Steak, Potatoes and Spinach with Blue Cheese

So... it's been a while.

Let me see if I can catch you all up in just a few sentences...
I'm two years older.
I've had a baby. She's adorable and getting cuter every day.
I've done a lot of decluttering and reorganizing to streamline my life.

I think that about sums it up.

Now, on to the reason for the post.

Isn't that gorgeous.  I made up some of it, and while I was cooking I said to my husband, "if this turns out well, I'm totally going to make a lazy wife post about it."  And it turned out amazing.

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Steaks with Red Wine butter - derived from Les Halles cookbook by Anthony Bourdain
The following measurements are not exact and should be tweaked to suit your own tastes.

1 small red onion (the original recipe calls for shallots)
1 cup red wine (I used Merlot, you can get inexpensive red wine but make sure its something you wouldn't mind drinking)
Salt
2 sticks of butter

Enough steak to feed your family
Salt & Pepper

To make the flavored butter:
Mince your onion, and put it in a pan, and a pinch or two of salt (depending on your tastes).  Add the wine and bring up to a simmer.  Stir occasionally until the wine has almost completely evaporated. Cool to room temperature. Soften the butter and blend the butter with the onion.  You can do this in a food processor, or a mixer, or by hand.  Just make sure it's fully incorporated and there's no large sections of plain butter.  Then get out some parchment paper or plastic wrap, and make a log out of the flavored butter and chill in the fridge.
You can also freeze the butter and use it at a later time - I have a bit in my freezer that I pull out any time I want some quick, easy, and delicious steak.

For the meat:
Salt and pepper one side of the steaks.  I like using top sirloin, but you can use whatever steak you like. Preheat your oven to 350.  Also, preheat an oven safe pan on the stove - I have a lovely cast iron skillet that works great.  Once the pan is hot, sear the seasoned side of the meat and season the other side with salt and pepper.  Sear all sides and then put the pan in the oven and cook until it's done to your liking.  My husband likes his steak well done, so I get everything else going before I turn the oven off and take the meat out to rest.  Once the meat is done, take it out of the oven and put a nice pat of butter on top and let the meat rest for 5 - 10 minutes so all the delicious juices get redistributed and the butter melts.  Mmmmmm, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Pan Fried Potatoes and Onions
I eat this for breakfast most days with a fried egg, but they're just as delicious for dinner.

3-4 medium sized Yukon Gold Potatoes (about 1 medium potato per person)
1 medium-large onion
1 Tbsp butter (you can use the wine butter in place of regular butter)
Dried Thyme (optional)
Salt

I use a 10" ceramic non-stick skillet for this recipe.  Preheat your pan on medium heat.  Chop your potatoes and onion into bite sized cubes (for breakfast, I like to slice them more thinly) Melt the butter in your preheated pan. Add the onion and potatoes, and sprinkle a pinch or two of salt and dried thyme.  Cover, stirring occasionally (or do that awesome chef-flick to flip everything) until the potatoes are soft.  Then remove the cover and still stirring occasionally, cook until it gets deliciously caramelized and browned - you may have to turn the heat down so it doesn't get blackened.

Creamed Spinach with Blue Cheese
I just made this up last night, so my recipe is very inexact.

1 bag frozen chopped spinach
1 tsp better than bullion chicken broth
1/2 tsp garlic powder (more or less depending on how much you like garlic)
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles

In a sauce pan on low/med-low heat, add frozen spinach, chicken broth, garlic powder - put the cover on until the spinach has thawed.  Once thawed, add milk and stir occasionally while it simmers for about 15 min.  Add the blue cheese and stir to melt it in.


Then you serve it all up and feel like you're eating at a 5 star restaurant.  I'm so glad I added that blue cheese to the spinach... and I'm also glad that I made enough last night that I have left overs to eat for lunch today :)

Mini Pommes Anna

That's right! Potatoes! Not just any potatoes! Deliciously French potatoes, or rather Mini Pommes Anna.

Wikipedia tells us that "Pommes Anna is a classic French dish of sliced, layered potatoes cooked in a very large amount of melted butter."

