reviving a classic

I had thought that working at making creative, desirable food presentations in my new job would juice my creativity for cooking at home.  Oddly enough, it has had the opposite effect.  Part of it may be the hours.  Working until six or seven o'clock makes coming home and pulling out all the stops on dinner a little difficult, and hard on my already tired feet.  Jim is usually hungry and ready to eat by six or six thirty.  So dinner on those nights has become a bit more utilitarian than what is typical for me.  As a result, I have resolved to make creativity a priority on nights I am not working.  And last night was one of those nights.  I was stumped for something new to do with what I already had in the freezer -- the typical steak and chicken assortment.

So, I decided to do something old, instead.  Steak Diane used to be very popular in the seventies, but as with most dishes that are just a bit too popular, had gone the way of cherries jubilee and baked Alaska.  I dusted off an old recipe, and discovered the preparation to be fairly ingredient-heavy, but with an intriguing set of aromatics.

for the most part steak Diane is the basics --

garlic, shallot, mushrooms, parsley, and a garnish of chopped green onion

The intriguing  ingredients were brandy, mustard, and Worcestershire.  I hadn't used Worcestershire in anything in ages.  I will be bringing it out more often in the future.  It brought a wonderful, spiced fragrance to the sauce.  To update the recipe a bit, I decided to grill the steak rather than saute it, and to use a grainy mustard rather than the more staid Dijon.  The dish starts with sliced mushrooms sauteed in just a tablespoon of butter, along with salt and pepper.  Once they began to brown, in goes the shallots and garlic, which cooked for another couple of minutes.  Then the fun began.  I added a quarter cup of brandy and lit it on fire.

flambe is fun, used often in restaurant kitchens, and 

relatively little at home

Once the flame had burned down, I added a couple of teaspoons each of cream, grainy mustard, and Worcestershire, along with a quarter cup of beef stock I had on hand, though I think water would have worked just fine to thin the sauce a bit.  It smelled heavenly.  I took it off the heat, and stirred in the green onions and a bit of parsley.

While Jim grilled the rib-eye, I simmered a cup of peas in a little water, salt and pepper, just until they were warmed through, and most of the water was evaporated.  Then I added some chopped chives and parsley, along with a tablespoon of butter, and pureed the whole thing right in the pan with an immersion blender, but a food processor or blender would work too.   It is officially my favorite way to eat peas now.  The color is gorgeous, it makes a bright addition to the plate, and it is much easier to eat than a pile of orbs skittering around the plate.  It also opens up a bunch of ways to flavor peas.  I may try lemon and fresh mint, or green onions and thyme, or maybe tarragon and champagne vinegar.

the creamy, spiced sauce was a great foil for the meat,

and the peas balanced out the meal

Maybe there are some other old classics worth dusting off down the road.  I may have to pull out some older cookbooks and do a little reading...