Tonight's dinner

Having suffered interminably through 2 days at work and 1 day at a tax and accounting seminar (that was so sophorific that I, along with my bosses, cut out two hours early and went back to work, that being the lesser of two evils and across the street anyway), I needed an uplifting evening today. So I stopped by my new favorite meat market - Harvard Meats - and brought home two big, juicy beef filet mignons and two russet baking spuds. Seasoned the beef with Montreal steak seasoning, and when the baked spuds were done (rubbed with EVOO and sprinkled with sea salt, then baked at 450F for an hour), seared the filets in a hot skillet, then finished in the oven until medium for Gail, and mine a couple of minutes longer to medium-well. The steaks were tender and flavorful, and hit the spot oh-so-well with a 2003 Owen Sullivan M Klipsun Vineyard (70% Merlot, 30% Cab Sauvignon).

Now that's the way to ring in the weekend!

Now that's the way to ring in the weekend!

Other than the overcooked steaks.

Now that's the way to ring in the weekend!

Other than the overcooked steaks.

It's taken me most of my life to learn to eat steaks other than well-done. Gimme a break there!

[Jenise]

You dined well tonight!

I spent the afternoon in a veterinarian's office instead of planning dinner; and came home to a husband who hadn't eaten all day. Dinner needed to be, like, NOW, so we had a cold platter of quartered tomatoes from the garden, proscuitto and cheeses.

Sounds wonderful.

I'm taking a break from the stove, in the middle of cooking dinner. Two salmon fillets have just come out of the pan with a nice crusty surface (seared using sesame oil) to finish off for 12 minutes in the oven. What's shaping up is, steamed rice, with stewed down thick sauce of onion, tomato, red capsicum, and celery (seasoned with allspice and cloves) spooned over it, the salmon fillet on top, and some steamed greens on the side.

An aside: my *next* kitchen is going to have the cook top in a better position. This one is tucked away in a corner that is hard to get to if there is more than one person working on dinner. And I'm going to have a range hood/extractor fan that works better than the one I've got. (Mind you, this one might work better if I cleaned it more often.

What are you drinking with your steaks, Robert? The Francophile is temporarily off alcohol so we're having apple and cherry juice, and pretending.

What are you drinking with your steaks, Robert? The Francophile is temporarily off alcohol so we're having apple and cherry juice, and pretending.

2003 Owen Sullivan M Klipsun Vineyard (70% Merlot, 30% Cab Sauvignon). It was good, too.