.filet mignon with madeira sauce.

*rubbing hands together*

I have to tell you all, this steak was FANTASTIC!  The filet was so tender, you could cut it with the side of your fork!  The only bad thing?  We were so full from eating salad and crab cakes we could only eat a very small bit of our steak and potatoes before we had to stop. LOL

If you don't have a grill, or it's just too cold to grill, you can use a skillet.  I bought a grill pan for this and it worked great.... except for the stupid $200 Viking hood that ISNT HOOKED UP.  Yep.  I turned on my fan but as soon as I put the steaks on, the house started smoking up.  I checked and there is no vent tubing taking the SMOKE OUTSIDE.  So I need to contact the builder and have him come fix that.  What a nuisance.  Grrrr... but the steaks were fabulous and the Madeira sauce was the perfect companion for the meat and potatoes.  I know you will agree.

You really do need to use Madeira wine.  You will not get the same flavor if you use something else, but if you really need to use something different, I suggest a port.  Port wine reduction works for steak, right?

Put 1 1/2 cups Madeira wine and one chopped onion in a saucepan.  Turn on medium to medium high heat.  Let this cook down.

See how reduced down that is?  Doing this intensifies the flavor and the alcohol cooks out.  It has now been infused with the onion so there's a lot going on here.  Once it gets to this point, turn the heat to very very low.

Once the Madeira has reduced, put 3 Tbsp butter in a skillet and saute up 1 cup mushrooms (can be omitted).  Saute until they are nice and brown.

Sprinkle 2 Tbsp flour over the mushrooms and cook the flour for a minute, while whisking.

Now pour in 1 1/2 cups beef stock.  This will begin thickening up almost immediately.  Make sure you keep whisking so you can work out any lumps. After a minute, pour in the Madeira reduction.

Taste and season with salt and pepper.  

At this point I transferred the sauce to an oven safe bowl, put a piece of foil over the top and held in a low temp oven to stay warm.

Remember when cooking steak... let it sit out for about 30 minutes before grilling.  This relaxes the meat, which ensures it will be very very tender.  Again, we're using Filet Mignon, which is pricey, so make sure you don't destroy it by overcooking.

Before putting on the HOT grill, I seasoned well with salt and pepper.  I did put a little oil on the pan before putting the steaks down to ensure they don't stick.

Grill on one side for 3 minutes, then flip over and sear the other side for 3 minutes.  Then flip *back* over, putting it on another diagonal to give you criss cross grill markings.  Grill again on that side for 3 minutes, and repeat for the other side.  That should be enough for a perfect medium rare steak.  If you want your steak done a little more, then cook a little longer on each side.

When these were done grilling (and all the smoke was cleared out of the house. LOL), I put them on a plate and held them in the oven to "rest" and stay warm.

Serve with a helping of roasted garlic mashed potatoes and put some of that delicious Madeira sauce on top.  Visual presentation is just as important as flavor, so when plating, stick a little sprig of fresh thyme in the mashed potatoes (see picture at top).  You will really impress your Valentine with all your cheffy skills!!!

Printable version:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_140hc3fdvc9

.roasted tomato and steak soup.

I love soup. I can eat it year round. My mom makes great soup and I seem to have always struggled with it up until the past few years. Not sure why. This is one I created one day.. I usually make a roasted tomato soup but I a little flank steak to use up and thought it would work really well together. It was great and even better the next day!


Begin by taking 5-6 vine-ripened tomatoes. Cut them in quarters and remove the seeds and gooey stuff. You want to use really good tomatoes for this soup. Don't use beefsteak. If you can find organic ones or buy them at a farmers market, even better!


Put the tomatoes in a baker with a couple cloves of garlic, a little sea salt, pepper, oregano, and a tiny sprinkle of rosemary.


Drizzle lightly with extra virgin olive oil.

Stir everything around to coat the tomatoes with the seasonings and oil. Put in a 350* oven for 30 minutes.


Pull the tomatoes from the oven. They will be nice and soft and very very fragrant. YUM!


Spoon 2/3 of the tomatoes into a blender. Make sure you put the garlic in the blender too.


Puree until smooth.


Remove the skin from the other tomatoes and chop up. Set aside.


Peel and chop 1-2 carrots.


Chop 3 celery stalks.


Dice a small onion. I used red, but only because I had one in the fridge that needed to be used up. Use whatever kind of onion you like.


Cut 1 lb flank steak into small pieces.

Flank steak is really good to use in this because it's so tender. I highly recommending using this over any other kind of cut.


Heat a little olive oil in a soup pot. Add the steak and 1 bay leaf. Cook over medium to medium high heat.


When the meat has just started browning, add the vegetables. If you want, peel and cut up some white or yukon gold potatoes and add them at this stage too. I'm trying to cut back on carbs and omitted them from my soup.


After the vegetables and meat have cooked for awhile, add 5-6 cups chicken stock.


Add 1 can great northern beans. Do not drain these before hand. Dump everything in. Dump one whole can of kernel corn into the pot too -- juice and all. This will give the soup a lot more flavor.

****I did add some frozen green beans at this stage too, but didn't get a picture of it.


Add the tomato/garlic puree.


And lastly, add the chopped tomatoes.

Season well with salt and pepper. If you want to make this more like a minestrone soup, you can add some pasta to the pot as well. Lower the heat and cover the pot with a lid. Allow this to simmer on the stove for about an hour, if not longer. You could even transfer this to a crock pot and let cook all day while you're at work. Delicious!

To serve, ladle into a bowl and top with some fresh grated parmesan or asiago cheese (I used the latter). Delicious! Enjoy!

Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_104gk8jhcfn

.steak salad w/ strawberry peach salsa.

I stumbled across a recipe for strawberry peach salsa and thought, "Oooooooooh! I wonder what I can make this with?" Then I thought I could try it with a scrumptous steak salad.

This is light and refreshing. Perfect for a summer dinner and only took 45 minutes to an hour to make! Even better!


In a bowl put 2 diced peaches (peeled), 6 sliced strawberries, 1 diced jalapeno, a little chopped cilantro, 1/2 lime juiced, and 1/2 tsp honey. Season with a little kosher salt and stir well. Set aside.


In a bowl, mix together 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1/2 lime, juiced, a little chopped cilantro, salt and pepper.


Spoon a little of the sauce over the steak and brush all over the surface. Sprinkle a little thyme and rosemary.


Put on a grill and cook until medium or medium rare.

Set aside.


Slice some red onion.


Peel one avocado and slice.


Holding your knife on the diagonal, slice your steak thinly.

To assemble, put some lettuce (I used a spring salad mix) on a plate. Sprinkle with red onions. Fan out the steak all pretty like, and the avocado in front of it. Put a handful of the strawberry peach salsa on last.

You don't really need a salad dressing for this, but if you really want something, use raspberry vinaigrette.

You could also add a little cheese if you want. Maybe something like bleu or gorgonzola or plain ol cheddar. Enjoy!

.greek steak.

Do you feel like you always make a dish a certain way over and over? I feel this way about steak. I always seem to get ribeye and we usually throw on some Montreal seasoning and grill it up.



I came across a recipe in one of those little food magazines you pick up by the register on your way out of the grocery store. The spinach and feta topping is quite delicious with juicy kalamata olives and tomatoes, and a kick of garlic.



I used frozen spinach. I've used both fresh and frozen and I prefer fresh, but this way is just as good when you're in a pinch and don't have fresh on hand. You'll need about 1/4 cup for two steaks. Thaw by running under cold water. Then wring all of the water out. Break apart the spinach clumps and set aside.



Seed and dice one roma tomato.



Chop one clove garlic.



Take some kalamata olives (I used 5-6) and remove the seeds if they aren't already seeded. Chop up and set aside.



Let your steaks sit out on the counter 30 minutes prior to grilling. This relaxes the meat and will help them cook evenly. Rub both sides of the steak with a garlic clove.



I'm breaking out of the montreal seasoning rut and using lemon pepper.



Rub it on both sides of the steaks.



Put on your bbq grill and cook to your desired doneness. We like our steaks medium rare. Let rest while we make the topping.



Heat some olive oil in a skillet and put in the garlic. Saute for 30 seconds. Don't let it burn!



Add the diced tomato. Cook for a minute or two. We don't want the tomatoes to get too soft so don't let them go too long in the pan.



After about a minute, add the spinach. Use a spoon to break it up even more so it distributes itself evenly.



Season with some fresh cracked pepper and sea salt.



Remove from the heat and grate in some fresh parmesan. Mix together.

Spoon some on the top of the steak. Sprinkle on some crumbled feta cheese and kalamata olives.

Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_73ctgn83gf

Happy Mother's Day

(Written by Suzanne's husband, Jim)


So it's the day before Mother's day and Suzanne casually mentions that one of her friends suggested that I make dinner for her on Mother's day and post it here on her blog.

I'm like, "Crap, I don't know what to make!"


So I'm trying to figure out what to make. I look through some cookbooks. I know I want to do something with steak on the grill because that's what I do. I pull out my grilling cookbook and find a recipe. It's something even I could handle even though it involves making my own salad dressing.

I was trying to keep what I was making for dinner a secret. I went into work for a litte bit Sunday morning. On my way home I picked up the ingredients I needed for the salad and some flowers.

We had lunch, watched a little TV and I started dinner while Suzanne took a nap with Perry.

I made the dressing first which has balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, and a clove of garlic.

I brushed some of this on the steak and some red onion slices.

I then put some rosemary and thyme on both sides of the steak and pressed the spices into the steak. I saved the rest of the dressing for the salad.

I then grilled the steak and red onion slices over medium heat for about 15 minutes until the steak was medium rare.

Take a look at that steak!

When the center of the steak was slightly soft I took the steak off the grill. We like our steak medium rare. If you like your steak more well done, keep it on the grill a little longer.

I took the steak and cut it against the grain, similar to when we cut it for fajitas.

I started plating the salad. I used a bag of spring mix salad greens. I put a large hand full of salad on the plate.

Put some steak slices slightly staggered on top of each other down the center of the plate.

Then I put some grilled red onion on top.

It says in the cookbook that Gorgonzola cheese is a rich and creamy blue cheese made from cow's milk. It has an ivory interior that is streaked with the characteristic blue-green veins. If the cheese is aged for more than 6 months, the flavor and aroma can become quite strong -- in fact, down right unpleasant. This flavorful cheese teams nicely with sliced pears, apples, peaches, and hearty red wines. Adventuresome cooks will find it especially tasty melted over grilled steaks or baked potatoes or crumbled into salads.



Put some crumbled Gorgonzola cheese on next and drizzled some of the dressing I made earlier.

This recipe also calls for tomatoes but Suzanne doesn't really eat tomatoes in her salad so I left them off. If you like tomato, put some on your salad.

Paige didn't seem to like the salad very much, but we really enjoyed it. Suzanne said she will be making this one again. All in all, a great summer salad for Mother's day.


Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_52cf9cf9gk