What You Should Have Eaten #44

London Broil with Mushroom Vinagrette

The drink with this dinner was a Star Cocktail: Calvados, dry vermouth and Angostura bitters. I have yet to actually spring for a bottle of Calvados, so I substitute with Applejack, an apple brandy made in Virginia. It’s probably a tad harsher than Calvados, but it gets the job done. The next time I need a bottle, though, I’ll probably go with actual Calvados. I’ve been slowing gravitating toward slightly higher-priced, better quality liquors lately.

I usually balk at using the broiler (I tend to set things on fire with it), but this time everything worked out nicely.

I didn’t have any sherry vinegar, so I used 1/8 cup of cooking sherry and 1/8 cup of red wine vinegar. I think it was a passable substitute.

I probably should have cut a minute of cooking time off of each side of the steak. It ended up being a tad tough, but still quite edible. It was a moot point after the mushrooms were added to it, though. The combination of the fungus and meat was great.

Also, in case you've forgotten: When I can remember to add this to the bottom of my posts, I’m going to whore myself out with an impassioned plea: click on the ads. PLEASE click on the ads. I don’t care if you exit out of it immediately or actually look around. This isn’t some professional blog where I believe in the products I’m shilling. These are automatic ads placed by Google. But when you click ads, I get a little bit of money, and as a single father of three, every penny from every source helps...especially with Christmas looming on the horizon. So I’m going to keep this tiny bit of begging at the bottom of my posts, and I hope you’ll take an extra 10 seconds after reading my blog to click on an ad. The only thing it costs you is time. :) Thanks so much!

What You Should Have Eaten #41

Super-Grilled Steak Sandwich with Horseradish-Dijon Cream and Spicy Greens

I’m taking liberties with tonight’s cocktail, an Amaro. I’m not mixing, nor do I own a sherry glass. I’m just dumping them in a glass with some ice cubes. My allergies are kicking my ass right now, so I’m not in the mood to fiddle with some precise measurements and mixing. As far as the taste goes, it’s rum and amaretto. If you like the ingredients, you’ll like the drink…and I like the drink.

 

 

I might have gotten the wrong kind of baguette. It was awfully skinny and not really big enough for a good sandwich.

 

 

I really liked this meal, but I learned a couple of things that I’ll have to put into practice next time. First, give the steak about an extra minute on each side on the grill. It was thoroughly cooked, but it was just a smidge too rare for my tastes. Juicy’s what I want, not bloody. Second, slice the steak thinner. And the tomatoes for that matter. I had a difficult time keeping my sandwich together, but maybe a bigger baguette would have helped with that, too.

 

 

The horseradish-Dijon cream was very spicy. I didn’t realize such a small amount (compared to the sour cream) of horseradish would do that. It worked well on the sandwich, but I also used it as dressing for a bit of arugula salad. Wasn’t all that great. My sister ate it, though.

 

For the most part the potatoes were easy, but they didn’t quite turn out like I had hoped. I blame the chunkiness of the brown sugar. Next time I’ll just use a smidge of olive oil and some seasoned salt, skip the brown sugar all together.

What You Should Have Eaten #38

Shrimp Martinis and Manhattan Steaks

Manhattans seem to be the drink of choice for my dad, but I’ve never been that much of a whiskey lover. But you know, this isn’t bad. I was expecting the vermouth to really sweeten it up and make it undrinkable, but it cuts the bite of the whiskey perfectly.

I was talking on the phone while making this, and taking a picture of the ingredients totally slipped my mind. I used Canadian Mist whisky, Gallo sweet red vermouth and a bit of Angostura bitters. A maraschino cherry was dropped in afterwards.

I’ve been looking forward to fixing this for a couple of weeks now. Food flavored with Manhattans and martinis? SOLD!

Two-thirds of my kids will eat broccoli, but only crowns, not spears. Hey, I’m just amazed they’ll eat any part of it at all.

I know I didn’t get the right type of steaks, just regular strip steaks instead of New York strip steaks or porterhouse steaks, but those were just too damn expensive. I’m hoping that won’t affect the meal.

Yes, I know that shallots are onions, but they’re fancy onion, and I only got a small one instead of the large one that is specified, so I’m okay with it.

I have a shot glass collection. I don’t know why I started it, but whenever I go on a trip, I get a shot glass from the city I’m in. The last one I got was a Maker’s Mark shot glass from Louisville, KY.

Toast points? Is that just cutting a piece of toast into triangular quarters? Whether it is or not, that’s what I’m going to do.

