Friday Night, Steak Night...

My husband travels for work, and eats out two to four times a day when he's gone.  The one thing he misses is a down home, mid-west steak dinner.  So tonight we'll have a tried and true meal, something my daughter looks forward to all week.  In fact, in her preschool, while the other kids were saying that fruit snacks and pop were their favorite foods, my daughter said "Steak, Brussel Sprouts and Potatoes"! 

For the steak, this is part of the 10% that we don't buy at Aldi's.  We go Fareway beef products all the way.  I usually stop there first to see if their bag chicken and shrimp are on sale, and then stop at the meat counter.  If you've never been to a Fareway meet counter you are MISSING OUT!  We usually go with a Charcoal Steak - if they don't have any on display you can just ask.  It's an arm roast just cut about an inch or so thick.  The one thing to remember with Charcoal Steaks - they are a cheaper cut of meat for a reason - any temp past about med-rare and they turn tough.  If you can't do a med-rare steak, go for a sirloin. We've tried New York Strips, Ribeye and all the other fancy cuts and we keep going back to the Charcoal Steak, but whatever you prefer is always going to be the winner.  I usually throw the Steak's in a gallon bag with a little Worcestershire  olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper to marinate until the veggies are done.

Next, for the sides.  Friday nights, as I said, are usually my husband's first night home after being gone all week so the last thing we want to do is clean up.  So, into tinfoil goes a Fareway bag of FROZEN brussel sprouts, a few tablespoons of Aldi's salted butter, garlic, salt & pepper.  That's about it for us, but feel free to add other seasonings if you like.  We don't grease the tinfoil, we've never had problems with it sticking but feel free to go ahead if you think you need it.  The potatoes get the same treatment after being cut in half and then about 1/4 inch slices - with maybe the salt changed out to Lawry's (Aldi's has a generic version), and maybe a little Worcestershire or Maggi.  Note on Maggi - A little goes a LOOONNNGGG way.  Be sparing with it.  I've killed chili and spaghetti before using it like worcestershire, ACKY.

Thrown the Brussel sprouts and potatoes on the grill for about 45 minutes on a medium heat.  This is going to be a preference thing for you.  My husband loves to cook them down to baby food, I like them just past heated all the way through - Al dente maybe?  45 minutes seems to be a good middle ground for us, so long as the brussel sprouts go on close to frozen.  After 45 minutes the steak goes on to your preference in temp, we do med-rare, so about 5-8 minutes per side with the veg on the top rack or sitting in the sink depending on how much my husband fudged the timing :).

Voila - dinner is served.  All that has to be cleaned are the plates and serving utensils.  All the tin foil goes into the garbage.

Ingredient List (See above for instructions) - Feeds 2 Adults and 2 Kids
(This feeds our family with steak leftover for breakfast)

2 lbs Charcoal Steak - There abouts, sometimes it's 1.5 lbs, sometimes it's slightly more.
1 Bag Fareway Brussel Sprouts
6-8 Russet or Red Potatoes - Halved then sliced into quarter inch slices
Garlic
Salt
Lawry's (or Generic Seasoning Salt)
Worcestershire (or minimal amounts of Maggi)
Butter
Olive Oil
Tin Foil
Grill (or Grill Pan (steak) and Oven (veggies), but I prefer the grill)  I make no guesses on timing for the grill pan and oven, we live in the mid-west and grill outside in a few feet of snow.

So you decided you could write a blog...???

Alright, I was out today on the internet trying to find a well rounded dinner.  BUT, the caveat to that is that my kids and my husband (me too if I'm honest) don't do super-funky food.  I love salads - I hate fruit in salad.  Heads up I guess, you'll not find a single grapefruit, orange or grape in any salad I post.  Every single "dinner" I'd found had a great sounding protein, but fruit on the side or some fancy citrus topping.  Not that I won't use lemons or limes in marinades, but I don't want an orange marmalade or something otherwise offending on my meat.  Oh, by the way, we're meat lovers so there will rarely be an intentional "veggie" dish.

Sooooooo, I thought, why don't I post what we like.  Take the protein from one recipe (that I've removed all offending fruit from and made easier to make on a busy night), the side dish from another (that has the tofu or any other custom/imported sauces removed).  Oh - and it has to be flavorful because if it's not my husband dumps lemon juice, salt, or cajun seasoning all over it just to choke it down.

To be clear, this isn't "fancy" food.  You'll find nice dishes, you might find something to serve at a party, but most important, you should find food that the average family will eat.  Now, if up til now, you've fed your kids Mickey D's and never introduced them to pepper, we may have a problem.  My kids love chili, they adore jambalaya, summer sausage, sharp cheddar cheese and pickles are snacks.  We are not afraid of flavor, just flavor that you can't pick up at the closest store.

Oh and by the way, 90% of my ingredients can be found at Aldi's.  That's my grocery store of choice.  I did however used to work in an exceptionally nice Italian restaurant (plug for Biaggi's ;)), and I get cravings for things that aren't always in season at Aldi's.  If you shop there you know what I mean.

I'll do my best to give you recipes that can easily be reproduced, won't require specialty imported sauces (unless I find one at Aldi's and want to try it, then we might have problems), and that won't be so out of the box that no one will even think of trying them.

Good luck to me, oh and if you're reading this far that means you are interested.  THANK YOU!!!!