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Sunday, January 28, 2007

The meat and potatoes of it all....

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As much as I enjoy displays of scorn and derision toward unadventurous eaters...sometimes what you really need are good old-fashioned steak and potatoes. Friday night was such a night....richness, decadence and good old-fashioned red meat beckoned.....along with red wine, it was simple meal worthy of a feast.

As the recommendations of winemadeeasy, I hunted down the 2003 Cathedral Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon. And what a hunt it was - in super-sub-zero temperatures, I trekked well over a kilometre off my bus route to seek out this wine.

Totally worth it. I think it might be my new favourite wine to sip and enjoy alongside a hearty meal.

One of my favourite veggie side dishes is roasted potatoes. Just pure, fresh potato goodness, crispy from the oven and flavoured with nothing more than fresh rosemary, fleur de sel, olive oil, and garlic. No powder from a package, no over-processed dressing. Just pure goodness.....

Roasted Potatoes (PERFECT with steak)
3 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 t fleur de sel or sea salt
1 T fresh chopped rosemary (+1 T reserved)
1 clove garlic, minced
5-6 yukon gold potatoes, cut in small cubes (less than an inch)

1. Preheat oven to 300F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or a silpat).
2. In a large bowl, combine olive oil, salt, rosemary and garlic.
olive oil and rosemary

3. Add potatoes and stir well, making sure potatoes are well-coated.
4. Dump the mixture onto the baking sheet and pop in the oven.
yukon gold potatoes

5. Set the timer for 20 minutes, and then turn the potatoes. Set the timer for another 20 minutes.
6. Reduce the temperature to about 175F, add the extra rosemary and another sprinkle of salt and cook a further 30 minutes (the long, slow cooking time is key to getting the perfect texture to these guys - you can cook them at a higher temp, but they won't be as tasty!).

Wild Mushroom Indulgence (perfect for a VERY rich topping for steak)
2 T unsalted butter
12 oz mixed mushrooms (I had shitake, oyster and crimini) and cut them into tiny little pieces)
2 small shallots
1 t peppercorns, crushed
1.5 oz brandy or cognac
1 c broth (undiluted)
1 c whipping cream
2 T dijon mustard
2 T butter

1. In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms. Once the mushrooms start releasing their liquid (about 3-4 minutes), add the chopped shallots and the peppercorns.
2. Once most of the mushroom liquid is gone, add the brandy and boil until most of it has evaporated.
3. Add broth, cream and dijon. Boil the mixture over medium high heat until desired consistency is reached (probably about 15 minutes). Just before serving, stir in the extra butter. Yum.

Wild mushroom indulgence

For the steak, we used top sirloin, bbq'ed by a very brave hubby in the deep-freeze-like outdoors, with just montreal steak spice to season. His was cooked to medium, and mine to medium-rare. Served with a green salad with balsamic vinaigrette (1 T balsamic vinegar, sea salt, pepper, 3 T olive oil, 1 T dijon mustard and whisk away).

Dinner time!

One of the best dinners we've had in a while....simple, decadent and AWESOME with the right bottle of red wine. Thanks for reading!

9 comments:

dragonfly said...

YUM! Looks so good, I will have to try it sometime, especially the potatoes!

Hey, have you heard of the Frugal Oenophile? If not, you should check him out - http://tfo-wow.blogspot.com/index.html

Jenny said...

Hey! Glad to hear that you enjoyed the wine! I agree, it's devine with a good hearty meal.

I will have to try your coating for the potatoes. Hubby is drooling over my shoulder as I type this.

Happy eating & drinking! I'm trying out a few new wines this weekend. This is getting to be an expensive side-project - lol.

Unknown said...

Hah, didn't take you long to return to your meat-eating ways!

Of course I'm teasing you. That meal looks absolutely delicious and perfect for a cold winter evening. I can imagine how well that wine would have paired. Sometimes I do wish I ate meat just so I could enjoy just pairings, but ahh well.

Foxy Renard said...

Good. God. I am so making this on vacation.

You should have a show.

A proud granddaughter said...

That looks divine!!!!!

(BTW - you have been tagged. Check out my blog to get the full details.)

Fiber said...

Wow - that mushroom sauce looks absolutely fantastic. I will definitely have to find a vegetarian application for it.

leslie @ definitely not martha said...

pinkmoon - thanks so much for the link! much appreciated!

clover_the_jenny - $$ spent trying tasty wine is never wasted....you might end up wasted though ;)

nyxie - yah, I'm definitely a meat-eater. But it's all been veg this week so far. :)

foxy - I have to confess that I've never actually watched a cooking show....I don't have the food network *sniff*

fiber - you could put it over any kind of fish (which I think you eat?), or even with a pasta, I bet it would be good. Gnocchi perhaps?

Thanks for all the comments!

HumanUnit said...

Oooh, fab. I'm ever in your debt for the mushroom topping recipe. I've looked for a cream sauce involving brandy for ages - one that didn't require me to flambee, that is. The thought of flambeeing in my wee kitchen gives me the heebie jeebies. Looks like a delicious dinner.

- HumanUnit/Sultana

Unknown said...

Oh my! I want to eat this right now!
I am making this on the weekend...now if I can just get DH to like mushrooms!

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