Meat and patatas

This evening I decided to make a quick dinner. Basically, at its core, it was meat and potatoes.

This was my Spanish take on meat and potatoes. The steak was a sirloin filet. It was simply seasoned with salt and pepper and then seared in a very hot cast iron skillet (it was passed on to my from my great-grandmother). Then I put it in an oven at 400 degrees F, later turned down to 300 degrees F. In a mini food processor I combined ground sage, dried oregano, parsley, basil, and garlic with olive oil to make a herb oil. A little bit of this was spooned over the steak. It added a nice earthy, fresh, herbal dimension to the steak.

The potatoes were my patatas bravas, done right. I used Yukon gold potatoes because they have a creamier texture to them than other potatoes. I quartered them and boiled them in salted water until tender. I then fried them in about 1/4 inch of canola oil until brown and crispy on the outside. They were then tossed in a mixture of smoked paprika, ground cumin, kosher salt, and ground cayenne pepper. I also made a garlic aioli (garlic, egg, olive/canola oil, red wine vinegar, salt) to dip the potatoes in. If San Chez can sell their inferior bravas for $6.50 a plate, I am sure these would be about $10-11 easy, not to brag. Crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside, with a smokey, warm taste that goes great with the aioli.

It was a nice quick dinner to whip up for Mel and I.