Cooking with Dr. Monkey (Election night edition)

It's been a long time since I did a cooking post. And to the five people who like my cooking posts I apologize for the taking so much time in between them.

We knew last Tuesday night was going to be historic one way or the other, thank goodness it went the way we wanted it to, so I decided to make a meal that we haven't had in years, steak and potatoes. Now before you get your panties in a wad over me having steak please understand that we rarely eat red meat anymore and when we do have it it's rarely steak. In other words after having a heart attack four years ago and having one or two steaks since, I was due.
I got a NY Strip steak, one big steak for both Sparky and I, with very little fat on it and I marinated it in some extra virgin olive oil, garlic, Sicilian herb blend, and some cracked black pepper. While the steak marinated I cut up some little red potatoes and I tossed them in some olive oil and herbs.When my oven got hot I put them into bake at 400 degrees.
Next I made a salad of cherry tomatoes, shredded carrot, and a herb/lettuce blend of greens.

As the potatoes cooked I cut up some mushrooms, a bit of red pepper, and I sliced some onions.Then I put my grill pan on the stove to heat up. I also got out my stainless steel saute pan and I put in some Brummel and Brown, which is a yogurt based butter substitute, and a little red wine.When my grill pan got nice and hot I put the steak in it.It was a big ass honking steak so I had to make sure I cooked it for a long time on each side. I like my steak with a hot pink inside, not cool or cold pink and not blood red rare, so I let it sit and cook on each side for a good long time. After it had been on the stove for awhile I sliced a piece off and I saw it needed longer to cook so I let it do it's thing some more.As the steak cooked more I pulled out my potatoes and they looked great, as you can see in the above picture. About 7 minutes later I took the steak out of the pan and I let it rest in a cutting board. I can't stress how important it is to let grilled or fried meats rest for a few minutes after taking them off the heat. It seals in the juices and it makes them more flavorful. After resting for about 5 minutes I cut the meat and plated the rest of the food.I topped the meat slices with the caramelized mushrooms peppers and onions. Let me tell you people, this meal was fucking fantastic. The meat was hot pink on the inside and juicy as all get out and the salad and potatoes kicked ass. It was nice to eat steak again. All in all it was a great meal to have before the great election returns rolled in.

Have no worries my vegetarian friends, the next night I did penance for my cattle munching ways. I made this meal the night on Wednesday night:We had baked acorn and butternut squash, sauteed onions/mushrooms/pablano pepper, salad, bread and homemade lemon and garlic hummus. It was delicious as well.