A Cast Iron Dinner

My husband I have an agreement… I do all the meal planning, shopping and cooking. He cleans up the kitchen. I consider this a pretty fair deal.

This afternoon after perusing my new cookbook, “Cook It In Cast Iron,” I decided on two staples for dinner – steak and potatoes – not that uncommon for a Montana farm girl. On Black Friday, I had selected two Staub cast iron skillets at our local Olivelle store. I seriously couldn’t resist the amazing price on these two pieces of French cookware. While I’ve been using them pretty religiously, I hadn’t yet followed any recipes specifically for cast iron cooking, until today.

Just a week ago, we picked up 1/4 beef from a local butcher, purchased from a local farmer, and I was ready to try out the steak. I selected a sirloin early this morning expecting to turn the grill on outside despite the 6″ of fresh snow but the Steaks with Herb Butter seemed to be the right choice for tonight.

Thick Cut Steaks with Herb Butter (serves 4)

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and

Home Fries

1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, unpeeled, cut in 3/4 inch pieces
5 tbls. avocado oil (the recipe calls for vegetable, but avocado is my newfound choice)
salt and pepper
1/2 -1 onion, chopped fine
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 tbls. minced fresh chives

Microwave potatoes, 1 T. oil, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper in a covered bowl, stirring occasionally, until potatoes begin to soften, 7-10 minutes. Drain well.

Heat 12-inch cast iron skilled over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons oil and heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook until softened and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds; transfer to a bowl.

Heat remaining oil in now empty skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add potatoes and gently pack into skillet using back of spatula. Cook without moving them until potatoes begin to brown, about 5 minutes.

Flip potatoes, 1 portion at a time, and lightly repack into skillet. Repeat flipping every few minutes until potatoes are tender, well browned and crispy, 12-15 minutes. Stir in onion mixture and chives. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (p. 104 in the cookbook)

Note: I didn’t have the fresh chives and they were still outstanding!

To top off the steak, I sauteed fresh mushrooms in butter, adding cjzdo7rvqnmmbxurdnwt6w 1 minced garlic clove in at the last minute and tossing in the seriously flavorful meat drippings.

I recommend you serve this amazing dinner with a side salad of your choice.

After a mouth-watering dinner, I stepped away from the kitchen while my husband went to task. He walked over to the stove and said, “That’s awesome, extra potatoes. But, what a mess.” After about 20 minutes in the kitchen, in a less than enthusiastic tone, he further said, “I don’t think you’ve ever made such a mess of the stove.” Well, sweetheart, good food doesn’t come without a price.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Tina