Steaks and Potatoes

What’s better for a summer Friday night supper than grilled steaks and butter-laden potatoes? Nothing. Nada. Zilch. I like to season our steaks with Monterey steak seasoning or just salt and pepper. Vince is the griller in our family, and he cooks them to a perfect medium-rare with a pink center. Our favorites are T-bones, ribeyes and New York strip steaks. Last weekend, we invited two friends over for a steak dinner and the recipes in this issue are the side items that we served. During cocktail time, we snacked on Manchego Cheese and Fig Jam Spread with crostini. Manchego is a hard Spanish cheese. You’ll need to grate it on a sharp cheese grater to get a consistency that will mesh with the cream cheese. Heavy cream helps to make the mixture smooth. Add additional cream, if needed. Vegetable Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette is a light and re-freshing side dish that goes great with any grilled meat. Store any unused vinaigrette in the refrigerator. It will last about 10 days. Celebration Potatoes have become my go-to potato recipe this year. Make it in a casserole dish or serve it in individual ramekins. It’s guaranteed to be a new favorite! Dessert had to be Chocolate Ganache Cake. The thing about ganache frosting is, as heavy as it would seem to be, it’s really not. It’s actually very creamy and not anything like traditional chocolate frosting. Two hours is the maximum amount of time that the ganache needs to chill be-fore it’s whipped. If you forget and about it and it gets too hard, use it to make chocolate truffles. One more suggestion, substitute cold coffee for the water required for the cake mix. Coffee adds a depth of flavor to the chocolate. Happy grilling!

Manchego Cheese

AND FIG JAM SPREAD

Incredibly delicious!

4 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temperature

½ cup grated Manchego cheese

1 tablespoon heavy cream

Fig jam or fig preserves

Slivered almonds, toasted Crostini or crackers

With an electric mixer, combine cream cheese with Manchego cheese and heavy cream. Mix until smooth. Spread mixture in a small serving dish. Top with fig jam and garnish with toasted almonds. Serve with crostini or crackers. Serves 4.

Vegetable Salad With Champagne Vinaigrette

For the vinaigrette:

½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice

2 tablespoons champagne vinegar

Place the salad greens in a large bowl. Using a mandoline, cut cucumber and radishes into thin slices and add to salad. Top with grape tomato halves and sliced black olives. Garnish with black pepper. Pour vinaigrette, to taste, over salad before serving.

By Debbi Covington

Chocolate Ganache Cake

Absolutely the best chocolate cake I've ever eaten! Don't let the whipped ganache intimidate you. It's actually very easy to make.

For the frosting:

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 (12-ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the cake:

1 (15.25-ounce) dark chocolate cake mix

Celebration Potatoes

I served these yummy potatoes in individual ramekins. If you choose to do the same, just reduce the baking time by about 20 minutes.

1 (32-ounce) bag frozen diced hash browns, thawed in the refrigerator

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 cups sour cream

1 (10.5-ounce) can cream of chicken soup

10 tablespoons melted butter, divided

Heat whipping cream in a microwave-safe bowl until cream begins to steam, but not boil. Stir in chocolate chips until chips are melted and mixture is well combined. Place bowl in refrigerator for 2 hours. In the meantime, prepare cake mix according to package directions, making two 8-inch layers. Cool cakes on a wire racks. When completely cool, split both layers making 4 cake rounds. Remove ganache from the refrigerator and beat with an electric mixer until frosting is light and

1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

½ teaspoon dried tarragon

¼ teaspoon sugar

3 tablespoons olive oil

For the salad:

Mixed salad greens

English cucumber

Radishes

Grape tomatoes, halved

Sliced black olives

Freshly ground black pepper

Place vinaigrette ingredients in a small jar with a tightfitting lid. Shake to mix well.

2 teaspoons dried minced onion

½ - ¾ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper fluffy. Spread on cooled cake. Refrigerate cake until ready to serve. Serves 12.

3 cups corn flakes cereal, crushed Thaw potatoes overnight in the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13-inch casserole dish with cooking spray. Mix hash browns, cheddar cheese, sour cream, soup, 6 tablespoons melted butter, dried minced onion, salt and pepper in a large bowl until well combined. Spoon mixture into prepared casserole dish. Place cornflakes in a large ziplock bag and crush gently. Add remaining 4 tablespoons melted butter to the crushed cornflakes and toss to combine. Sprinkle mixture evenly over potatoes. Bake, uncovered, for 40 to 50 minutes. Serves 12.