Ribeye Steaks & Sweet Potato Fries

Without further ado, I present to you: the second installment of the Fearless Cook vlog! Enjoy!

Steaks & Sweet Potato Fries from Ross Cauvel on Vimeo.

INGREDIENTS

2 thick ribeye steaks (mine were about 3/4 lb. each)
1 and 1/2 large sweet potatoes (or 2 small)
~6 cups neutral cooking oil, like canola
seas salt and black pepper
olive oil

For steak rub:
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. paprika
pinch of salt
pinch of black pepper
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 tsp. store-bought steak rub

For compound butter:
6 T. room temperature butter
chopped fresh parsley
chopped fresh oregano
1 clove garlic, minced

For curry mayo:
2 big spoonfuls mayo
~1 T. honey
pinch of curry powder

For homemade croutons:
~1 cup cubed stale bread
~2 T. olive oil
chopped fresh parsley
chopped fresh oregano
sea salt and black pepper

For the rest of the salad:
Mixed baby greens
1 pear, thinly sliced
~2 ounces Gruyere cheese, in small cubes
walnut pieces (you can toast them if you want)

For the salad dressing:
juice of half a lemon
~1 tsp. mustard
~1 tsp. honey
~1/4 c. olive oil
salt and pepper

STEP 1:

Let steaks come to room temperature. Make the steak rub by mixing together all steak rub ingredients. Make the curry mayo by whisking together all ingredients; store in fridge till ready to serve. Make salad dressing by whisking together all ingredients; store in fridge till ready to serve.

STEP 2:

Preheat your frying oil for the potatoes. Turn a pot of oil to medium high heat and let sit for 15-20 minutes. Test the temperature of the oil by sticking the handle of a wooden spoon in - if little bubbles surround it, the oil is ready. Once you have a good base heat going, you can crank up the heat a little to make sure it stays hot throughout the cooking process.

STEP 3:

Add the fries, in batches the size of large handfuls, and cook until fries are tender. Use a slotted spoon to remove them from oil and place on some paper towels to drain. Once all batches have gone in the first time, bring the oil back up to temperature (just let it reheat for about 5 minutes), then fry the batches a second time, repeating the draining on paper towels process. Sprinkle the fries with sea salt while still warm.

STEP 4:

Preheat the oven to 450. Preheat a cast iron or fry pan (NOT non-stick) over high heat. Make sure it's REALLY hot. Put a little olive oil in the pan - it should start smoking a little. Immediately add the steaks and don't touch them for about 5 minutes. You want a good crusty sear. Flip them and cook on the other side. When both sides have browned, transfer the whole pan to the oven and cook until the steaks are to your doneness-liking. I think I cooked mine for about 5 minutes in the oven for a perfect medium to medium rare. You really just have to go by feel - when you give the steaks a little poke with tongs, if it's very very soft, it's still quite raw. If it's more firm, it's more done. Remember that when you take the steaks out and let them rest, they'll continue to cook, so err on the side of underdone - you can always put them back in the oven, but you can't fix an overcooked steak!

STEP 5:

Remove the steaks from the oven, set aside on a plate, cover with aluminum foil, and allow them to rest for at least 5 minutes, preferably 10. Scoop about a teaspoon of compound butter on top of each steak and let it melt. Serve with the fries, curry mayo, and salad. Enjoy! (How could you not?)

Steak Salad, Weiner's Circle, and Book Club

I may have mentioned before that I don't like salad. Don't look so shocked! I stand by my claim that cold, raw veggies piled on top of cold, raw veggies is no culinary triumph. And in the middle of winter? Fuggedaboutit.

However, top a salad with enough red meat and cheese, and I'll probably eat it. I'm also officially pioneering semi-cooked salad, where I add just an element or two of warm, cooked veggies to balance out the cold, crunchy ones.


Behold: Steak Salad with Baked Fries.

INGREDIENTS

1 (1-lb.) sirloin steak, visible fat removed
steak rub
nonstick spray
olive oil
2 baking potatoes, sliced into steak fries
salt/pepper/cayenne pepper/all-purpose seasoning
1/2 large white onion
3/4 c. chopped mushrooms
1 bag lettuce mix
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1/2 c. grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 c. dried cranberries
1/2 small English cucumber, halved and sliced
bleu cheese dressing
bleu cheese crumbles***

***A PREEMPTIVE NOTE: I had no idea how bleu-cheesy my dressing was, and in retrospect, I'd leave out the crumbles. Just use your judgment based on how the dressing tastes.

STEP ONE:

Preheat the oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick spray. Toss the potato wedges in about a T. of olive oil, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and seasoning. Bake for about 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned.


STEP TWO:

Heat about 1 T. of olive oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Cook the mushrooms and onions with a little salt and pepper until beginning to caramelize. Set aside and keep warm.


