Recipe: Steak Dinner
The first “fancy’ restaurant I remember going to as a young child was a Steakhouse. I don’t remember which one, but I do remember the dark wood, the red carpets, the waiters in tuxedos. I have to admit, I didn’t particularly like steak when I was five or six, but I did love veal whether it was a fried veal cutlet, veal marsala, or veal parmigiana. My parents would always make me order for myself. I wouldn’t order off the kids menu, after all, there was no veal on the kid’s menu. The waiters would always get a kick out of this little kid ordering veal for dinner. I learned one of the truths about Steakhouses at those meals, there’s always an abundance of food at a Steakhouse. You eat like Kings. I would of course later learn you also pay like Kings.
Steakhouses, as I said, have always been places for celebrations or special meals. A great cut of dry aged steak is worth its weight in gold. Throughout the years, I have done so many different versions of Steakhouse meals for my family and friends. This week, I decided to do another.
I knew I had the chain off of a dry aged beef tenderloin in my freezer as I used the tenderloin for Christmas dinner, Beef Wellington. Well, I knew some day I was going to do something with that prime cut of meat… and I finally decided on a Steakhouse meal. There was one problem… there wasn’t enough steak left for four people… so what to do?
I decided to do steak bites. Grilled skewers of steak, onions, and bell peppers, seasoned with my own steak seasoning blend. Then, as I said earlier, I wanted to focus on the vegetable sides. So in this “recipe” you will find a lot of mini recipes.
Butter, garlic, and lemon green beans: One of my favorite ways to eat green beans. When the beans still have texture to them and have just a hint of richness from the butter and spice from the garlic, but that is cut wonderfully by the hint that lemon zest gives it.
Fresh Creamed Spinach: This is the quintessential Steakhouse side for me. You must have creamed spinach with steak. That being said, this is a light version, using just whole milk rather than cream and fresh spinach that is barely cooked.
Roasted Asparagus with White Wine and Parmesan cheese: I love asparagus almost any way, but this might be my favorite. Roasted, but then tossed with white wine, and let to continue cooking before topping with parmesan cheese right before broiling them off to get a crust. Just heavenly.
Twice Cooked Potatoes: Once again, we go for a slightly lighter version of this heavy dish. I use ricotta cheese to lighten things up, but the dish still has butter, sour cream, cheddar cheese and chives in it as well. Light and fluffy.
Roasted Mushrooms: This is simplicity at its best. The key is the right kind of mushrooms and not cooking them too long. Roasted with herbs and garlic. Tossed in a little olive oil when they come out to make sure they’re still creamy.
Bacon Brussel Sprouts: The trick it to cook them until you almost think they’re burnt. A beautiful char is key, and then, tossed with just a slight bit of vinegar to cut through the richness.
Some of my favorite sides!
Steak bites
½ lb of steak per person
1 red onion
1 green pepper
1 red onion
1 tablespoon smoked salt (I happen to have smoked garlic salt)
½ tablespoon garlic powder (if you didn’t use the smoked garlic salt)
½ tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
½ tablespoon of cracked black pepper (this is a lot! Cut down if you don’t like the heat)
Mix all of the dried spices and herbs together. Cut steak into cubes, and then, dust with the spice mixture and roll until all the meat is covered evenly. Set aside for a few minutes.
Cut the bell pepper and onion so that they fit the size of the steak.
Make skewers by starting with a bell pepper (the most sturdy vegetable) and then a piece of meat, followed by a onion, followed by a piece of meat, followed by a bell pepper, etc until each skewer is done and ends with a piece of bell pepper.
Heat a grill to high. Brush the skewers with olive oil and place on the grill. Grill on each side for 2-3 minutes max. Remove and let sit for 10 minutes before removing from the skewers and eating.
Butter, Garlic, and Lemon String Beans
1 lb green beans
1 tablespoon of butter
2 garlic cloves minced
1 lemon
Salt and pepper
Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot and add a tablespoon of salt. Take the clean green beans and blanche in the water for 2 minutes and then remove with a strainer and place in an ice bath (a bowl of water with ice) to stop the cooking. When cool, drain off and dry the beans with a paper towel. The beans can be kept a day or two like this to use in anything.
