The Easiest Dinner Menu That Will Nonetheless Blow Your Date Away
BY PAULA FORBES
Howdy, lovers. Now that you simply’ve mastered the essential guidelines for date-night cooking, it’s time to place these expertise to make use of on the final word romantic menu: steak for 2. You shouldn’t be daunted by steak. Steakhouses have fancy eating rooms and fancy wine lists and fancy menu costs, however cooking meat for your loved one is about as primal as you may get. If it received the early people laid, who’s to say it gained’t be just right for you?
When you’ve efficiently cooked your hunk of meat, all it’s a must to do is put one thing good subsequent to it and also you’ve received a meal. Need to preserve issues mild? Make a salad. Need to go all out? Mash the hell out of some potatoes. It’s all fairly easy. So get away the sharp knives and take the batteries out of the smoke alarm: It’s time to get your steak on.
First issues first: You want some meat. Until you recognize one in every of you likes it burnt and one in every of you likes it bloody, get a giant steak to separate. It’s extra romantic that method, and extra enjoyable. One thing within the 18-ounce vary if it has a bone; 14 ounces if not. Don’t sweat the minimize an excessive amount of: Rib eyes are in all probability your finest wager, however something that’s about an inch thick and properly marbled with fats will do the trick. Go to an excellent butcher, since they’ll have extra choices so that you can select from. (This isn’t the time to get the cling-wrapped stuff in a styrofoam container.) Spring for an aged steak in the event you like—it’ll have a brilliant beefy, nearly blue cheese-y funk to it—but when not, purchase one of the best you possibly can afford and transfer on.
When you get it residence, put that hunk of meat within the fridge till about an hour earlier than you’re going to prepare dinner it—you need it to return as much as room temperature.
Add Some Sides
You will want a potato, most certainly. Mashed potatoes will do the trick in the event you’re into them, or in order for you one thing ultra-easy, go for baked potatoes. (Gussy them up with crumbled bacon and bitter cream and chopped herbs after they’re finished.) When you belief your cooking expertise, go forward and make a basic (learn: fancy) potato like Potatoes Anna or a gratin.
You additionally want a vegetable. Ideally one thing inexperienced. When you’re feeling spunky, swing by the farmers’ market and take a look at what’s in season. Proper now, you may attempt snap peas or asparagus, rapidly cooked in well-salted boiling water for a minute after which tossed with a little bit of butter, salt, and pepper. Or make a easy salad: Purchase probably the most stunning lettuce you will discover and toss it with a little bit of oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper earlier than serving. Growth, finished.
Get Some Wine
Crimson wine. The precise crimson wine is your name, nevertheless it must be crimson, and once more one of the best you possibly can afford. That is date evening: You’re trying to impress. If in case you have no concept what you’re doing, go to an excellent wine store and ask for assist. Put a little bit of a chill on the wine, however don’t get it completely chilly: Put it within the fridge about 20 minutes earlier than your date reveals up. Serve it in wine glasses if in any respect doable, however brief glass tumblers will do in a pinch.
Get a Pan Actually, Actually, Actually Scorching
Ideally, it’s best to use a cast-iron pan. When you don’t have one, use probably the most heavy-duty pan you personal that may match the large steak. Whereas the pan is heating up, season the steak with salt and pepper generously on each side. When the pan is admittedly ridiculously sizzling—nearly smoking—open the closest window to the range and add a sleek of vegetable oil to the pan. Add the steak. It should smoke and spit like loopy. (Aren’t you glad you opened a window?) That is, maybe, the one disadvantage to creating steak for date evening, however it is usually dramatic and thrilling, so possibly it is determined by what sort of individual your date is.
Sear, Child, Sear
Depart the steak to prepare dinner on one facet for a couple of minutes, then flip. You’re on the lookout for that good brown sear to type on each side, and when you’ve received that, you solely wish to prepare dinner it to only the way you prefer it. There are every kind of the way to check how finished a steak is, however typically, discover the a part of the steak that’s farthest from the sting or a bone and poke it along with your finger. You need it to be harder than it was when it was uncooked, however nonetheless have an excellent quantity of give. If in case you have a meat thermometer, 130°F will get you a medium-rare steak, whereas 150 will get you a extra well-done however nonetheless rosy steak.
Dinner Is Served
Your steak will want a while to relaxation when it’s completed. Set it on a plate with a bit of butter on prime, and end your sides. (Additionally, pour some wine on your date who simply received smoked out by the steak scenario. Make a bit joke about it. It’s superb.) As soon as it’s rested, slice it into skinny strips. When you actually wish to get fancy, dot it with a sauce like chimichurri or Béarnaise. However actually? The steak, a glass of wine, and your smile ought to do the trick. Now go get ’em.
