enough to compliment the steak.  All in all, a quick, satisfying meal!

Yours in the love of good food and wine,
AL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Eighty-fifth Post ~ Savory Marinated Strip Steak

Easy to prepare, quick to cook - what's not to love?

Here's what you'll need for this meal:

~ Strip steak
~ Soy sauce
~ Garlic (jarred or crushed)
~ Whatever fresh herb you have on had (wait for it - OREGANO!)

Place the raw steak in a zip-lock bag.  Pour in an ample amount of soy sauce.  Not only does soy sauce add a delicious flavor to meat, but it also tenderizes steak!  One of my favorite meals as a child was my mom's soy-sauce steak over buttered toast - read about it here!  (And pardon the photo - that was before I had a camera with a "food" setting!)

Put about a teaspoon of garlic into the bag along with a sprig of whatever herb you might want - seriously - the herb could really vary anywhere from rosemary to sage to marjoram to thyme - the sky (er... earth?) is the limit!

Let the steak marinate in the refrigerator while you get some work done.  Get the steak out before you're ready to cook so it has time to get back up to room temperature.

Preheat a toaster oven or other heating apparatus on broil at about 375-400 degrees.  Put the steak - marinade, herbs and all - onto a tin foil lining and broil for around 5 minutes or until it's cooked to your preference.

I served the steak with some leftover ratatouille - a perfect pairing for the savory flavors of the salty soy sauce and zesty garlic!  Naturally, I also had a glass of French Maid with it...  Hey - I'm snowed in - give me some credit for varying the ingredients on hand!

Yours in the love of good food and wine,
AL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Seventy-first Post ~ Herb Marinated Sirloin with Goat Cheese and Sage Mashed Potatoes

I don't know what I was thinking when I bought this sirloin. It was one of those "looks smaller in the store" moments, I think. It's enormous.

In any case, I decided to slice and marinate it for three reasons: 1.) slicing it up would enable me to easily eat some and store the rest of it, 2.) marinade would infuse slices far easier than a whole sirloin which means more flavor and 3.) I had some thinking to do, and nothing relaxes me like the aromatic process of carefully chopping fresh herbs.

So here's what you'll need for the marinade, which you'll want to prepare ahead of time:

~ Splash of whatever wine you have laying around (I had an Italian red)

~ Bit of olive oil

~ Ground sea salt

~ Fresh herbs (I chose rosemary, sage and thyme)

So this afternoon I poured a little olive oil and a splash of red wine into a bowl and chopped up some sage and rosemary and then added a few sprigs of thyme to the mix. Something about the scent of these fragrant plants coupled with the methodical motion of chopping is very relaxing. My paper was finished in no time following this task.

Mix the chopped herbs with the wine and oil. Slice the sirloin and then dip each side into the marinade, finally layering each slice in the bowl so it's well-coated. Seal tightly and refrigerate until you're ready for dinner.

I decided to use some more of the fresh sage I had by making some mashed potatoes, because I had fingerlings on hand and mashed potatoes is something I frequently crave but seldom make or order.

Here's what you'll need to satisfy this craving:

~ Six or so fingerlings, thinly sliced

~ Ground sea salt

~ Fresh (or dried) sage

~ Heavy cream

~ Butter

~ Goat cheese

Boil some salted water, slice the potatoes, and boil them until fork-tender. Mash them in a bowl with some cream, salt, a dash of butter, good amount of goat cheese (okay, now I'm seeing why it's a good idea for me to not make these too regularly...) and chopped sage. Cover them with plastic wrap so you can heat them up once in the microwave before serving them.

Coat a pan with some butter then start it heating (see this post to read about the sneaky ways I give in to my English heritage and butter my steak) and set the steak slices in the pan. They'll cook fast, so if you like your steak on the border between rare and medium-rare like I do, you'll be turning them quickly. When you turn them, pour on the rest of the marinade. Revel in the marinade's aroma as it hits the pan and remind yourself that this is why you adore buying bunches of fresh herbs and chopping them up when you need to de-stress.

Heat up the potatoes and garnish them with an optional sprig of rosemary and some pepper. Serve a few slices of the steak and save the rest for later (lunch, atop buttered toast? Perhaps...). I enjoyed this meal with some Bella Rosa, a lumbrusco-style red from New York State's Merritt Estate Winery. I normally would have anticipated wanting a fuller-bodied red for this meal, what with the goat cheese, herbs and red meat and all, but the fruitiness of this slightly sweet red made the herbal notes sparkle and mellowed out the richness at the same time. In my opinion, a wonderful pairing, and a satisfying dinner!