I’m not all hung up on presentation with my meals, so no pitcher for the cocktail sauce. Although, my pilsner glass looks like it might work well. And correct me if I’m wrong, but this looks more like a Bloody Mary than a martini.

I tasted it, and while good, I didn’t get the required 2 cups of cocktail sauce, so it’s a bit soupy…and very vodka-y. Not that that’s a bad thing.

If I ever don’t have enough pictures to go with a meal, that means I started the cocktails too early.

This was the first time I’ve ever flambéed anything. I was a bit nervous at first, putting long lighter next to the sauce and clicking it, seeing the flame shoot up under the microwave. I blew it out before the kids saw it, then called them into the kitchen and did it again. The flame was MUCH smaller, but they freaked out. It was all-around awesome.

Well, that was quite a tasty dinner, and now I’m extremely tired. Since shrimp and cocktail sauce is a staple at Rosenblatt family gatherings, I think I’m going to have to bring a bit of THIS cocktail sauce and see what people think. As long as the young-uns are kept away from it, I think all will be well.

Probably for the rest of the month I’m going to whore myself out with an impassioned plea: click on the ads. PLEASE click on the ads. I don’t care if you exit it out of it immediately or actually look around. This isn’t some professional blog where I believe in the products I’m shilling. These are automatic ads placed by Google. But my experiment this weekend proved to me that I actually AM making a spot of cash whenever the ads are clicked. So I’m going to put this little disclaimer on the bottom of all my posts for the next month or so, and I hope you’ll take an extra 10 seconds after reading my blog to click on an ad. Thanks so much!

What You Should Have Eaten #30

Super Mashers with Steak and Pepper Hash
and Oven-Roasted Veggies

Tonight’s drink is a Waldorf. Pernod, Irish whiskey (Jamesons) and Angostura bitters. Gotta say, I’m not looking forward to it. I’m okay with the whiskey and bitters, but I’m not looking forward to a drink so heavy with Pernod.

I’ve always had a desire to try absinthe, but until recently it was illegal in the U.S. Pernod is a cousin of absinthe, both are aniseed drinks. Pernod is distilled from star anise where absinthe is distilled from wormwood. Aniseed, it turns out, tastes and awful lot like black licorice, and I hate black licorice. If this is what absinthe is going to taste like, then I’m no longer curious about it.

 

 I shattered my standard cocktail glass last night, so now I’m using the giant z-stem cocktail glasses. My drink looks puny in it. Oh my God, it’s awful. It’s like drinking yellow, alcoholic licorice. I'm going to finish it, but I’m not going to be happy about it. I’ll be washing it down with a Schlafly American India Pale Ale.

With most of these Sunday dinners, my sister is eating with me and the kids. Tonight she brought over a bottle of Apothic Red. It’s quite tasty.

 

This meal is very prep heavy. I’ve already been at this for about an hour and a half, and I don’t think I’m close to being done.

What the kids had.

What Katie and I had.

Katie and I thought the dinner was great. The kids didn’t eat a thing. What kid DOESN’T like mashed potatoes and cheese? And my kids LOVE steak! And nobody ate a thing. Sigh.

What You Should Have Eaten #29

Sweet Spice-Rubbed Rib-Eyes
with Baked Sweet Potatoes and Salad

I’m writing this two days after the fact. Right before I started cooking, my computer crapped out on me. My six-month-old computer. Thank God for system restore points though, right?

I can’t remember what drink I made. It was sweet and forgettable. I know there was sweet white vermouth, red vermouth and a dash of orange bitters. There might have been some sherry, too. I finished with a bottle of Atwater Vanilla Java Porter. It was a very good beer.

I was nervous about this recipe. Not that it was difficult to prepare, just that I’ve not had much luck with getting a decent amount of charcoal going, at least enough to evenly cook throughout the grill. I can get it to start well enough because of these starter sticks I use, but the flame doesn’t spread all that quickly. I’m going to pick up a charcoal chimney starter thingamajig (wow, MS Word’s spell check recognizes thingamajig) this weekend.

I used chili powder instead of chile powder. I’ll always go the less-spicy route.

The biggest complaint I had about the potatoes was that as they cooked they leaked all over the oven. I need to clean it out now, and I just did that a few weeks ago. They were delicious, though, and I didn’t have to dress them up with anything.

The steaks turned out wonderfully. A smidge pink on the inside, very juicy, and the rub meant that no sauce was necessary. I’m usually a Heinz 57 guy, but these were great all by their lonesome. The kids (well, two of them) even ate their steak. Hell, one of them cleaned her plate. It surprised the hell out of me, but I was extremely pleased.