Last Sunday my boyfriend Ryan and I celebrated our dating anniversary. So, in honor of the past 3 years of our relationship, I decided to cook us a simple steak dinner. My first thought was to go to an overpriced, high-end 5 star restaurant, but sometimes that just isn't us. I wanted to have the same feel of going out for a nice dinner, but at our kitchen table so we could eat in our pajamas.
Here's what you'll need:
- 2 Filet Mignons
- 1/2 Head of Broccoflower
- A Handful of Baby Rainbow Carrots
- Butter
- 3-4 Cloves of Garlic
- 1 Shallot
- 1 c Red Wine
- 1 c Beef Stock
- 3-4 lbs. Yukon Gold Potatoes
- Salt and Pepper
- Chives
- Blue Cheese crumbles
- Sour Cream
Go ahead and get all of the ingredients out of the fridge and pantry, and clean off your workspace. This makes cooking so much easier and safer!
First, peel the potatoes and put them in a pot of generously salted boiling water.
While the potatoes are boiling, go ahead and prep the veggies. Wash them first, then cut up the broccoflower, peel the carrots, thinly slice the shallot into rings, and finely chop any herbs you might have on hand that you would like to add to the mashed potatoes or red wine reduction. I chopped up some chives and garlic. Now that I think of it, a sprig of rosemary would have been amazing thrown into my reduction... next time.
Check out this broccoflower! Isn't it pretty? I love the vibrant green color!
It was almost sad cutting into it...
I found these awesome carrots at CM and couldn't pass them up. They're adorable and add a great splash of color to your plate. Aren't they pretty?
The sharper your knife, believe it or not, the safer it is. You are
less likely to cut yourself! Imagine having a dull knife, it's a struggle to cut through something... because you have less control of the blade, meaning more resistance. Makes sense, doesn't it? So be sure to keep your knife sharp, and you will get nice, precise, easy flowing cuts. There's a saying that a chef is only as good as his (or her) knife!
I always try to cut my vegetables in order of least pungent to most pungent, so that the flavors don't seep into my other vegetables. Members of the Allium family like onions, garlic, scallions, and shallots definitely leave behind their juices after cutting, especially if you are using a wooden cutting board. So cut the milder stuff first, then the stuff that will make you cry.
Once the broccoflower and carrots are prepped and ready to go, blanch them. Blanching allows the vegetables to develop their flavors and slightly cooks them without making the veggies mushy or discolored. It gives you that perfect crisp, tender bite, and it even brightens the colors! To blanch, simply partially cook the vegetables in a pot of heavily salted boiling water for about 2 minutes. BUT overcooking the vegetables can be a very, very sad thing, so do not walk away once you drop them into the boiling water. After boiling the veggies, shock them by dropping them into an ice bath (a bowl of ice water). They will be okay resting in the water until they are ready to be sauteed.
Now that you have your vegetables prepared, you can move on to seasoning your steaks. Many people have varying opinions on the best way to prepare a steak, but I like to season nicer cuts of beef with just a generous amount of
sea salt and
fresh cracked black pepper. Season your preferred way, and set aside.
At this point, the potatoes are probably close to being done. Check them by poking a fork into the biggest one. One time I was making mashed potatoes, and checked a couple of my potatoes and thought they were done, and then low and behold, the biggest potato was undercooked. Once you are sure that they are cooked through, remove them from the heat, and drain the water from the pot. In the same pot, toss in some butter and season with salt and pepper. Cover with aluminum foil, and set aside.
Get out an oven-proof grill pan (or fire up the grill), and a small skillet. It's over 105° outside, so I opted for the grill pan and the oven instead of braving the heat. Preheat your oven to 350°. Go ahead and put your grill pan over the burner on high heat. You want it to get nice and hot so you can get a nice sear on your meat before it goes in the oven to finish cooking. Once your grill pan is heated, melt about 2 tablespoons of butter. It will melt fast, so be ready to follow with the steaks. Gently place the steaks on the pan on a bias. Let them grill for about a minute, and then turn the steaks slightly to create a cross hatch pattern for the top of your steak. Wait about another minute, and then flip the steaks. When there is a nice char on both sides of your steaks, go ahead and put them into the 350° oven. They will cook in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, depending on how you like your steak.
While the steak is cooking, go ahead and mash the potatoes. Add butter, sour cream, chives, blue cheese... basically whatever sounds good to you.
I like to get out my hand mixer and mix my potatoes to give them a smoother finish. Some people like them chunky. Again, it's all about preference. Re-cover the potatoes with foil to keep them warm.
Now go ahead and throw some butter into the skillet you pulled out earlier. Add garlic and coat in the butter and cook until it starts become fragrant and slightly transparent. Then add your broccoflower and rainbow carrots and saute for about 5 minutes. Remove the veggies from the skillet and put them in a serving dish and cover with foil.
At this point it should be time to take your steaks out of the oven. Check and make sure that they are cooked to your liking, if not, put them back in the oven for another couple of minutes. When the steaks are ready remove them from the pan, set aside on a plate, and cover with foil to rest. Deglaze the grill pan by adding the beef stock to the pan over low heat. Be sure to scrape up any bits that were left behind. Simmer. Now we'll make the shallot red wine reduction sauce. Add about 1 tbsp of butter to the skillet (the same one you sauteed the veggies in) and add the shallot rings, and saute until the shallots become semi transparent. Add red wine gradually and reduce. After the wine has reduced by about half, add the deglazing liquid (the beef broth and steak juices). Then simmer over low heat, stirring often. Remove from heat to allow sauce to thicken.
Everything is ready. Place filet mignons on top of the mashed potatoes, and pour the shallot reduction on over the steaks. Serve with the vegetables and enjoy!
I forgot to mention I also bought this
cheesy parmesan artisan bread at CM too, so we sliced that up and served it with some
European butter. I got a piece that had a pocket of cheese in it! I told Ryan I forgot how good just plain bread and butter can be. I also whipped together an
herb salad drizzled with a
raspberry vinaigrette. Yum.
Here's a quick snapshot of our dinner table. It was a great, scrumptious meal, and probably cost us less than going out for an expensive steak dinner!
Cheers!
