Baked potatoes with butter and truffles, pan-seared mini rib eye steaks and a whole head of braised and roasted cauliflower. Less than 30 minutes of active time, and perhaps an hour of elapsed cooking time. Pre-heat an oven to say 425F. Wash and scrub several large potatoes and place them directly onto the stainless shelves in your hot oven. If you want to go a step further, lightly brush the skins of the potato with some vegetable oil and season with some salt and pepper. They should soften after about 35-45 minutes, depending on the size of the potato.
Meanwhile, braise a whole head of cauliflower in a pot with some salt, white wine, red pepper flakes, and water until tender, say 10-15 minutes (not my recipe, I read it in a food magazine but didn’t do the whole recipe). When its firm-tender, take it out, place it in an oven-proof casserole, and place it in the oven until the florets are just slightly golden brown, say 20 minutes or so. Two items down, one to go.
Pan-fry some rib-eye or other steaks to desired level of doneness, then let them rest while you do the finishing touches to your potatoes. Cut a slit on the top of each potato, push from both ends so the flesh starts to pop out. Add a generous amount of butter, a half tablespoon of minced truffles, plate everything up and sit down to dinner. I added some chives to the potatoes, as you can see in the photos, but I wouldn’t do that again as the onion seemed to battle with the truffles a bit. A simple but luxurious dinner for three.
15 Responses
This looks so good!
I wonder if putting caviar on the potato would be over the top.
ami: I think caviar would be perfect because its saltiness calls for a foil. Plus, if you add sourcream and chives or spring onions, these go well with both items. Creme fraiche would be even better than sourcream.
gorgeous. thanks for sharing this recipe!
ami, absolutely, caviar and potatoes work well. I have done new potatoes (the small marble sized ones roasted then topped with creme fraiche and a half-teaspoon full of caviar. It stretches the caviar and makes for decadent canapes… But to be honest, I use the cheapest black caviar I can find… The good stuff is best eaten on its own… :)
On top of the truffle’s flair, this would have a whiff of elitism about it particularly if the tiny rib eyes were fried in the infamous frying pan. Luckily, that pan has been designated for singular use for fish and all that elitism implies is a certain choosiness (from the Latin eligere, to choose).
MM, a must try with your baked potato and roasted cauliflower is DUKKAH! I have major health issues now so tapos na ang maliligaya kong araw. I still make stuff but only to be given away to ll thse nice people I have come to know all these years. But to make my meals not so much like hospital or prison food, I make it more palatable by sprinkling it with things like DUKKAH. now, I sprinkle it on anything! You have got to try it, MM….placed in those nice flip flop bottles, they make excellent hostess gifts with the recipe attached to it!
I just bought rib-eyes today so these side dishes will be my inspiration!
@ BettyQ: got curious with dukkah so I googled…..hazelnuts, sesame/coriander seeds, etc….interesting!Can you share your recipe with us? What will be a good sub for hazelnuts if not available? And I wish you good health!
Betchay…you are going to be addicted it this dukkah that you will start sprinkling this on anything! A good nutty sub for hazelnuts back home is Casoy! what I will share with you is my custom blend. You can add any spices you want to suit your taste. Instead of sesame seeds, you add butong pakwan! So…for 1 pound of nuts (I use 2/3 pound hazelnuts, 1/3 pound pistachios …but nuts lightly roasted in the oven), then coarsely chopped in food processor or admires. Spices…toast in skillet till fragrant: 1 tbsp. cumin seeds, 1/2 tbsp. coriander seeds, 1/2 tbsp. fennel seeds. Then crush in admires. Then mix the everything in almires or food processor the nuts, crushed spices, add 1/2 tbsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tbsp. onion powder, 1 tbsp. smoked paprika, 1/2 tbsp. dried lemon zest, salt/ground pepper to taste, 1 small dried chili pepper or touch of cayenne if you want zip!
Hope you try it and enjoy it! make a whole kaboodle for Christmas presents.
But let me share with you all who do not have time to toast the spices and buy litlle packets of spices in bulk food store…this is my shortcut which tastes excellent just the same
i always have the Montreal seasoning at home for that is what i use in making my Candied Salmon. It is a regular in my pantry! if you can get Montreal steak and chicken seasoning there Betchay…use that, add 1/4 cup each of both seasoning, omit the smoked paprika and the salt/pepper but add the garlic powder, a onion powder and dried lemon zest just because I like it a bit garlicky.
Ay..here we go with the printer.. Thanks for sharing!
Hey Betchy… if you do not want to have garlic breath nd since the Montreal seasoning already has granulated garlic and onion, cut down on the garlic powder a bit…start with say 1 tsp. each adjusting it to your taste. also, it already has salt as well so omit the salt altogether. If you find it to be a tad salty, increase the nuts or cut down on the seasoning. Remember you are just sprinkling it sparingly on top of something that is totally bland to make that bland vegetable taste good!
But if you cannot get those montreal stuff and cannot get smoked paprika, omit them. It is only for color with a hint of smoke.
Hi Betty – got curious about dukkah and googled it. Turned out that Trader Joe’s here has a 3.3-oz jar for only $2.99. Will definitely go there soon so get myself a jar. Can’t wait to try this.
The potatoes with truffles alone would be heavenly!
walang kupas….you are really so generous BettyQ…..Thank you! I have both steak and chicken Montreal seasoning. I recently used it to flavor my roasted asparagus and brocolli. Will make this dukkah for a new taste for my roasted or sauteed veggies. how long does it keep?…I guess in the refrigerator?…before it turns rancid?