Y'all know we will celebrate practically anything around here. National Margarita Day. National Tofu Day. National Martini Day. National Watermelon Day.
Whatever. Today we celebrated Bastille Day (Fete Nationale or le quatorze juillet in France)... which conveniently falls only one day after National French Fry Day in America. We combined the two holidays. Bastille Day commemorates the beginning of the French Revolution - when the fed-up peasants stormed the Bastille (prison). National French Fry Day commemorates... well... the French fry. This evening, I prepared steak frites. Since learning of the cold-oil method of preparing fried potatoes in 2009, I have used no other method.
I promise, if you try this method, you will never go back to any other version of fried potatoes. The recipe is so simple: cut potatoes into fingers, pour cold peanut oil over to cover and boil for about 15-18 minutes. No fuss. No greasy mess. Just lovely French fried taters.
My market had Delmonico (the "eye" of the ribeye) steaks on special. On hindsight, one 8 ounce steak would have been enough for us... but we will have great steak salads for lunch tomorrow with the ample left-overs.The steaks were seared for three minutes per side in olive oil in a hot (oven-safe) skillet on the stovetop, then the skillet was slipped into a 400° oven for five minutes. Then the steaks were transferred to a plate, tented with foil for five minutes before serving. Perfect.
Plated with a little arugula, radish and cherry tomato salad, we had a lovely meal on our shady (yet still 85°) deck.
Seared on the outside. Nice and pink on the inside.
Wouldn't be a French meal without a baguette.Until my next update, I remain, your "let them eat cake" correspondent.