100 Recipes - #52-54 Steak au Poivre with Roasted Red Potatoes and Boursin Creamed Spinach
#52 Steak au Poivre I've had a steak in the freezer for a while and we've been eating a lot of chicken and fish this week, so it seemed like a good time to thaw it out. It seems odd that I've never tried this before, since it's one of Jason's favorite restaurant dishes. I used the recipe in How to Cook Everything, which continues to do pretty well by me. This cooked perfectly in the time recommended and was very flavorful. I reduced the sauce significantly and it was intense and wonderful.
#53 Roasted Red Potatoes Another version of these, this time from How to Cook Everything. I added some tarragon to complement the tarragon in the sauce and that helped to pull the meal together nicely.
#54 Boursin Creamed Spinach This recipe came from a sample issue of Cuisine at Home and turned out beautifully. Instead of frozen spinach, I stripped and chopped and blanched the big bunch of spinach I got from my CSA farmstand last week, which reminded me why I never buy real spinach but rely on frozen and baby spinach instead--real spinach is a lot of work. But it gave a wonderfully fresh, hearty flavor to this dish. It did seem a bit loosey-goosey to advise adding salt, white pepper, cayenne and nutmeg "to taste". I did pretty well, although I think I might cut back on the pepper next time I'm serving it with steak au poivre. Jason was extremely complimentary about it and I think I'll have to make this one again. I think that adding mushrooms could turn it into a good vegetarian entree.
Overall, a good combination of three good recipes and an excellent meal.
#53 Roasted Red Potatoes Another version of these, this time from How to Cook Everything. I added some tarragon to complement the tarragon in the sauce and that helped to pull the meal together nicely.
#54 Boursin Creamed Spinach This recipe came from a sample issue of Cuisine at Home and turned out beautifully. Instead of frozen spinach, I stripped and chopped and blanched the big bunch of spinach I got from my CSA farmstand last week, which reminded me why I never buy real spinach but rely on frozen and baby spinach instead--real spinach is a lot of work. But it gave a wonderfully fresh, hearty flavor to this dish. It did seem a bit loosey-goosey to advise adding salt, white pepper, cayenne and nutmeg "to taste". I did pretty well, although I think I might cut back on the pepper next time I'm serving it with steak au poivre. Jason was extremely complimentary about it and I think I'll have to make this one again. I think that adding mushrooms could turn it into a good vegetarian entree.
Overall, a good combination of three good recipes and an excellent meal.