The only issue with cooking at home with fresh, organic ingredients is that I have found that dining-out is not as enjoyable as it used to be. Of course, I love the part about not actually doing the cooking and especially not having to do the cleaning. I also really love getting dressed up for a date night or a night out for some drinks and appetizers with the girls. The experience is still really enjoyable and worth it, but the actual meal rarely compares to what we eat at home. I am not saying that we are exceptional cooks, we are okay, but I think most of the credit goes to the ingredients we use. So, we decided to stay in and cook a meal we wouldn’t be disappointed in this NYE. Here is the menu we came up with.
NYE Dinner Menu:
Storrs Pinot Noir
Grass-fed rib eye with mustard-wine sauce
Mashed sweet potatoes with caramelized onions
Sauteed rainbow chard with ghee
Green beans tossed in olive oil
Grass-fed Rib Eye w/ Mustard-Wine Sauce
Steak:
1 lb. rib eye (you can use any steak of your choice)
Salt and pepper
Directions: Salt and pepper steak and grill to desired wellness.
Sauce:
1 shallot, minced
1/4 cup red wine
1/2 cup beef stock (preferably homemade, but if you don’t want to make your own, you can buy pasture-raised broth HERE.)
2 tablespoons stone-ground mustard
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 teaspoon rosemary, finely chopped
3 tablespoons butter (preferably grass-fed, such as Kerrygold)
salt and pepper to taste
- Heat 1 tablespoon of butter over medium-heat and add shallots. Cook until tender.
- Add red wine, beef stock and mustard.Reduce the heat and simmer, until sauce reduces to about half.
- Stir in remaining 2 tablespoons of butter.
- Season sauce with herbs, salt and pepper.
- Serve with steak.
My sis-in law made these sweet potatoes (minus the sugar and sour-cream) for Christmas and they were amazing!
Herb Mashed Sweet Potatoes w/ Caramelized Onion
(adapted from Cook’s Country)
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 5 pieces
3 tablespoons heavy cream
2 pounds sweet potatoes (2 large or 3 medium), peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 small onion, chopped
- Combine 4 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons cream, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, thyme, and sweet potatoes in large saucepan. Cook, covered, over low heat until potatoes are fall-apart tender, 35 to 40 minutes.
- While sweet potatoes are cooking, melt remaining tablespoon butter in small nonstick skillet and add onion. Cook over low heat until onion is caramelized, about 15 minutes. Set aside until sweet potatoes are done cooking.
- Once sweet potatoes are done cooking, take pan off heat. Discard thyme sprig, add remaining tablespoon cream, and mash sweet potatoes with potato masher. Stir in onion and serve.
