The Ultimate Man Meal

This post may be titled The Ultimate Man Meal but I find it to be pretty tasty too. I utilized two of my favorite cooking techniques for this dish. The technique that takes first place is grilling, as you probably already know. My second favorite technique is roasting. Both of these methods concentrate the flavors and bring out the natural sugars of whatever you may be cooking. They are both quick clean up methods which is an amazing bonus!! Okay... On to the dish that the Happy Hubby just said, and I quote, 'If you're looking to get lucky...' cook this meal. However, the only way you are going to get lucky after this dinner is if you spike his drink with caffeine. I would bet money on the fact that you will see your happy partner quickly fade off into a food coma if you cook a real porterhouse cut. In my opinion this is the truly lucky moment!! I end up sharing an evening of complaint free Food Network or girly sitcom watching with a happily napping couch buddy.

Get Lucky Dinner

Let's get a few things straight about a porterhouse cut. The porterhouse is not the same as the T-bone. The porterhouse is cut thicker and comes from the part of the cow where the top loin (NY Strip muscle) and the tenderloin (filet mignon muscle) come together. A properly cut porterhouse should be at least an inch to an inch and a half thick and you should be able to trim the bone and end up with a nice thick strip steak and a good size filet. Some chefs prefer to cut the two sections off the bone after the meat has rested so that it is easier for the diner to handle. I have found that the manly man in my life prefers to remove the meat from the bone in his own special way, think bare hands and teeth here, after taking down the more gracefully eaten parts. Another item worth mentioning is that you need to let this, and all cuts of meat for that matter, come to room temperature before throwing it on the grill. Your meat/pork/poultry will cook much more evenly and quickly if you let it sit, covered of course, on the counter for about 30 minutes before applying the heat.

Now on to the side dishes which are my personal favorite part of this meal. Before any of you readers get all whiny about Brussels sprouts you need to open your mind. The effect that roasting has on these baby cabbages is AMAZING! All you have to do is preheat your toaster oven (if its the summer) or real oven to about 375 degrees, line a baking sheet with some aluminum foil (this is the easy clean up part people), cut those babies in half, and season with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper. You then pop them in the oven until the edges start to turn a golden brown. If you want to stir them around a couple of times go for it, it will give you more even browning which means more nutty crunchy goodness all over. Other seasonings that pair well with the Brussels sprouts are garlic salt or lemon pepper or any of your favorite spice rubs that do not contain sugar.

The potatoes are just as simple as the sprouts. You can even cook them on the same baking sheet at the same time!! Just rinse your taters, cut into reasonable wedges (I can usually get about 8 wedges per medium spud), apply the oil and seasoning treatment from the sprouts and roast until golden brown on the edges.

One of Barry's favorites to go with roasted potato wedges is whole roasted garlic cloves. You can use these roasted garlic cloves to flavor all kinds of things from mashed potatoes to hummus to a roasted garlic aioli (garlic flavored mayo). You want to separate the cloves but don't take off the papery covering. The only part you want to remove is the hard base of the clove where it connects to the root. Give the cloves the same oil treatment as before and throw them in with the potatoes and sprouts. Roast them until they are nice and squishy inside the papery covering. BE CAREFUL not to burn the cloves!! They will taste like bitter burnt poo, and no, I am not exaggerating. Once the properly cooked little golden gems have cooled, squeeze the soft roasted pulpy goodness out of the papery gift wrap. You can serve the cloves whole, which I do with this dish, or mash them into potatoes, or blend them into a paste and stir them into dips, hummus or mayo and people will think you are super gourmet. Try it first with one head of garlic. The next time you will be making extra so that you have it in the fridge to add rich roasted flavor to other great home made dishes.

Remember, it doesn't take much time or effort to turn out pretty, restaurant quality, non-processed foods on a daily basis. And just think... you might get to have a nice quality night between you and whatever you might want do with a happy sleeping husband to hang out with :)