$15 Steak dinner for 2.
My wife and I were in the mood for steak last Friday. However, we did not feel like going out or paying a lot of money for a good steak. So I Asked my wife to pick up a steak from the farmer's market, and I told her I can give her a steak house style dinner for under $15. She did not belive me, so we took a bet. Loser does the dishes. Here is the tale of how I won and lost the bet.
The rules were simple, don't spend more than $15 ($7.50 each) and it must taste like a steakhouse meal. My wife is not one for losing, so we carefully measured everything out. Once everything was measured, and calculated, I was not allowed to use anything else to cook.
*note - Everything was Non-GMO and Organic. All of our produce is delivered weekly to our house from a co-op of organic growers we are members of. The meat was from a local farm, the cow was free-range, only grass-fed, with no hormones or antibiotics (I've probably met the poor cow during the farm's "Meat and Greet"
.
Anyhoo... Here is what I used.
1 NY Strip Steak - $5.89
Carrots - $0.24 (4oz)
Celery - $0.62 (4oz)
Onion - $0.20 (2oz)
Home Made Beef Stock - $0.35 (About a 1/2 cup, but I condense the heck out of my stock so a full cup if store bought)
Red Wine - $2.84 (1 cup of Robert Mondavi Cabernet)
Rosemary - $0.09 (one sprig)
Worcestershire Sauce - $0.79 (2oz)
Flour - 0.00 (was a gimme from the wife, as I only used a few spoonfuls from a 5lb bag)
2 Green Squash - $0.89 (cost from the co-op)
EV Olive Oil - $0.67 (2oz)
Sunflower Oil - $0.30 (1oz)
Yukon Gold Potato - $0.65 (1/2 a pound)
Heavy Cream - $0.49 (2oz)
Butter - $0.18 (1 Tablespoon)
Spices / Salt and Pepper - $0.00 (was another gimme from my wife.)
1 - Package of Starbucks VIA instant coffee - $0.00 (was in a Christmas basket we received as a gift)
Tap Water - $0.00 (another gimme)
Dinner Rolls - $0.70 (.35 each partially baked rolls from the bakery)
So added up everything came out to $14.90. So here is what I did...
Getting started:
I finely diced the Carrots, Celery and Onions and added them to a 2qt sauce pan with the butter over low heat. Once they were slightly mushy and the onions soft I added the Wine, Beef Stock and Rosemary Along with a cup of water and left it on a light boil.
I julienned the Squash and tossed it with the Olive Oil in a bowl with some salt and pepper, then set it aside.
I seasoned the Steak with Salt, Pepper, Coarse Garlic, Crushed Red Pepper and the Starbucks Coffee (I used about half the package). I then set the Steak aside allowing it to continue its journey to room temp (I do not like cooking Steaks that are refigerator cold) so it will cook evenly and remain moist.
I then diced and began boiling the potatoes. Once they were soft, I mashed them with the butter, heavy cream and some salt and peper, and set them aside.
By this point the gravy was reduced by about 1/2 and a rich brown. I then strained it into a bowl. I do not have a strainer so I used a screen mesh splatter guard. I returned it to the sauce pan over very low heat and slowly sifted in flour while whisking to prevent lumps. I cannot say how much flour I added as I simply stopped once the gravy was as the desired thickness. I then added salt and pepper to taste.
In a stainless skillet over medium-high heat I added the sunflower oil. Once it started to smoke I gently placed the steak in the pan being careful not to move it one in there. I set a timer for 4 minutes. Once the timer went off, I flipped the steak and set the timer for 4 minutes again. Once done I pulled the steak out of the pan and covered it with foil on a cutting board. I set the heat to low on the skillet and added the gravy to soak up the steak juices.
While the gravy was in the skillet I heated another skillet to medium and added the squash continually tossing it. I reheated the Potatoes in the microwave.
Serving was easy. After the steak had rested for about 5 minutes I plated the potatoes with gravy, and the Squash. I then sliced the steak at an angle and placed it on top of the potatoes.
Everything was lovely and came out perfect. The steak was just right, the gravy rich in flavor and the potatoes were live velvet. We sat down for dinner, and I did not say a word about the bet. We just talked about our day and what we were planning for the weekend.
As it came time to clear the table, my wife quietly got up, put all the dishes in the sink and walked out of the kitchen. As she walked by, she said "Dinner was awesome! But, you best get to those dishes, the kitchen is a wreck."
"What!?" I asked. "We had a bet and I made this awesome meal for under $15!"
She continued her walk into the living room, and with a sly smile simply asked "How much was the wine we drank?"
= new reply since forum marked as read
Anyway, that looks perfect. Great job!
