Sometimes You Have To Do It Yourself

As the old saying goes, if you want something done right sometimes you have to do it yourself. I often feel this way with food. My boyfriend and I cook delicious meals that far surpass the food we eat at even the best of restaurants. When you throw in that we can enjoy these meals for under $50, including wine, compared to an easy $150 when eating out, sometimes it just makes more sense to stay home.


In general we try to prepare only fresh, organic and from-scratch food. Our latest masterpiece included a mixed green salad with grilled peaches, sliced almonds, Turkish feta, and a ginger dressing. For the main course we feasted on filet mignon with sides of kale with shallots and garlic and basmati rice with Greek yogurt.

For the dressing I peeled and minced the ginger, squeezed half a lemon, and combined it in a jar with white vinegar and olive oil and shook it up with a pinch of salt and pepper.

I sautéed the kale with minced garlic and sliced shallots with a bit of olive oil and vegetable broth. Kale needs to simmer for quite a while, until dark green and limp. I cooked this one for about 20 minutes.

We tenderized the filet and seasoned it with salt, pepper, olive oil, and oregano. It was first seared on the stove top to get the crispy outside and seal in the juices, then sent to the oven at 400' for about 6 minutes. The steaks came out medium rare plus.

We prepared the basmati rice similar to risotto. We sauté it with a bit of butter instead of boil it. Near the end we add copious amounts of large cracked pepper. (As you can tell, we can't get enough pepper). After the rice is finished we add a dollop of non-fat plain yogurt.

I briefly (about 2 minutes) marinated the local Georgia peaches in balsamic vinegar and grilled them until soft. These were added to the salad along with almonds and Turkish feta. Delish!

 





For our wine paring we sipped on Neprica "Tormaresca" 2009 Puglia - 40% Negroamaro, 30% Primitivo, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine went great with the meat. Medium plus body, dark fruit and a bit of spice, overall balance in acidity and flavors.