Classic Steak & Potatoes

Man's Best Friend

What You'll Need:

- One Package of Steak 

• I used a boneless "Beef Rib Club Steak," total weight between the two steaks was 1.25 lbs. They were about 1 inch thick. 

- A Few Medium Red Potatoes

• I buy a bag of these at a time and keep them home. But you can also buy them loose. Depending on how many people you're cooking for, you'll only need a few because we're going to chop them up. But use your discretion based on how many people you're feeding.

- Broccoli

• I buy the bag of pre-cleaned and cut broccoli heads, but that's me. If you want to buy the full thing and clean it yourself, more power to you. 

- McCormick Grill Mates - Montreal Steak Marinade Dry Packet, 0.71 oz

• This is usually found in the spice aisle, or where you'd find all the different packet mixes (McCormick, Knorr, etc.)

- Vinegar (per the instructions on the Montreal Steak Marinade packet)

• Honestly, the instructions say to use Red Wine Vinegar, but I just use Balsamic.

- Lemon Juice or Garlic (one or the other, optional)

- Olive Oil 

- Water

- Butter 

- Salt

- One Large Ziplock Bag, big enough to fit your steak

How Long It'll Take:
- Prep for this one is pretty simple, and you can prep the vegetables while the steak's marinating, which will reduce the total time also. Shouldn't be more than 10-15 minutes.
- Cook time will vary depending on how you like your steak. Expect to be actively "cooking" for about 15-20 minutes.
- Total time is about 40.

Let's Get Started: 
1. First things first: prepping the steak. I try to follow the "room temperature" rule, but honestly I'm pretty busy and if my meat comes directly out of the refrigerator when I start this step, I don't sweat it. But at least take it out of the fridge and put it on the counter.

2. Make the marinade. I just follow the instructions on the back of the packet. They call for 1/4 cup of water, 1/4 cup of oil, and 2 TBSP of whatever vinegar you're using. I prefer balsamic. Mix it all up in a small bowl. (I use a cereal bowl, because I'm messy and can't mix this sufficiently without getting it everywhere).

• Reserve 2 TBSP of marinade on the side

3. Take the steak out of the packaging and put it in the ziplock bag. Pour the marinade into the bag, seal, and smush it all around. Let the bag rest on the counter while you move onto the next step.

4. Clean your potatoes well. We're keeping the skin on these potatoes, so you don't want any dirt floating around while they're cooking.

5. Cut each of the potatoes into quarters, or eighths - depending on the size of your potatoes. If you get the small ones, quarters (possibly even halves) would do just fine. For the medium size, I like to do eighths. The main idea is that you want the pieces to all be about the same size.

6. Take the cut potatoes and put them in a medium pot. Put enough water in the pot to cover the potatoes, and put on the stove. Cover the pot and bring the water inside to a boil.

7. Set your grill pan over another burner, and set it to a medium-hot temperature. I set mine to 7, but all stoves are different. You just don't want to use a maximum temperature.

8. Put some butter in the grill pan as it is heating up. Use a pretty good amount of butter - enough to coat the pan.

9. While your potatoes and grill pan are heating up, prep your pot for the broccoli. If you've never steamed broccoli before, don't fear! It's super simple. Just put a very small amount of water in the bottom of your pot, dump the broccoli in on top (yes, directly in the water), and cover. DO NOT HEAT YET. Set pot aside.

10. Once the butter in the grill pan starts to sizzle and your pan is heated, place the steaks onto the grill pan.

11. Cook the steak to your preferred taste. I flipped the steaks once every 3 minutes religiously, and cooked to a medium-well. It took a total of 15 minutes. 

• HOWEVER, the cook time will vary depending on how well you like it cooked, how high your temperature is, and how thick your steak is cut. Do. Not. Rely. On. My. Estimate. Use your own judgement.

12. Once the steak is almost done (or, you can even wait until it is done and off the flame if you're more comfortable), it's time to turn on the pot with the broccoli. 

• Broccoli only takes a few minutes to steam. The key is to ask yourself how you like it cooked. More mushy = more time. I prefer it to be raw-but-hot, so it's going to taste like it's cooked, but have a crunch like I'm at a picnic in 1998 eating it with ranch dressing. To get this effect, I only steam it for 3-4 minutes.
• Drizzle a TINY BIT of olive oil over the broccoli, and add some sliced garlic (or a small amount of garlic powder if you're in a bind / don't have time to slice / a vampire). Mix around and cover the pot.

13. While the broccoli is steaming, it's time to drain the potatoes! Actually, don't just assume that that's true. The real time to drain the potatoes is when you can effortlessly stick a fork through them. Realistically they need to boil AT LEAST 10 minutes for this to happen. But if you've been following these steps in order, it should be about that time. 

