Week 2: Day 2 (Texas, Baby!)

Steak with Coganc Sauce 

Ingredients

• 4  servings frozen waffle fries
• 3  tablespoons  olive oil
• 1 1/2  pounds  strip or skirt steak
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 3/4  cup  cognac or brandy
• 1/2  cup  heavy cream
• 1  small head romaine lettuce, torn
• 1/4  small red onion, thinly sliced
• 2  ounces  blue cheese, crumbled (1/2 cup)
• 1  tablespoon  red wine vinegar

Directions

1. Cook the fries according to the package directions.
2. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the steak with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper and cook to the desired doneness, 2 to 3 minutes per side for medium-rare. Let rest 5 minutes before slicing.
3. Remove the skillet from heat and carefully add the cognac. Return to medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the cream and cook until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes more.
4. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, toss the romaine, onion, and blue cheese with the vinegar, the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Serve with the steak, sauce, and fries.

I am of the opinion that a lunch or dinner should have protein, a starch and a veggie.  I like that this meal has all three.  Although, if  this was being served at a gala, the salad would be served first, and then the dinner would come with an additional vegetable.  

Ease of finding Ingredients/Price:  F.

Almost all things here are easy to find, but this gets an F because of the cognac.  If you live in a dry county, you have to drive a good distance to get to the nearest liquor store.  If you live in a wet county, but are under 21, or have lost your license, you need to get someone else to get you the cognac.  Also, the cost of the cognac increased the overall cost by about 30 percent.  A bottle that is about 3/4 cups costs $8.  Steak is a costly piece of meat, but it's still more economical than eating out.

Ease of Preparation:  A-

Overall, not that hard.  but it does require you to "stir until thickened."  Being a proffesional eater, but an amateur cook, I find that phrase to be discouragingly vague.  How thick, exactly? Also, I forgot to pick up frozen waffle fries, so I tried making the potatoes associated with Week 1: Day 5, but that was a slight failure.  The recipe also does not tell you how long to cook the steak if you like it medium.  I have a meat thermometer that denotes the proper temperatures for each level of doneness, but the tools are only as useful as the cook.  I stabbed the meat with the tip of the thermometer, and it would not get hotter than like 120 degrees.  I finally got impatient and stacked all my steaks and stabbed them all at once with the thermometer, and the temperature shot up to well above well-done.  A friend of mine who majored in nutrition later told me that you should stab the meat sideways as to fully cover the thermometer.  Overall this recipe is pretty easy, but it takes some prior knowledge to get it to a level that I would consider "real simple."  

Taste/Leftovers:  A

The steak would have been better at a medium to medium well level, but that is not the fault of the writers or editors. The salad dressing was fun and easy to make, and it tasted pretty good too.  The sauce wasn't bad, but it was pretty boring. I ended up asking the boyfriend to get A1.  I had a friend over, so the three of us finished all the food.

In conclusion, use waffle fries, like the recipe tells you, use A1 instead of cognac sauce, and stab your steaks sideways using this chart to guide you, and all will be well.

Week 2: Day 1

Chicken and Wild Rice

• 1  cup  wild rice blend
• 2  teaspoons  olive oil
• 8  chicken thighs (about 3 pounds)
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 2  cups  red seedless grapes
• 1  tablespoon  fresh thyme leaves
• 1  pound  green beans, trimmed
• 2  tablespoons  unsalted butter

Directions

1. Heat oven to 425° F. Cook the rice according to the package directions.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper. In 2 batches, cook the chicken, skin-side down, until golden, 5 to 6 minutes, then transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. Place skin-side up and roast until cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes.
3. Add the grapes and thyme to the drippings in the skillet and cook, tossing occasionally, until the grapes begin to burst, 5 to 7 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, fill a large pot with 1 inch of water and fit with a steamer basket; bring the water to a boil. Place the green beans in the basket, cover, and steam until tender, 5 to 7 minutes; toss with the butter. Serve with the chicken, rice, and grapes.

Another meal cooked by the boyfriend.  I like being part of a generation in which men grew up not expecting their partners to cook for them.  

