Day Twenty

She Said:

We had a fabulous dinner tonight! Excellent all the way around. He wanted to continue his venture into cast iron cooking and so the main meal came from Cast Iron Cooking by Dwayne Ridgaway.

Blackened Beef Tenderloin with Gorgonzola-Chive Potatoes

6 6-8 ounce beef center-cut tenderloin steaks
½ cup teriyaki sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
¼ cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon coarse ground black pepper
2 tablespoons blackening seasoning
¼ cup vegetable oil

For the Potatoes:
2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, cut into large chunks
4 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
⅓ cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese (we went with Buttermilk Blue on the advice of the cheese expert at Wegmans)
¼ cup chopped fresh chives

In a large bowl combine the teriyaki sauce with the Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, soy sauce, and black pepper. Place the tenderloin steaks fully submerged in the marinade; cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Place the potatoes in a large pot filled with water. Bring to a boil, then cook potatoes until tender when pierced with a fork, about 20 minutes. Drain the potatoes, leaving them behind in the pot, and add the butter, heavy cream, salt, and pepper. Using a potato masher, mash to a thick puree. Add Gorgonzola cheese and chives, stirring to combine and melt the cheese, cover, and set aside, keeping warm.
Remove the steaks from the marinade and pat dry. Coat evenly and generously with blackened seasoning. Heat vegetable oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the steaks in one even layer, searing for 7 minutes per side (for medium rare), 10 minutes per side for medium and 12 minutes per side for well done. If you like your steaks medium or well done, reduce the heat to medium so as not to burn them. Transfer to serving plates with the mashed potatoes.

Please don't eat your steaks well-done!!

On the side, we had another recipe from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman, adding another notch in our lipstick case in our own Julie/Julia project!

Lemony Grilled Asparagus

1½ pounds asparagus (about 30 medium-thick spears), bottoms trimmed
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ lemon

1. Prepare a medium fire in a gas or charcoal grill.

2. Place the asparagus in a shallow dish. Drizzle the oil over the spears and toss to coat.

3. Grill the asparagus, turning occasionally, until tender, about 8 minutes.

4. Arrange the asparagus on a serving platter. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper to taste, squeeze the lemon over the spears, and serve.

Simple and delicious! I even did some of the grilling - asparagus I can handle!

Day 20/365:Recipe 16/175