14. After you drain the potatoes, keep them in the pot and add a LOT of butter. Enough to more than coat all the potatoes. Also add some salt. Can't tell you how much of that to add, but just add to taste. These are potatoes we're talking about - they're supposed to be ~salty~.

• Mix the potatoes up until there's a nice coating on them. I don't have a great picture of this, but they should all look like this in the pot: 

15. At this point, the broccoli should be done, and you should be ready to serve your meal! Put the steak on the plates, and brush the remaining marinade onto each piece. (If you don't have a brush, just pour it gently over the steaks - you'll be fine.)

16. When you plate the broccoli, you can add a squirt of lemon juice on top of the buds for a nice little zing. 

Enjoy! :) 

Simple Sausage and Peppers

Well isn't this a nice treat? 

Perfect for Football Sunday (or any Sunday).

What You'll Need:

-  One Package of Sausage 

• I used Sweet Italian Pork Sausage. I prefer the long, thin sausage that comes in a swirl instead of the links, but that's my personal preference, and either one can be used.

- 2 Whole Bell Peppers, cleaned & sliced

• I used one whole green bell, half of a red bell, and half of an orange bell. This is completely up to you.

- 2 Small Onions, peeled & sliced

• The small onions came from a 5 lb. bag I had in my kitchen. If you don't have two small onions, use one large onion.

- Del Monte Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic, and Oregano, 14.5 oz. can

- One Loaf of Italian Bread

- Olive Oil

How Long It'll Take:

- Prep time for this one will run you about 5 minutes. But that's because I like to prep while I cook. If you cut everything beforehand, it'll probably take about 15 minutes to clean and slice everything.

- Cook time is about 30 minutes. 

- If you prep before you cook, then you're looking at like 45 minutes, max.

Let's Get Started: 

1. Using a large pan (the one pictured above is about 12" in diameter), set your stove to a medium/high temperature. I used 7, but all stoves are different. The idea is not to use the maximum setting.

2. Pour a SMALL amount of olive oil in the pan as it is heating up. I'm talking just enough to barely coat it. Let the pan get nice and hot.

3. Once the pan is hot, take the sausage out of the packaging and place it whole inside the pan. 

• You can place it in its original shape in the pan, just make sure you separate the edges a bit so you don't have any areas that don't cook.

4. As the sausage is cooking, start chopping your vegetables. Keep an eye on the sausage.

• Bell Peppers: I cut completely around the top of the pepper so I can lift the top, stem, and center out in one motion. Then, I turn the rest of it into little strips about half an inch wide. I cut those in half by length.
• Onions: I first cut off both ends of the onion, then take the outer peel off. (If you're having difficulty, you can make a small incision length-wise down the top layer and then easily lift and peel the rest off.) I cut each peeled onion in half, and then slice accordingly as each half lays flat-end-down on the surface of my cutting board. I prefer a medium chop. You don't have to make them too tiny.
• Put the vegetables in two separate small bowls until you're ready to use them later.

5. As the sausage cooks, it will begin to get brown. Once you've let it cook a while (about 5-8 minutes), you can flip it over to the other side. If the part that was on the bottom has started to have a nice sear to it, you're doing just fine.

• If you got the kind that wraps around in one long piece, it can be difficult to flip. Just use a pair of tongs and a fork to keep it all together as you place it over on the other side. Be sure to readjust so that the pieces aren't touching each other.

6. Cook the other side for another 5-8 minutes.

7. Remove the sausage from the pan, place on a plate to the side.

8. Using the SAME PAN, which should now have enough "grease" in it that you shouldn't need to add more, toss the onions in and begin to sauté using a spatula. (Basically just keep them moving.)

9. When the onions begin to turn brown, add in the peppers. Continue to mix them up frequently with the spatula. 

10. Once the peppers and onions get to your preferred consistency (the longer you cook them, the more soft they get), stir in the can of diced tomatoes. Do not drain the can.

• I cooked the peppers for only a few minutes. I prefer them to be less soft. However, I've had them both ways and they're both just as good. It's more of a texture/crunch thing.

11. Let the tomatoes come to a boil. Continue to stir.

12. Cut the sausage on the plate into "sandwich sized" pieces. I usually make pieces between 4"-6" each. 

13. Put all of your sausage back into the pan. Mix everything around so the sausage gets a nice coating.

14. Lower the heat to "low" and cover. The tomatoes should continue to simmer. Let this cook for about 10 more minutes. (Set a timer, you have one on your phone.)

15. When the timer goes off, make a sandwich using some Italian bread and enjoy!!

• For an extra treat, spread a thin layer of butter on the Italian bread before you put the sausage and peppers on it.... but don't tell your doctor! :)