NY Strip Steaks w/ Port Wine Shallot Butter

While blogs all over are showcasing turkey this, and turkey that, I thought I'd take a different turn.  Do something completely off the Thanksgiving track.  Steak and frites. 

Anyway, this is another simple, yet fancy meal that can be made any day of the week!

We make beurre blancs for a lot of things on our menu at Jack Fry's.  We do a country ham beurre blanc to go with oysters, a sage beurre blanc for the filet, and a tomato and chive beurre blanc for our salmon.  All of which are A-MAZING.  But I may be partial since I work there.

So it's almost second nature to me to present a dish with a beurre of some sort included as the sauce.  One of the easiest and tastiest sauces you can make, in my opinion.  I mean, really, who doesn't like something covered in butter?  Probably a health nut... but good for us, we're not of that population.

Ingredients:

2 NY strip steaks
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil

Port Wine Shallot Butter:

1/4 cup port wine
1 small shallot, minced
1/2 cup veal/beef stock
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cubed
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 425 F. 

Heat a large oven-proof skillet (a cast iron works great for this) under medium high heat and add olive oil.  Season steaks with salt and pepper on both sides and add to pan.  Sear until nice and caramelized.  Flip steak over and transfer to oven to finish cooking to desired doneness.  We like a good medium rare-medium in our house.  Let rest for about 3-5 minutes before serving.

While the steak is finishing in the oven, you can start your sauce.  Heat a medium saucepan under medium high heat.  Add red wine, shallot, stock, and cracked pepper.  Reduce mixture to about 2 tablespoons.  Turn heat down to low and whisk in butter, a couple cubes at a time, being sure not to add more until the previous cubes are almost fully incorporated.  Continue until all butter is added.  Strain sauce of solids, if desired.  Stir in fresh parsley and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Top steak with butter sauce and serve with a side of your choice - we did frites.  Dig on in!

This is definitely something so simple and quite delicious!  We don't indulge in red meat a lot in our house, but when we do, we do it right!

Hope you all have a great holiday weekend!

Braised Rabbit w/ Orzo

It's the end of another quarter of culinary school!  Woohoo!  Still rocking that 4.0 GPA, and so READY for these 2 weeks off.  We'll be setting sail on a boat trip in the next couple of weeks with a big group of our friends, so we're definitely looking forward to that.  Pictures will ensue, I'm sure!

In honor or the end of the quarter, I wanted to whip up something special for Andy and myself.  I sent Andy the following text:

Me: Rabbit.  Braised.  For Dinner.
Andy: F yeah! That sounds awesome!
Me: I didn't think you'd complain about that.

And I'm pretty sure he didn't know what it entailed, but the fact that it was something different and unknown, he was all about it.  And neither he or I were disappointed because the first words out of his mouth after taking a bite were "mmmmm."  That's always a good sign right?! 

If you have trouble tracking down some rabbit meat - check your local butcher.  That's where I stumbled across mine!

Ingredients:

2 lb. rabbit, cut into quarters
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
1/4 cup onions, diced
3 garlic cloved, slivered
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
1 cup red zinfandel 
1 large tomato, concassee (peeled, seeded, roughly chopped)
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 teaspoon fresh sage, minced
2 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
1 & 1/2 cups orzo, cooked
Shredded Parmesan, for garnish

Heat a large dutch oven under medium high heat.  Add olive oil and heat until shimmering.  Season rabbit pieces with salt and pepper, and in batches, brown both sides.  Remove from pot and reserve.

Add mushrooms, onion, garlic, carrot, and celery to pot and cook until lightly browned. 

Return rabbit to pot and add in sun-dried tomatoes, zinfandel, tomato concasee, thyme, sage, and chicken stock.  Bring mixture to a simmer and cover.  Cook for about 45 minutes, or until rabbit is tender and begins to pull away from the bones.

Remove the rabbit from the pot and separate from bones.  Shred into bite-sized pieces and discard bones.

Strain the sauce, but reserve the vegetables.  Return sauce to pot and reduce by half to thicken slightly, about 10 minutes.  Season sauce with salt and pepper, to taste.  Mount with butter for extra shine and flavor.

Add reserved meat and vegetables back into pot.  Stir in parsley and basil.

Serve mixture over hot orzo and garnish with shredded Parmesan cheese.  Enjoy!

This is definitely a fall comfort meal!  We've got leftovers, but I don't think they'll last very long - I'm thinking about having a big bowl for lunch right now!

Have you ever had rabbit?  What's your favorite way to eat it?

Brew @ The Zoo!

This weekend was a blast. In particular, on Saturday, the Louisville Zoo held their annual Brew At The Zoo. I can't believe I've never been before, but I am so glad my friends urged me to go this year! For $45 (if tickets were purchased online), you gain access to the zoo, all the craft beer you can drink (from 4pm to 8:30pm), all the food you can eat (from 4pm to 6:30pm), and all the debauchery that ensues. Trust me, well worth it, in my opinion. So instead of a recipe today, we'll go through the day's activities... (and just some warning... there are a TON of pictures!)

My friend Matt, ready for the Brew

We got these cool mini beer mugs to drink our various craft beers in.

The New Albanian... quite possibly one of the best breweries in Southern Indiana.

Za's Pizza... always a winner.

The Whole Foods table: Hummus w/ Pita Chips, Sesame Crackers w/ Goat Cheese, & some Mixed Nuts

Ribs from Chili's (Normally I wouldn't eat at Chili's, but hey, I couldn't resist some ribs with some beer!)

Brew from Brownings

Hummus from Shiraz

Pulled Pork Sliders from Buckhead's


Mini Bruschetta from... ??? (This is probably the point where I've become a little tipsy and things become harder to remember)


Fall's City Beer, quickly becoming a new favorite!

Some Sausage & Slaw from BBC

Having a little pow-wow


This was supposed to be "famous" spread...

The Wine tent... my ass was smart and did not step foot in there... mixing beer AND wine on a hot summer day does not equal a good next morning for this girl.

I HAD to post this just because it was so funny. White Castle was there!

Short Rib & Mashed Potatoes from Maker's Mark Lounge

My manly crew

Boneless Chicken Wings from Roosters

Some Kentucky Ales

Founder's Brewing Company (& that guy on the right has the best shirt ever: Godzilla vs. Bigfoot!)

Yup, caught Selene off guard!

These brownies went quick!

Schlafly, always delicious!

This is me next to a camel... I think I was frightened AND excited at the same time... hence the stupid face.

I don't think I had any of this one, but their flag was cool.

Yeah, I wish I had this set up on my back porch.

There was definitely more food and more beer, but a girl can only function properly for so long without causing personal harm to herself or her camera. Right?

So yeah, all in all... moral of the story is... I will go to every one of these now. And if you're in the Louisville, KY area next August, I suggest you do the same! What kind of crazy festivals do you guys go to in your area?