Swiss Steak

I decided tonight to make a classic: Swiss steak. I did a little research, looked at several recipes, and came up with my own version. I'd like to share the recipe with you.

Swiss Steak
     Ingredients

• 1 pound round steak
• vegetable oil
• whole wheat flour
• granulated garlic
• onion powder
• ground thyme
• ground marjoram
• paprika
• fresh ground black pepper
• kosher salt
• 1 large or 2 small bell peppers, any color, diced
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 T minced garlic
•  1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
• 1/2 can beef broth
• dry leaf thyme
• dry leaf marjoram

     Required Equipment

• oven safe sauce pan or Dutch oven
• meat tenderizer mallet

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Trim the fat from the round steak and cut into 4-ounce portions.
3. Pound the steak on both sides to tenderize.
4. Heat just enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom of the pan over medium heat.
5. Sprinkle the steaks on both sides with a mixture of equal amounts of the granulated garlic, onion powder, paprika, ground thyme, ground, marjoram, fresh ground black pepper and kosher salt, and rub the spices into the meat. Repeat the process with a couple of pinches of whole wheat flour.
6. One at a time, brown the steaks on both sides in the oil. Add more oil between steaks if needed. Remove the steaks to a platter to rest.
7. If needed, add a little more oil to the pan, then add the bell pepper and onion. Season with the same spices as the steaks and saute until they just start to get tender, scraping up the brown bits from the steaks.
8. Add the minced garlic and saute for a minute.
9. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth and the leaf herbs (to taste). Bring to a simmer.
10. Return all of the steaks to the pan, including any drippings on the platter.
11. Cover the pan and place in the oven for 15 minutes.
12. Taste the sauce and add salt or other seasonings if needed.
13. Return to the oven and cook for 30 minutes, then let it sit, covered, for ten minutes
14. Serve with whole grain pasta and steamed green vegetable (green beans, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, etc.), as in the picture.

There will be quite a lot of the sauce left over. I am going to have some of it tomorrow as a soup with some whole grain toast and a little bit of shredded cheese. It also makes a great pasta sauce.

Happy cooking!

Ground beef + crescent roll dough = I dunno what to call it

So I get home from work, and my wife tells me that there is ground beef thawed for dinner. Okay. Very versatile ingredient - but what do I want to do with it? Anywho, one of the local grocery stores was having a one day sale, so we went there to pick up some stuff. While we were in the dairy section grabbing a gallon of milk, inspiration hit me, and I grabbed a couple of cans of the Pillsbury crescent roll recipe sheets. I then backtracked to produce and grabbed a bell pepper and an Anaheim pepper.

Back home, I diced up the bell pepper, minced the Anaheim, chopped some onion, and rough cut some carrots. Sauted all of that in the cast iron skillet with a little vegetable oil, seasoned with fresh ground pepper, kosher salt, garlic powder, Hungarian paprika and fresh rosemary from the garden.

Meanwhile, I put the two pounds of ground chuck in a bowl, added salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, white pepper, dried thyme, ground marjoram, a beaten egg, and some whole wheat bread crumbs. My wife mixed it up for me. I then added the partially softened veggies to the meat mixture, along with some fresh chives from the garden. Wife mixed all that in, then i proceeded to fill the crescent roll sheets.

I unrolled the sheets, and then cut them in half. I spooned a healthy portion of the meat and veggie mix onto each piece, then closed them up and placed them on a buttered cookie sheet.

You'll notice the two on the right are larger than the two on the left. I hadn't refined my technique.

I spooned some melted chive butter over the tops of them, then sprinkled them with sesame seeds, stabbed them with a fork and stuck them in the oven at 350 for about 35 minutes.

After they were GBD and had come to temp, I sprinkled some shredded sharp cheddar over them and put them back in the oven for another five minutes or so to melt the cheese.

Turned out pretty tasty. The top was flaky and crispy, and the bottom was kinda soft and full of beef drippings.


I also made some imitation crab meat stuffed portabella mushrooms for my wife and daughter. (Faux crab cakes for me, but no pictures of those)

After Cheri cleaned the shrooms, I mixed up the filling: imitation crab meat, diced and some of it smashed with my fingers, garlic, salt, white pepper, cream cheese, Miracle Whip, shredded pepper jack cheese, shredded cheddar cheese, and diced portabella stems. Stuffed the caps with the filling, then topped with some Panko mixed with melted butter and garlic powder. In the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes, and they enjoyed. (Not me, I can't stand mushrooms. I can cook 'em, but I can't eat 'em.)

