"Let's Eat!"

Baked Potato with Horseradish Mayonnaise
Steamed Broccoli with Tahini Compound Butter

You will need:
Angus or other good quality Rib Eye Steak – one/serving (I used a steak that was cut one inch thick)
Broccoli Crown – one/per serving
Baking Potato – one small/per serving
Garlic clove – two/serving
Shallot clove – two/serving
Olive Oil – two TBSP/serving
Panko Bread Crumbs – approximately three TBSP/serving
Tahini – approximately one TBSP/serving
Softened Unsalted Butter – approximately one TBSP/Serving
Sea or Kosher Salt – to taste
Fresh Ground Pepper – to taste
Mayonnaise (jarred will do) – one TBSP/serving
Horseradish (jarred will do) – one TBSP/serving

Prepare crust:
Finely dice garlic and shallot cloves place into preheated sauté pan and cook until just translucent (do not brown) set aside to cool. When garlic/shallot mixture is cool add Panko crumbs to coat, set aside.

For Horseradish Mayonnaise:
Combine horseradish and mayonnaise and set aside. If you decide to use fresh horseradish you will have too grate a little more than the stated one TBSP and combine with a little vinegar and sugar.

For Tahini Compound Butter:
Bring butter to room temperature to soften then combine well with Tahini Paste and set aside.

Prepare the Potato:
Coat the potato with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake as you would normally when the potato is finished baking start with the balance of the steps to follow (keep warm)

Prepare the steak:
I used an oven ready grill pan however you can sauté the steak if you desire. Coat both sides of the steak with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Sauté/grill steak on one side for approximately five minutes or until a good crust/grill marks are evident. Turn steak and coat with the bread crumb mixture. If you are using a sauté pan you will need to turn the steak over one additional time to get the crust mixture crisped and browned. This step will take a little practice since you might lose some of the coating. Finish steak to desired doneness

In the meantime steam the broccoli crown(s) until just al denté.

Top the broccoli with compound butter, cut open the potato and top with horseradish/mayonnaise plate and serve.

I like a good steak occasionally and although I, at times, like it with a little steak sauce [my latest favorite is A-1 Cracked Peppercorn] I decided to do something with mushrooms, onions and Marsala wine. It is simple, quick and easy and hits the spot. I served this with Baby Brussels Sprouts.

You will need:
Bone-in New York Strip steak approximately 8 ounces/serving.
Coarse Sea Salt
Cracked Pepper
Olive Oil
Baby Brussels Sprouts approximately 4 ounces/serving
Butter (unsalted) approximately two tablespoons/serving.
Button Mushrooms, sliced, approximately 4 ounces/serving
Sweet Onion such as Walla Walla or Vidalia, sliced thin.
Dry Marsala Wine approximately 4 TBSP/serving.
Kosher Salt/Pepper

Rub olive oil on both sides of steak, season with sea salt and cracked pepper then grill or pan sauté to desired doneness. While steak is cooking pour olive oil into a sauté pan large enough to hold all ingredients add butter when oil is warm, add sliced mushrooms and onions, season with salt and pepper. Sauté until mushrooms lose most of their moisture and onions are translucent. Add Marsala wine and continue to cook until wine is absorbed.

While the steak and mushrooms are cooking place Brussels Sprouts in a pot of boiling water, make sure the pot is large enough to hold all the sprouts without crowding. Depending on the size of the sprouts boil, until they are fork tender then remove from pot and keep warm. In a small sauce pot melt butter until just foamy, add salt/pepper to taste, add a small amount of cornstarch or arrowroot to some water to form a smooth paste whisk into butter until slightly thickened add Brussels sprouts to coat.

Pasta with Five Cheeses and Pancetta

This is not your kids mac and cheese but they will love it too. You can adjust quantities according to your personal taste.

