Steak House Dinner

Yeah! It’s Thursday and it’s time to start thinking about the weekend. I am starting a new tradition for Thursdays. I am going to discuss ideas for a special meal (something you might want to use for Friday date nights or Sunday dinners). Why am I discussing this on Thursday and not on the weekend? Well if you happen to like my ideas, I want you to have time to get the ingredients and prepare it this weekend 

Why go to a steak house when you can create a great steak house meal at home for a quarter of the price? Here is a great steak menu for a special steak dinner:

Steak Dinner:
Grilled Steak
Steak Fries
Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
Tossed Salad w/ Toasted Pecans

Total Prep/Cooking Time: 45 minutes (but I was having to entertain a toddler and a 7 month old)
Total Cost: $15 for two adults and a toddler

Grilled Steak
If you have come to my site for advice about grilling steak, you aren’t going to find much. My grilled steak is always good but I am no expert on how it is done. But I will tell you how I grill it.

I liberally season my steaks with Uncle Chris’ Gourmet Steak Seasoning (made by Fiesta—this may be a Texas/Southern seasoning since I haven’t found it yet in Denver). Then I dust them with Creole seasoning.

Currently, we live in an apartment and we can’t have an outdoor grill. So I am grilling my steaks on a grill pan similar to this. I am having to learn how to grill on a grill pan. Honestly it isn’t much different than an outdoor grill. I set my heat to Medium on my stovetop. And I grilled my steaks about 7 minutes per side (this made them medium rare to medium).

Steak Fries
4 potatoes, sliced (more on the thin side than the thick but not too thin)
2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Teaspoon dried thyme
1 Teaspoon dried oregano
1 Tablespoon steak seasoning, or you could use seasoned salt or salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place potatoes on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and stir to coat. Sprinkle with herbs and seasoning. Spread the potatoes out on the cookie sheet (try to get them in a single layer). Place in oven and cook for 25 minutes. Half way through cooking, turn potatoes (don’t stress about getting every single slice turned—just turn what you can). Best served hot.

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
1 lb Asparagus Spears
4 slices bacon
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Clean asparagus and trim spears. Divide asparagus into 4 bunches. Wrap one slice of bacon around the middle of each bunch of asparagus. Drizzle oil onto bunches. Salt and pepper to taste. Place in frying pan on Medium heat cover with lid.* Turn over half way through cooking. Cook for 10-12 minutes, until bacon is crisp and asparagus is tender.

*I cooked this on my griddle pan with the steaks, I just placed the lid over the asparagus to help keep the heat in. It worked great this way and it was one less pan to clean.

Tossed Salad with Toasted Pecans
Tossed salad is tossed salad—you can make it how you prefer. For a change today, I used store bought cucumber dressing. Cucumber dressing has a nice zing to it from the dill they put in it. The special touch to the salad, though, was the toasted pecans. On a side note, my grandparents have 4 pecan trees and give me bushels of pecans. I am always looking for ways to use up my pecans.

Toasted Pecans
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup pecans
Season to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pour the butter into a medium bowl, and mix in the pecans. Stir until the pecans are well coated. Season with seasoning of your choice (I use Creole seasoning and you can also use plain salt). Arrange coated pecans in a single layer on one or two medium baking sheets. Bake in the preheated oven approximately 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, cool, and store in covered containers.