Yours in the love of good food and wine,

AL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Sixtieth Post ~ Steak Shish Kebabs with Orange Soy Marinade

I'd like to call these "Shish kebabs," but if you were to research the etymology of the name of this summer-time treat, you'd call me a liar.

You see, loyal readers, the word "shish" is accurate (stemming from the Turkish "şiş" meaning "skewer") but the "kebab" part is where you'd get me. "Kebab" comes from the Persian "kabab" (کباب) and means "fried."

But if I were to call this a plate of steak "shishes" you wouldn't have any idea what I was talking about. So we shall concede to the modernization of language (read: borrowing words and completely changing their meanings) and call them "steak shish kebabs."

Here's how you make these particular food anomalies:

For the marinade:

~ Orange juice

~ Soy sauce

~ Sugar

~ Garlic

For the "shishes:"

~ Steak (cut into cubes)

~ Chunks of bell pepper

~ Mushrooms (I'm back to my baby bellas)

~ Garlic (jarred or crushed)

~ Sesame seeds

~ Fresh parsley

In a skillet, combine the orange juice, soy sauce, garlic and about a tea spoon of sugar. Simmer it so that all the flavors meld. Turn off the heat and let it cool. Preheat your toaster oven or other heating apparatus on 350 on broil. I accidentally had it on 300, and I had to pop these back in.

Dice up the steak and bell pepper.

:: PAUSE ::

I had trouble falling asleep last night. As I am a foodie, I would rather dream up recipes for lambs than count them leaping over fences. So I thought about the steak I had put into the fridge to thaw and considered how I might prepare it. In my subsequent dream, I saw it skewered upon a stick with mushrooms, garlic, orange, soy, and - peppers! Orange bell peppers! (Yes, I dream about food, and I dream in color!) Orange is my favorite color, so it could have just been channeled in through that path, but I have to say, when I found this incredibly bright orange bell at Wegmans today, I felt that it just might be kismet.

:: UNPAUSE ::

Assemble the shish-kebabs-which-are-not-to-be-kebabed and lay them in a shallow pan. Pour the sauce over them and sprinkle them with sesame seeds. Let them marinate for about 15 minutes, spooning sauce over them occasionally. Put them in the toaster oven for five minutes, turn them, and put them in for another five. When you're ready to enjoy them, garnish them with fresh parsley. It adds a wonderful light flavor to the meal.

I paired tonight's dinner with an Argentine Malbec by Elm Tree. It's fruity enough to match the whole "summer barbecue" feeling of the meal, but hearty enough to stand up to some seriously intense flavors. I was impressed by the fact that it never tasted tart next to the sweet orange-soy sauce, but also served to cleanse the palate as I enjoyed the fresh peppers, earthy mushrooms and steak. A good pairing, and a "dream-come-true" meal - even if its name is etymologically incorrect!

Yours in the love of good food and wine,

AL

Fifty-fourth Post ~ Easy Sirloin Steak with Mushrooms and Fingerling Potatoes

Maybe it's the fact that I'm halfway through the week. Maybe it's the sunshine. Whatever the reason, today just feels like a day that should be celebrated. And I like to celebrate with a good dinner.

I ran to Wegmans after class and picked up two organic sirloin steaks, a bag of fingerlings, and a package of pre-washed and sliced baby bellas mushrooms, for a change of pace from the buttons.

Home I went. Given that it was already pushing 10:30, I needed to get this dinner in order and on the table post haste. Here's what you'll need to make tonight's dinner, and here's how you can get it all on the table within a half hour or under:

~ One small sirloin steak (I've never bought organic steak before, but these were mismarked, I think, and therefore within the realm of what I like to pay for a small steak: $3 a pop)

~ Ground salt

~ Herb of choice for use on the whole meal (I relied heavily on thyme, 'cause that's what I have a bag of in my fridge, but I also had a little rosemary left, so I used some of that, too)

~ White wine

~ One clove garlic

~ Olive oil

~ Mushrooms

~ Fingerling potatoes

As soon as you walk in the door (after greeting a puppy, if applicable) start your toaster oven on conventional bake 350. Wash and pierce the fingerlings. Rub some olive oil on them and place them on a piece of foil on the same pan you plan to cook the steak on later on. Scatter some thyme and grind ample salt over them. Pop 'em in the oven.

