What's for dinner?

I often ask Brandon this seemingly simple question, "Brandon, what do you want to eat for dinner?"  He always laughs at me and reminds me that this is a hard question for him to answer.  Hard because I usually have something in mind, and it almost always becomes more of a guessing game for him to pick the meal I'm thinking of instead of him suggesting something new.  So, he just smiles at me, throws a few random ideas into the air and let's it go.  He knows that whatever he gets for dinner will come from the heart, even if it involves frozen chicken nuggets.

What am I going to use this blog for?  It will evolve on it's own, probably into something involving recipes, pictures (hopefully), and thoughts and insight about food.  I hope my readers will enjoy it!

Last night, we gorged ourselves on delicious meat of the bovine variety...

NY Strip with a Red Wine Shallot Reduction Sauce.
Here's what you do:

- Heat the oven to 450 degrees.  Let the steak come to room temp and season it with salt and pepper, and rub it with a good amount of olive oil.
- Heat an oven-proof skillet over high heat for a few minutes.  Put the steak into the dry pan.  It will sizzle, but don't move it because it's forming a nice crust.
- Check the steak after about three minutes.  It should be golden to dark brown.  Once the steak is the right color, flip it over and stick the whole thing in the oven. (If you aren't using an oven-safe skillet, transfer it to a baking dish.)
- Using a meat thermometer, check the temp of the steak after about 2 minutes.  For medium-rare, it should be at 120-125 degrees.  Once steak is cooked to your desired doneness, take it out of the skillet and put it on a plate to rest.  Tent it with foil to keep it from getting cold.
- Return skillet to the stove on medium-high heat.  Toss some chopped up shallots or white onion into the pan and let saute in the juices from the steak until tender, about 2-3 minutes.  Once shallots are tender, pour in about a cup of your favorite red wine (the wine you would be drinking with the steak is perfect and makes the steak mesh with the wine really well).  Simmer the wine, while scraping up the bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.  This is where the really deep flavor comes from.
- Once the reduction sauce has thickened, serve it on top of the steak.

It will be delicious, guaranteed!!!