i wish there was a way to make it appear as though i updated my blog all the time. because in my head, i totally do. i think of $hit all day long that i totally want to spew and spout off about and then never get around to it and then, the next thing you know…

BAM

it’s been two and a half months.

sigh.

so, no apologies this time. just following up on a request. i cook a lot. and bake. i used to bake more – quite a bit actually – but my slowly expanding ass won’t allow me to keep baking all the time like i used to. especially considering my level of physical activity has slowed to a sloth-like pace.

still and all, i love to spend time in the kitchen. wait, back up. i love to spend time in the kitchen when my efforts are appreciated. thankfully, they are appreciated.

one of my most appreciated dinners is steak marsala. a little something i stumbled across years ago when i first started concerning myself with eating healthier – which not-too-coincidentally happened about the same time i could start affording better foods. organics. grass-fed beef. finer cuts. you get the idea.

so – steak marsala. i’m not a big meat eater – my whole problem is the longer i think about it, the more i start to visualize that i am, in fact, eating flesh, and it turns my stomach. but when i do get a hankerin’ for a good piece of meat, steak marsala is by and large my favorite. it’s fast, it’s healthy, and it’s easy. and did i mention fast?

so if you want to make it yourself (and you know you do) you don’t have to have any fancy kitchen equipment or a degree in the culinary arts; but you’d better have a desire to cook more often. because, i’m warning you, this will get requested again.

the grocery list:

• 2 nice thick (like 2″ or more) tenderloin steaks (a.k.a. filet mignon), about 6 oz. each; not bacon-wrapped
• marsala cooking wine (the cheap $hit in the spices aisle, holland house)
• non pareil capers (usually in a 2.5 oz jar in the canned food or salad dressing aisle)
• minced garlic (i don’t bother w/fresh garlic, though some people swear by it. in jars in the produce section)
• salt & pepper (seriously, you don’t have this already??)
• fresh green beans, or asparagus, or broccoli – enough to steam for two of you

the good news is, other than the steaks, there will be enough of everything else to make this about 4 more times. the bad news is, this first trip to the store for an incredibly short list will likely run you about $40-$50.

alright. when you get home, leave the steaks on the counter while you rinse the fresh veggies. if you’ve got a large pot and a steamer basket, great, add about a 1/2 inch of water to the pot and put the veggies in the basket. put that on to boil/steam while you prep the rest. if you only have some bowls and a nuke-box, put about a 1/4 cup of water in a bowl, add the veggies, put some plastic wrap over it and stick it in there. don’t cook them yet.

now, unwrap your steaks, spray a frying pan with some cooking spray and put the steaks in there. spread about a half teaspoon of the garlic on top of each of them, then flip them and do the same, and shake some salt & pepper on both sides. turn your burner on about 1/3 to 1/2 way. let your steaks cook for maybe 7-10  minutes, resisting the urge to poke or turn them. once the brown starts to spread about half way up the sides, flip them and let them cook another 10 minutes or so.

the beauty of filet mingnon (especially a good one) is that you can eat them way more rare than you would, say, a strip steak or t-bone. to test these for doneness, press your thumb into the center; the resistance should feel about like when you’re pushing your thumb into the heel of your hand. this means they’re about medium-rare.

remove them from the pan (leaving the heat on) and set them on a plate. if you’re steaming your veggies on the stove, you can turn them off at this point. if you’re nuking them, now’s about the time you want to get them going. 3-4 minutes for green beans or asparagus, 5-7 for broccoli.

take a half-cup of the marsala wine and put it in the pan. it should almost immediately come to a boil. add in two tablespoons of the capers. using a spoon or something that won’t scratch your pan (if you’re worried about it) let the marsala cook down for about 3-5 minutes while scraping the garlic up off the pan and stirring the capers around. you should end up with a nice, brownish-red juice.

put one steak on each plate, along with about half of your veggie of choice. spoon some of the juice from the pan along with the capers over each steak.

tada! steak marsala. isn’t it beautiful? don’tcha look like a friggin master chef?

(and thanks to goGLco for making me finally write something.)

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