Ease of finding Ingredients:  B+

This recipe calls for a fresh herb, which is almost guaranteed to be difficult to find.  I found it at the under-stocked Wal-Mart.  I had to get Uncle Ben's wild rice, and skip using the seasoning it came with.

Ease of Preparation:  C

There is a lot going on here.  You have the chicken in the oven, the rice cooking in one pot, the green beans in the steamer, and the attention intensive sauteing of the thyme and the grapes. Each thing is easy in and of itself, but when you try to do all things, it kinda gets tough. The boyfriend actually burned the thyme on his first attempt, so he threw it out, and then re-did it using olive oil instead of the chicken drippings.

Taste:  C

This whole meal does not harmonize.  Each section of the meal is fine, but there is no togetherness.  The grapes are an interesting note, in a good way, but they don't feel like part of the rice.  The green beans were good, but they don't add to the chicken.  The whole is not greater than the sum of its parts, so that deserves a B.  However, I find bone-in, skin-on chicken to be too much effort to enjoy.  And I hate the texture of chicken skin, so that drops the overall grade to a C.  

Leftovers:  C-

Left overs were slightly less good than the original meal.

Week 1: Day 5

Chicken with Potatoes, Bacon, and Cabbage

I cannot begin to describe how good this recipe is.  It was filling, so it doesn't leave you wanting more.  It was tasty, the textures were fantastic.  I loved it.  I should point out that I did not make it, the boyfriend did, and he did a most excellent job.  I am pretty sure I helped with the vegetables.  We made this meal way back in mid-July when we were making the rest of the Week 1 recipes.

Ease of Finding Ingredients:  A-
All Ingredients were easy to find at my local understocked Wal-Mart.  The savoy cabbage was tricky because I think it's actually Napa Cabbage.  At the time we made this, I had access to a food dictionary that said so.  Now, when I google "savoy cabbage," I see pictures of weird cabbage that I've never seen before in my life.  I may be right or I may be wrong; I can't seem to find something to back up my statement.  Either way, this recipe was prepared with Napa cabbage, and it tasted good that way.

Ease of Preparation:  B, Maybe.
Like I said, C put in 90 percent of the work, so I have no idea how hard it was.  A few days later, I tried making the potato part of this recipe, and it all the thinly sliced potatoes stuck to my rimmed baking sheet.  They still tasted good, but a good half of them were stuck.  When the boyfriend made it, they were beautifully crisp and free from the baking sheet.  Also, I think it was easier for him because he had me there to guide him and do other little things that can distract you, and make you burn whatever it is you have on the stove.  So in conclusion, this recipe is easy when the work is shared, and who knows how hard it is when it is not.

Taste:  A+
The chicken was juicy, the potatoes were crispy, and the mustard and apple cider vinegar gave it all a nice tangy taste. I normally hate apple cider vinegar; I think it tastes like rotten apples dipped in evil, but this recipe uses it well.  Oh, and bacon is God's gift to earth Christians.

Leftovers:  A-
There won't be any left overs.  I suspect if there were, the potatoes would not be as crispy.  Cabbage is not lettuce, so you wouldn't worry about it wilting.

Ingredients

• 3/4  pound  new potatoes, thinly sliced
• 2  tablespoons  olive oil
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 4  6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3  slices bacon, chopped
• 1  small shallot, minced
• 1  tablespoon  whole-grain mustard
• 3  tablespoons  cider vinegar
• 1/2  small head savoy cabbage (8 ounces), cut into 1/2-inch strips

Directions

1. Heat oven to 425° F. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the potatoes with 1 tablespoon of the oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Roast, tossing once, until golden brown and tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper; cook until golden brown and cooked through, 6 to 7 minutes per side.
3. In a second large skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp, 5 to 7 minutes; remove. Add the shallot, mustard, and vinegar to the drippings in the pan and cook, stirring frequently, until the shallot is soft, 2 minutes. Add the cabbage and cook, tossing, until wilted, 2 to 4 minutes more. Serve with the chicken and sprinkle with the bacon.