Steak & Onions with Hunter Sauce

1/2 tablespoon butter
1 large sweet onion, halved and sliced
2 boneless shell steaks (I prefer ribeyes, about 1/2-inch thick)
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 pkg Knorr Hunter Sauce (or 1 packet Brown Gravy Mix)
1 cup water

Heat the butter in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until melted.  Add the sliced onions and cook, stirring often for 7-10 minutes or until lightly browned and tender.  Remove the onions and keep warm.

Sprinkle the steaks with salt and pepper and add them to the hot skillet.  Cook, turning only once, for 7-10 minutes total, or until steak is of desired doneness. Remove to warmed serving plates.

Add the sauce mix and water to the skillet.  Whisk over medium heat, stirring to combine and scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan.  Boil 1 minute until thickened.

Serve steaks topped with sauce and onions.  Excellent with Mashed Potatoes!

Adapted from Woman's Day magazine recipe from 2006.

Steak Diane-ish

Steaks:
1 Tbsp butter
2 New York Strip Steaks, about 3/4-inch thick
Garlic Salt and Pepper to taste

Sauce:
1 Tbsp butter
1 shallot, finely minced
2 Tbsp cognac
2 Tbsp Marsala
1 tsp Dijon Mustard
1 Tbsp A-1 steak sauce
1 tsp honey
1/2 cup low sodium beef broth
2 Tbsp half and half

Heat an iron skillet over medium high heat. Season steaks with garlic salt and pepper. Add the butter to the hot skillet. As soon as the foam subsides add the steaks. Cook 3 minutes on each side until nicely browned.
Remove to a warm plate.

Add the second tablespoon of butter and the shallots. Saute for 1 minutes. Carefully add the cognac and stir to deglaze the pan. You can flambe it if you want to...but personally I don't see the point in risking my kitchen to an open flame! Add the Marsala, mustard, A-1 sauce and honey. Cook for about 1 minute or until syrupy. Add the beef broth and boil for 1-2 minutes. Stir in half and half until incorporated. Add the steaks back to the pan and reheat for just 1 minute (steaks should be about medium by this point).

Serve steaks with a bit of the sauce spooned over the top.

Yummy. Adapted from a recipe found on-line called 21 Club's Steak Diane.

Marinated Strip Steaks

Marinated Strip Steaks

2 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
2 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 3/4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3/4 tbsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tbsp dried basil
3/4 tbsp dried parsley flakes
1 dash Tabasco sauce
2 New York Strip steaks, about 1-inch thick

Combine first 8 ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until well mixed. Pour over steaks in a ziploc bag, seal and refrigerate for 4-8 hours. Grill steaks until of desired doneness and serve hot. Adapted from allrecipe.com's "Best Steak Marinade in Existence".

When will I stop ruining a perfectly good steak with marinades? I didn't like this AT ALL. And the steaks were beautiful. If I'd only grilled them with a little salt and pepper dinner would have been perfect....but NO! I fell for another raved about recipe and ruined my steaks! Blech.

Valentine's Dinner

Rib-Eyes with Mustard Wine Sauce

2 tbsp olive oil
2 Rib-Eyes, about 3/4" thick
Montreal Steak Seasoning
Pepper
1 small onion, halved and sliced thin
3/4 cup beef broth
1/3 cup red wine
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp butter
Parsley

Season the steaks with Montreal Steak Seasoning and Pepper and let set at room temperture about 15 minutes. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat until sizzling hot. Sear the steaks well on both sides, turning only once, until well browned and cooked to desired doneness. Add onion slices to skillet around the steaks and let them brown, stirring to keep them from burning. Remove steaks to a warm platter, cover with foil and keep warm. Add the beef broth, wine, mustard and honey to the skillet and turn heat up to high. Boil until liquid is reduced by half, stirring occasionally. Stir in butter until melted and serve sauce over steaks with a granish of chopped parsley. YUM! (adapted from allrecipe.com's Peppercorn Seasoned Steaks with Mustard-Wine Sauce)


Roasted Baby Dutch Potatoes with Garlic and Butter

1 to 1-1/2 lbs Baby Dutch Gold potatoes
1 tbsp roasted minced garlic
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 425^F. Place potatoes in a casserole or other baking dish. Combine garlic and butter in a small microwave safe bowl and microwave on high until butter is melted. Pour garlic butter over potatoes, drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt. Cover dish with foil and bake 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake 25 minutes more or until potatoes are fork tender and beginning to brown a bit. Serve hot. We love these! If you can't find the Baby Dutch potatoes, Fingerlings work great too.


