Our Valentine's Dinner

For Valentine's Day I really, really wanted to make nachos for dinner. I'm not joking. I had some spicy chorizo, a couple of ripe avocados, and, as you might expect, a huge stash of cheese, and aren't holidays an excuse to splurge and eat unhealthy things that you wouldn't normally eat? I think so. Unfortunately my valentine wasn't down with the nachos idea, so I ended up going a little more traditional and made steak. It worked out for the best, as Matt told me that it was the best meal I've made in a very long time. A compliment like that is the best Valentine's gift a girl could get. At least I think. Now that I'm repeating it it sounds a little backhanded, but I can assure you that he meant it in the nicest possible way.

The menu:

Homemade rye bread

Roasted broccolini

Blue cheese mashed potatoes

Rib eyes with chimichurri

Chocolate mousse with freshly whipped cream

The bread recipe is from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I recommend both the book and the bread.

I bought these gigantic rib eyes because they were on sale at Whole Foods for something like $10.99/lb, far cheaper than the $23.99/lb. filets I was planning on buying. Between the two of us we didn't even eat one, which means steak salads all week for me! Just as I started to get nervous about how my pesky fire alarm was going to react to me cooking a steak on the stovetop I saw Matt's friend Sarah's tweet about Bittman's method for pan-cooking a steak in a poorly ventilated apartment with no smoke. Miraculous!

Speaking of Bittman, I used his recipe for chimichurri to top off the steak. It was so good that I used it top off the potatoes and the broccolini as well. Then I used my bread to sop up every last drop. You can find a recipe here, and I would recommend making it in a food processor as he suggests in his book rather than chopping it by hand.

I had some red potatoes that I'd boiled earlier in the week for a salad that I turned into blue cheese mashed potatoes. Simply mash up some boiled potatoes and add any combination of milk, cream, sour cream, cream cheese, and butter, season with salt and pepper, and crumble in a generous amount of blue cheese.

Since my potatoes were cold I transferred them to a baking dish, topped them with some pats of butter, and baked them with the broccolini until they were heated through.

Oh yeah, the broccolini. Toss it with a little olive oil, sprinkle with salt & pepper, and bake on a cookie sheet at 375 or so for maybe 10 minutes. It's to die for. I may be exaggerating, but only slightly.

This meal was incredibly delicious and very easy to whip together. The chocolate mousse was the only thing that took more than about 15 minutes to make, but it was far from difficult. For as delicious as it is, it's totally worth the effort. If it weren't for the sinfulness of the mashed potatoes and the fact that I don't eat much steak I would make this meal all the time.

All of that chocolate is proof that this dessert is worth making. And check out my reflection in the double boiler. Hello, me!

The chocolate mousse recipe I used was from Orangette. You can follow the link to her recipe; I'll just show you some pretty pictures of the process. The only change I made was the addition of a little cinnamon to give it a little Mexican flavor. It was my consolation prize for not having nachos, I guess.

Molten chocolate.

+ egg whites

Folding in the egg whites.

WHIPPED CREAM

Sigh.

Sigh again.

There's nothing better than licking a spoon and discovering a second layer of chocolate underneath. NOTHING.

Extra whipped cream to top it off.

The big blue bowl remains. Who wants to help polish it off?

Steak Fajitas with Lime Marinade

I love Mexican food about as much as I love life itself, but for some reason I've never made fajitas.  I always go for tacos or enchiladas, but fajitas are going to be my new default.  They are incredibly easy and require very few ingredients.  Whereas with tacos I always feel like I need to have lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, salsa, sour cream, and maybe guacamole, fajitas only require meat, tortillas, an onion, and a pepper.  You can add additional stuff if you want, but as long as you have four main ingredients you're set.  Because of their simplicity you can easily make them post-happy hour when your motor skills may not be at their peak.  

I wasn't planning on taking pictures of the fajitas, but my two fellow FLA (Future Lawyers of America) members and kitchen helpers were more concerned with being on my blog than getting food in their mouths as soon as possible, so you have them to thank for this post.  

Steak Fajitas

Marinade from The Big Book of Easy Suppers

Marinade:

1 lime

3 oz. dry white wine

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper

Fajitas:

1lb. top sirloin

2 green bell peppers

1 yellow onion

1-2 tomatoes

Tortillas

Cumin

Oregano

Olive oil

Salt

Whisk together all of the marinade ingredients.  It makes about 1/2 cup, so you don't need a huge bowl.  

Add the steak and the marinade to a large ziplock bag.  Refrigerate for a few hours.  

When you're about to make the fajitas, take the meat out of the refrigerator to allow it to come to room temperature before cooking.  Slice the peppers and the onion into long strips.  Slice a tomato into half moon shapes.  

Heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a pan over medium-high, and brush a griddle or grill with a little olive oil over high heat.  Throw the meat on the grill and the veggies in the pan.  If your pan isn't big enough you can just add the excess to the griddle.  Or if you want to save yourself from washing a pan you could cook it all on the griddle.  

Add a little cumin and oregano to the veggies as they cook.  It's really fun, as you can see.  

When the onions and peppers have softened up a little, add a sliced tomato or two.  Cook the veggies until the onions and peppers are a little soft but still crunchy.  

Hi, Kate and Garin.  If anyone needs some cheese grated, a batch of guacamole whipped up, or information on acceptable times for housewarming parties give these two a call.  

Cook the meat until it's medium rare or so (8-10 minutes), and then slice it into strips.  

Serve with warm tortillas and guacamole.  And cheese.  And hot sauce.  And a cold beer.  

Rib Eyes with Goat Cheese, Caper, and Sun-Dried Tomato Butter

When I started thinking about things I wanted to eat while I was at home, the first thing that came to mind was steak.  It's something that Matt and I don't usually eat, mostly because of the cost.  Also, for me at least, I don't think eating steak is worth it unless I'm somewhere like Ruth's Chris where I can count on a quality, well done steak.  And when I say well done I mean medium-rare, but prepared well.  When we stopped at the co-op on our way home, we picked up a few grass-fed rib eyes that came from a local farm.  After tearing through multiple cooking magazines and cookbooks, I finally settled on a pretty simple preparation for the steaks.  

Rib Eyes with Goat Cheese, Caper, and Sun-Dried Tomato Butter

From Bon Appetit, March 2000

3-4 rib eye steaks

2 ounces goat cheese, room temperature

2 tbsp butter, room temperature

2 tbsp oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, minced

1 tbsp capers

Beat the butter and goat cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy.  

Add in the capers and sun-dried tomatoes.  

Mix to combine.  Roll up in wax paper or spoon into a bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.  This can be done up to 3 days in advance.  

Grill the steaks on a hot grill for 6-7 minutes on each side for medium-rare.  

Spoon some butter onto the hot steak, and enjoy!  

Carne Asada Enchilada Bake

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I've had many crises in the kitchen - ones that make me want to throw up my hands, walk away from the stove and head to the nearest Chipotle.  It's not often that it happens, but it certainly does happen.  I've found that I'm much less critical of what I'm eating if I'm the one who made it, so it takes a lot for me to completely give up.  Not giving up usually leads to a little improv and obscene amounts of cheese, which can mask the greatest of errors.  Putting down a couple beers can also make near disasters seem not so disastrous.  The following recipe is the result of one such averted crisis.  

What was initially going to be carne asada enchiladas turned into carne asada enchilada bake, thanks to the unworkability of my defrosted tortillas.  I realize that the jump from enchiladas to enchilada bake is not a huge one, but believe me, it was a frustrating one.  I know from experience that, while maybe not ideal, it is possible to freeze tortillas, defrost them, and use them as you would normally.  I'm not sure if it was the specific brand of tortillas I was using, the length of time they'd been in my freezer, or just bad luck, but I was only able to separate a few of them without ripping them in half.  And, oh my god, you know what?  Sometimes I don't realize why things didn't do according to plan until I am writing about it on here.  Here I am whining about the stupid, unworkable tortillas, and then it dawned on me that I am a complete bonehead.  I was about to say that the tortillas ended up brittle when I realized that I was preparing them for the wrong dish.  Have you ever made migas before?  You know the part where you fry the tortillas in a little hot oil to crisp them up before mixing them with the eggs?  That's what I did with my tortillas, except I wasn't making migas!  When you make enchiladas you are supposed to soften the tortillas by quickly warming them in the oven, not by crisping them up in hot oil.  Sometimes I wonder how I got into law school.  Or even college.  

In hindsight I guess I could have made enchiladas with the tortillas that I had, although few of them remained intact after defrosting.  Had I made enchiladas, however, I would not have realized that I could make a lazy man's version of them, bypassing the wrapping process and creating a lasagna-like dish.  

Carne Asada Enchilada Bake

1-1/2 lbs. carne asada or marinated skirt steak 

2 cups grated cheese (monterey jack, cheddar, chihuaua...)

1-1/2 cups corn

1/4 cup cilantro

10-12 corn tortillas

1-1/2 cups enchilada sauce

Guacamole/sour cream/salsa for serving

I'm usually not a fan of buying pre-seasoned meats, but for some reason I grabbed this carne asada from Trader Joe's.  Hey, at least it's autentica.  

Grill over high heat until the internal temperature hits 160.  Do not overcook it for the sake of your jaw.   

You don't even want to know how many times my smoke alarm went off while cooking this.  My arms got a good workout from the amount of towel-waving I was doing.  

Slice the meat into thin strips.  

Trim the strips down so they're about an inch long.  

Shred the cheese.  I used a combination of monterey jack and colby jack.  