Before baking.

After baking.

Late night kitchen improv

So here's photographic evidence of one of my late-night, what-the-hell-do-I-want-to-eat adventures.

I'm a retail supervisor, and I was on the closing shift tonight. I go in at 2, and have to take my meal break no later than 4:30, so I can be back before the day shift management leaves at 5. So by the time I get home around 10, I'm hungry again. I usually have whatever my wife cooked for her and the kids, but on Saturdays, the kids are at grandma's house, so she just eats leftovers for dinner. I got home tonight and needed something to eat, and I felt like cooking something. The only non-frozen meat in the house is a couple of pounds of stew meat (I'm gonna make beef stew tomorrow). I requisitioned a good handful of the meat, tossed it with some tenderizer and let it sit for a few minutes. Then, I tossed it with some fresh ground black pepper, granulated garlic, onion powder, and smoked paprika and let it sit for another couple of minutes.

I heated up the little cast iron skillet, then added some leftover bacon grease from this morning's breakfast. I tossed the seasoned beef chunks in some flour, then fried them in the bacon grease.

Once they were GBD (golden, brown and delicious - thanks, Alton Brown), I transferred them to a paper towel lined cooling rack to drain, then sauted half a yellow onion in the remaining grease. Meanwhile, I turned on the griddle to toast a couple of hamburger buns.

Took the onions out to drain, and added some flour to the grease in the skillet to make a nice roux. Hit that with about 2/3 of a can of beef broth and some granulated garlic, fresh ground black pepper and onion powder (the broth has plenty of salt).

I like the steam and gravy bubbles in that shot.

As the gravy was cooking, I buttered the buns and toasted them on the griddle.

Assembled a couple of sandwiches like so: bottom bun, beef nuggets (good a name as any), sauted onions, gravy, top bun. Pretty tasty. (And that's saying something, considering the cold I have - I can barely taste anything.)

Try to ignore the fingers in this shot. There were no surfaces in the kitchen to set the plate and take a picture, so I held it at arm's length. Only problem was that the bottom of the plate was too hot to rest on my arm, so I was stuck holding it rather awkwardly with the fingers and the base of my palm.

Enchiladas - Day 2

First, by special request, a photo of the pile of shredded beef:

So, today when I got home from work, I took the shredded beef out of the fridge and microwaved it at half power for about five minutes, just to take the chill off.

For the sauce, I started out by sweating half a yellow onion and 1.5 tablespoons of minced garlic in a little oil, then added some kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, and chili powder.

Next, I dumped in a can of chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, sauted them for a few minutes, then added a big can of tomato puree. Let that heat for a few minutes, then used the immersion blender to chop up the peppers. Let it simmer for a few minutes and tasted. Too spicy. Added a tablespoon of sugar and two tablespoons of vinegar. Simmered another few minutes, still too spicy. Added another two tablespoons of sugar and a little salt. Still too spicy. Added a regular size can of tomato sauce. Still a little on the spicy side, but good enough with sour cream and cheese and lettuce and tortilla and all that. Next time, I'll either use half a can of the peppers, or just strain them out instead of blending everything together. Live and learn.

I mixed a little of the sauce into the meat.

Rolled a good portio of the meat into the tortillas (flour, I don't like the texture of store bought corn tortillas and don't have the proper equipment to make my own), then topped them with sauce.

Baked them for about 15 minutes at 350, then topped them with 2 cups of shredded Mexican cheese blend (cheddar, Monterey jack, queso blanco, and asadero). Back in the oven for about 8 minutes, and this is the result:

Topped each serving with some shredded lettuce and sour cream, and some refried beans on the side (canned, but doctored up with the addition of salt, pepper, granulated garlic, onion powder, chili powder, and a couple of tablespoons of salsa).

Enchiladas - Day 1

Well, here's a first: a dish that takes two days to prepare. (I did season the Spanish pork tenderloin the day before, but this actually involves cooking on two days.)

Today was prep day for the filling: shredded beef.