I can't take full credit for this recipe, since I got the idea here: Bakers Royale

I changed the recipe a little, since I didn't have any Yukon Gold potatoes (those would be really good for this though) but I had a mixed bag of fingerling potatoes... and they were also very delicious.  And looked a little more like a real Pommes Anna instead of just a single stack of sliced potato.

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Mini Pommes Anna

Vegetable Soup

Do you have vegetables slowly wilting in your refrigerator?  Don't know what to do with those chicken bones left over from your Friday night dinner extravaganza?  Well, it's time to make some delicious Vegetable Soup!

We had friends over Friday night last week, and it being the first time we'd seen them since the beginning of summer, I decided to roast a chicken.  I thought about killing a fatted calf, but I didn't happen to have one on hand.

The roasted chicken (with sliced vegetables) was a little on the bland side, but once we had finished picking the meat off the bones, I through all the rest of it (bones, skin, and all) into a pot and covered them with water and added some "Poultry Seasoning" from my spice rack.  After simmering for most of a day , I decided that it was done, and strained the broth.  It sat in the fridge for 2 days.  I skimmed off the fat that solidified on the surface.  I left some smaller pieces because we all know that's where the flavor comes from.

Thus I had created: Chicken Stock. 

Now you may be wondering (like I was just a moment ago): What is the difference between Chicken Stock and Chicken Broth?  Aren't they the same thing?

The answer is no.  Chicken Stock is made from the bones and stuff you wouldn't normally eat on the chicken.  Chicken Broth is usually made from the meat.  Stock tends to have a richer flavor because some of the gelatin is released by cooking the bones.  (Thanks, Food Network). For more go here: Wikipedia.

But enough about chicken.  We're making Vegetable soup today!

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Vegetable Soup
Recipe by The Lazy Wife

1/2 Onion, chopped - I used red, but you could use any kind
1 TBsp Olive oil
4-5 Cloves Garlic, minced
2 medium Potatoes, small cubes - I left the skin on and made the cubes small, potato skin is good for you!
2 stalks Celery, chopped
4 cups Chicken Stock - Chicken broth should work, or make it vegan/vegetarian friendly and use vegetable broth
1/4 cup Sherry
1 large Leek, cut lengthwise and then in strips
2 Mushrooms, diced
10 baby carrots, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen peas
1-2 cups water
1 Bay Leaf
Salt and Pepper to taste

You know you love the pretty colors!

Wash and cut up your vegetables.  Sauté the onions in a pot with the olive oil and some salt and pepper, add the garlic after the onion is soft.  Then toss in the potatoes, celery, chicken stock and sherry (you could leave this out, but I like the flavor it gives) add water at any point if the broth does not cover the vegetables enough.  After the potatoes are soft (about 15min) use a potato masher to break the potatoes into smaller pieces and give the broth more texture.

Then add the bay leaf, leek, mushrooms, carrots, bell pepper, peas and corn (as I said, empty your refrigerator... you could use whatever vegetables you want in this).

Simmer until the vegetables are soft and serve with some toast or croutons.  You could even put a little bacon on top, or add ham, chicken, rice or barley to it.  It would be very delicious with barley.

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 Now let's talk about the potato.  Not only is it fun to say... but it's a very nutritious tuber.

Potatoes are in the same plant family as deadly nightshade (belladonna).  But don't worry too much, because so are Tomatoes and Eggplants.  This family also includes Mandrake, Paprika, Chili peppers, Tobacco and Petunias.

this image is in the public domain

Potatoes have vitamin C, Potassium, vitamin B6, as well as a good amount of fiber.  With it's skin on a potato has about the same amount of fiber as whole grain bread, cereal or pasta.

Most people worry about the starch/carbohydrate content of potatoes.  But some of the starch in potatoes is actually resistant to digestion in the stomach, and has similar beneficial effects to fiber.  The amount of this resistant starch is related to how the potato is prepared.  Potatoes that are cooked and then cooled (such as in potato salad) have more insoluble starch than hot potatoes (by nearly double).  Maybe next time we'll be making Potato Salad.

(citations: Food Network, Wikipedia, potato image, Recipe inspired by Suzanne Welsh)