STEP THREE:

In a large bowl, combine the lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, and cranberries. Set aside.


STEP FOUR:

Tenderize the steak by beating it with a meat mallet (isn't cooking fun?). Rub the steak generously with the steak rub, and also with a little olive oil. Heat up a grill pan or nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Cook for about 4 minutes on each side, or until it's reached the desired level of doneness. Slice thinly.


STEP FIVE:

Place some salad on each plate along with some potato wedges. Top with the onions, mushrooms, and steak. Drizzle with dressing and add some bleu cheese crumbles.

WEINER'S CIRCLE


You blog fans who live here in Chicago can attest that the Weiner's Circle is a landmark that has really earned its reputation. For those of you who are uninitiated, WC is a burger joint in Lincoln Park (just blocks from my apartment) that's famous for its cheddarburgers and infamous for its...ahem...colorful after-hours antics. The women who work there take no crap from enebriated yuppies looking to soak up the vodka crans.

On the particular night pictured below, I was privy to two college-age guys treating the workers to a "sexy butt contest" (there was really no clear winner). And if you want a special treat that's not on the menu, just ask for a chocolate milkshake. You're guaranteed to like what you get.


BOOK CLUB

Jess and I started a book club recently, and I was the first designated host. The host's only real duties are to provide food, drink, and shelter to the club.

I was inspired by Ina Garten's advice about making party platters: always stick to large sections of the same thing.

For the inaugural book club, I did cold platters of olives, artichokes, grapes, strawberries, hummus & pita, and prosciutto-wrapped mozzarella. The only thing I technically cooked was roasted pears. Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

8 assorted pears, halved and seeds removed
3 T. butter
3 T. honey

Preheat the oven to 375. In a small saucepan, melt the butter and whisk in the honey (I used the last of my aunt's pear honey). Drizzle over the pears and bake for about 40-45 minutes, until softened and beginning to brown.

We read and discussed the wonderful book What is the What? by Dave Eggers. I highly recommend it!


Thanks for reading! I'll be back to the Fearless posts soon.

Blogcation

The new thing, I hear, is "staycations" - vacations where you stay at home.

I present to you Blogcations: a thoroughly modern concept of vacationing where it's perfectly acceptable to check your email, update your Facebook status, and even catch up on the blogs you're too busy to write when you're not on vacation!

I am blogging right now from Ocean City, NJ. I'd love to qualify "Ocean City, NJ," with adjectives like "sunny," "balmy," and "gorgeous," but as I type, the wind is howling outside at speeds of 50 MPH (15 MPH faster than the speed limit anywhere on the island). Rain is pelting the windows of our beach house, and the ocean looks downright angry (as Ross would describe it, "Victory at sea").

A few photos of the Ocean City boardwalk below, before the weather became inclement:




Despite Mother Nature's blatant disregard for my ONLY vacation of the year, I present to you the first annual Ocean City Beach Vacation Blog, or: Ribeye Steaks with Papaya-Pear Sauce and Stuffed Bell Peppers.

There are two outstanding food stores on the island, Luna Sea, a natural foods and vitamin store, and the Super Fresh Superstore - a traditional grocery store with two enthusiastic "supers" in its name!




Ross is really excited about buying steak:



Ross wanted Ribeyes. At Luna Sea, they were about $13 each, so we decided to get our produce and a few other things there (we had heard from a friend that they got their produce in every Wednesday), and submit to traditional farming methods by buying the meat at Superfresh (it was, in fact, both super and fresh).

Since it is our beach vacation, and we were (ostensibly) going to be spending time in bikinis (especially Ross - he just loves to wear bikinis), I wanted to keep the side dish light, hence the brown-rice-stuffed bell peppers.

Without further ado:

INGREDIENTS

3 ribeye steaks, at room temperature
salt-free herb rub (I used Organic brand Original Salt-free all-purpose rub)
1 bunch fresh parsley
olive oil for cooking the steaks in a pan
1 c. brown rice medley, uncooked
1 T. butter or olive oil for the rice mixture
1 small white or yellow onion
1 small can diced mild green chiles
2 green (or any kind) bell peppers
1 medium fresh tomato
1/2 a lemon
salt and pepper
1 small jar papaya chutney (or substitute another kind of chutney if you can't find papaya)
1 and 1/2 fresh red pears (or other pear variety)
About 3/4 c. wine
About 2/3 c. balsamic vinegar
dash red pepper flakes
splash of white wine (for the rice stuffing)

STEP ONE:

Preheat oven to 375. Cook rice according to package directions.



In a large bowl, mix diced onion, green chiles, and diced tomatoes. When rice is done cooking, stir into the bowl until well-mixed and add salt and pepper to taste.





