Pin-Up Steak - How Pinterest Made My Dinner Great!

Isn't that a beautiful sight? Definitely restaurant quality meal.

With Hubby home from a weekend away with his family and our precious Arty back at home after surgery on his broken leg, I figured that we had some celebrating to do. If you don't know it yet, I like to celebrate over EVERYTHING! So I went to Pinterest and started planning the ultimate meal. 

The inspiration for my meal was a bottle of Layer Cake's Primitivo that was recommended by my friend, Wendy. (Hi Wendy!) This wine is delicious! I love a good red, but Hubby is not as much a fan. He says that they are too tart for him. Well this was a little more palatable for him, since it had a sweetness to it that reduced that sharpness. Let me state though that this is not a sweet red. It is just a good Zinfandel that has a bit of sweetness. 

A review for Layer Cake's Primitivo states, "A balance of elegance and power, the wine impresses with inky black fruit, spice and white pepper, jammy black cherries, plums, truffles and espresso." I could definitely taste the cherries and the plum in the first sip, which gives it that sweetness. However, I don't remember the truffles or espresso being at the party at all. I think I should buy another bottle and try to find the other flavors. ;-)

So we have our inspiration red wine. Now we need a meal to equal this. What is the perfect dancing partner for a red wine? STEAK!

Lately, I have been on a health kick and my diet has consisted of fruits and lots of salads. I haven't had a good steak in almost 6 months. For a great steak, Hubby and I usually get dressed up and go to Fleming's, our favorite steakhouse. We celebrate our anniversaries and birthdays there and they know our name and treat us wonderfully! For this meal though, I wanted to try doing a steak myself. 

In the past, my trials at steak have resulted in very juicy tender steaks, but I could never get any temperature but well done. My challenge to myself was to find a recipe that let me get a good medium steak for Hubby and a medium-well for myself. Off I went to Pinterest to scour the thousands of steak recipes and found one that had the title, "How To Cook Perfect Steak in the Oven." With a title like that, I could not pass it up. This recipe was simple and to the point, but I wanted to take it to the next level, so I found this wonderful marinade to do the day before. 

I went to my favorite market here in Decatur, Dekalb Farmer's Market, and chose a huge, bone-in, 18oz, Angus ribeye steak. So many adjectives to describe a beautiful piece of beef and it was only $13! I only got one because I planned on cutting it in half, giving Hubby and I two good sized 9 oz steaks. I marinaded the steak for a full 24 hours and then proceeded in cooking according to the directions in the cooking recipe. 

The result was a juicy, perfectly cooked steak...but it was at a medium-rare! I did not take into consideration that my steak was thicker than the recipe. So after three more times under the broiler, I ended up with medium for Hubby and medium-well for me. YAY!!!! 

Close-up of my medium-well steak

Well with a mouthwatering steak, you need some awesome sides. I knew I wanted to do some type of potato because I had some in my pantry that needed to be used before they went bad. (I hate wasting food.) I did not want to do a plain baked potato, it just would not live up to the star of the show! So I again looked on Pinterest and found the recipe for a twice baked potato loaded with butter, green onions, and CHEESE!

Close-up of the cheesy goodness

I did the cheat that the recipe suggested where you do the first bake of the potato and fix it up, then put in the fridge and bake again the next day. I am glad that I did this because in the process of baking my potatoes, I forgot my timing and one of them exploded in the oven. What a mess! It scared the dogs and they spent the next 30 minutes barking their heads off. Needless to say, I had quite a mess to deal with. The next day, when I turned on the oven, it smelled like burnt french fries.

And finally, every good meal needs something green. Hubby and I were watching Chopped one day and saw a chef fail at doing bacon-wrapped asparagus. How a professional chef failed at something so simple, I don't know, but I was determined to make some. I did look up a recipe on trusty ole Pinterest, here, just to make sure I was doing it right. I must admit that I slightly overcooked the asparagus, but I wanted to make sure the bacon was done. 

So is the plural of asparagus, asparagi? Lol

So add all of those delicious things together and you have what could be last meal worthy. I ate and ate and ate. And I drank and drank and drank. In the end, I was stuffed, but incredibly happy. I hope you try these and let me know how yours came out. 

After my good meal, I spent the rest of the night kissing my precious Arty and enjoying having him home. 

Please ignore the hair!

Talk Soon, XOXO!

Crystal