Best Steak Ever!

We purchased two thick Dry-Aged 40 days Rib-Eye Steaks from McCall’s Meat and Fish. They were beautiful! We planned to have them and then maybe have some leftovers. Tom and Scott stopped by and joined us for dinner. It turned out the 2 steaks served four of us and then I had plenty of meat leftover for steak sandwiches (and to give to the cats). The meat was so rich you didn’t have to eat a lot (but we did). We like the meat on the rare side, I grilled them on one side for 8 minutes then flipped and did 6 minutes on the other side. I didn’t even need to use a thermometer to know they were done.

We started with a Tomato Salad with Burrata Cheese that our friend Guillermo had brought  from Italy especially for us. It was much richer than the Burrata we buy locally.  I purchased the Tomatoes at the farmers market (where I also bought the Corn). Basil is in season so I bought several bunches and made fresh Pesto from a New York Times recipe.

Cathy made the best crispy potatoes - the recipe is called Oven-Roasted Potatoes Patate al Forno from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper. Fantastic! They were like French Fries without the oil. You can get the recipe from our blog of: April 10, 2010. Click the date to get the recipe.

Scott brought a very light and rich Cake from a Japanese bakery.

Basic Pesto

New York Times

Pesto is a mouthful of bright summer — basil made more so. You can buy it in a jar or in the refrigerator section of your grocery story, but there is nothing better than making it yourself. Fresh basil can be found in abundance at farmers’ markets in the summer. Just clean, take the stems off and throw the leaves in a food processor with nuts and garlic. Dribble in the oil and you’ve got a versatile sauce for pasta, chicken or fish.

Ingredients

2       cups fresh basil leaves (no stems)

2       tablespoons pine nuts or walnuts

2       large cloves garlic

½      cup extra-virgin olive oil

½      cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. Combine basil leaves, pine nuts or walnuts and garlic in a food processor and process until very finely minced.

2. With the machine running slowly dribble in the oil and process until the mixture is smooth.

3. Add the cheese and process very briefly, just long enough to combine. Store in refrigerator or freezer.