Two days. Two meals.

Okay, so not the most healthy meal out there. My cardiologist would not be proud. Still, it tasted good and how can you beat the most primal of food categories than meat and potatoes? Yeah, I don't know either. Besides, as an homage toward health conscienousness there is a fresh salad of cukes, tomatoes, and onions.

This was a great dish that started with the Eating Well magazine that had just arrived the day before. It's their recipe for Steak Diane - google it if you're interested. The steps were pretty easy to follow, however, I think I let the broth step reduce too much and it left it with a slightly thicker sauce than I would have wanted. Eh, cut with a little red wine, and it thinned out just right. Here are some shots of the process.

Sauteing the 'shrooms in a little olive oil and butter and reducing some cognac. Again, I may have reduced the cognac a little bit too long. The 'shrooms have been added to a pan that had the NY strips seared on both sides for about 6 minutes a side for ever so slightly over medium after resting.

The 'shroom sauce had now had the addition of beef stock and is furiously boiling away to be reduced by a little more than half.

At the end of this reduction, add a little bit of mustard and a mix of flour and butter to help thicken the sauce.

Once the sauce was ready, then put the steaks back into the sauce to rewarm and add any additional juices. Spoon the sauce over the meat, plate, cut and enjoy!

Meal the Second

No, this was not the same day, rather the second. Two home cooked meals in two days, what a better way to spend the weekend. This started as an idea to cook fish. We were all tired of the same ol' grilled salmon or fried shrimp, so I got the bug to bake a fried fish.

The entire family likes Tilapia (even the kids) so that was the start point. The breading was a simple mix from the store that was flour, cornmeal, spices, paprika, etc. I double coated the fish after a dunking in flour, egg wash, mix, egg wash and mix for the second time. Then off into the oven for a roast at 450 for about 7 minutes. Overall, I wasn't satisfied with the crispiness of the top so I put a little bit of olive oil on the top and turned the broiler on high until it was golden brown and delicious.

All of that sits atop a toasted seasame bun with homemade tartar sauce, and fresh arugula to up the spicyness of the dish. On the side is some delicious corn and a saute of zucchini and onion. To wash it down is some of the best of the German Oktoberfest ales, either the Paulaner or the Warsteiner. I can't remember because I was sampling both while cooking and I can't figure out which was in the glass when the shot was taken. I suppose it doesn't matter much since the glass got a little photo shy for this one!

After thinking about that moving glass trick in the photo, I was a little bummed as the glass came from one of our favorite places in Asheville: the Green Man Brewing Company. The wife and I happened on this place on the same trip as the entry below and could have stayed here all day, night, and into the next morning. It's a great "little" place with an Irish theme and good, craft brewed beer and some good food as well. I would highly recommend it if you're in the area. I can't find a direct link to them on the web, but just run the name against the goog and see what comes back.

Salut!

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