Sunday, February 19, 2012

Valentine's Day 2012

We don't usually do anything especially elaborate for Valentine's Day, but often we make a slightly more elegant dinner for ourselves. For some reason, Kahlua-Cinnamon Brownies have become part of that tradition (looking back at the orange binder, I see we first made them for Valentine's Day in 2003!).

This year, we made steaks following this technique and topped with crispy baby leeks. We also had a potato-and-parsnip mash.

We followed the above recipes as written; for the leeks, Victor cleaned and cut them into 2" segments. After browning the steaks, I tossed in the leeks and sprinkled them with salt (use more than seems strictly necessary - they should taste "salty" at the end, since they're the only additional seasoning for the steaks). I stirred them just enough to keep them from blackening (although they did get blistered) and kept going 'til they were crispy. Then remove from heat and set aside while the steaks cook.

We steamed the potato and parsnip chunks and Victor mashed them once they were very tender (and added some cream, butter, and salt/pepper).

Neither of us is particularly skilled with making steaks; I think this recipe will be our go-to one from now on. They were perfectly cooked (to about 135F) in 40 minutes.

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