What You Should Have Eaten #22

Sliced Herb and Garlic Tagliata
over Shaved Portobello, Celery, and Parmigiano-Reggiano Salad

This is a big undertaking for me. First, it’s the first time that I’ll be cooking steaks on my grill. I’m nervous and excited. Second, I’m throwing in some sweet potato fries. Why not? Third, the cocktail I’m having is something that I created.

I went the obvious route with the drink. The advocaat I’m trying to get rid of is egg based, so why not French Toast? Plus, with the ingredients and the fact that it’s a mixed drink, it’s also a play on words.

It’s a simple drink: advocaat and cognac with a dash of nutmeg and cinnamon. Ooh, it looks like I’ve sorely underestimated my cognac supply. I could punch it up with a little brandy, but I think I’m just going to make it a shot.

When I travel, I like to get a new shot glass from wherever I’m visiting. It’s given me a small but interesting collection.

I didn’t plan on the shot being layered, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. Looks kind of neat. And as a shot, it tasted pretty good. After last week’s debacle, I don’t think I can deal with an entire drink that’s mostly advocaat. It’s just too thick.

This is the first time I’ve actually chopped fresh garlic rather than using my jar of minced. Meh, too much work. I’m sure the minced would have worked just fine.

I didn't have much luck with the charcoal on my first few grilling attempts. I don't want to use lighter fluid, so I used rolled up newspaper pages as recommended by the little Weber booklet that came with the grill. Then I picked up this package of  Strike-A-Fire. It's like a giant, slow-burning match, and it's wonderful for getting the charcoal started.

I’m using baby portabello mushroom caps because they were a LOT cheaper.

I thought the steaks turned out wonderfully. Nicely done with a bit of pink in the middle. It was good by itself, but also nice with the salad.

I was most impressed with the sweet potato fries. I only used the recipe linked at the top for a basic guideline. I sliced up two sweet potatoes into somewhat thin fries. I tossed them in a bowl with some olive oil, then spread them on some aluminum foil on a cookie sheet. I then generously sprinkled some Seasonall all over them. Baked at 420 degrees for 45 minutes with a quick flip halfway through, and they ended up being delicious. Two out of the three kids liked them.

My sister wasn’t too keen on the idea of chocolate chip snickerdoodles, but she ended up having a few. She also named them. Since I used regular and white chocolate chips, we’re now calling them moo-doodles. I love it.