Steak frites!

Today my kids were supposed to fly to California to spend Christmas with their Dad. We've gotten something like 2 feet of snow in December, but it's warmed up the last few days, and has been drizzley and foggy. Milwaukee's airport was totally socked in - we drove down through the fog, and then just had to re-book for tomorrow night, and come back. Who knows what conditions will be for the drive tomorrow - now the national weather service is saying the rain will change to snow, and Madison will get 3-5 inches, but the Milwaukee airport, less than half an inch.

While we were driving back we talked about what to have for dinner, and both kids wanted steak. I drove over to Whole Foods (I was gonna walk, but it was kind of miserable out) and bought $20, about a pound and a quarter of New York Strip, and made steak frites. First I sliced up some of my CSA box potatoes, and tossed them with oil and salt and pepper, and put them in a 450 ° oven for roasted fries. I made some frite sauce (on the suggestion of a Bon Appetit recipe), mayo, with grainy mustard, a little Dijon & horseradish, garlic, and lemon juice. I butterflied the steak - split it lengthwise, into two thinner pieces, salt and peppered it, and pan fried it in a little butter. Then I made a red wine sauce, from the pan drippings, more garlic, soy sauce, and butter. There was enough for all four of us, and house still had that good restaurant beef and butter smell when we got back from seeing American Gangster at the cheap theater at almost 11:00 p.m.