I spent New Years Eve alone this year. A big step for a guy who has been struggling for a long time with the concept of being able to be alone with himself. I have always enjoyed cooking a fancy feast for New Years Eve. In the past I've often shared this culinary experience with other cooks or at least other eaters. This year I decided since I had no plans and couldn't find anyone to join me for dinner I'd make the best of it and cook something fancy for myself.
This fall my roommate and I bought a quarter of a cow from a regional farm. Yesterday morning I went down to our chest freezer and searched around for some inspiration in a cut of meat. I had already been thinking of doing some sort of red wine reduction as I had two thirds of a bottle of red wine that wasn't really worth drinking anymore. I roasted some fingerling type potatoes with it and added a salad to avoid the straight meat and potatoes meal. I topped it all off with some crusty bread to mop up some high quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It was all complemented with a sparkling Shiraz, it's New Years Eve after all and I'm a fan of sparkling red wine.
I decided on T-bone steaks, and borrowed the red wine reduction idea from
here.
Red Wine Reduction (Marinade and Sauce):
Upon returning from being home for Christmas I realize I had an opened bottle of red wine that was no longer good for drinking. However, peaked wine is great for reducing. As I read through the above reduction recipe I decided to use it as inspiration and sort of wing it. I added 2/3 a bottle of red wine to a skillet over medium heat. I added two or three shallots, a few cloves of coarsely chopped garlic, salt, a pepper mix I got last year that said it was for "grilling," and some oregano as I didn't have any thyme (some cook I am). I let this simmer and reduce for a little over an hour as the steaks defrosted (after leaving them on the counter all day they were still frozen solid so I put them in a ziplock in a sink full of water (fastest way to defrost anything). I added a cup or so of beef broth at one point as I was suddenly worried about having too little reduction for both a marinade and a sauce.
When the steaks were defrosted I pulled one out and refrigerated the other two. I poured the reduction in a metal bowl and set it to cool. Once cooled I added it to the ziplock with the steak. Marinades need at least an hour so I set this aside on the counter while I worked on the other aspects of dinner.
Roasted Tiny Potatoes:
I think Trader Joe's referred to these fingerling like potatoes as "tiny's." I cut each little potato in half to speed up cooking. I very coarsely chopped some more shallots and garlic. I set the garlic in some olive oil with salt and pepper, mixed it around and let it sit for about a half hour to allow the garlic to infuse the olive oil. I mixed the shallots and potatoes in a roasting pan and when the garlic, spices, and oil had sat long enough I mixed them all in. Then I roasted them all together in the oven on 450 (as high as I could get my oven) for about 30 - 40 minutes. Basically until the were fork tender.
Returning to the Sauce:
After the steak had marinaded for about an hour and a half I took the steak out to go on the grill and returned the rest of the marinade to the skillet. I added some butter and brought it all to a simmer for several minutes while I grilled the steak. The goal was to mix the butter in and to cook the juices from the steak. It further reduced into a nice creamy rose colored sauce. I then strained out the shallots and garlic and set it aside to go on the steak.
The Rest of the Meal:
I threw together a salad of out of season greens, tomatoes, and mini peppers because I'd been too lazy to the responsible thing of finding some in season salad ingredients. I mixed up some nice oil and vinegar for a dressing. I warmed up a few slices of a rosemary rustic loaf I got at Trader Joe's and set out some oil and vinegar on a plate with some nice grey sea salt. As it was New Years I had picked up a bottle of Shingleback Sparkling Shiraz to go with the meal. By the time dinner hit the table I was a couple glasses in, but I'm pretty sure the meal was good regardless. I had all the parts prepped and was now just waiting for the steak on the grill.
The Steak:
I grilled the steak out on the grill even though it was freezing out. I'd warmed the grill up on high and like to put the steak on while it's really hot and then turn it on to get a seriously good sear on one side at least. I cooked the steak about 4 minutes a side, it took a little longer on the flip to hit medium-rare, I realized this was because we'd run out of propane. Luckily, the steak came to temperature from the ambient heat. I let the steak sit as I prepped the rest of the meal.
The Plating:
I plated the steak which ended up being way bigger than I thought and the potatoes together, and then pouring the sauce which was still warm over the steak. The salad and the bread needed their own vessels but all together the meal came together on the table quite nicely. It was way more than one needed to eat but I packed it away because over eating doesn't count on a holiday, plus we start dieting resolutions in the new year right?
All and all, it came together the way I expected it to. The steak went from medium rare to medium while it set up, I'm always a bad judge of this. It was good none-the-less, the marinade to sauce worked well but took away from the natural flavor of the beef which was fine as you could still taste the beef just fine. The potatoes had just the right amount of garlic and shallot flavor. The salad made me feel like I was being healthy, and another glass of red bubbly made me quite happy with the meal all and all. I didn't even mind doing all the dishes myself.
Once it was done I decided I probably needed at least one more carb. in this meal so I went for a piece of rosemary toast, a little savory for morning toast but with some butter it did just fine. A glass of OJ and a cup of coffee and my day was off to a great start.