I dumped a can of chipotle chilis in adobo into the blender, added in half a yellow onion, five cloves of garlic, about a tablespoon of lime juice, a little clump of fresh cilantro, a few drops of hot sauce, and a cup of water. Blended all that, then seasoned the meat.

I used a 4-ish pound rump roast. Seasoned it on every side with fresh ground pepper, granulated garlic, onion powder, chili powder, smoked paprika, and kosher salt, then rubbed everything in. Back to the sauce mixture - I poured about half of it into the bottom of the crock pot, then put the roast in and rolled it around to cover it. I then poured the rest over the top of the roast, then measured three cups of water in the blender pitcher to get all the remants and poured that around the roast and mixed it in. Set the cooker to low, and let it go. I started it around 11 in the morning, and Cheri turned it off around 7 pm.

That's the roast at 11 this morning. I got off work at 9:30, then had to go to Wal Mart (bleh) for a headlight bulb for the car, so by the time I got home a little after10, it had cooled down enough to shred by hand (I wore gloves). So that's in a bag in the fridge, waiting for tomorrow.

Stay tuned. I'll try to post the follow-up tomorrow night. That post will include my first attempt at enchilada sauce from scratch.

Surf & Turf

So, after a loooong hiatus, I'm back to posting! Why the absence? Well, I'm a supervisor at a local Toys R Us, so I've been very busy since my last post, and on my one day off per week during the Christmas rush, I was too tired to do any fun, creative cooking. But now I've recovered, and I think I'm back in the swing of things. Plus, Santa brought us some new kitchen toys to play with - a mandolin, an electric griddle, a mini food processor and a set of glass casseroles.

(I also remembered to take pictures this time.)


Don't look for exact measurements this time. I just threw stuff together and hoped for the best. It turned out pretty good, if I say so myself.

Main dish: top sirloin steak. Before I did anything else, I took the steaks out of the fridge and cut them down to the serving sizes for everyone. I then sprinkled them on each side with some fresh ground black pepper and kosher salt and let them come to room temperature. Meanwhile, I got the charcoal started and came back inside to peel some potatoes. (Yes, I cooked on the grill in Iowa in January.)

I peeled several white potatoes then used the thin julienne blade on the mandolin to shred them. I also shredded a medium yellow onion. After squeezing most of the liquid out of the potatoes, I handed it off to my wife to mix while I added a little granulated garlic to the steaks and put them on the grill. Back inside, I added some fresh ground pepper, kosher salt, granulated garlic, and smoked paprika to the potato and onion mixture, then mixed in a beaten egg and some self-rising flour. I had turned on the griddle before I took the steaks out, so it was ready. I buttered it, and my wife shaped out some pancakes and put them on the griddle. (Her hands were still messy from mixing.) I browned them on each side then transferred them to a paper towel lined rack over a cookie sheet in a 250 degree oven to finish cooking all the way through and stay warm.

Sometime in there, I flipped the steaks and took this picture:

After the potato pancakes were done, I unplugged the griddle and plugged in the deep fryer. We bought some frozen stuffed crabs yesterday and made use of them tonight. I also cooked some fries for the youngest and some clam strips for me and the wife.

Steaks were coming off as the reached the proper doneness level, and we popped a steamer bag of corn into the microwave. After I brought my steak in, I topped it with a little compound butter I keep on hand (it has pepper, garlic, Worchestershire and parsley).

Here's my platter:

Don't worry, I ate light the rest of the day.

Italian Beef

At least that's what I call it. Anyway, sorry there aren't any pictures. The camera battery's dead. Oh well.

So this is what I do when I want Italian beef sandwiches and I have some time to prepare them. If I'm in a hurry, I just buy the rare roast beef from the deli and simmer it in the seasoning broth mixture.

Italian beef roast

1 beef roast (about 3 lbs - I used a 3.14 lb arm roast)
24 oz lager (I used the 24 oz can of Heineken)
1/2 Tbsp dry oregano
1/2 Tbsp dry basil
1/2 Tbsp dry thyme leaves (if you only have ground thyme, use half as much)
1/2 Tbsp parsley flakes
1 Tbsp dry minced onion
1 Tbsp minced garlic
8 grindings black pepper
olive oil
kosher salt
1/2 cup water

Turn a crock pot onto high, then add the beer, all of the seasonings, and 1 tsp of kosher salt. Mix well and cover.

