I Made Steak

Most typical Americans have probably made and eaten countless steaks in their life and it does not warrant a blog entry or a pat on the back. But I am a novice, to say the least, at both making and consuming steak. But John wanted steak, is anyone else noticing a theme here, and I said okay. Off we went to Trader Joe's to pick up a week's worth of groceries. After waiting in the incessant line on Masonic Ave. we finally got into the parking lot. Now I love Trader Joe's as much as the next person, but they really need to widen their aisles a bit. It is no longer the little local market, it is always packed and I get so annoyed dodging people and carts and small children as I try to grab the last box of whole wheat couscous and load up on Two Buck Chuck.
We also grabbed some steaks for that night. I was a little nervous, but I found a package that had 2 medium size steaks and a baby steak for me, so I thought that I could handle that. We got home and I went to work. I cooked the steaks on my cast iron grill pan on the stove after covering them with salt and pepper. While they were cooking I started on my wine sauce. Simmer one cup of wine, I used a nice Zinfandel, for about 6-8 minutes, then remove it from the heat and slowly stir in 2 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter, in small pieces. I then actually placed the sauce back over the heat in hopes to thicken it up a little more.I made some couscous and sauteed some veggies on the side too. I always keep frozen stir veggies in the freezer and I am trying to actually use the food that I have stored in my pantry and freezer. So out came the TJ's stir fry veggies, a combo of carrots, broccoli, water chestnuts, red bell pepper, and onions. I like these and they are simple, healthy and easy. Plus I really love cooked carrots and water chestnuts. I like the softness of the carrots and the crunch of the chestnuts. Yum!While this meal was quite tasty, I must admit it was not the beautiful thing I have ever created. The wine sauce bled all over the plate and into the couscous, which made everything taste good but look like a murder scene. Oh well. Maybe I will try it another time but plate the steak over mashed potatoes so the sauce goes all over that, it might look a little like a volcano! Nice. Dinner was great though. John was impressed with my steak making skills (wow!) and it was actually pretty healthy. If you look at my plate you see that my steak is actually quite small and the majority of the plate is the veggies and couscous. I guess I am in tune with what all the nutritionists and dieticians tell everyone about how to plate their plates (half veggies and one quarter protein, the other quarter carbs, I think). Anyway, dinner was tasty, that's the most important part!