Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Beef: It's What's For Dinner!

In the last week, I have been extremely pleased that two totally random blog readers have requested that I cook more on my blog! I love cooking, I love blogging, and I love making people happy! So after weeks of drooling over this Pioneer Woman recipe, I decided to give it a try tonight. Even though I have become much more confident in my cooking abilities in the last year, I still usually start with a recipe. This recipe turned out to be AMAZING. I can only describe it as Christmas for my taste buds. I have to dedicate tonight's post to two people. The first person is Kayleigh, my future sis-in-law. Kay is a senior in nursing school. She is extremely bored in her Thursday ethics class and reserves that special time in her week to read my blog! This is also for Kayleigh because she just discovered with me last weekend that she actually loves bleu cheese....who knew?! This post is also dedicated to my brother, who happens to be Kayleigh's fiance. My brother, Michael, eats more beef than a cattle rancher. For Christmas last year, I got him a box of meat from Omaha Steaks and he seriously almost wept with joy. Before you health nuts go scrolling down and judging this recipe, I will just put it out there right now....it isn't the healthiest of recipes. Thank goodness my friend Sheri, the registered dietician, admitted to not ever reading my blog recently (shame on her). She may not approve of this recipe. Enough of all that...let's get to it! Join me as I celebrate the magic of beef and bleu cheese.

Below is a picture of all the ingredients you need to create MAGIC. Yes, I said it. MAGIC. You will not believe me until you try it yourself. I did try to make some changes from the original recipe to make it a teensy bit healthier. I used reduced fat bleu cheese and Smart Balance Omega-3 sticks of butter. You can't say I didn't try. This is the official "Before" shot of the sauce that will rock your world.

If your onions look like the picture below...KEEP COOKING THEM. They need to look much darker in order to be ready to contribute to the magic of the sauce.

Into the carmelized onion goes the heavy cream. I have no idea how to swap this ingredient for something healthier. If you know of something, post a comment! I might listen. I might not.

After the carmelized onions and cream work their magic together, you add the blue cheese. You stir it until it is all melted.
DRUM ROLL......
This is what our finished plates looked like. You put a nice bed of sauce on your plate. Lay the steak on top. Add whatever sides you wish. I chose to make asparagus and the amazing rolls that I have told you about before (another Pioneer Woman recipe). There are a few different ways to prepare asparagus. I like to drizzle olive oil over the fresh asparagus, then sprinkle a light dusting of salt and pepper over them. Then you bake the asparagus at 350 degrees until they just look done.

This meal includes the following good things:
protein, two veggies, healthy oil, dairy, and a starch, and lots and lots of happy taste buds.
You can't beat that!
Here is the easy recipe:
Grilled Ribeye Steak with Onion Bleu Cheese Sauce
Ingredients:
  • 2 whole Ribeye steaks
  • 2 tablespoons butter (healthy alternatives work)
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1 whole yellow onion, sliced
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup Crumbled Bleu Cheese (reduced fat works)

Preparation:

Salt and pepper both sides of the steaks. Grill the steaks in 2 tbsp of butter until they are medium or medium well. Saute onions in 4 tbsp butter over high heat. Cook for 5-7 minutes, or until dark and carmelized. Reduce heat to simmer and pour in cream. Cook for 3-5 minutes, or until reduced by half. Stir in bleu cheese until melted. Serve steaks on generous portion of sauce.

Pioneer Woman gets full credit for this recipe. I wish I could make up my own fabulous recipes, but I'm not there yet!

By the way....people who know us well, know that my husband despises onions. He did not eat the sauce. I planned on saving the leftover sauce and half of my steak for lunch tomorrow. When I went into the kitchen the sauce was GONE. The skillet was washed out. I am typing this loudly because hours later, I am STILL bitter. I still love him though.

3 comments:

Beth said...

You HAVE to make this meal for me!!! Steak w/bleu cheese is my favorite!!! I also love asparagus!!! I'm drooling!!!!

Lindsay said...

Fun! I will totally make this for you! Christmas break??

April Hearld said...

Yummy Lindsay! Ken just requested steak for dinner so I might just have to make this. Will you share the roll recipe with me too please?