Steak and Potatoes!

Dave is a meat and potatoes guy! So I made him these recipes from The Wine Lover Cooks With Wine, by Sid Goldstein:

Gameplan:
Take the steaks out of the fridge.
Start the garlic for the potatoes.
Make the spice mixture.
Start boiling the potatoes.
Chop all ingredients for both dishes
Prepare and cook the steaks.
Make the steak sauce.
Finish up potatoes when the garlic is done.
Plate!

Seared Peppercorn and Spice Encrusted Rib-Eye
with Peppercorn and Walnuts
Ingredients
1 tbsp mixed peppercorns (I used black)
1 tbsp of cumin seed (I used about a tsp of ground cumin)
1 tbsp of mustard seed
1 tsp of kosher salt
4 boneless rib-eye steaks (2.5 lbs total or so) at room temperature
1 tsp of olive oil

Sauce:
1 shallot, minced (fine shop)
1 tbsp of tomato paste
3/4 dry red wine (something you would drink, either a syrah, shiraz, or zinfandel)
3/4 cup low sodium beef or chicken stock
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces
Kosher salt

Garnish:
3 tbsp crumbled Roquefort (I used Gorgonzola, any bleu cheese will suffice)
3 tbsp coarsely chopped walnuts toasted (toss around in a pan over med high heat until you can smell them)
1 tbsp minced fresh chives

Cook:
In a mortar or spice grinder (coffee blade grinder or a pepper mill will work, too) combine the pepper corns, cumin seed, mustard seed, and salt and grind thoroughly. Coat the steaks thoroughly with oil, then rub with the spice mixture.

Heat a heavy saute pan or skillet over high heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the steaks to the dry pan, leaving some space between them. Reduce heat to medium-high and sear the steaks on one side for 4 minutes. Flip the steaks and cook for 3 minutes on the second side for medium-rare (recommended). Transfer the steaks to a plate and cover loosely with aluminum foil.

To make the sauce: In the same pan over high heat, saute the shallot and tomato paste for about 2 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high and gradually stir in the wine, stock, and balsamic vinegar. Cook to reduce the liquid by about a third, strain the sauce (why would you do this?!?! I didn't!!!) and whisk in the butter and salt (just a dash).

To serve, divide the sauce evenly among 4 warmed plates and place the steaks on top. Sprinkle the cheese over the steaks and top with walnuts and chives.

Roasted-Garlic and Horseradish Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:
3.5 lbs of yukon golds or red potatoes (I did reds, cut them into 1-2 inch cubes)
1 garlic head roasted (cut off the top fourth or third of a garlic bulb, place in foil, drizzle with olive oil, and salt and pepper it and bake at 350 for an hour. To get the garlic, just squeeze)
2 tbsp horseradish sauce (found in the condiments section)
2 tbsp minced fresh thyme or 1 tbsp dried
1/2 cup of whole milk (I used nonfat and it was fine)
6 tbsp unsalted butter
chicken stock as needed (we didn't need any)
salt and pepper

Cook (these are not the recipe instructions, they sucked, so these are my instructions):
Put the potatoes in the large pot of water, salt, and boil for 30 minutes. Drain. Add the garlic, horseradish, and thyme and mash till ingredients are distributed. Add milk, butter and season and mash. Add stock if you need to. Serve or keep warm for up to 30 minutes.

Serve with some greens (spinach, arugula, baby lettuces) drizzled with olive oil, red wine vinegar, and sprinkled with salt and pepper.

De LISH ous