Ribeyes, Couscous and Carrots

One of the most economical ways to put a steak dinner on your table is to purchase the whole "roast" and have the butcher at your supermarket or meat market cut it into individual steaks. Typically rib eye steaks can cost anywhere from 7-9 dollars a pound and buying the roast will save you a few bucks-I have a supermarket nearby that periodically offers whole rib roasts for about $4.99/lb...nice deal!

I recently purchased a whole rib eye roast, had the butcher cut it into 1 1/2 inch steaks, and today grilled them and served them with a tasty Caramelized Shallot Couscous and quick sauteed Rosemary Carrots.

The creamy pungent flavor of blue cheese makes it a natural to pair with beef. I prepared the grilled rib eyes nice and pink and served it sliced with a creamy blue cheese sauce. No surprise here, but, the Barefoot Contessa has a recipe for a delicious blue cheese sauce that I often make for grilled steak. A word of caution here though...while this is an incredibly simple recipe-DO NOT LEAVE YOUR POT UNATTENDED!! Today I put the cream on the stove as directed and brought it to a boil forgetting about it while I was prepping the steaks until...I heard a "pst..sizzle" sound and saw a ton of steam. I ran to the stove and I watched in horror as a milk white waterfall of cream boiled over coating my glass cook top with a bubbling mess. Oh it will be a few weeks before that burns off or I can scrub it off and get it shiny again(any tips for cleaning glass cook tops would be greatly appreciated!)

Couscous makes a quick simple side and is especially great when you are making other dishes for your meal that may need a bit more of your attention. Tasty all by itself, this couscous can be a meal by itself and is great to use up any leftover steak you may have from a barbecue (just stir in the steak with the beef broth).

There are some days when you need to let your supermarket be your sous chef. A handy product I found recently in the supermarket fits that bill-premium Matchstix carrots. Being a home cook with limited knife skills, cutting carrots this small (and this uniform) would probably take the better part of an afternoon. These carrots saved time and actually had great flavor.

Grilled Ribeyes with Blue Cheese Sauce

Steaks:

4 boneless ribeye steaks

2 tablespoons salt

Blue Cheese Sauce (adapted from Ina Garten's Gorgonzola Sauce from The Barefoot Contessa Parties):

2 cups heavy cream

2 ounces blue cheese (I used a Danish blue cheese)

2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

Arrange the steaks on a work surface and season both sides with the salt and let rest for 15 minutes.

Bring the heavy cream to a boil in a medium sized sauce pan over medium high heat; let boil (watching!) for about 30 minutes. Stir in the blue cheese Parmesan cheese and the pepper.

Preheat a gas grill to medium high heat. Gently rinse the salt from the steaks and pat dry. Lightly oil the grill rack and grill the steaks for 9-11 minutes for medium rare, turning halfway through cooking. Remove steaks from the grill and let rest on a cutting board for 8-10 minutes. Carve steak into 1/4 inch thick slices and season to tastse with additional salt and pepper.

Caramelized Shallot Couscous

1 tablespoon butter

2 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 cup whole wheat couscous

1 cup beef broth

salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a 10 inch skillet over medium heat; stir in the shallots, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Let the shallots cook, stirring occasionally, until tender. Stir in the couscous and toast lightly. Add the beef broth, bring just to a boil then remove from the heat, cover and let sit for 5 minutes. To serve, stir to combine the shallots and season lightly to taste with the salt and pepper.

Quick Sauteed Rosemary Carrots

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

8 ounces Matchstix Carrots

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon crumbled dried rosemary

Heat the oil in a 10 inch skillet over medium heat; stir in the carrots, salt and rosemary and cook for 3-4 minutes just until tender-crisp.

Barefoot Thursday-Vegetable Pie or is it?

It’s Barefoot Thursday!! Barefoot Thursday is the day when barefoot bloggers across the blogosphere whip up a recipe created by Ina Garten the Barefoot Contessa. Why don’t you find out more about it by visiting the Barefoot Bloggers…maybe you would even like to join in (I’ll bet you would like it).

Thank you to Deb from Kahakai Kitchen for her wonderful selection of The Barefoot Contessa’s Vegetable Pie…what a decadent treat-vegetables in a creamy rich sauce topped with a buttery, flakey crust; what is not to love?

Well this week’s recipe became a “what can I substitute so I don’t have to run out to the Supermarket, yet again” recipe...I love the supermarket, but seriously I’ve been there every day this week. So this is what I came up with:

Butter? I only had 2 sticks and I needed some for the crust, so I cut the butter in half.

Checked the veggie crisper and guess what? All out of fennel-so I just left it out.

Onions? Replaced them with shallots.

Butternut Squash? Sorry all out, we’re using sweet potatoes.

Potatoes? I have a few white and a few purple-I diced them up and tossed them in.

Asparagus? Ahh, no. How about just adding extra carrots? (Oh and I only have the little individual bagged mini kind for lunchboxes so I just used those)

Black pepper? Used white-I'm on a white pepper kick lately

Parsley? Unavailable sorry, used dried thyme

Heavy cream? Half and half will have to do

Pernod? Yeah right, I’m lucky I have white wine in the house…I just skipped it.

Frozen small onions? I added a few more shallots and called it good.

I actually had some saffron leftover from making the Barefoot Butternut Squash Risotto, but I opted to not use it. But I did have the chicken stock (homemade...applause here would be appropriate) and I did use the flour. Oh and one more change (is this the same recipe?) I added some leftover parmesan coated chicken diced. So what I’m saying basically is that I did not make a vegetable pie, but rather a chicken pot pie loosely based on a vegetable pie. Did you follow all that?

The result? We loved it!

Vegetable Pie
Recipe by Ina Garten-from The Barefoot Contessa Parties

12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)

2 cups sliced yellow onions (2 onions)

1 fennel bulb, top and core removed, thinly sliced crosswise

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups good chicken stock

1 tablespoon Pernod

Pinch saffron threads

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons heavy cream

1 1/2 cups large-diced potatoes (1/2 pound)

1 1/2 cups asparagus tips

1 1/2 cups peeled, 3/4-inch-diced carrots (4 carrots)

1 1/2 cups peeled, 3/4-inch-diced butternut squash

1 1/2 cups frozen small whole onions (1/2 pound)

1/2 cup minced flat-leaf parsley

For the pastry:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced

1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Flaked sea salt and cracked black pepper

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and fennel and saute until translucent, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the flour, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Slowly add the stock, Pernod, saffron, salt, and pepper, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the heavy cream and season to taste. The sauce should be highly seasoned.

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Lift out with a sieve. Add the asparagus, carrots, and squash to the pot and cook in the boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain well. Add the potatoes, mixed vegetables, onions, and parsley to the sauce and mix well.

For the pastry, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the shortening and butter and mix quickly with your fingers until each piece is coated with flour. Pulse 10 times, or until the fat is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Divide the filling equally among 4 ovenproof bowls. Divide the dough into quarters and roll each piece into an 8-inch circle. Brush the outside edges of each bowl with the egg wash, then place the dough on top. Trim the circle to 1/2-inch larger than the top of the bowl. Crimp the dough to fold over the sides, pressing it to make it stick. Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot.