Dark Days Challenge: Week 10

All week, I've been super busy. I hadn't cooked at all except to make a squash casserole on Tuesday, which held us over for a couple days. Pair that with eating a couple meals out, and I didn't have a Dark Days-worthy meal for this week. The weekend was coming around and I had no plans and a freezer full of local meats, so I decided to do it up right with a "Sunday dinner." Sunday dinners are a little more fancy, you know. Often shared with family and made with a little extra effort. Well, it was just the two of us, but I had some NY Strip steaks thawing and and bottle or Syrah all lined up. Unfortunately, we ate before I realized I didn't have a picture. I was so hungry and they smelled so good, I didn't even think about it.

We had thawed the wings for Saturday night and didn't eat them, so they got folded into our Dark Days meal for this week.

2 6-oz. NY Strip Steaks from Cedar Dawn Farm
3 kennebec potatoes from Spanglers Green House
9 chicken wings from Almost Heaven Farm
canola oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder from far away
Syrah from far away
Horizon organic low fat sour cream

So, I've been sucked into the tv show "The Worst Cooks in America" on the Food Network. For the most part, the contestants are cooking rookies, and are just learning the basics. I don't consider myself an expert by any means in the kitchen, but I've been cooking for a few years and feel pretty comfortable trying more difficult recipes. But, I actually learned something last week on the show. A marinade is an oil, an acid and aromatics. I just always thought it was whatever liquid you wanted the meat to taste like. So, I gave it a try with the steaks: about 1/3 cup of the Syrah, about 2 Tb. extra virgin olive oil and pepper, salt and garlic powder. I'm now a convert! I never marinate steaks because I always thought it would mess up the natural "steak" flavor, but I did these since I've never made grass-fed steaks before. I always hear that they have a stronger flavor, so I was a bit wary. Daggone those steaks were good.

Here's my favorite and SO EASY recipe for grilled potatoes:

potatoes (1 1/2 small to medium potatoes for each person. The recipe works best with new potatoes, but you can use any kind)
oil
coarse salt/pepper
blue cheese crumbles (you can substitute any soft cheese crumbles)

Slice the potatoes in half longways. Boil them for about 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and cool. Brush each potato with oil (I used canola last night and I think it's better than olive oil) and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill cut side down for about 15 minutes until golden. Remove from grill and top with blue cheese crumbles.

I got this recipe from Martha Stewart Living. It is ridiculous easy and really tasty. The cheese melts a little bit as the potatoes cool.