Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Steak...Rutabagas...Asparagus...Great dinner!

Marina here.  March isn't here yet, but I thought I'd practice doing a blog.

I may feel new to blogging, but felt like a pro after the way tonight's dinner turned out.  We picked up some New York strip steaks this week and since we were both home tonight, we thought it would be the perfect night to have a beautiful steak dinner. 

Greg bbqd the steak perfectly.  Very light seasoning and the flavor was just right.  Side note: I've always liked my steak super-super-well done.  But he cooked both of ours to a medium/ medium-well and told me that from now on - I'll be eating steak the way it's meant to be eaten :)  I happily agreed and am not sorry.

I prepared two side dishes, both from the Barefoot Contessa (BC) Family Style cookbook: 
Mashed Yellow Turnips (aka - rutabagas - I looked it up on Wikipedia - they're the same)
and Parmesan Roasted Asparagus.

The rutabagas recipe calls to serve crispy shallots on top, which I tried to make before, but my shallots didn't get crispy - only very soggy - and though they didn't take away from the dish, they didn't add anything either. So today - I skipped them.  Love - love - love this recipe.  What a great sub for mashed potatoes!  They're a bit sweeter and a bit creamier than mashed potatoes but not quite as sweet as a sweet potato.  Basically - perfect!

We gave up on buying fresh asparagus because between the two of us, we don't eat it fast enough so it always goes bad.  Instead, we buy the frozen asparagus from Trader Joe's (TJs).  It turned out quite tasty.  Only my favorite way to eat asparagus is when it's crunchy, and tonight it didn't get crispy - so that's the thing I've got to keep working on.  Not sure if it's a temp issue, or if it's because they're frozen (moisture, etc) or if it's because they're roasted.

Greg is opening a bottle of wine we bought from a local winery a little over a week ago - called a Frivolo Muscato Blanco - so I'll wrap it up and get back to snuggling :) 

Oh - one more thing - I started going through Kristen's cookbooks to find my 20 recipes - can't wait for March 1st!!

 


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4 comments:

  1. Krissy Meyers, Erika PhelanFebruary 23, 2010 at 9:52 PM

    I whole heartedly commend Greg for his good leadership of your home when in regards to steak doneness. And, I think you might be an expert blogger-great pics. I am thoroughly enjoying this already, though wonder if you and I will be the only ones who read this over the next month. :)

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  2. Krissy Meyers, Erika PhelanFebruary 23, 2010 at 9:56 PM

    PS. I have to say: Personally, I would not have admitted the thing about previously liking your steak well done.

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  3. Lisa and JeffFebruary 24, 2010 at 9:27 AM

    I read it! Pictures were beautiful and now I want to make a trip to Whole Foods to get some rutabagas! :) And by the way, my family always liked their steak like carcoal and I never really liked steak until my husband showed me how to properly cook it...so you're not alone!

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  4. AnonymousMarch 1, 2010 at 12:54 PM

    MARINA! i'm so glad you love asparagus that way, that's how i'm fixing it tonight! and i'm guessing your texture issue does have to do with the frozen factor :( we're having the teriyaki shrimp & pineapple skewers & parm asparagus tonight... my mouth just started watering.

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