Recipe
Today you’re going to see something you’ve never, ever seen on SoS before…and probably never will again.
Small children should avert their eyes.
What is it you ask?
Steak.
Topped with cheese.
No, I didn’t get a taste bud transplant. It was for the husband. I figure it has to be pretty hard to stick by your wife as she flails around trying to start her own business. And trust me, after 3 years of marriage, I promise you a little brown-nosing kindness doesn’t hurt.
The poor meat & potatoes loving boy is constantly fed vegetables against his will. (Hey, if you’re not gonna cook, you’re gonna eat what the cook makes.)
Plus, he’s sick. Even the toughest men turn into whining babies when they don’t feel good. I figured I’d head him off at the pass with a meal he couldn’t complain about.
Enter Pimento Cheese Smothered Filet with Roasted Broccoli. (Ok, the broccoli is because even in my nicest state I insist on vegetables. ;))
I”ve probably cooked steak twice in my life, so I had quite the task at hand.
I kept things simple and coated the steak in a little bit of olive oil and crushed peppercorn. (I added some salt after cooking.) I tried to leave it plain so the meat could speak for itself, but at the last minute I added some Worcestershire sauce- because who doesn’t love that?
(Yes it’s in the background blurred out on purpose. I’m not trying to scar any young eyes that may be reading with raw meat.)
Onto the grill they went. I seared them for a few minutes on super high heat to lock in all the juices, then lowered the heat and continued cooking on each side for a few minutes.
While the steaks cooked I got to work on the pimento cheese.
First up some pepper jack cheese.
Then some diced roasted bell peppers- a red one and an orange one.
(Remember that garden I completely & miserably failed at? It’s growing peppers!!!)
Pepper jack cheese and roasted peppers mixed together with a little cayenne pepper, parsley, and mayo.
When the steaks were pretty much done cooking, I covered them in the spicy pimento-less pimento cheese and let it melt. (You could pop it under the broiler too.)
For a side dish, I chopped up some broccoli and a few garlic slices, then roasted it at 400 for 25 minutes until the florets started to brown.
When it came out of the oven I sprinkled it with lemon juice and parmesan cheese.
And thus before you lays the manliest manly meal to ever cross into SoS territory. Look closely because it’s not happening again.
See? I am a good wife. Sometimes. When I’m not force-feeding beans and vegetables…
Do you cook things you don’t like for other people?
Other
I don’t know what color my thumbs are, but green they are not.
My poor little vegetable garden isn’t really much of a garden anymore. Apparently these things don’t grow themselves.
I blame the heat wave that coincided with a vacation—> not enough water 🙁
So since my veggies were already well on their way to dead, I wasn’t too upset when I glanced out the window and a saw Puxatony Phil’s long distance cousin nibbling away at the sweet potato leaves.
(You know your garden’s hopeless when your first thought is “Aww, how cute!” Not “Get away from my veggies you pig!”)
I tried to catch a picture of the groundhog, but I scared him away when I went outside. I usually scare the neighbors away too, so I don’t blame him.
He would have looked something like this I think though:
I can’t really blame him. I love sweet potatoes too.
I’ll attempt to salvage what’s left, but we might just have to call this “soil prep” for next year.
Anybody out there have a green thumb?
Other
If it’s anything like mine, very slowly!! It’s been a long process getting everything ready, but I’m happy to report my garden is fully planted!! Now I just hope it grows….
North Carolina has a poor excuse for soil. Soil isn’t even really an accurate term- clay would be more appropriate. It’s hard and unfriendly, but I was determined to make it work.
I decided raised beds would be the way to go. A raised garden bed is a great way to get around native soil problems, they keep the soil warmer so you can plant earlier, and they drain well.
I built mine out of landscaping timbers- not the prettiest, but certainly cheaper than cedar. (Cedar is probably the best choice- it’s naturally rot resistant & helps repel bugs.) You can use whatever material you want, as long as it’s not pressure treated. (That could put nasty chemicals in your food.)
The husband was oh-so-happy I had a project for him. 😉
He was quite reluctant to give up yard space, but using my master negotiating skills I finally convinced him to give me a little space. They’re a bit on the small side, but I don’t even know if I can grow anything, so that’s ok.
(This part was a little scary for me- we were trying to stake the beds into the ground, and the wood kept popping up. I had to stand right next to where the husband was “hammering” (with an ax) to weight the bed down. Yikes!)
Done!
Now it was time to get some soil. If anybody ever told me I was going to pay money for dirt, I would have thought they were crazy. Apparently they’re not.
So many choices!!
I went with a combination of organic planting soil & cow manure. (Yup, that’s right.) If you have compost to mix in, that would be ideal.
My seedlings are just now sprouting. They’re not quite ready to be planted yet, so I got some backups.
After adding dirt (and poo) it was time to lay out the garden. I tried to follow the directions on the seed packets for spacing, but I kinda just put them where I thought would be good.
I love how different all the seeds look! All three of these are for different types of greens, but they’re all so unique!
All planted!!
I ended up planting sweet potatoes, bell peppers (red & orange), carrots, broccoli, and greens: spinach, arugula, and lettuce (black seeded simpson).
Do you have a garden? Any tips? 🙂
