COOKING FOR TWO

I've been away for a while. My mother passed away. It took me a while to be able to go back to the kitchen and cook something. But I had to. My husband started a very bad trend, he doesn't want to eat real food, only waffles and honey for breakfast and corn flakes for dinner. This is not a way to keep a healthy lifestyle, or a life for that matters. I asked him if he had something special in mind, but he insisted that he couldn't swallow anything but his waffles and flakes. Yesterday I decided that I had to take matters into my own hands and feed him something good, force feed him if it came to that. He just came out of a 5 days stay in the hospital and he should be nursed back to health. I know he used to love steak, so steak it is.

GRILLED STEAK WITH GORGONZOLA SAUCE

                                              

This is one of my husband's favorite meals. We use to go to this famous restaurant in Manhattan just for him to have it. So I thought, maybe this will do the trick. I asked if it was OK with him, and he agreed with no confidence at all that I will be able to replicate his dish. I'll try, I told him. It worked. It's the easiest elaborate dinner you can prepare. You just have to get a good cut of meat, the rest is nothing. For the sauce I used the half and half, and some leftover 2%milk I had in the refrigerator instead  of heavy cream. It worked fine. You'll need:

1 steak, fat trimmed if you prefer. This time I left it on as encouragement.

Salt and pepper

For the sauce:

2 cups half and half, plus 1/3 cup 2% milk

2/3 cup grated Parmigiano

1 cup Gorgonzola cheese crumbled, plus an extra 1/3 cup

Heat an over the stove griddle, sprinkle the steak with salt and pepper on both sides and grill it, undisturbed on one side for 4 to 5 minutes before turning it to the other side. If you want it well done, just cover the steak when you turn it for a couple of minutes, before you remove it from the fire. In the mean time, prepare the sauce: in a non stick skillet let the milk simmer on medium high heat until it thickens. It will take about 30 minutes, but it will thicken without adding any fat or flour. Just stir it with a spatula every now and then to make sure that it wouldn't form a crust in one part of the skillet. Add the Parmigiano and stir to melt, then add the first cup of Gorgonzola and stir until it's almost all melted. Remove the sauce from heat. Transfer about 3 ladles to a sauce boat and add the remaining Gorgonzola while still hot to help it melt a little. We need to   keep some visible chunks of cheese. Plate the steak and drizzle some sauce over it. 

ROTINI WITH SPINACH AND GORGONZOLA SAUCE

                                              

I also thought of a nice side dish that I always have at the same restaurant: creamed spinach. I know for a fact that my husband would never go for it, so I thought of sweetening the deal, and at the same time finish up some rotini I have left in the pantry. I offered him pasta with creamed spinach. He was not convinced, but the pasta was delicious. You'll need:

1 box of frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained

2 garlic cloves finely chopped, or 1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tsp oil

Salt and pepper

About 3 cups pasta, rotini, shells, or bow ties

While the pasta is cooking in salted water, start cooking the spinach: in a non stick skillet cook the garlic in oil for a few seconds, add the spinach, sprinkle some salt and pepper and stir to heat it through. Don't add too much salt, remember the sauce has cheese. When the spinach is cooked, about 4 to 5 minutes, add it to the skillet with the remaining Gorgonzola sauce from the previous dish. Stir to combine and heat through. Add the cooked pasta and toss. Serve. How easy was that?

If you have some extra sauce leftover from the steak, drizzle some over the pasta.