Fancy Foodie Friday: Thyme Steak with Lemon Ginger Potatoes and Carrots

Feel like a treat after a long week? Splurge on a special ingredient? In the mood to spend a little longer in the kitchen? Got a hot date to impress with your culinary prowess? Check out the recipes in our ongoing Fancy Foodie Fridays series. These recipes might be a little too complex, time-consuming, or expensive for the every day, but are a nice challenge or treat for a fancy evening in. This is the second installment in the series.

It took a fun, creative sous chef to turn an eat-to-live girl into a food lover. I told my boyfriend Doug about this project, and he was instantly ready to create a delicious dish. Honestly, anytime we take the time to make dinner, it's amazing. The first bite is always an explosion of tastiness that makes me instantly happy and more in love.

This meal is no exception.

This dish presented some new flavor combinations that I personally never tasted before. The carrots are interesting in that they have the vinegar flavor, but not the bite. After the honey is added, the finished product has such a unique flavor that you'll either really enjoy it or not like it at all. The lemon ginger coconut oil that he's been cooking with is a perfect harmony of lemon, ginger, and coconut. We've even thrown it in when cooking rice, and it makes it 10x tastier.

Recipe, cooking, and cooking terms brought to you by Doug Sprous, Sous Chef (my main inspiration to expand my palate and learn how to cook properly).

Thyme Steak with Lemon Ginger Potatoes and Carrots
Prep: 20-25 min

Cook: 25-30 min

Servings: 2

Ingredients

(US Customary)

1 c carrots

½ Tbsp Raw Honey

1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

2 c red waxy potatoes, med. diced

2 Tbsp  grass-fed butter, divided

2 Tbsp, 1tsp  Lemon Ginger Coconut Oil

2 Tbsp  Canola Oil, divided

12 oz cut of beef

Pinch of thyme

Salt and Pepper to taste

Special Ingredients: None.

Instructions

1. Wash carrots and potatoes. Cut the carrots into thin coin shapes. If they have the stems on, save them and chop them up as extra goodness and garnish. Set aside.
2. Cut potatoes into a medium sized cubes; about the same size as a pair of dice. Wash and set aside.
3. Trim your choice of meat of any extra fat and season with salt, black pepper, and thyme.
4. Heat 1 Tbsp canola and 2 Tbsp coconut oil in saute pan on medium high heat, add potatoes, sauté (French for "to jump"), and cook for 5 minutes. Then add 1 Tbsp butter, continue to cook over medium heat. Sprinkle carrot stems on potatoes.
5. Cook carrots with 1 Tbsp coconut oil and vinegar until soft (about 5-8 minutes). Then add honey, 1 Tbsp butter, saute to coat carrots, and cook over low-medium heat.
   *When you reduce vinegar down and add any kind of sugar to it, you make a gastrique 
6. Heat 1 Tbsp canola oil for the steak. Sear meat on the nicer looking side down first for 3-4 min over medium high heat and flip over to cook to preferred temperature.
7. Add ½ Tbsp of butter (monte au buerre) to carrots and ½ Tbsp to potatoes once meat is nearly finished. Plate and serve.
   
   
   Suggested wine pairing: 2011 Ranch 32 Pinot Noir, Monterey, CA or Outcast Pinot Noir, Buelleton, CA (both wines are full of flavor, with mild tannins, perfect for those of us who are just beginning to drink & enjoy red wines) 
   
   
   
   
   
   

   

   Sautéing