Heat a skillet large enough for the roast over medium heat. Coat the roast in olive oil, the sprinkle a light coating of salt over the roast on every side and rub into the meat. Put the roast into the heated skillet and brown on each side. Add the roast to the crock pot.

Return the skillet to medium heat. Pour the 1/2 cup of water into the container the beer was in and shake it around a little. Deglaze the pan with the slightly beer flavored water, using a wooden spoon to scrape up all of the goodies stuck to the bottom. Bring to a boil, then pour over the roast in the crock pot. Cover and let cook on high for 10-15 minutes. Turn down to low and cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Remove the roast from the crock pot to a wire rack over a baking sheet. Let rest for about five minutes.

To serve as sandwiches, slice 1/4 inch pieces against the grain, and return the slices to the broth in the crock. Place on a hoagie roll and top with sliced Provolone.

I used hoagie rolls from a local grocery's bakery. I split them, brushed the cut sides with melted butter and toasted them in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. My daughter just had the meat and cheese, my wife and I put some Dijon mustard and diced onion on the bottom piece, then the meat, then the cheese. Served it with fries and steamed broccoli. Yum.

Southwestern-ish

So, I went to the grocery store today, and I was trying to figure out what to get to cook for tonight's dinner. I walked up to the meat counter to place an order for some Andouille links to pick up next week (jambalaya!), and while I was doing that, I spied a curious item - a 1.17 pound piece of flank steak that had been wrapped up and marked down for quick sale, because it had been in the case too long. I paid $4.67 for the steak ($3.99 per pound for those of you keeping score at home - the regular price on flank steak is closer to $6.99 per pound). It just so happens that the steak had pretty much been dry aged by the enviroment it was kept in - a cotrolled low temperature, sitting in a pan with an absorbent pad under it, with the pad changed regularly.

Once I got it home, I trimmed off the hard edges, and mixed up a marinade.

Southwestern marinade for an approximately one and a quarter pound flank steak

3 Tbsp corn oil
1-1/2 Tbsp lime juice
1-1/2 Tbsp lemon juice (I ran out of lime)
1/2 Tbsp green jalapeno Tabasco sauce
1/2 Tbsp mesquite liquid smoke
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1/4 tsp ground oregano
1 tsp dried cilantro
1-1/2 tsp chili powder
4 grindings black pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup water

Whisk everything together, place the steak in a gallon size plastic storage bag, pour the marinade into the bag, seal the bag, move the steak around to coat it with the marinade, then place the bag in a square dish and refrigerate for at least two hours, longer for stronger flavors from the seasonings.

After I got the steak marinating, I turned my attention to rice. Following the directions on the bag of Par Excellence brand extra long grain white rice, I put 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of water into a saucepan and brought to a boil. Instead of butter and salt, I added 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp dried cilantro, and 1 tsp kosher salt. After it came to a boil, I reduced the heat to low and simmered the rice for 15 minutes, undisturbed. I then let it sit covered for five minutes before I fluffed it with a fork and covered it again to sit and come to room temperature.

When it came time to actually cook dinner, I sliced up a couple of largish green bell peppers, and 3/4 of a medium large yellow onion. The other 1/4 of the onion and a little green bell pepper from the garden got diced. I turned on the broiler and let the broiler pan heat up, then took the steak out of the marinade and put it on a wire rack over a cookie sheet to drain off any excess marinade. Next, I put the big cast iron skillet over high heat and let it preheat for about 6 minutes. I added just enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the pan, then added the diced pepper and onion and a heaping tsp of minced garlic. I sauted that for a minute or so, then turned the heat down to medium. About that time, I put the steak in to broil. Back to the cast iron skillet, where the aromatics were just starting to get tender, I sprinkled on a liberal helping of chili powder, then deglazed the pan with a little beef broth. I poured in about 1/8 of an inch worth, let that cook off, poured in the same amount, let that cook off, then added a can of black beans (drained, but not rinsed). I mixed that all together, added about 1/4 inch worth of beef broth, and let it simmer while I flipped the steak. I then put the room temperature rice into the cast iron skillet with everything else, and poured the rest of the can of beef broth (about 1/2 a can). I stirred everything together, and simmered until the liquid was all absorbed or evaporated away. Then I stirred in half a jar of Chi Chi's thick and chunky salsa, let that heat up, and moved the pan off the heat and covered it.