I'd guess this is about 1/4 cup of cilantro.  Chop it well.  Thanks to Matt's mom for the bounty of cilantro! 

Combine the carne asada, corn, cilantro, and about 1 cup of the cheese.  

How good does that look? 

Lightly coat the bottom of an 8"x8" baking dish with enchilada sauce.  Cover with a layer of tortillas, and then add a layer of the meat mixture.  

Spoon some enchilada sauce over the meat.  

Repeat the layers of tortillas, filling, and enchilada sauce.  

Add another layer of tortillas topped off with a liberal dose of enchilada sauce.  

Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.  

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly.  

I guess it wasn't a failure after all.  And you can bet I'll never again forget the proper way to prepare tortillas for enchiladas.  

"Real" Italian - Spaghetti and Meatballs

How tonight's dinner menu came about:

Matt: Do you not like Italian food?

Me: Of course I do.

Matt: Well, you never make it.

Me: Umm, I make pizza a lot.  

Matt: That doesn't count.

Me: I made lasagna last week!

Matt: That doesn't count.

Me: What do you mean, that doesn't count?

Matt: There was no red sauce on it. 

Me: There was a little.  Wait, does that mean you think food has to have red sauce to be Italian food?  Italian is only spaghetti and meatballs?  Why don't I make spaghetti and meatballs tonight?  

Matt: OK.

Me: Want to come to the store with me?

Matt: No thanks.

Me: OK,  you can do the dishes then.

Matt: OK.  (Note: I'm only including this part in case he forgets his promise) 

To clear things up, I have nothing against Italian food.  I really, really like it.  I've just had the privilege of eating some amazing Italian food, and instead of making me want to eat a lot of it, it has made me want to restrict my consumption of it to times when I know it will be awesome.  I think I've just come to terms with the fact that I could never make pasta like they do at Chicago's Spiaggia.  Nor will I ever cook Italian food like the mother of our Italian exchange student does.  Maybe the fact that while we were eating her pasta we were looking out their kitchen window at the Dolomites made it more heavenly.  Oh yeah, and she made my brother and I beef carpaccio as an appetizer one night.  My mom is an awesome cook, but not once has a meal at our house begun with beef carpaccio.  I mean, holy cow!  

So I decided to make some Italian food (read: spaghetti with red sauce) for once.  Instead of improv, I went with a trusted source: The Silver Spoon.  I more or less made their recipe for meatballs with rigatoni, and it was awesome. 

It started with about 1.5lbs of ground beef, parsley, 1 egg, and a clove of garlic.  I bought 93% lean beef thinking I didn't want greasy meatballs/sauce, but in hindsight I should have either bought fattier meat or let the meat brown for a shorter period of time.  It ended up a little on the dry side.  

Combine the meat, a couple tablespoons of parsley (or a spring of fresh parsley), and a chopped garlic clove.  

Mix in a lightly beaten egg, and then season with salt and pepper.  

Form into balls, and dust with flour.  

I made walnut-sized meatballs.  See?  And check out my new apron covered with little ladybugs.  And please don't judge my appearance.  It's the first day of finals.  

Warning: If you ask your boyfriend to turn off a burner because your hands are covered in raw meat, he might turn ON a different burner and then, completely oblivious, walk into the bathroom so you have to wash your hands and do it yourself anyway.  

You've been warned.

Here are the flour-dusted meatballs.  

Don't the look a little like balls of cookie dough?  I kind of wish these were.  And that they were coming out of the oven right now.  

Set the meatballs aside.  Add 1 chopped carrot, 1 chopped celery stalk, and 1 chopped onion with a few tablespoons of olive oil to a pan over low heat.  I actually used 2 carrots, 2 stalks of celery, and 3/4 of an onion, but the actual recipe calls for the former amounts.  Oh, and add a sprig of rosemary, chopped. 

Cook over low for about 5 minutes.  

Turn the heat up to medium, and add the meatballs to the pan to brown them.  It would be helpful to first push some of the veggies to the sides of the pan so the meat can touch the surface and brown more easily.  I learned that the hard way.  Or I just don't think ahead sometimes, and I should have thought of that earlier.  

Here is the tomato sauce I used.  I don't know if you can tell in this picture, but it's one of the larger sized cans.  28 ounces?  

Once the meatballs have browned a little, add the tomato sauce.  Season with salt.  

Reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for a while.  The recipe says 40 minutes, but I only waited about 20 - as long as it took for water to finally boil and for spaghetti to cook.  

This is after 15 or 20 minutes.  The smell was wonderful.  I almost said the "aroma" was wonderful, but it made me uncomfortable.  I don't think I can pull that word off.  

Blurry close-up.  Just what you were looking for, right?

Dinner.  Cena.  Bad picture, good food.  Thanks, Silver Spoon.  

And thanks in advance for the clean dishes, Matt!