Wish You were Here

You know the problem with Food Blogs? They usually give you a recipe for only one part of the meal - the entree or the side. My issue with making dinner is timing. I either start cooking the sides too early or too late so then something always must be eaten cold or reheated using the microwave. So please allow me to present a new way of sharing recipes... with timing! Granted, I know I'm too lazy to make this a habit, but it sounds like a great plan, right?

The namesake for this post is an homage to how I felt after plating the meal. My thought was, "I wish Colin were here to share this." It's a wonderful dinner recipe and can be adjusted to suit your needs and tastes.

Steak with Roasted Rosemary Potatoes and Sweet Carrots

Dinner for One

I know it only looks like I have 3 potatoes, but there's one in hiding.

Ingredients:

Potatoes

4 small/medium russet potatoes

3 Tbsp. olive oil

3 tsp. kosher salt

2 tsp. cracked dried rosemary

2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. dried cubed garlic (or garlic powder) 

That's right. Salted butter. Trust me, it's fine.

Steak

1 inch thick cut steak
2 Tbsp. Penzeys Forward! spice blend

2 Tsp. kosher salt

(Feel free to use whatever spice combination you want. If you don't have Forward! but want to mimic the flavor you can use black pepper, paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder.)

"Baby" must mean "ogre finger sized"

Carrots
water
½ bag of baby carrots
1½ Tbsp. sugar





Pan Gravy
¼ c. water

½ tsp. powdered beef base

1 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. flour

(No beef base? No problem. Substitute beef broth for both water and base. No beef broth? Just plain water will be fine.)

*  *  *  *  *

Begin! - 0:00

Pre-heat the oven to 400°

Wash and cut potatoes into ½ inch chunks. Place on a cookie tray and coat in oil, salt, rosemary, paprika, and garlic. Place on middle rack of the oven.

0:10

Fill a medium saucepan with water and put on high heat to boil.


Toss potatoes with a spatula.

0:20

Season steak with Forward! spice blend and salt on both sides. Leave steak out so it will come to room temperature.

0:25

Add carrots and sugar to boiling water. 

Toss potatoes with a spatula.

Heat a medium skillet on medium high heat. DO NOT use a non-stick skillet and DO NOT add oil or butter to the pan.

0:35

Put steak into the skillet. Do not move it once it's in there. 

0:40

Flip steak to the other side. Once again, do not move it once it's flipped.

Toss potatoes.

Stir carrots.

0:45

Remove steak from heat. Cover with aluminum foil to keep warm and let rest. Steak will be cooked medium. If you like it a bit more done, leave it on the skillet longer.

There should be what looks like brown "burnt" bits at the bottom of your steak pan. On medium low heat, add water and beef base to the pan. 

Use a spatula to scrape the bit off the bottom of the pan and mix with the water/base. When all the bits are up, add butter. When the butter is melted and mixed in, slowly sprinkle in flour. Keep stirring until thickened.

0:50

Drain carrots. 

Take potatoes out of the oven.

Serve.

*  *  *  *  *

Okay, okay. So my sides serve a few more people than one (more like 3-4). But seriously, if I'm going to heat an oven for scant an hour, I'm gonna get the most out of it. Can we say, hello tomorrow's lunch box?

Printable Version

Dough Boy

I had the pleasure tonight to babysit one of my favorite people - my cousin, Adam. Okay, so he's my cousin once removed for those who are picky about it. Regardless, he's two and adorable. When he comes over, he loves to play with cars, farm animals, and tortures the dog. Today, I decided to do a sensory activity with him and, thanks to the wonderful world of Pinterest, I found a homemade Play-doh recipe. I altered it slightly, but here's the original recipe if you'd like to take a gander.

Ingredients:

1 c. flour plus more for kneading

2 Tbsp. salt

2 Tbsp. cream of tartar

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 c. warm water

1 (3 oz.) package Jell-O

In a medium saucepan, mix all ingredients together with a whisk until smooth. Mixture will be liquidy.

On medium heat, constantly stir until thick and the dough easily forms into a ball in the saucepan. The dough will burn easily so make sure you scrape the bottom and sides as you stir.

Sprinkle flour on a cookie sheet. With a non-stick spatula, spread dough over floured tray and allow to cool. When cooled, knead flour until it is play-doh consistency.

I followed the original directions and used wax paper. Never again!

Give to your favorite person and enjoy!

Genesis

My hands speak loudly though not through spoken word.

They knit warm gifts to show my love,

Cook meals that comfort the heart,

Calm nerves with sweet music of piano,

Turn crisp pages of a well loved story,

And speak to those who cannot hear.

And when I am old and suffer carpel tunnel I shall say,

"These hands are magnificent hands."

*  *  *  *  *

I came to a startling realization the other day: I can't do everything I want to do because I only have two hands. I wanted to read a book and knit but after holding the book open with my feet proved difficult as I knit-purled my way to disaster, I had to sacrifice one for the good of the other. Then I decided that I simply had too many hobbies that used my hands - knitting, cooking, baking, reading, playing piano, playing video games, eating (in my family, it could be considered a sport)... the list goes on.

Okay, what can I do that doesn't involve my hands? I could watch TV. But the TV I like to watch is Food Network. Then I'm suddenly inspired to cook, bake, eat, or all of the above. I can listen to music. But then my hands start to twitch as I resist the urge to interpret the lyrics into American Sign Language. I just have to face facts. I am a hands-on kind of girl. I also like to share my experiences, triumphs, and failures. Hence, another blog to clog the blogosphere. I began with a knitting blog at http://projectknit.wordpress.com but since my knitting skills are improving rapidly, my knitting projects are getting much larger and taking MUCH longer. Boring for a knitting blog. So I thought I'd start a new one to share all my little interests. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

~Andrea