Meanwhile, the steak is perfectly medium rare. I took it out of the broiler and put it on a wire rack over a cookie sheet to rest (not the same one the raw steak sat on, by the way). Then I put the smaller cast iron skillet on the stove over high heat and heated it for about 5 minutes, until it was screaming hot. I sliced the steak into thin strips across the grain, then prepared plates.

A little vegetable oil went into the HOT skillet, then I added a small handful of the sliced bell pepper and quickly sauted it, giving it a some nice sear and heating it all the way through, but still leaving it fairly crisp. I put the peppers on top of a portion of the rice and beans, then laid a couple of steak strips over that, and topped it all off with a sprinkle of shredded Mexican blend cheese. That was my daughter's plate (she likes her steak with a decent chance of recovery, just like her dad).

For my wife, the process was mostly the same, only I used pepper and onion, and also put her strips of steak into the pan to get rid of the pink. For mine, a hybrid of the two - peppers and onions, bloody steak. Yum!

(Sorry there's no pictures. I only took two shots of a finished plate since the action in the kitchen was so hoppin'. The first didn't have enough light, so the colors were way off, and the second had plenty of light, but I was too close and the focus was all fuzzy. Oh well. Can't win 'em all.)

Improvisational Italian

We bought a spaghetti squash the other day, and I was looking at it sitting on the table today when I decided to build a pasta dish around it. So here's what I did:

Dustin's Italian Meatballs

2 lbs ground chuck (80/20)

2 heaping tsp. minced garlic

1 rounded Tbsp. dry minced onion

1 tsp dried oregano leaves

1 tsp dried sweet basil leaves

1/2 tsp ground thyme

2 tsp parsley flakes
2 tsp kosher salt
5 grindings black pepper
2 large eggs, beaten
1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup unseasoned plain breadcrumbs

Throw everything in a mixing bowl, and mix thoroughly with your hands (you might want to wear gloves). Roll into about 1-inch balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a couple of hours. When ready to cook, heat a large skillet (large enough to place all the meatballs in a single layer with a little breathing room) over medium heat, and then add about 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil. Add the meatballs, and cook for about 5 minutes, then turn them and cook for five more. Add 2/3 of a can of beef broth, turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until done. Remove from the skillet to a wire rack over a baking sheet, and cover loosely with foil. Serve with pasta and sauce of your choice.

I decided to serve the meatballs over spaghetti squash, with my homemade chunky marinara.

Spaghetti Squash

1 medium spaghetti squash

kosher salt, to taste

fresh ground black pepper, to taste

3 Tbsp butter, divided

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350°. Cut the squash in half and clean out the guts (seeds and fibery pulp). Place cut side up in a 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle with the kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sliver up 1 Tbsp of the butter and put that on the squash, some up on the edges, some down in the cavity. Pour water in the pan to get to 1/4 inch deep. Bake for 40 - 50 minutes until tender, then remove the strands with two forks. Place them in a bowl and toss with the remaining 2 Tbsp of butter and the Parmesan. Serve with pasta sauce.

Chunky Marinara

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp minced garlic
1 bell pepper, cleaned and diced
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 can diced tomatoes, drained, juice reserved
2 cans tomato sauce
2 bay leaves
1 tsp kosher salt
1 rounded tsp dried sweet basil leaves
1 rounded tsp dried oregano leaves
2 tsp parsley flakes
1/2 tsp ground thyme
5 grindings black pepper

Heat a 9-inch skillet over medium heat, then add the oil. Add the minced garlic and saute' for a couple of minutes, then add the pepper and onion. Saute for a couple of minutes until some of the onion pieces start to brown, then turn the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the the onions are translucent. Meanwhile, heat the tomato sauce, the reserved tomato juice, and the bay leaves over medium low heat in a medium size sauce pan, covered (much less mess that way). When the onions are translucent, add the diced tomatoes and turn the heat up to medium. Saute' for 4-5 minutes, then add the vegetables to the sauce pan and stir well. Add all of the seasonings, mix well, cover, turn the heat to low and simmer for at least 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Serve over pasta (or spaghetti squash) or as a dip for breadsticks or calzones.

(No picture of this one, the one I took turned out all fuzzy. I blame the steam.)

