Meat epiphany! Steak and potatoes = delicious

I know, I know! Steak and potatoes is about the oldest combination ever. But I never really made the connection that it really is the best combination ever. I also never really fully knew how incredibly easy and rewarding it is to make a steak. I saw these potatoes on a blog, somewhere, while I was following all kinds of clicks that can never be recreated, so I can't find the original post for you. But that is ok, because I don't really recommend cooking potatoes this way, they were only so-so. I think a basic bake or mash would have been way better than slicing them, stuffing them with herbs, and roasting. Although they are pretty.

Anyhow, I am really more interested in the steak. I bought a piece of sirloin, cut it into two smaller-but-still-huge steaks at home, oiled both sides of the meat, and generously salted and peppered both sides. That's it! Then I seared them on medium to hight heat, let them rest, and obtained the medium rare that I was going for.

I am by no means an expert and am just getting started with meat, but here are some tips I have to share:

- Lightly oil both sides of the meat with vegetable oil that is suitable for high heat. I like safflower.

- Salt the meat with your fingers, using salt from a bowl. I always beep a little bowl of salt by the stove and this is how I salt everything. I use the big box of Kosher salt that is red, black, and white. It is not too coarse. Sprinkle the salt evenly over the whole surface.

- Use pepper fresh ground from a pepper grounder directly onto the meat. Evenly, over the whole surface

- Get the pan almost smoking before laying the steaks on. You probably want just a dab of oil in your pan. Add the oil first to the cold pan, and swirl it around as it heats up. The oil will get less and less viscous as it heats and can coat the whole pan.

- Sear each side to a nice crusty caramel. Don't smoosh your steak down with a spatula

- Let the steak rest! Take the steak off the heat, and transfer to a plate to rest. This is really interesting and important. They steak needs to rest not only to keep cooking and evenly distribute the heat, but to allow the cells to retain moisture. If a steak gets cut right off the fire, tons of juice will squirt out. This is juice that could have been reabsorbed and make every bite juicer and more succulent. About 5 minutes should be good.

- I think the medium rare is the best thing ever.

Biscotti, really easy

I came across this recipe for biscotti randomly, about 9 years ago. It is very easy to make, and tasty to boot. You can probably find all of the ingredients in your kitchen right now. This is the perfect time of year to make a huge batch, so you have an excuse to make coffee all the time. But who needs an excuse to make coffee all the time?

The round pictured was an experimental batch. I added pepitas and dried cherries to the whole recipe, and cocoa powder to half.

I recommend adding about 7 or 8 Tbs of cocoa powder, I only added 2 or 3 and it was not nearly enough. Also, this recipe is crying out for chocolate chips, a lot of chocolate chips.

Next time I think pistachios, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips will be the way to go.

Quinoa crepes, kind of strange

I just googled "quinoa crepes" to make sure my spelling was not totally off the map. And quite a few things came up, making me realize two things:

1 - Had I done this search before making dinner, my dinner would not have been so weird and mediocre,

2 - My ideas are not original.

Anyhow, I made a ton of quinoa recently, and had a ton minus a serving or two leftover. So I mixed some cooked quinoa with a little flour, milk, eggs and salt to make a crepe batter. I think I was a little heavy on the eggs and a little light on the flour and grains. I stuffed the crepes with smashed squash with herbs.

If I do it again, I will make the filling more interesting (read: cheese) and maybe toast the cooked quinoa first, and adjust my ratios.

Or just read a recipe for quinoa crepes and follow that.