My Heart decided to also make cheesy popovers using gluten-free pancake mix & parmesan cheese. He is working on making Pão de Queijo – Brazillian cheese bread but gluten free. They did not turn out quite as he had hoped but were very tasty, especially dipped in the sauce. I am sure this is a recipe that will evolve.
The Cote de Boeuf recipe calls for pureed potatoes – I decided to use the Kitchen Aid mixer to whip the potatoes for a smoother consistency than my usual mashed potatoes. We added in butter, milk, and parmesan cheese. The texture was definitely smoother.
We had two large London Broil steaks, one was seared and then placed in the oven to continue cooking – my son’s girlfriend eats her steak medium-well to well so it needed to cook a while – my Heart likes his steak medium to medium-rare. The other steak was seared and set aside – the kids and I eat our steak MOO-ing ! My Heart made the sauce in the pan used for searing the steak, taking advantage of the browned bits and the beef juices and adding red wine and port and doing a reduction. It was stunning!
AND Dessert – As firmly established in past posts, I don’t BAKE – my son’s girlfriend, on the other hand, is a masterful baker and she volunteered to make my Heart his birthday dessert. His pick? Pecan Pie. We have to mention, she has Never made a pecan pie before so she experimented during the week. I have to say – this was one of the best pecan pies I’ve ever had (I’m sorry grandma – yours were wonderful too but it has been years and years). It had the right balance of caramel-ly goodness, warmth, pecans, AND – the crust was perfect. Served up with vanilla ice cream and a glass of Tuaca – the perfect end to this birthday celebration!! YUM!