Dill Fingerling Potatoes

I made these potatoes from Barefoot Contessa. I didn't change anything so I am only going to post the link and the pictures I took.

Also, I have included some pictures of the table last night and our cake. The cake was really good considering it has been frozen for a year, we were quite surprised! 

Rosemary-Garlic Steaks with Arugula, Tomatoes and Parmigiano-Reggiano

I saw this recipe on Rachael Ray the other day and thought this would be the perfect dinner for our one year anniversary. It was the best steak I had ever had! It was so juicy and delicious and the salad was great too! The original recipe can be found here.

Rosemary-Garlic Steaks with Arugula, Cherry Tomatoes  and  Parmigiano-Reggiano

2 London Broil steaks, 1-inch thick, about 10 to 12-ounces each

2 cloves garlic, cracked from skin and halved

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling, plus 2 tablespoons

4 sprigs rosemary very finely chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper or grill seasoning, if desired

4 cups arugula leaves

1 pint multi-color, yellow or red cherry tomatoes, halved

1 lemon

Parmigiano-Reggiano, for grating

 

Heat grill or grill pan to medium-high to high.

Rub room temperature meat with cut garlic. Drizzle the meat with olive oil, rub with rosemary and season liberally with salt and pepper or grill seasoning. Cook steaks 4-5 minutes on each side for medium rare, let rest.

Dress greens and halved tomatoes with the juice of 1 lemon, 2 tablespoons olive oil and salt and pepper. Place salad next to steak on plate and garnish with long grates of cheese made with vegetable peeler.

My Husband's Favorite Mimosas

When we were dating, we would go to a favorite restaurant all the time. They had amazing food and the bartender made fantastic drinks. One drink that we liked was a Mimosa but it was a little different then your traditional orange juice and champagne. I don't know if the bartender put anything else in the drink to make it taste the way it did, but this is my version of what he made. I made these for our 1 year anniversary breakfast along with the french toast to surprise my wonderful husband.

No Ordinary Mimosa

1 bottle of any sparkling rosé (or you can use a brut)

1 jar of maraschino cherries in juice

orange juice

Take two champagne flutes and pour each half way up with champagne. Next, pour in the orange juice until the glasses are full. Drop in one cherry in each glass and let it float to the bottom. Take a small spoon and get some of the juice of the maraschino cherries and pour a tiny bit into each of the glasses. Enjoy! And of course, you can repeat this process if you want another glass or two......

Stuffed French Toast with Strawberry Compote

I wanted to make something really special for our anniversary yesterday and got this recipe from a person on a cooking board I frequent. I made some changes of my own and if you would like to see her original post go here.

I hope you enjoy! It was really delicious!

 

French Toast:

2 eggs, beaten well


½ cup milk, I used 1% organic milk 


seeds from 1/4 of a vanilla bean


pinch nutmeg


bigger pinch cinnamon


2 tbs. honey


4 slices of bread, I used Central Market Honey Wheat


2 tbs. butter, plus another tbs. if needed

½ package of regular cream cheese, sliced into 6 flat pieces

 

First, mix the eggs, milk, vanilla bean, nutmeg, cinnamon and honey in a mixing bowl. Then, lay bread slices out on a large 9×13″ pan. Pour mixture over the bread. After 5 minutes or so, flip bread and let soak some more. In a pan, melt the butter (med-high heat).  Add bread and cook about 3 min on each side until starts to brown. If you need more butter, add the extra butter. After the bread is done, set aside to make the compote and whipped cream.

 

 

 

Strawberry Compote:

In the original post, it calls for lemon balm. I couldn't find any lemon balm so I substituted some mint and lemon zest. It turned out well.

1 qt. fresh strawberries


2 tbs. brown sugar

zest of most of one lemon 

2 sprigs fresh mint

 

Add strawberries and brown sugar to pan, mash with fork, on medium heat. Stir often, keep mashing strawberries as you go, let come to a simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes, until sauce reduces and thickens a bit, add in mint and lemon zest. Cook for about 5 minutes more.

 

 

Whipped Cream:

Take a 1/2 cup heavy cream and a little vanilla and beat it until beautiful stiff peaks.

 

Plating:

Place one piece of french toast on a plate, add 3 slices of cream cheese side by side on the middle of the bread, leaving an area around the edge of the bread clear. Put the other piece of toast on top. Cut the toast diagonally to see the cream cheese filling. Take part of the compote and lay it out on top of the 2 pieces of toast on the plate and then add whipped cream on top. Do the same thing with the other french toast.

 

 

 

 

One Year Ago We Got Married!

One year ago, my husband and I got married. It has been an exciting and wonderful year together! We have, in one year (give a couple months), celebrated both our birthdays (we are 1 year and 4 weeks apart), I graduated, moved (twice: once to another city and once in the same city but our first house!), went to Rome and we loved every minute of it!

Here is a picture of the top layer of our wonderful wedding cake! Still looks yummy! That is our dessert tonight!