In a pan, start some olive oil and white wine simmering. Add the mushrooms as soon as you get the package open, grind some sea salt over them, crush a clove of garlic into the mix, and add some thyme (assuming that's the fresh herb you're using) and add more wine and oil as it boils down.

As soon as the mushrooms are going, salt the steak and add some olive oil over the top. Place a sprig of rosemary on the top of it and place it next to the potatoes in your toaster oven. I usually go by the rule of 5 minutes on one side, 8 on the other. This was a bit smaller of a steak, so I went less.

Serve the steak topped with the mushrooms alongside your yummy fingerling potatoes (after about 30 minutes, they're perfect!). I enjoyed tonight's mid-week celebration meal with my last glass of Sangre de Toro Tempranillo. I cannot say enough good things about this wine. I think it will be one of those wines that I'll just always plan on having in my wine rack. Besides being really affordable, it's smooth and earthy with bright overtones of cherry and blackberry that deepen over time. It's a perfect match for a dinner like this!

Yours in the love of good food and wine,
AL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Thirty-sixth Post ~ Sirloin with Mushrooms in Sweet Wine Reduction Over Parmesan Risotto

Ever have one of those days? Not a day where anything bad happens, just a hectic, harried, frenzied day during which your brain is active 110% of the time, and you could really use it an additional 15% or so, if it could just kick it up a notch.

That was today. I came home, changed, played with Ginny, sent emails, worked on a paper, figured out my next day's plans... and then decided that I needed a break. A mental break. So I got out some basic ingredients (steak, risotto, mushrooms, olive oil) and then just let my mind go blank. Absolutely, self-hypnotic, deep, relaxed breathing, trance-like blank.

And I experienced what I can only describe as a culinary black-out.

In the end, sitting down to eat this meal, I thought it was pretty darn good. But the trouble was, I had to think really hard about what I had actually put in it. How did I get from Point A to Point B? So I listed out the ingredients I had used, and marveled at the fact that for probably the first time since I started this blog, my ingredient list made it from one end of my magnetic refrigerator pad to the other.

So basically, tonight's blog entry serves to document this dinner, but it probably fits less into the category of "quick, easy dinners" and better into the category of "what happens when you let your mind empty of thought completely."

So... here's what you'll need for tonight's dinner:

~ Olive oil
~ Sirloin steak cut into cubes
~ Mushrooms (I use triple-washed baby bellas. Always have, probably always will.)
~ Green onion (the stalks of mine went bad a few days ago, but I discovered that the bulb is actually quite nice - same mild onion taste with a bit of sweetness)
~ Fresh (or dried) thyme
~ Red wine
~ Slice of Brie (it's for the sauce, so cut off the rind, and, if you're a hard-core brie-fiend like I am, you'll eat the rind as you cook.)
~ Salt/Pepper to taste
~ Apricot jam
~ Balsamic vinegar
~ Lemon juice
~ Crushed garlic (I've decided to give my garlic crusher a rest for a while - it's just so darn messy and during my 12-day recuperation this past month, I observed that lots of the chefs on the Food Network use the bottled crushed garlic. A little milder taste, which, in my opinion, is fine and dandy, and waaaaay less work.)

~ Risotto
~ Parmesan
~ Thyme

Make your risotto ahead of time. I stirred in a bit of thyme and in the end, some parmesan. I've never made risotto before and was shocked (almost offended!) to read in the directions that I was expected to stand at the stove and gradually stir simmering water into it for 15 minutes. I decided to cut my losses and slapped a lid onto it after it had actively boiled for about 5 minutes and let it sit while I cooked the main attraction. Guess what? It turned out fine. Sometimes starches just need a little tough love.

Into my stick-free pan I tossed my cubed steak, mushrooms, sliced green onion bulb, thyme, red wine, brie, apricot jam, and small bit of crushed garlic. Over the top of the whole thing I sprinkled salt, pepper and sesame seeds. I then splashed it liberally with red wine, then sparingly with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice.

I put the whole thing on the stove for a few minutes until the steak was browned. I removed it and cooked the rest of it down until it was delightfully caramelized. I tossed the parmesan into the risotto and the steak back into the pan for a few minutes. I then found myself sitting at the table in front of this meal. I told you it was a whirl-wind.

I served tonight's dinner with a soft, relaxed Caménère by Aresti vineyards of Chile. I've been a long-time fan of Chilean reds, and this one offered exactly what I love about them - they're full-bodied, but soft as velvet; earthy, fruity, beautifully balanced. It went wonderfully with tonight's meal.

