Good Ol’ Meat and Potatoes

I like meat.  That’s about all there is to it.  Sure, I go vegetarian from time to time and that’s fine, too.  But I like meat.  Like steak. Steaks are good.  Satisfying on a primal level.

Josh doesn’t really like steak too often.  Opposites attract, right?  But after having a good steak at a wedding we went to recently, he decided that maybe we should start having steak more often.  Jackpot!  Sure, I said, trying to contain my gleefulness, whatever you like.  So of course, the first thing to do when experimenting was to conduct a bit of research and educate ourselves on the various cuts of meat and how they are best cooked.  This site came in handy for that.  The next was to go shopping.  Which we do almost every day anyway.

So we’re standing at the meat counter in Whole Foods, staring at row upon row of red fleshy goodness.  Now, Josh and I aren’t overly crazy about organics.  In terms of dry goods, I rarely care.  In terms of produce, some organics are more important than others–and local always takes precedence anyway, which is why we get a lot of our produce in the summer from our CSA. But when it comes to meat and dairy, we’re pretty selective and tend to go for free-range, grass-fed, antibiotic free when given the option.  So anyway, we’re standing at the meat counter, chatting with the butcher (who we find out lives in our apartment complex, handily across the street from said Whole Foods, how awesome is that) and Josh picks a cut of meat.  And he picks ribeye.  Of course.  Because if there’s a way to a man’s heart, it’s a ribeye steak.

Now, I believe in letting the natural flavor of good quality meat shine through, and that great steak is best when kept simple, so that was my plan tonight.  I prepared the meat as simply as possible and Josh picked just a simple side of mashed potatoes to go along with, and we (well, I) washed it down with a bit of his homemade root beer.  Below is the recipe (more or less, I’m terrible at measuring when I cook) for our delicious meal tonight.  Also, yay I finally charged my Nikon camera to get decent pictures!

Grilled Ribeye Steak with Skin-On Garlic Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

For the steak
2 small ribeye steaks, brought to room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons black peppercorns
2 tablespoons fresh thyme
2 tablespoons kosher salt

Put peppercorns and thyme into a grinder and grind until medium coarse (or, put into a plastic bag and smash with a hammer).  Mix with salt.  Drizzle olive oil over steaks and rub a quarter of the spice mix into each side of each steak.

Place steaks on a grill over high heat; close lid and turn down heat to low.  Let cook for about 5 minutes, flip, close lid and let continue to cook until steaks reach desired temperature.  For Josh, that’s medium rare; for me, medium well (I know,  I know).  I couldn’t find my meat thermometer, so I went by the “springiness” of the meat when touched.  It worked out okay.  Pull steaks off grill, cover with a lid or tin foil and let sit for at least 5 minutes.

For the potatoes


4 medium russet potatoes, boiled til fork tender
2 tablespoons cooking water, reserved
1/4-1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
2 tablespoons chopped garlic scapes
salt and pepper as desired

Place cooked potatoes, reserved cooking water, rosemary, parmigiano, scapes and olive oil in a mixer; turn mixer on low and slowly add cream until potatoes reach your desired consistency (Josh likes his super creamy, even with the skins left on).  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Eat!  To plate the mashed potatoes, I used an ice cream scoop, which gave me those adorable little round mounds you see in the picture.

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2 thoughts on “Good Ol’ Meat and Potatoes

  1. Amanda Fussman

    OOOH!!! Ribeye best cut of meat out there! I use salt pepper and garlic salt… let it sit for a short bit then onto the grill delicious! and i’m taking that tato receipe

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