Chocolate Velvet Cake with Vanilla Buttercream

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter, softened
16 oz pkg light brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
8-oz container sour cream
1 cup hot water
2 tsp vanilla

Melt chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl on High for 30 second intervals until melted (about 1 1/2 minutes total). Stir until smooth. Beat butter and sugar at medium speed for 5 minutes or until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Add melted chocolate, beating just until blended. Sift together flour, soda and salt. Gradually add to chocolate mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Gradually add 1 cup hot water in a slow steady stream, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in vanilla. Spoon batter into 2 greased and floured 9-inch round (or square) pans that are at least 2-inches deep. (If your pans are not 2-inches deep, use 3 pans and reduce baking time!) Bake in a preheated 350^ oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pans and let cool completely on racks.

Vanilla Buttercream

1/2 cup butter
16-oz pkg powdered sugar
1/3 cup half and half
1 tbsp vanilla

Beat butter at medium speed until cream; gradually ad powdered sugar alternately with half and half, beating at low speed until well blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

I used square pans and this was just barely enough frosting to completely frost the cake. The frosting is really sweet though so I wouldn't use more than the single recipe....I think if I ever make this one again I'll use seedless raspberry jam between the cakes instead of the frosting, which will probably then give you plenty of the buttercream for the outside of the cake. The raspberry preserves would have made this cake perfect! The actual cake itself was good, but if I'm going to make one from scratch I want it to better than good (!) and there are mixes that taste more chocolatey than this cake did. From Southern Living's 2003 Annual Recipes cookbook.

Southwestern Ribeyes & Spicy Garlic Bread

Southwestern Ribeyes

2 Ribeyes, at least 1" thick
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp dried cilantro
1 tsp honey
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp worcestershire
1 tbsp minced onion
2 tsp chipotle chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt

Place ribeyes in a plastic ziploc bag. Combine the remaining ingredients and pour over the meat. Seal and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. When ready to cook, heat the grill and cook the steaks until they reach the desired degree of doneness....medium will take about 7 minutes per side over a medium-high heat. Serve immediately.

Spicy Garlic Bread

2 tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp garlic & parsley powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried cilantro
1/2 tsp chili powder
Splash of hot sauce
Your choice of thick sliced bread or halved rolls

Combine the first 6 ingredients until well blended. Spread on tops of whatever kind of bread of rolls you are using (I had a couple of nice, fresh hamburger buns from the Publix Bakery) and place in a 400-degree oven for about 5 minutes. Turn the broiler on and toast the tops for about 35 seconds or until as toasty as you like. Serve at once.

Steak with Bleu Cheese Butter and Accordian Potatoes 5.26.09

Steak with Bleu Cheese Butter

2 New York Strip steaks, 1" thick
Olive Oil
Garlic Salt
Onion Powder
Smokehouse Pepper
2 tbsp butter, softened
3 tbsp crumbled bleu cheese
1 tsp. fresh chives, chopped

Combine the softened butter, bleu cheese and chives in a small bowl and set aside.

Rub the steaks with olive oil. Season with Garlic Salt, Onion Powder and Smokehouse Pepper to taste. Cook on a hot grill (or grill pan) 5-7 minutes per side (or until medium rare). Top with a dollop of the bleu cheese butter and serve immediately.

Accordian Potatoes

2 large baking potatoes
2 tbsp butter, melted
Garlic Salt
1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Slice the potatoes in thin slices, but not all the way through, leaving slices attached at the bottom. Place in a shallow baking dish. Brush with half the melted butter and sprinkle with Garlic Salt. Bake, uncovered, at 400^ for 30 minutes. Brush with remaining butter bake 20 minutes more or until done. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese if desired and bake 5 more minutes. Serve hot.

Steak, baked potatoes and a salad. My favorite meal!