STEP TWO:

Cut green peppers in half and remove seeds, stem, and ribs. Fill each half with the rice mixture and place in a baking dish. Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes, until onions become tender and green peppers begin to soften.



STEP THREE:

In a small saucepan, combine wine, balsamic vinegar, diced pears, papaya chutney, and a little salt, pepper, and dash of red pepper flakes. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for about 45 minutes, until pears begin to break down and sauce reduces and thickens to applesauce-ish thickness. Squeeze in the juice of a half a lemon and stir in before serving.




STEP FOUR:

Preheat about a T. of olive oil in a grill pan or nonstick pan over medium-high heat, and season both sides of the room-temperature steaks with salt, pepper, and salt-free seasoning. When the oil is hot, place steaks in the pan, cooking to desired doneness (about 3-4 minutes on each side for medium doneness, depending on the thickness of the steaks). Flip and cook on the other side.




STEP FIVE:

Serve steaks with a stuffed pepper each, and spoon sauce over each steak (do this tableside, for a little flair, if you want). Top with a little fresh chopped parsley.



JUDGES' VERDICTS:

CONNIE: The steak is great. This is the best stuffed pepper I've ever had. I don't like when everything is stuffed too tight in there.

ROSS: It was a Rib-bulls-eye. Good job.

MY VOTE ON MY DISH: 8 stars. I always give myself props when I can not ruin steak. It's always heartbreaking to destroy something so delicious (and expensive), so when they're cooked to a perfect doneness, that earns stars. I liked the stuffed pepper. It's not the most fearless thing I've ever made, considering I've made many of them, although I did buy sundried tomatoes to put in them, and when I rehydrated them, I tasted one, and it tasted like I've always thought raccoon dung might taste (I know you're wondering how often I've ruminated about the taste of raccoon dung). I threw those out and used the fresh tomato we had on hand at the house. The peppers were a good, light complement to the steak, I thought.

Despite the uncooperative weather, a vacation is a vacation (a bad day at the beach is still better than a great day at the office), and it was nice to have time to indulge in a home-cooked meal.

Thanks to my guests/hosts!

More soon...

Birthday, Part 2

As I was sitting down to eat the dinner I made for Ross as the closing ceremony of sorts to his birthday weekend, I realized that it wasn't very Fearless. Not only had I cooked something very similar to every component of the dish before, I have cooked every component of the dish for this BLOG before!

But, since Mother Nature INSISTS on dragging out Winter as long as possible here in the Windy City (see below for evidence), some good old comforting treats seemed like a good idea. Red meat, baby!


So, lack of Fearlessness taken into consideration, I must give my Filet with Balsamic Reduction with Baked Mac 'n' Cheese & Tomatoes and Bacon-Roasted Asparagus a
FEARLESS FACTOR of 3.

It would be even lower if I were not a bit on edge from the German Chocolate incident on Friday - the Great Cake Disaster of '08 (which has now eclipsed the Great Salsa Disaster of '06 as my worst kitchen performance to date). So I was conscious of trying to redeem myself, and additionally, steak (especially filet) is always a bit tricky, because it can go from perfectly cooked to tough in just a few short minutes, and I wanted it to be perfectly medium-rare and melt-in-your-mouth.

Read on to see if I did better on this birthday endeavor than the last one...

INGREDIENTS

2 filet mignon steaks
Emeril's Steak Rub
1 T. olive oil
1 T. butter

1 bunch asparagus
3 strips bacon
1/2 tsp. olive oil
salt and pepper

1/2 lb. cavatappi noodles
3 oz. sharp cheddar cheese
3 T. butter
2 T. flour
2 c. milk
3/4 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 c. Panko-style bread crumbs (I use Ian's brand)
salt and pepper

1/2 can beef broth
1/2 c. red wine
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 T. butter
pinch red pepper flakes
salt and pepper

STEP ONE:

Boil the cavatappi noodles until they're al dente. Preheat the oven to 375. When the noodles are almost done, melt the butter in a large saucepan, and whisk in the flour to make a roux, cooking it for about a minute. Whisk in the milk, and cook it over medium heat for 5-6 minutes, until it begins to thicken.





STEP TWO:

Break up the cheese (I used slices of cheddar since that's all I had), and whisk it until it's smooth and melted. Drain the pasta, and stir it into the mixture. Add in the halved grape tomatoes, stir to combine. Pour the whole mixture into a shallow baking dish and top with bread crumbs. Bake for about 30 minutes at 375.








STEP THREE:

Cut the tough ends off the asparagus and rinse. In a small baking dish, toss them in the 1/2 tsp. olive oil and salt and pepper. Chop the bacon into small pieces, and sprinkle it over the top. Add it to the oven with the mac 'n' cheese and bake it for 15 minutes.





