Surprising Myself

Tuesday are my day off, unless I’m catering and then I’m shopping and prepping, but generally speaking I enjoy my nice leisurely Tuesday off. Today I was antsy, I’m not good at being idle … or relaxing.

So throughout the day I thought about all the mouth-watering meals and restaurants I wanted to try, and then, kept reminding myself of my limited (aka complete lack-of) funds and my fully stocked refrigerator. My “eating out” fund this week went to “buying specialty groceries.”

Alas, I debated all day.

And when my conscience (and girlfriend) couldn’t be convinced to journey to The Breslin for a lamb burger with me, I decided to cook at home. This is where I surprised myself.

I know I’m a good cook. I also know that I can basically make up recipes with what I have on hand. Ironically, I get less and less reliant on recipes the more and more I cook. So tonight’s dinner of london broil seared in a cast iron skillet with a side of shaved asparagus and zucchini salad was enough to wow me. So simple it’s embarrassing to even mention I’m surprised.

One thing I’m realizing is that I’m not exactly the healthiest cook when cooking at home. Usually for people it’s the opposite. But the thing is, I can be! I can be VERY good, but tonight wasn’t the case … I mean I was taught at a FRENCH school, butter is a must.

Oh and I fried some Rosemary in the skillet with the steak, yum!

I think this meal shows exactly how to fix a problem Americans have that the Europeans have tackled. Look at the portion sizes. That’s only about 3 oz of red meat. When you go to a restaurant there’s no way you’re getting less than 8 oz. And to be honest, I’d be pissed if I didn’t get that much with the amount of money you pay for a steak in New York.

And don’t kid yourself, that pan had tons of butter and olive oil. And see that blue cheese? I’m not skimping by any means, I’m just eating less of the bad and more of the good.

The salad, a shaved asparagus and zucchini salad is dressed with lemon juice, a dash of olive oil, salt and pepper. When you eat what’s in season (i.e. asparagus) it needs very little “extra.” The chance of one EVER finding Ranch Dressing in my refrigerator is as likely as seeing me work in Walmart. I simply don’t believe in it (or Walmart). Stop rolling your eyes boys, there are better things to dip pizza in …

So there it is, the simplest meal ever, and I couldn’t believe that it tasted so good. Hit the spot, and I didn’t even want to cook tonight!