And now, my friends, I shall wash some dishes, review my work for tomorrow, watch a show, perhaps, and go to bed sooooo much more relaxed!

Yours in the love of good food and wine, and the great escapes they offer,
AL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Thirty-first Post ~ Sage Marinade Steak with Goat Cheese

So today was one of those days where I was so focused on what I was doing that I basically forgot about food. Me. A foodie. During class tonight I became so discombob-ulated with hunger that I bumbled my way through a study review (Horvath et al., my apologies - I believe that by the end of it, the discussion had incorporated 30 male students, a deck of cards, a few drooling dogs, and Prisoner #819 doing a bad thing).

So immediately after class I headed to Wegmans. You know you've become a frequent customer at a place when you know everyone by name - or at least by attribute: Smiley Sushi Guy, Sweet Butcher Guy, Friendly Deli Lady, Awesome Cheese Lady, etc. So I made my way through my meet-n-greets and bombed around the produce section, also stocking up on the ingredients for tomorrow's lunch-sized Insalata Caprese along the way, and picked out some wonderful dirt-covered Crimini mushrooms and some vibrant green broccoli crowns. Then off to the butcher for some perfectly portioned sirloin steaks and then back around to the cheese shop for something that's been tempting me for the longest time - Palhais goat cheese buttons all wrapped up as cute as can be from Portugal.

So here's what you'll need for tonight's dinner:

~ Sirloin steak

~ Broccoli crowns

~ Mushrooms, washed and halved

For the steak marinade:

~ Wine - whatever you have laying around

~ Olive oil

~ Fresh sage

~ Balsamic vinegar

~ Salt/Pepper

~ Garlic

For the garnish:

~ Crumbled bit of Palhais goat cheese button (seriously - can cheese sound any cuter?)

All of tonight's flavorings are pretty intense in their own right - goat cheese, garlic, wine, sage... so I decided to tone everything down a bit so that the meal would be flavorful, but not overpowering. Follow these steps.

First, I peeled three small garlic cloves, put them in a foil boat, poured a bit of olive oil over them, salted/peppered and wrapped the whole thing up and put it under the broiler.

Then, I washed and halved the Crimini mushrooms. I set them to the side, and started on the marinade. Marinades are pretty simple. Within reason, you can add whatever you want, flexing your creative side, and they typically turn out good. I put some white wine in a prep bowl with some olive oil. I splashed a bit of balsamic vinegar into the bowl and added salt and pepper. Then I decided that I'd tone down the fresh sage a bit by adding it to the marinade rather than garnishing the steak with it when it was done. I stirred everything around a bit, then added the raw steak. I let it sit while I fixed the broccoli.

I know you can buy these newfangled contraptions that steam vegetables for you, but honestly, I've never understood why you'd need to spend extra money if you already have a bowl, some saran wrap, and running water. Just cut up the broccoli into a bowl, add a couple tablespoons of water, cover tightly, and pop in the microwave for 3-5 minutes. WATCH THE STEAM WHEN YOU OPEN THE BOWL. I only say this in caps because I burn myself frequently. Fortunately, I always have a bag of frozen coffee grounds in my freezer (freezing fresh ground coffee beans keeps it much fresher tasting) and it serves as a conveniently hand-shaped thing to grab to nurse one's burned hand. Stir the broccoli around a bit, and if it still has that "dirt" smell to it, steam it for another minute or so.

In the mean time, make a tin foil boat and put your marinated steak into it. Pour the extra marinade over it, and put it under your broiler. I always have better luck with steaks in the toaster oven broiler. I'm not sure why, but at this point in my life, I go with what works. Take the garlic out of the oven and add one roasted clove to the steak. If it's not soft yet, crush it in a garlic press. Even if it's not fully roasted, I still think the process cuts some of that harsh garlic taste that you get from freshly crushed cloves.

Put the steak under the broiler. As previously posted, I like my steak on the rare side. For a small sirloin like this, I cooked it for 7 minutes on one side and 5 on the other.

While it's cooking, I sautéed the mushrooms in the wine, garlic, salt and pepper. I used a leftover inch or two of Vetter Vineyard's Cracker Ridge Rose - my all-time favorite blush wine. It's sweet and jammy, and when used for cooking, compliments earthy tones in food, like these Italian mushrooms, which, up to a few minutes ago, still had the soil from their native land clinging to them.