STEP FOUR:

In a small saucepan, combine the balsamic vinegar, wine, beef broth, brown sugar, pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. Bring to almost a boil, and cook it until it's reduced by 3/4 and thickens enough to coat a spoon. Take off the heat and stir in 1 T. butter.




STEP FIVE:

Heat butter and oil in a skillet for the steaks. Using about 1/2 tsp. Emeril's Steak Rub (or any steak rub you like), press the rub into the raw steaks on both sides. Then cook them in the pan on both sides until desired doneness (it took about 5 minutes total for medium rare, but these were relatively thin filets).




STEP SIX:

Ladle a few spoonfuls of the sauce over each steak, and plate them up with the mac 'n' cheese and asparagus. Mangia!



THE JUDGE'S VERDICT:

It was just Ross this time, as it was his special birthday meal. He had some wonderful things to say. A few soundbites:

"It took me 10 years to realize that steak rub is way better than steak sauce."
"I didn't think you could still impress me with your cooking, but I'm impressed."
"I love when my vegetables can taste like meat."
"The steak is seasoned perfectly."

MY VOTE ON MY DISH:

I give it 8 stars. I'm proud to say I did NOT overcook the steak, and it was nicely spiced. The 2 missing stars are for the asparagus - while Ross likes his vegetables to taste like meat, I like my vegetables to taste like, well, vegetables. And the bacon didn't get super-crisp, as I'd hoped. It was still sort of mushy - not my bag.

I do feel like I redeemed myself for the birthday cake quasi-fiasco. (It's worth mentioning that I am the only one who feels that it's a travesty - fortunately everyone had had enough beer by the time they tasted the cake that it wouldn't have been very memorable even if it had been spectacular.)

NOTE: I have a new favorite food blog that you MUST check out: Smitten Kitchen. The photography is so beautiful (in fact, it's inspired me to step up my OWN photography - how's it looking so far?).

As always, thanks for reading! More soon...

Steak Your Claim

OK, this one's a freebie! It's not a traditional post, but I found the pictures in my camera - I had forgotten I took them. I was so excited to try out my brand new food processor that I got for Christmas. I had some steaks, and what goes better with steak than potatoes? So I made Rosemary-crusted Sirloin with Goat Cheese-Red Potato Gratin and Roasted Asparagus. Yummm!

Here's how I did it:

I halved or quartered the red potatoes (depending on their size, to fit into the processor), and sliced them with the food processor. I put them into a 9 X 13" casserole dish. Then in a large saute pan, I made a roux by melting some butter (about a half a stick) and adding about 3 T. flour until it formed a thick, almost doughy consistency. I whisked in some milk, and then crumbled in some goat cheese, salt, and pepper. I let the cheese melt, and continued to whisk the mixture until it was thick. Then I poured it over the potatoes. I baked them at 375 until the whole thing was hot and bubbly and the top had begun to brown.





To make the Cranberry Reduction that I put over my steaks (to the best I can remember), I began by pouring about 3/4 c. balsamic vinegar, a splash of red wine, and about 1 c. chicken stock in a saucepan. I also put in some salt and pepper, a dash of cayenne pepper, a whole rosemary stick (leaves intact, to be removed later), about 1/2 c. dried cranberries, and a couple generous spoonfuls of strawberry jam. I cooked it about 45 minutes, the entire time I was cooking everything else. That way, it had plenty of time to reduce and thicken. I've made plenty a runny sauce - the key is giving it time. Just put it on medium heat, and occasionally stir it. That's all there is to it.


As for the asparagus, it's my go-to weeknight veggie side dish, and my favorite way to cook it is how I did it for this meal. All I do is trim the ends off and place it in a shallow baking dish. I drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil over it, and sprinkle it with salt and pepper. I toss it all together to evenly coat it with the oil and seasoning, and bake it on 400 for about 10 minutes. They come out perfectly tender-crisp every time.



And for the steaks, I had some relatively thinly cut sirloin, which is a really lean piece of meat - perfect for a weeknight red-meat meal. I used a steak seasoning blend all over both sides, and I finely chopped some fresh rosemary and pressed it into both sides of the meat. I heated some olive oil until is was really hot, enough to caramelize the outside of the steaks. Once they had some nice color on the first side (about 2-3 minutes), I flipped them and did the same for the other side. Then I reduced the heat to medium and cooked them for a few more minutes on each side, until they were cooked to medium.




This meal came out really well. The one downside was that the steak was sort of tough - I think that since it was so lean, it would've needed a nice long roast to really start to get tender. (But hey, when you're watching your figure, you have to make some sacfrifices.) The Gratin came out AMAZINGLY. It was so rich and satisfying - not the healthiest side dish I've ever made, but it was so rich, after just a small portion I was feeling full. And, as always, the asparagus was delish.

Try this one at home, folks! It sticks to your ribs.

Thanks for reading!