I was recently discussing Dinner for Spinsters with a good friend who told me of a meal she prepared for herself once, a big fat steak. Her husband was away for the evening and when he returned home he fully expected her dinner would have been along the lines of cauliflower or some such veggie. Nope! We ladies love a good steak just as much as any fellow. While she was in town for the holidays we were also talking about her recent trip to Turkey. What amazing adventures she had! I don’t know about you, but I have the hardest time saving money. There always seems to be some expense or such every time I get ahead. In order to save up for their trip, she and her husband didn’t eat out for several months.
The more I thought about my habits, I soon realized this was one area I could definitely cut out and save some major bucks. I guess we’ll call it my New Year’s Resolution. No more eating out, especially since I love to cook and now have this blog to share recipes. My last meal out was over a week ago with her and another close friend. It was superb. We gushed over the house made gnocchi, shared some wine and laughed a whole lot. A great note to end on. So this entry goes out to her, for she has been an inspiration to me on many occasions.
To begin with, find yourself a nice cut of meat, not too large. I chose a filet which was about 6 oz. In future recipes you will be seeing a lot of beef. I would like for you to meet Fred, the freezer cow. I have been quite fortunate and have access to an entire cow now residing in my parent’s freezer. Locally raised and quite delicious! Go ahead and remove fat from steak, as desired. I prefer it fairly lean. Sear the steak with salt and pepper and oil in a very hot skillet. Set aside.
For the Gnocchi:
1 large sweet potato
1 clove garlic, minced
1 ½ - 2 cups flour
1 egg
Salt and pepper to taste
Bake sweet potato at 350 deg for 30-45 minutes or until fully cooked. Let cool. Peel skin from potato and mash in a medium sized bowl. Add remainder of ingredients and mix well. You want your gnocchi to be like dough, so add flour until you reach this consistency. Roll dough out onto a floured surface and section into 4 pieces. This is a lot of gnocchi, you may be thinking. About 4-5 servings so I went ahead and froze 3 individually wrapped dough balls for later.
On your floured surface form sections of remaining dough into thin rolls and cut into 1 inch pieces. You may need to reshape your pieces a bit before placing into a pot of boiling water. Once gnocchi floats to top remove from water.
For the Sauce:
¼ roasted red pepper
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup Gouda (or favorite shredded cheese)
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (or whatever is on hand)
Salt and pepper to taste
I went ahead and roasted an entire red pepper for this recipe and saved the remainder. Rub pepper with a bit of olive oil and place in pre-heated oven (I did mine the same time as the sweet potato). Bake until skin of pepper is dark and bubbly. Remove from oven and place in a saran covered bowl until cool. Remove skin and dice up about a quarter for sauce.
In a small sauce pan over med-high heat, place the heavy cream. Let the edges of the cream start to simmer and add your cheese just before it comes to a boil. Reduce heat and whisk until cheese is fully incorporated. Add salt and pepper, seasoning and roasted red pepper. Add gnocchi and set aside.
Before you start the sauce, bake your seared steak at 350 deg until desired doneness. I prefer medium rare which only took about 12 minutes.
Plate your meal and enjoy! I topped mine off with a bit of sautéed spinach, oh so yummy.
Sam
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