Last weekend my fiancée and I decided to go for a nice home cooked meal for a change. We had a huge porterhouse from Di Palo’s in Little Italy sitting in the freezer, so we figured why not try it out. My mother had also been promising to make some Spaghetti carbonara, so we decided to take a ride and have a feast.
This wonderful weekend meal began with a little bit of bruschetta and a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon that I got from Brotherhood Winery in NY. Both were pretty solid options to start off with. I was so anxious to cut into the steak, but it was still hours away from defrosting due to its size. Thus, we went right for the pasta after our mini appetizer.
My mom’s Spaghetti carbonara is by far the best I have ever tasted. The reason being that she uses mostly eggs and barely any heavy cream. When you go to restaurants, it is often way too creamy and closer to an Alfredo sauce. The egg and touch of cream coupled with small pieces of bacon make this dish incredible. It really took a lot of discipline to refrain from having a second helping.
After the pasta, the steak was still not ready for the grill yet, so I decided to make a small piece of salmon and start on the asparagus. I seasoned the salmon with lemon/pepper seasoning and a bit of oregano. It came out very tasty, and each piece fell right off the skin. The asparagus was pretty standard and crunchy. It was topped with a bit of Olive oil and some Parmesan cheese.
The steak was ready to grill shortly thereafter. While it was thawing, I only put salt and pepper on it. I made sure to slightly massage the meat to make sure the seasoning got far enough into it. For a steak that size, it needs to be cooked on the grill between 7 and 8 minutes on each side. The temperature also needs to be high, so it is better to get the grill started before you place the meat on it.
The steak came out amazing. It was perfectly seared on the outside and nice and red on the inside. It was cooked between Medium Rare and Rare. The inside was so juicy, while still maintaining that chargrilled taste on the outside. I was originally skeptical about why anybody would buy an expensive steak to cook, rather than just going to a good steakhouse. This steak was just as good as the one I had on my birthday at Bobby Van’s. We ended up eating just about the whole thing.
To finish off, I had to have dessert. I have been starting to run at the gym these days, so my appetite has been voracious. I happened to find half an Oreo cookies and cream cake in the freezer from a local spot called Gelotti. I cut myself a piece and it was still great, despite being from a party months ago.
This great multi-course meal made me realize that we can have home cooked meals that are restaurant worthy. We can switch it up every once in awhile and enjoy a cheaper and probably slightly healthier meal. Dinner parties may be in the calling for the near future.
Chicken Carm 