me. like. steak. steak. good.

I hope your read that title with the Neanderthal accent I intended.  If not, go back and do it again.  I'll wait here....

Ok?  You're back?

The point of all that was to say that the perfect steak dinner is the simplest steak dinner.  It cannot include any of the following:

• Truffles (the naturals ones that are super-expensive and hunted by pigs--does that make them appealing or what?  Can you tell I hate the taste of truffles?)
• A cheese that tastes stronger than the steak (like blue or stilton)
• Herbs (unless your husband/dad/boyfriend/etc. happens to be named Herb)
• A combined cooking time of more than 15 min.  This excludes the baking of the potatoes and the resting time of the meat.
• Diet coke or any other effervescent beverage.  Be a (wo)man.  Its either red wine or water.

I think what I am trying to say here is that you need to make a meal that lets the flavour of the steak be the star of the show.  Everything else is just there to support it.  And the time thing?  Well, if its anything like my house and your husband/boyfriend/dad starts bbq'ing the steak whenever he feels like it and without consulting with you about when the rest of the meal might be ready, you need to be able to prepare the rest of the meal in the time it takes to cook the perfect medium steak...give or take a minute.

 

The star of the show:  Grain-fed organic striploin from the Friendly Butcher.
Take out of the fridge about 1/2 hour before grilling so that it gets to room temperature.  Season with freshly ground sea salt and pepper and then grill according to the Weber's grilling guide.

This is how to do it:

Baked potatoes: sweet and Yukon Gold.
About an hour before you think you might eat, preheat the oven to 400, poke a few potatoes so they don't explode (that sounded dirty) and bake.  Serve with a touch of salt & pepper and nothing else.
In the background of this picture, you may have noticed some asparagus that I tossed with some olive oil and fresh garlic and salt and grilled on the bbq in an open tinfoil pouch.

and...

Tomatoes & onions.  Slice a nice, red juicy beefsteak tomato along with a few rings of vidalia onions and, of course,  the s & p.  Make sure the tomatoes never go in the fridge as they will lose all of their flavour.  

also...

Coleslaw:  Ok.  This one is kind of cheating but who cares.  It tastes good.  I get a small container of creamy coleslaw from my local prepared foods market and ask for it to be extra-juicy.  I then buy a package of coleslaw mix.  Over the course of the next few day, a few minutes before the meal, I mix a bit of the dressed slaw with the naked slaw for the perfect combination of lightly creamy and crunchy.

we also eat...

Sauteed mushrooms & onions.  For me, this is the only acceptable topping for this steak dinner.  As soon as the man of the house announces the steaks are going on the grill, melt about a tbsp of butter in a pan along with a bit of olive oil.  Toss in sliced mushrooms along with some onions and saute over medium heat while you prepare everything else.  Stir once in a while so they don't stick.

There you go.  A perfect steak dinner that was easy to prepare and amazing to eat.  It makes having to say home on a Saturday night because you couldn't get a babysitter (ok fine, you could have but you were just too tired and unmotivated to shower and actually wear something other than leggings and your husband's ancient red, holey sweatshirt) worth it.