July 28, 2010

new york, new york

I can't tell you how excited I am about this post. This is my very first food posting. As a girl who loves the kitchen you would think I would have more of these. I promise, this is the first, but not the last. I hope to blog a recipe at LEAST once a week. If I can more often then I most definitely will!! You see, I work two jobs. Two full time jobs. And both of them stress me out. But cooking is what I love the most. So I want to share a little of that love with all of you.

I chose a steak for my first posting. I am after all, a steak and potatoes kind of girl <3 This posting is inspired by Tyler Florence. I love watching his Ultimates episodes. This is from his Ultimate Steakhouse episode. This steak is served with a delicious potato pancake and a creamy Bernaise sauce. I also made a lovely wedge salad. So simple and SO delicious.

New York,  New York...

I started my grocery shopping off at the butcher shop. They're local and I love them. I try to get all of my meats and cheeses from there. I decided to pick up two New York steaks. My roommate Matt went to Safeway to grab all the rest. 

Grocery List:
2 New Yorks
3 Lemons
7 Eggs
Tons of fresh herbs ( sage, rosemary, parsley, thyme, chives, and tarragon)
Iceberg Lettuce
Blue Cheese Crumbles
Shallots (3-4)
Bacon
Kosher Salt
2 Large Russets
Wine (meow)
Garlic

The first thing that you want to do is prep work. Cut up and pick your herbs. Dice up your shallots. Cut your bacon into small strips.



Take your bacon and start cooking it down. Throw your shallots in about half way through...
Once these are cooked, set this mixture to the side. This is for our potato pancakes.



Next you take all of your herbs and throw them in a food processor. You really want to get a rough chop on these. Throw in some garlic too. I love garlic and almost never leave it out of a meal.  If you don't have a food processor you can chop the herbs yourself. This will work just fine. I promise.



After you have them all mixed together, you want to wisk up a bunch of egg whites. 6 to be exact. Save the yolks, because we will use these for the béarnaise sauce.


Wisk the whites until you form a soft peak. Don't give up too soon. This step takes some time and dedication...



Once you have reached soft peak form, gently fold in your herb mixture, along with 2 cups of Kosher salt. I know this sounds crazy. But what you're making is a salt-herb crust that will flavor your steak PERFECTLY. You can set this to the side.



Now take your two potatoes and give em a peel. Quickly work them over a box grater. You don't want your potatoes to turn. They will do so quickly. Then take a cheese cloth or a CLEAN thin kitchen towel.  Take your shredded potatoes and throw them into the middle of your cloth. Make a sack out of this and SQUEEZE the water out of the potatoes. Keep squeezing. You would be surprised at how much water is in potatoes!! Mix your potatoes with the bacon and shallot mixture, along with the bacon fat. You need to the fat from the bacon for flavor. Yum. Also throw in ONE egg white. This will act as a binding agent.  Heat up an oven safe skillet and add oil. Wait until you have a slight smoke and then throw your mixture into the pan. Be sure to pat down. You'e making a flat potato "cake". Let this cook for about 10 minutes on a low temp. You need to give the potatoes a fair chance to really come together and cook on the bottom. Try not to over season either. The bacon will offer you plenty of salt!


Take your egg white foam and spread this all over your steaks. Be sure to cover the top and the sides! Throw your steaks in a 450 degree oven for ABOUT 20 minutes. Also flip your potato pancake after it has come together on the bottom. Once you have flipped it over, throw it in the oven for about 15 minutes!




Now, take a smaller pan and sweat off one large shallot. Add four sprigs of roughly chopped tarragon. Once the shallots look a little sweaty, throw in some white wine and get them nice and drunk. About one cup. Don't worry, the alcohol will cook out. You want to reduce this down to about half. 



Take your 6 egg yolks and SLOWLY add in your tarragon reduction. You don't want to mix too fast because you don't want to cook the egg yolks at all. Now add 1 whole stick of melted butter. Wisking as you're adding. This is almost the same as making a hollandaise sauce. Slowly the sauce will thicken and become very light and creamy. Add in juice from a half of a lemon and season to taste! Set this to the side until your steak and potatoes are all done.




While all of that is cooking take a cup of mayonaise and a cup of sour cream. Squeeze in the juice of one whole lemon. Throw in some chopped chives and a lot of freshly cracked pepper. Wisk together and fold in blue cheese crumbles. Do not use a cheese that's too strong. This is a dressing and you want to keep it light and fresh!

Make wedges out of your iceburg lettuce and top with your dressing. Don't be afraid to have a hevy hand. This dressing is finger licking good!


Pull your steaks out of the oven and scrape of all of your salt crust. Then slice your steaks to order. Cut your potato pancake into wedges. You can serve the steak on top of this pancake and drizzle your Bernaise sauce all over!  Happy eating!



Make sure to share this meal with someone special and a big glass of red wine. Or a bottle if you're like me.

Please leave me comments with ANY questions. This is my first posting and I am sure I have rambled on a bit.



Also, one last thing... you can make a veggie meal out this as well. You can easily take some peppers and onions to mix in instead of the bacon. Just add a little extra oil for crispiness!!



xoxo,
SK







6 comments:

  1. i dont eat red meat but MAN this looks delish! you're probably a bomb cook! =)

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  2. So super proud of your first recipe post! I'm about to tweet about what an amazing chef you are. Meow <3

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  3. ok, i haven't had steak in YEARS but dang, this looks so good.

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  4. when can you come over and make me dinner :)

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  5. Omg this looks AMAZING! I can't wait to try it, and more of your recipes too :)

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