Check the steak, check the broccoli, stir the mushrooms. Just as the steak is finishing, crumble some of the goat cheese on top. Pop back into the oven for a minute just to soften the cheese a bit more.

This goat cheese is extremely mild, which I think made it a perfect complement to all of the strong flavors in tonight's meal. Using the fresh sage in a marinade gave it a gentler aroma and flavor, and roasting the garlic made it sweet and warm rather than pungent and hot.

I paired tonight's meal with a 2005 Australian Merlot by Tall Poppy (Thanks, John H.!) As Australia is the newest of the new worlds, its wines are often very fruity. However, this Merlot was refreshingly sweet and balanced rather than cloyingly sweet. It gave my tastebuds a punch of fruitiness - ripe strawberries, cherries and raspberries. Again, it was a flavor that I've normally found to be extremely strong that was tamed a bit, if you will, to complement the meal rather than overpower it.

And I've got to take a moment to acknowledge the wonders of our modern world - one can, with minimal effort, enjoy a meal made with components enriched by their homelands of Portugal, the US, Italy and Australia. How amazing and wonderful is that?

Yours in the love of good food and wine,

AL

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The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Twenty-eighth Post ~ Herbed Steak with Mushrooms and Baked Potato

I was in the mood for steak tonight, but not a super heavy meal. What to do? I decided that an herb marinade might lighten the meal a bit. That, and mushrooms go with everything. A little red potato would pair well with the whole thing (and whether it would have, we'll never know...)
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Here's what you'll need to prepare tonight's meal:
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~ Steak (I got my usual two-pack at Wegmans for around $5. They are not big steaks, and that fit the bill for me)
~ Herbs (my favorites ground together are dried oregano, rosemary, thyme, and paprika)
~ Olive oil
~ Red wine
~ Soy sauce
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For the mushrooms:
~ Mushrooms (I go for my standard pre-cut, pre-washed baby bellas)
~ Chives
~ Garlic
~ Salt/Pepper to taste
~ White wine
~ Olive oil
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For the potato:
~ Potato
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::PAUSE::
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Here's the thing - I had a red potato at a barbecue a few weeks ago, and granted, it had probably been sitting in the coals for the better part of the afternoon, but it was the best potato I've had in years. Ergo, I bought two reds to try to replicate the same effect in my toaster oven. I rubbed each with a bit of olive oil, pierced them, wrapped them in tin foil and broiled them for over an hour, and they were still underdone. So the potato in the picture is a prop potato, if you will. I don't include the picture of myself looking highly disappointed when I take a bite and find that it's still way too starchy and not at all smooth. I actually kept broiling the other one while I ate the steak and mushrooms. I was full when I was done with that, so I saved the potato for a later meal this week. Oh, well...
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::UNPAUSE::
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So commence with the preparation of the meat and then the mushrooms. Mix your herbs together and grind them with a mortar and pestal. I got one at TJMaxx of all places for $3.00. Up until that point I had used two bowls ground against each other.
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Pour a dollop of oil into the herbs, followed by a splash of red wine. and then a tiny bit of soy sauce. Mix this together and pour it over your steak. Let the steak sit in the marinade for a while - in a perfect world you'd let it marinate while your potatos finish, but I think the steak would have been pickled if I had actually waited until that point.
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In the mean time, prep your mushrooms. In a pan, splash some white wine over them, some olive oil, salt and pepper them to taste, and add some garlic and chives. Here's a pic of everything ready to be cooked:
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In actuality, this ended up comprising the meal, and it was a perfect amount of food. As previously mentioned, I like my steak on the rare-to-medium-rare side, so I broiled it about 5 minutes on one side and about 8 on the other.
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The mushrooms simmered nicely, and I added a bit of wine here and there if they started getting too low on moisture.
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Rather than breaking out a heavy, hearty merlot or cab, I paired tonight's dinner with the light-yet-earthy Italian pinot that I had with the caprese salad. Pinot noir is to a wine rack what a little black dress is to a woman's closet: It's versatile and can be "accented" for nearly any occasion. Pinot noir is one of the only wines that can be passed around a table at which every diner has ordered something different from the menu. Paired with a caprese salad, it's light and fruity. Paired with tonight's meal, it's balanced and earthy. Paired with chocolate, it's... well... what's not awesome when paired with chocolate? But I digress...
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So yes, tonight's meal came together nicely in spite of the potato, and the pinot noir added the final touch of lightness that I was striving for tonight!
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Yours in the love of good food and wine,
AL
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The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Third Post: Savory Steak

Ahh... Spring Break. I never was one for the whole Cancun party scene - honestly, I, as an academic, get my joy from having completely unoccupied days in which to study at my leisure, get ahead, and relax a little. And by relaxing, I mean cooking celebratory dinners. Tonight's dinner was purely experimental. From the wine choice to the seasoning, I just cooked with what the spirit moved me to cook with.

