Whitney's Christmas gift for me this year was a Le Creuset cast-iron grill pan! Of course, we had to try it out as soon as possible, so she picked up some filet mignon to grill, with sides of asparagus and red potatoes. The asparagus was roasted and topped with balsamic glaze and parmesan shavings, and the potatoes were roasted with rosemary and garlic. Everything turned out perfectly!
For the steak:
I'm always terrified of cooking steak, as I hate wasting a great cut of meat by overcooking it, and there seems to be some voodoo magic involved in cooking it to your liking. We lucked out this time and ended up with some perfectly done medium-rare juicy filets. I let them sit out for about 40 minutes to warm up, patted them dry, and coated them with oil, salt, and pepper. I heated the grill pan very hot and seared each side 2-3 minutes (flipping with my new silicone tongs - thanks Charlene!), and then threw the pan in the 400 degree oven for about 2 minutes, then transferred them to a plate. (For reference, these filets were between 3/4" and 1").
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| Prepping the steaks |
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| Mmmm...can you smell them? |
For the Roasted Potatoes and Asparagus (by Whitney):
I'm not sure it's been well documented on the blog but Patrick is not a huge fan of mashed potatoes. With this being known I had to figure out a way to make yummy potatoes without mashing them. We roast so much other stuff that I thought we'd do this to the potatoes. I allowed 30 minutes for potato roasting and with 10 minutes left I added the asparagus to the same pan. Read on for more a more detailed recipe.
Roasted Potatoes serves 2
2 small red potatoes
3 cloves garlic
crushed rosemary
extra virgin olive oil
Wash the potatoes and cut the potatoes into a small dice. I chose to keep the peeling on the potato for a little extra nutritional value and crunch but you may peel them. Also I chose a small dice so that the potatoes would not need a long roasting time in the oven. In a small mixing bowl toss the potatoes with olive oil, crushed or minced garlic, and rosemary. I used rosemary I had frozen a few months ago and chopped to store. Feel free to skip the mixing bowl and toss the potatoes on the pan but I always make a mess and the potatoes get tossed everywhere. Place the potatoes on an aluminum-foil lined pan and top with a little more olive oil. Bake in a 400F for 30 minutes or until tender. Check the potatoes every 10 minutes or so and stir them around so they won't stick to the foil.
asparagus, washed and trimmed of hard stems
3/4c balsamic vinegar
evoo, salt and pepper
parmesan shavings
Place the asparagus spears in a 400F for 10 minutes (conveniently with the potatoes). Drizzle a little evoo on top and other seasonings. Meanwhile bring the balsamic vinegar to a boil in a small saucepan, then simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until it reduces to 1/4 c and is syrup-y. Serve the reduced balsamic glaze over the asparagus and top with shaved parmesan cheese.
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