Ribeye Steak with Bleu Cheese Butter and Walla Walla Onions - Our Titans victory dinner

Ah, it is football season, my favorite time of the year.  If it were cooler out it would be perfect.  But our Titans beat the Raiders and all is good in the world.  To celebrate we grilled.  For us, the steak of choice on the barbecue is a ribeye - especially one that is nicely marbled.  We selected one a bit over a pound to share.

In my opinion a good steak needs nothing more than to be liberally sprinkled with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper.  If it needs more than that, well, it's not my thing....

To accompany tonight's hunk of cow I decided upon twice baked potatoes.  I love them and hardly ever make them.  I don't know why I don't so I decided today is time to remedy the situation.  I took two large baking potatoes, rubbed them with olive oil, sprinkled a generous amount of coarse salt on them and introduced them to a 400 degree oven for an hour.

The recipe we followed was from September's "Bon Appetit" in an article that featured a recipe from Portland,Oregon's Laurelhurst Market.  It is below....

1 pound ribeye (1 - 1 1/2 inches thick) sprinkled with on both sides with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper.  Grill to medium rare then remove and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes.

Bleu Cheese butter
3 tbls softened butter
3 tbls crumbled bleu cheese
1 1/2 tsps grated lemon peel
1 1/2 tsps chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 1/2 tsps freshly ground pepper

That was the original bleu cheese butter recipe.  Being the cheese and butter fiends we are, I manipulated it a bit.  I use 4 tbls each butter and bleu cheese.  The peel of one large lemon (I did not measure), a hefty pinch of ground Italian seasoning and about 2 1/2 tsps of freshly ground pepper.

Using a fork, mix all ingredients in a small bowl.  Season and let stand an hour before serving.  Can be made 24 hours in advance.

Walla Wally Onion Rings
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp coarse kosher salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup beer
2 tbls vodka
Canola oil
1 large sweet onion thickly sliced

I changed this one too.....  I added no vodka and almost an entire bottle of beer instead.  It is thick batter.  I might add a smidgen of sugar next time although it was very tasty as it was.  I started these when the steaks began the resting stage.

Whisk flour, salt and baking powder.  Add beer and whisk until blended.  Pour two inchs of oil into a large, heavy skillet and heat to 350 degrees.  Working with two to three rings at a time, dip into batter, shake off excess and gently drop into hot oil  Fry until golden brown.  Transfer to paper towels and salt.

Twice Baked Potatoes
2 large baking potatoes
olive oil
coarse salt
foil
sour cream
shredded cheese
ground pepper

Rub potato skins with olive oil and sprinkle generously with coarse salt.  Wrap in foil and bake for an hour in 400 degree oven.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.  Slice in half and scoop out leaving skins intact.  Add a generous amount of sour cream, cheese and pepper and mash.  Place back into skins and top with more cheese and put back in 400 degree oven until cheese is melty and slightly browned.

We plated it with the onion rings as a garnish although I polished them all off without a second thought.

We enjoyed it completely; however, next time I can do without the compound butter.  I found it better suited for fish.  We think we are going to try it that way.  We'll keep you posted.

It was all in all a great meal.  Our view wasn't too shabby either....

Hot tamales

Earlier this year, Mama and I met up with some other ladies from church.  We do this on occasion to learn to make some new, tasty treats.  This time we were creating something Mama and I adore.  Tamales are some of our favorite things.  Both she and I grew up in San Antonio and to say we are tamale snobs is a HUGE understatement.  We have wanted to learn to make tamales forevah.  Finally, we were going to actually do it...  Sweet!

If you are going to make tamales, you're going to need to do a little prep.  And by a little prep, I mean a lot.  First you have to soak the corn husks to make them pliable.  You will need boiling water and something to hold them down.  It takes a bit of time but the 'males need jackets.

Your other assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to make the filling(s).  Here is where you can be creative.  For our group session we had several things we all found on the net:  venison, beef, pork, chicken, beans, and some sweet version that involved raisins.  I despise raisins and I think someone ruined a perfectly good tamale, but that's another story.

After the husks are soaking and the fillings are doing whatever it is they do until it becomes an edible work of art, you need to mix the masa.  The recipe for that is on the bags of masa harina.  You can find that in either the Hispanic aisle or near the flour in your local grocery.  This will be thick and will need to be kept moist while you work.  This is why making tamales is generally a group activity.  It takes many hands.

Once everything is in order, assembly begins.  Each of us had our own cookie sheet so we did not make quite as bad a mess.  You take a corn husk (or what Mama and I call tamale shucks) and smear a good layer of the masa on it.

Then you add the filling of your choice.  Not too much, not too little, just the right amount.

I am so upset I did not get a photo of the rolling process.  It is a tad tricky but once you get it going you get into a rhythm.  When you have them filled and rolled, tie them off with a bit of kitchen twine.  We cut strips so we could keep on keeping on...

We made oodles and oodles of them.  Some of each flavor (with the exception of the dreaded raisins).

Here is my beautifull Mama with one of the 5 or 6 bags full of tamales we left with...  Yum!

Now onto the cooking process...  To cook these little bundles of happiness, you need to steam them.  Do not double stack them.  Instead try standing them up like delicious little soldiers.  Allow them to steam for a couple of hours.

Mine were not the prettiest; however, what they lack in looks they make up for in flavor.

Dinner is served!!