Tonight: Steak. I'm not a huge aficionado of red meat inasmuch as I seldom crave it like some people do. However, this afternoon as I walked past the Butcher Block at Wegmans (I swear, I am not affiliated with Wegmans, I'm just a really really big fan) I saw a petit sirloin that started jumping up and down and tapping on the glass as I passed by. When it finally held up a little sign saying "I'M DINNER!" I decided to buy it.

I love steak with mushrooms. To me, it's just blasphemous to not serve them together. Here's what you'll need if you want to make steak the way I just did:

One petit sirloin (mine was just under 1/3 lb.)
Baby bella mushrooms (I chose the pre-washed, pre-sliced variety, because I'd rather spend my free time getting one more article read)
Olive oil
Garlic
Terragon (or any other spices you're fond of)
Red wine
A veggie for your side (I grew up in a Meat-Starch-Veggie household, so I feel compelled to include this. I chose green beans with almonds)

Start toaster oven (or whatever steak-cooking apparatus you might have) preheating. I used a toaster oven set on 325 on broil 'cause, well, it's cheaper to heat then the actual broiler on my oven.
Start your olive oil heating up in a small sauce pan on the stove.
Crush two cloves of garlic in a small prep bowl.
Dump your mushrooms in the sauce pan and stir to evenly heat.
Pour some red wine over the mushrooms

PAUSE

As the saying goes, "I love to cook with wine - sometimes I even add it to the food." I really enjoy wine. I do not drink wine to get drunk. I do not drink wine because I'm posh (okay, well, maybe a little). I drink wine because honestly, I don't think there's any better companion for a good meal. Paired correctly, it can open up culinary doors that never existed with water, soda or juice. Any sommelier I've ever met has said the same thing: "After the second glass, you're no longer tasting or appreciating the wine - so why bother?" Being single and drinking wine by this philosophy, I sometimes have a bit of wine left in the bottle that is not suitable for drinking, but that still packs some flavor. Save this for cooking. While cooking wines are available, there's a certain depth that you can get by cooking with a good table wine.

For tonight's mushrooms and the steak marinade, I used the leftover wine that I talked about in last week's post - the Tempranillo from Berberana vineyards. It was starting to taste a little dry, and I didn't want to ruin my past memories by drinking it past its prime. For the actual meal accompaniment, I bought a bottle of Cab - more on that later.

UNPAUSE

So add a good amount of red wine to the mushrooms. Pepper them a bit.
Add about half of your crushed garlic to the mushrooms. Stir.
Reduce heat to very low.

Put a tiny bit of olive oil in with the crushed garlic in your prep bowl.
Pour in some red wine.
Add some terragon.
Mix around with a fork, and spoon it over the steak - for best results, make a little tin foil "boat" for your steak, which will allow the marinade to flow around the steak rather than away from it.
Place steak in heating apparatus.
I like my steak rare to medium rare, so I went five minutes on one side, and about eight on the other.
While the steak is cooking, add some terragon, salt, and additional pepper to taste to your mushrooms. I let them simmer with the heat turned down really low. I love the earthy smell of mushrooms cooking. I think the terragon compliments it, and the wine adds such a nice zip.
When you turn the steak half-way through, dump the rest of the marinade in your prep bowl over the steak.
Microwave or heat your veggie side dish: No wine or TV if you don't eat your veggies. Manda says.
Watch your steak so it doesn't get too done. Mind the mushrooms, too.
When it's all ready, serve it up.

I served tonight's dinner with a 2006 Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon from Haras Estate that I got as the last bottle in a reduced cart - I hope it's not because it's being discontinued from the store I go to, because I think it's a lovely Cab. It's rich and earthy, but with super bright berry overtones. It's tannic enough for the steak so that the whole meal is never too rich. It compliments the red wine that the food was cooked with. It becomes delightfully fruity in the face of the spices and garlic. In my opinion, a really terrific match.

Well, now it's time to clean up the dishes and settle in for the last half-hour of TV before bed! A great way to end the first day of Spring Break.

Yours in the love of good food and good wine and the beautiful friendship they share,
AL

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The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.