When ready to serve, begin by mincing 2 cloves of garlic. With a skillet on the stove, melt the butter and add just a little olive oil. When the butter is melted add the garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes or until it is soft. You do not want to brown it. At this point, add in the green beans and toss in the hot butter and oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. After 2-3 minutes or until the beans are hot, remove and place on a plate. Top with grated lemon zest. The lemon zest hitting the hot green beans immediately will give off that wonderful lemon smell. Serve.
Fresh Creamed Spinach
1 lb of spinach
2 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon of flour
1 cup of milk
½ teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon white pepper
1 shallot minced
2 cloves of garlic minced
Begin by mincing the shallot and garlic. In a small sauce pot, add butter, shallot and garlic. Place on a the stove on medium heat and saute for 2-3 minutes. The shallot should be translucent. At this point, add in the flour. Using a wooden spoon, stir to make a roux. Cook the roux for 2-3 minutes just to get rid of the flour taste. Add the milk and stir with a whisk. Add in the nutmeg, white pepper, and salt. Stir. Bring to a boil. Once it is at a boil, turn down to a simmer. At this point, add in the fresh spinach. Stirring continually. At first it will look like there isn’t enough liquid for this amount of spinach, trust me, it will be okay. Just keep stirring bringing the sauce from the bottom to the top until all of the spinach is coated. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the spinach is lightly cooked. Serve immediately.
Roasted Asparagus with White Wine and Parmesan
1 lb of Asparagus
¼ cup of white wine
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
¼ cup of Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Take one asparagus and bend the root end until it snaps. That is the place that the asparagus begins to be tender. Line up that asparagus with the others and cut off the ends to even all of them out.
Roll the asparagus with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place onto a sheet tray and roast for 10 minutes. At the end of ten minutes, pull them out and pour the white wine onto the sheet tray on top of the asparagus, roll the asparagus in that and place back in the oven for 10 more minutes. Remove from the oven and top with parmesan cheese. Then turn on broil and broil for just a minute or two until the cheese is browned.
Twice cooked Potatoes
4 Idaho potatoes of equal size
1 cup of ricotta cheese
½ cup of sour cream
4 tablespoons of butter
½ cup of cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon fresh chives
Salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Begin by wrapping each potato in aluminum foil. Then place them on a sheet tray and into the oven and roast for an hour and a half or until they are fork tender.
When done, remove from the oven. Using a good knife, slice the top off of the potato. Then using a paring knife, slice down and around to make removal of the potato easier, leaving a border of potato around the skin. Scoop out the inner part of the potato and place in a bowl. The potatoes need to still be warm. Add butter and mash the potatoes, once smooth, add sour cream, ricotta cheese, cheddar cheese, chives, salt and pepper. Whisk together until combined.
In the hollowed out potato skins, add salt and pepper. Then fill with the filling. If the potatoes break while removing the inside, simply rewrap them in aluminum foil leaving the top open. Then place back in the 400 degree oven for 20 minutes until brown on top.
Serve.
Roasted Mushrooms
1 pint of cremini mushrooms
1 pint of oyster mushrooms or trumpet mushrooms
1 pint of shitake mushrooms
2 cloves of garlic minced
Olive oil
1 sprig of rosemary broken in half
Couple sprigs of thyme
Salt and Pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Clean the mushrooms by wiping them with a paper towel. Then take the stems off the shitake. Cut mushrooms into even pieces.
On a sheet tray lined with aluminum foil, add mushrooms. The top with garlic, salt and pepper. Drizzle with oil and toss so every mushroom is coated. Then make sure they are in a single layer as they need to roast, not steam. Top with the herbs.
Roast in the oven for 20 minutes. When they come out, remove them from the aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil or truffle oil (little amount!) if you wish to be decadent.
Serve.
Bacon Brussel Sprouts:
1 lb of Brussel sprouts
½ lb of bacon cut into lardon
Salt and Pepper
Splash of Red Wine Vinegar or Champagne vinegar
In a large skillet, add bacon lardon (bacon cut into small rectangles) and turn heat to medium low. Over medium low heat render out the fat of the bacon and crisp it. When the bacon is all crisp, remove with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel to drain off the excess fat from the bacon. The fat left in the pan is now going to be used to cook the brussel sprouts.
WARNING: brussel sprouts have a lot of water content so when they are added to hot fat, they pop. Be careful adding them. Toss in the bacon fat and turn up the heat. Cook on medium high until the brussel sprouts are charred and cooked through. Remove from the heat and toss with vinegar and crispy bacon back in.
Serve.
