Steakhouse Supper

When cooking for this post I was thinking about a classic steakhouse dinner.  In my head I picture a handsome gentleman and classy lady in the 60s.  Not the hippie 60s, but before that.  Like Don Draper and Joan Harris sitting in a dark restaurant, smoking, eating red meat, and drinking. This is that kind of steakhouse dinner.

Drink...

Dirty Martini
In my mind, they're drinking martinis at the steakhouse.  And since I prefer an extra dirty martini, that's what they're having.  
I have to admit...martinis (real martinis - not the fruity, girly ones) are something that I really want to like, but I'm not sure I'm quite there yet.  If there extra dirty they're pretty good and I could imagine that stuffing the olives with blue cheese would make it even better.  There's just something about drinking a martini that makes you feel cool.  And there's always the olive as an end-of-drink treat!
Ingredients:
(serves 1)

• 2 oz vodka
• 4-5 tsp olive brine
• splash of dry vermouth
• green olives for garnish

Directions:

1. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice.
2. Add vodka, vermouth, and olive brine.  Shake.
3. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with an olive (or 2 :) 

Dinner...

Filet of Beef and Twice Baked Potatoes
For Christmas my godmother gave us an amazing assortment of foods from Omaha Steaks and this was all part of it.  I was a little scared of cooking the beef because I have never really made "fancy" steak before.  But I followed the recipe and it turned out good!

Filet of Beef with Chimichurri Sauce
*recipe from The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook

In the steakhouse, red meat is a must.  And when you're having a steak, you might as well splurge and get the best.  So, filet mignon it is! 
P.S. Did you know that  filet mignon means "cute filet?"  That makes me like it even more :)
Ingredients:
(serves 2)
For the Steak:

• 2 (7-8 oz) filet mignons, 1 1/2 inches thick, dried thoroughly with a paper towel
• 2 tsp olive oil
• salt and pepper  

 For the sauce:

• 1/2 cup fresh parsley
• 3 medium garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/8 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tbs water
• 1/2 small red onion
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

Directions:
For the sauce:

1. Pulse the parsley and garlic in a food processor until chopped fine, about 20 pulses.  Transfer to a medium bowl.
2. Whisk in the oil, vinegar, water, onion, salt, and red pepper flakes until thoroughly blended.
3. Spoon over the steaks and serve.

 For the steaks:

1. Heat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Heat a large skillet on the stovetop over high heat until very hot.
3. Rub each side of the steaks with oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.
4. Place the steaks in the hot skillet and cook without moving the steaks until well browned and a nice crust has formed, about 3 minutes.
5. Flip the steaks and cook the other side in the same way, about 3 minutes.
6. Transfer the steaks to a baking sheet and place in the oven. 
1. rare= about 4-5 minutes
2. medium rare = 6-8 minutes
3. medium = 8-10 minutes
4. After baking, tent the steaks loosely and let rest for about 10 minutes before serving.

Twice Baked Potatoes

*recipe from The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook

This is the conversation that takes place while ordering in my steakhouse: 
"Would you like rice, vegetables, or potatoes?"
"potatoes"
"mashed, fries, or twice baked?"
"twice baked"
...of course!  Is there even a question?  It is obviously the best of the choices. It's like a super delicious version of a mashed potato!
Ingredients:
(serves 4)

• 2 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed, dried, and rubbed lightly with vegetable oil
• 2 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 tbs. unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 scallions
• 1/4 tsp salt 
• ground black pepper

 Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Bake the potatoes on a baking sheet until the skin is crisp and dark brown, about 1 hour.  Cool slightly, about 10 minutes.
3. Cut each potato in half lengthwise.  Scoop out the flesh into a medium bowl, leaving about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness of flesh in each shell.
4. Arrange the shells on a baking sheet and bake until dry and slightly crisp, about 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, mash the potato flesh with a fork until smooth.  Stir in the remaining ingredients until well combined.
6. Remove the shells from the oven and increase the oven setting to broil.
7. Spoon the mixture into the crisped shells, mounding it slightly in the center.  Sprinkle with a little more cheddar cheese and return them to the oven for 10-15 minutes.        

Dessert...

Best Ever Almond Cheesecake
*recipe from Terry L.
I thought for a while about what dessert would be served in my steakhouse.  Originally, I wanted to do cherries jubilee or bananas foster, but they required buying too many different kinds of alcohol.  So, I decided to go with a simple, classic cheesecake.  I made mine an almond cheesecake because I just love almond flavor, but you could just as easily substitute vanilla or lemon for the almond.  I also added some strawberries on top, but cherries, chocolate, or raspberries would be great too!
Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups vanilla wafer cookies, about 45
• 2 tbs + 1 cup sugar
• 3 tbs butter, melted
• 4 pkgs (8 oz each) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 6 eggs
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 tbs almond extract

Directions:

1. Place a roasting pan filled halfway with water on the lower rack in the oven.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
3. Grease a 9x3" springform pan.
4. In a food processor, pulse cookies and 2 tbs sugar until ground.  Stir in butter.
5. Press the cookie mixture into the pan.
6. On medium-high speed beat the cream cheese and remaining sugar until fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
7. Beat in eggs one at a time, then cream, flour, and almond extract.
8. Pour into the pan and bake on the center rack for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until center jiggles slightly.
9. Turn off the oven and let it stand in the oven with the door closed for 1 hour.
10. Run a knife along the edge of the pan and cool.
11. Chill overnight and remove the sides of the pan.        

 

              
 
 

A Very Vegan Birthday

June is a big month for birthdays in my family.  First up was my sister's birthday.  So I thought . . . what a better gift than a blog post dedicated to her!  :)  Since my sister is vegan, I had to change things up a bit from what I am used to doing, and use a few ingredients that are strange to me.  I will say, Doug and I both ate this meal (even though he was a little nervous about it) and decided that if someone hadn't told us it was vegan, we would have no idea.  Some of the ingredients did not taste the same as the real thing out of the package, but when they were all mixed together, they turned out delicious.  
Kate, happy birthday!  Sorry you couldn't actually taste the meal (she lives in San Fransisco and I am in NYC), but know that this one was all for you!

Drink . . .

Bloody Mary

I asked Kate what her favorite drink was, and she said it was a Bloody Mary, so here we are.  I never had a Bloody Mary until a few weeks ago.  I was pretty repulsed by the thought of drinking one since I am not the biggest fan of tomato juice and the combination of ingredients sounded disgusting to me.  However, my cousin was visiting and ordered one at a bar.  I gave it a little sip and discovered that I actually do like them!  The one I made here is a pretty pathetic example of a Bloody Mary.  It doesn't have any delicious garnishes or anything.  Being a Bloody Mary novice, I wasn't quite sure what to add, so it's very basic, but still it was quite delicious!
Ingredients:

• tomato juice
• vodka
• lemon juice
• Worcestershire sauce
• hot sauce
• salt 
• pepper

Directions:

1. Fill a glass with ice.
2. Pour in 3 parts vodka to 6 parts tomato juice and 1 part lemon juice. 
3. Add a dash of hot sauce (or more if you like it spicy!), Worcestershire, and salt and pepper.
4. Stir and add a couple garnishes to make it more fun than mine!

Dinner . . .

Vegan Seven Layer Tortilla Pie

*recipe from The Vegan Coach
I found a lot of delicious looking vegan recipes in my search, but this was the one I thought I would be most likely to get Doug to eat.  I was going to cheat and just use real cheese instead of vegan cheese (because honestly the vegan cheese scares me), but I went all out and used the fake cheese.  Eating it straight out of the bag was pretty gross, but in the meal it worked out way better than I thought it would.  It actually did get melty and stretchy like real cheese.  We also happened to have some Soy Chorizo already, so I cooked up some of that and added it in as well (and I took out the Cannellini Beans because I'm not the biggest bean fan).  This was great the way I made it, and also would be great with non-vegan ingredients, even though I truly don't think anyone would know it was vegan.
Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup sweet red pepper, chopped
• 3/4 cup green pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup red onion, chopped
• 1/2 (4.5 oz) can chopped green chilis
• 1 jalapeno pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 cups tomato juice
• 3 cups cooked black beans, or 2 (15 oz.) cans black beans, rinsed well and drained
• 3 cups cooked cannellini beans, or 2 (15 oz.) cans cannellini beans, rinsed well and drained
• 1 cup non-dairy cheddar cheese, grated (I like Follow Your Heart)
• 1 cup non-dairy mozzarella cheese, grated (I like Follow Your Heart)
• 6 (8-inch) flour tortillas

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325F.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add next 8 ingredients. Saute 5 minutes, or until tender. Add tomato juice. Cook 8 minutes or until reduced to 2 1/2 cups.
3. Combine black beans and half of tomato juice mixture in a bowl; stir well & set aside. Stir cannellini beans into remaining tomato juice mix; set aside.
4. Combine cheeses in a bowl; toss well. Line a 9" pie plate with foil, allowing 6 inches of foil to extend over opposite edges of pie plate. Repeat procedure, extending foil over remaining edges of pie plate. (At this point I lay down some parchment paper to avoid aluminum leaching).
5. Place 1 tortilla in bottom of dish over parchment paper and foil. Spread 1 cup cannellini bean mixture over tortilla. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup cheeses. Place 1 tortilla over cheeses, pressing gently. Spread 1 cup black bean mix over tortilla. Sprinkle with 1/4 cups cheeses. Place 1 tortilla over cheeses, pressing gently. Repeat layers, ending with remaining cannellini bean mixture and cheeses.
6. Cover with a piece of parchment paper, then bring edges of foil to center; fold to seal. Bake for 40-50 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Remove foil packet from dish; unwrap pie, and slide onto a serving platter using a spatula. Cut into wedges.

Dessert . . .

Vegan Cherry Torte

*recipe from The Vegan Coach
I love cheesecake, especially cherry cheesecake.  This is not exactly the same thing, but it kind of reminded me of those no-bake cheesecakes.  Anyhow, it was really good, and again . . . it did not taste vegan!  It's super easy to make and great for the summer because it doesn't require baking and heating up the house with the oven (since I cheated and used the ready made graham cracker pie crust instead of making my own :)
I will say, after this meal I am a little more broke though—vegan ingredients are expensive!
Ingredients:

• 1 package Dream Whip, or 2 packages Soyatoo Soy Whip, made according to package directions (I couldn't find these, so I just bought a can of soy whipped cream from Whole Foods and it worked just as well)
• 1 (8 oz.) package dairy-free cream cheese
• 1 cup organic powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 can prepared cherry

Directions:

1. Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla.
2. Prepare whipped topping according to package directions (or just spray it out of the can like me). Fold into cream cheese mixture.
3. Spread cream cheese/whipped cream combo over crust. Cover with cherries. Refrigerate overnight, or at least several hours. Cut into pieces and serve.