Rib Eye Steaks from McCall's Meat & Fish Company

Last night was date night.  I took him to McCall's Meat & Fish Company for little TLC.  He picked out 2 incredible 1 inch thick boneless natural CAB rib eyes.  They were glorious.

I chose to cook them in a very minimalist fashion so that the taste of the beef came through loud and clear.  I heated a cast iron pan over medium high heat with a little olive oil.  The beef was seasoned liberally with coarse sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper.  The seasoning was massaged in with some more olive oil and then the steaks were set out to come to room temperature.

 
Each steak was cooked 6 minutes per side to achieve a nice medium rare.

I served the steaks with sauteed mushrooms & asparagus along with a liberal dollop of sour cream mashed potatoes.  The trick to awesome mashed potatoes is a lot of fat.  The more fat the creamier the potatoes.  I used a reduced fat European style sour cream and half & half.  The potatoes with seasoned with salt & fresh cracked black pepper.

Roasted Acorn Squash and Porterhouse Steak

Dinner tonight was Roasted Acorn Squash, Porterhouse Steak, Steamed Broccoli & Sauteed Asparagus.

Roasted Acorn Squash:  Cut the squash in half.  Scoop out the seeds and play on a baking sheet.  In a small bowl mix together 1 tablespoon of melted butter, 1 tablespoon of dark brown sugar and a dash of nutmeg.  Using a pastry brush coat the inside of the squash.  Roast cut side up in a 400 degree oven for an hour.

For the Porterhouse (A nice one serves two people easily): rub down with your favorite salt and spice blend*.  Place in a plastic bag and add in a few tablespoons of olive oil and a couple of splashes of red wine.  Marinate for about an hour. 
Spice Blend: Kosher Salt, Ground Black Pepper, Hot Aleppo Pepper & Garlic Granules.

In a very hot cast iron pan cook each side about 3 minutes and 30 seconds.  You want a nice caramelized appearance.   Then finish off in a 475 oven for about 4-6 minutes depending on your taste.  Let rest off the heat for 15 minutes before serving to make sure it stays nice and juicy.

I ate both halves of the acorn squash while making the steak and veggies.  Mr. Man doesn't like squash.  At least that means more for me.

T-Bone Steak

Saturday I was walking around the market trying to find something different for dinner and I came across two wonderful t-bone steaks. 

 I rubbed the steaks down with cracked black pepper, sea salt and crushed garlic.  Then I liberally massaged olive oil into the meat and set it aside to come to room temperature before cooking in a cast iron pan.

These steaks were only about 3/4 of an inch thick so I went with 3 minutes and 30 seconds on each side for a nice rare - to medium rare steak.

The trick to a good steak in a pan is to use cast iron, preheat the pan on medium high heat and don't move the steak around once it's in the pan.  Set the timer and wait to turn.  If you mess with it you won't get nice carmelized pan marks.

I served my steak with baby broccoli and mushroom risotto.