Of course, no Italian meal would be complete without some type of bread.

Spread for garlic toast

1 stick butter, softened
1-1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp parsley flakes
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Mix it all together, and spread on your choice of bread before baking. Yum!

I used my batch tonight on sliced fresh Italian bread from the grocery store. It went in the oven at 350° for about 10 minutes, then I sprinkled a little finely shredded mozzarella over the slices and put it back in the oven for about 3 minutes, just long enough for the cheese to melt.

I was able to time it all out so that everything was ready about the same time (the meatballs had been resting for about ten minutes). Dished out a helping of the squash, put a little of the marinara on top of that, topped it with 2 - 4 meatballs (2 for the kid, 3 for the wife, 4 for me), poured a little more sauce over the meatballs, and topped it all with some shredded Parmesan. Served with a piece or two of the bread - delizioso!

Good ol' steak 'n taters

This was a pretty run of the mill steak and potato dinner, but I did have a couple of special twists.

First step was this afternoon, setting the frozen roll dough out the rise. Picked up the kids at school, went to the library, stopped by the grocery store to turn in some bottles for deposit, then came home and baked the rolls. After they came out and went on the cooling rack -

- I turned the oven up to 425 and scrubbed three Russet potatoes and let them air dry while I mixed up a rub for the three New York strips (our local grocery store had a sale on whole stips, so we've got steak for a little while) - fairly simple rub, just granulated garlic, onion powder, fresh ground black pepper, and kosher salt. I rubbed both sides of the steak and let them sit for while I carried on the potato prep. I rubbed the potatoes down with a clean towel to make sure they were dry, then brushed a really thin layer of vegetable oil over them. I then filled a 9-inch square baking dish about a 1/2 inch deep with kosher salt, added the potatoes, rolled them around to cover them with salt, then stuck the whole works in the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes.

Rubbed steaks:

I had put a bag of frozen Brussels sprouts in the fridge the thaw earlier in the day, so I took them out and realized they weren't fully thawed yet - into a bowl of running cold water to quick thaw. Then I got out the cast iron skillets, large and small, and set them on the stove. I cut four pieces of thick sliced hickory smoked bacon into the small skillet, set the burner under it to medium, then waited for the sprouts to thaw. Once they were thawed, I drained them and cut the larger ones in half, then tossed them with what was left of the rub mixture.

Once the bacon was crisp, I removed the pieces to a small platter with some paper towels to drain and added half a yellow onion, diced, and a heaping tsp. of minced garlic to the bacon grease in the pan and sauted until the onion started to get soft, then in went the sprouts.

Stirred the sprouts around into the onion and garlic, then covered the pan. About that time the timer went off for the potatoes, so they came out to be flipped over and punctured, then back into the oven for another 30 minutes.

Stirred the sprouts again and recovered, then turned my attention to the meat. Big cast iron skillet goes back on the front burner, then gets preheated over high heat for about five minutes. Added the steaks (no oil, I didn't trim the fat off the steaks, so that rendered out), turned the heat down to medium high, and let them sear on that side for four minutes then flipped them.

Seared the other side for another four minutes, then removed two (one for me, one for the daughter) and put on a resting rack and tented them with foil. (Meanwhile, the sprouts were finished, so I turned off the heat, mixed the cooked bacon in, and left them covered. Between the residual heat from the cast iron and the insulation from the lid, they were still piping hot when everything was done about 15 minutes later.)  The other steak (for the wife) stayed in the pan for another two minutes, then got transferred to a sheet pan and put in the oven with the potatoes for another four or five minutes (my daughter and I like rare to medium rare, my wife likes medium well to well done). I then deglazed the pan with about 1/3 of a can of beef broth, being sure to scrape up all the yummy brown bits of charred steak from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Added a few drops of Worchestershire sauce, and let the liquid reduce by half, stirring the whole time. I then added in 3 Tbsp. of butter, let that melt, combined it all, then transferred it to a small bowl. Out come the potatoes, and it's time to plate up and dig in!

I had my baked potato with a little butter and some shredded co-jack cheese, and drizzled the pan sauce over the steak. And yes, I ate that whole plate. All I'd had the rest of the day was that little bowl of oatmeal from my previous post and a fried balogna sandwich. I was hungry, and boy, did it taste good!