You will need:
Parmesan Cheese – shredded – 1/2 cup
Mozzarella Cheese – 1/2 cup (use fresh not smoked)
Asiago Cheese – shredded – 1/2 cup
Fontina Cheese – shredded – 1/2 cup
Gorgonzola Cheese – 1/4 cup
Whole Milk – 4 qts – heated
All purpose Flour – 8 TBS
Butter – 8 TBS
Fresh nutmeg
Pancetta – 1/4 inch thick slice – 1 or 2 depending on taste
Good quality Italian/french bread (use food processor to crumb) – approximately 1/2 cup
Salt/pepper – to taste (if you want a cleaner sauce use white pepper)
Olive Oil
Tubular or shaped pasta such as penne rigate, radiatore, farfalle, cavatappi or conchiglie – 1 pound

Prepare pasta by bringing large pot of salted water to a rapid boil, add pasta and cook until just below al dente. In a dutch oven or pot large enough to hold cooked pasta plus one quart liquid heat one tablespoon olive oil. Cut pancetta into 1/4 inch dice, when oil is heated add pancetta. Cook pancetta until crisp, remove from pot with slotted spoon and reserve. Pour off any fat left from pancetta add butter and flour and cook until combined scraping up brown bits from pan. Slowly pour heated milk into pot stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Bring milk to a fast simmer then add Parmesan, Asiago and Fontina cheeses stirring well to allow cheeses to melt. Add salt and pepper to taste and 4 or 5 scrapes of the nutmeg, stir well. Remove from heat, fold in cooked pasta until well coated, crumble gorgonzola cheese into mixture, combine well, cut mozzerella cheese into 1/2 inch chunks then fold into mixture

Butter a 9 x 13 oven proof dish, pour cheese and pasta mixture into pan and level top, combine bread crumbs with parmesan cheese and cover top. Bake in a 350° F oven until top is golden brown. This works well as a side dish or main course.

This very simple, easy to make side dish enhances any meal. For a picture of these delights see Lamb chop recipe

You will need:
Red Potato “B” (standard size letter) – approximately 3/serving
Olive Oil – enough to coat
Kosher or Sea salt
Fresh Ground Pepper
Fresh Rosemary approximately 1 tsp/serving

Heat oven to 400° F. Strip rosemary leaves from stalk then chop finely. Cut potatoes in half length wise, coat all sides with olive oil then season with salt and pepper to taste place on roasting pan cut side up then sprinkle with fresh chopped rosemary. Roast until fork tender.

This easy to prepare side dish works well with any meal. It can be served as is or added to you favorite pilaf recipe. This recipe will provide approximately 3 cups cooked rice.

You will need:
1/4 cup Texmati Rice
1/4 cup Red Rice
1/4 cup Wild Rice
1/4 cup Brown Rice
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 tsp Argan, Sesame, Walnut or your favorite seed oil (do not use peanut oil)
Salt/Pepper to taste.

Put all items in a sauce pot, bring water up to rolling boil, reduce to simmer, cover pot with tight fitting lid cook for 15 minutes, remove from heat and let stand, covered for 10/15 minutes before serving. I used Argan oil when making this dish it provides a nice nutty flavor. You can find this Moroccan oil in specialty stores or on the internet. It is somewhat expensive due to the fact that the trees that grow the nut are becoming more and more rare and it might disappear altogether and since it holds well you might want to but some for your larder.

This side dish works well with chicken,turkey, pork or ham the slight touch of ginger enhances the flavor of each product.

You will need:
Sweet Potato approximately 3 oz./person
Carrot approximately 3 oz./person
Pearl Onion approximately 3 oz./person
Butter approximately 1 TBS/serving
Brown sugar (either light or dark) approximately 1 TBS/serving
Ginger Powder approximately 1 tsp./serving
Salt/pepper

Cut sweet potato and carrot into large dice (about the same size as onions used) steam vegetables until just under fork tender. I used frozen pearl onions for this recipe if you use fresh you will need to blanch them until tender remove husks before proceeding. In a skillet large enough to hold all the vegetables place one TBS butter/serving and heat until butter foams, add pearl onions and sauté until just golden, add brown sugar and ginger along with steamed potato and carrot. If you need to add more butter do so at this stage to allow sugar to coat vegetables. Cook until potato and carrot are fork tender, serve.