Chey’s Lounge

So all I’m gonna talk about today is making last night’s dinner. Last night, I made a porterhouse steak, fondant potatoes, asparagus, and spinach. The potatoes are the star of the dish. There’s definitely a little TLC needed. Another one of those dishes where I use an herb butter. 

Oh, herb butter, you say? Yes, that’s what I said, why? Should you like to know how I make it? No? Okay, stop reading, because I’m saying it. I leave some salted butter out, idc about salt control enough. I need the butter to be room temperature-ish, ideally. While that’s sitting, we rinse and dry our herbs. I use a lot of parsley and then some sage, rosemary, thyme, and marjoram. I chop up all the herbs and it doesn’t really matter when you add them. I chop up some garlic to add too. Last ingredients are some lemon juice and a little bit of salt. Mix that up and then you should technically get it into a log shape and refrigerate for a little. Will not confirm or deny if I allowed the butter time to set. 

The butter is really the most labor-intensive part of this, but the fondant potatoes aren’t exactly super simple. I use yellow potatoes and peel them. I cut each end off to make 2 flat sides. I don’t shape them into even cylinders because it’s just not necessary. I do usually cut them in half so they’re like potato width and then an inch or 2 tall. Once my potato cylinders are peeled and cut, I heat up the pan and then add some oil. I wish I took pics of the process, but oh well, that’s show biz, baby. Anyways, once both sides are browned, I cut the heat and add our herb butter. I also add a few whole cloves of garlic and some sprigs of rosemary and parsley. I add a stupid amount and I get it all over. I forgot to mention, but there’s some chicken stock warming up as this all happens. I pour the stock in and then I do something that I never really saw anyone do in videos. I like to heat it all up and almost bring to a boil. I think it softens them up a little more. Maybe not though considering the next step is putting it in an oven (@420°F or ~215°C) for 50 minutes. Finally, the potatoes are basically done. 

Well, as you know, dinner was more than potatoes, so let’s just go over that quickly. I made 2 vegetables. The spinach was very simple. I rinsed it and then cooked it for a little while with a small amount of chopped garlic (tbh I usually prefer sliced with spinach) and some lemon. Not much to it. The asparagus is a little more involved. We’re not going to mention that I let them burn for the first time in so long, but we are going to say that we sautéed some thin slices of shallot in some butter and oil so it’s almost caramelized. That takes a minute. I prepare the asparagus by rinsing them, cutting a bit off the bottom, then putting on a sheet pan with some oil and salt. Also, I squirted a little lemon juice on before and after cooking. I cook them in the oven for a little while and when they’re basically done, I grate some Parmigiano-Reggiano over them and let it melt for a minute back in the oven. Once that’s melted, I take them out and add some lemon zest and top them off with the shallots. Now, all that’s left is the steak. 

Most of the time, I make steak the same way. I salt it then let it sit for a little while before adding some pepper and then cooking. I basted it with the herb butter since I had it available (also added whole garlic and rosemary and thyme sprigs to this as well). Omg. Garlic. I forgot to mention what happens to the garlic in the potatoes. It turns so, so soft. It’s like garlic confit but somehow better from being in herb butter. Holy moly it’s just delectable! Omg. I also forgot to mention that once they come out, I baste the potatoes in the broth/butter mixture and then top them off with flaky Maldon salt and a lot of chopped parsley. People think they’re scallops! I’m glad I took one pic of them in the pan even though the stove looks disgusting and you can see the burnt shallots in the back lmaooo.