WHAT'S FOR DINNER?

There are many things that my handsome husband does well. One thing that’s got to be at the top of my list is his unbelievable talent and mastery over the common barbeque. Now I know that lot’s of men are pretty good with “The Que” but mine? Watch out Deen Brothers (who?).

I picked up some mouth watering rib-eye steaks during my last visit to the market, time for my honey to perform his magic. Now Kevin doesn’t just throw them on a gas grill and flip ’em over from time to time. No, he has an entire ritual that must be practiced exactly to his specifications. They must marinate in secret ingredients for no less than an hour (only because I don’t give him more time). They must be set gently upon the perfect set of coals at precisely the right temperature. The mesquite chips must be in their perfect place after being soaked for the perfect amount of time. These….. are his babies, coddled, cared for, delicately handled until they slice like butta and melt in your mouth.

Now let me tell you that it’s no easy task finding a side dish worthy of sharing the same plate with these babies. No Uncle Ben’s or garden variety potatoes will do (garden variety, that’s funny. Are there any other kind?).

So off I went to seek wisdom and knowledge from that which holds all knowledge and the answers to life’s mysteries… Nooooo, not Oprah. The internet!

A fresh salad was a given. This one can’t come from a bag. The natural choice for another side would have been some kind of garlic mashed potato…but… we’d consumed our fair share of the mashed method over the holidays so that didn’t quite ring my bell.

OK, it’s time for me to reveal my new hero. Her name is Ree Drummond AKA: The Pioneer Woman (see the link to her blog on the right, thank you Juany). Not only is this woman hilarious but her recipes and photography tips are a tremendous resource for busy moms and wanna be photographers. Well, that’s not entirely true for me. I’m not a wanna be, I just wanna have better photos for my family to treasure someday. Anyway, back to the story. I found a new potato recipe on PW’s site; Crash Hot Potatoes and they are AWESOME!

The recipe calls for new potatoes but I used red potatoes because I already had them and they were fantastic. You can find the recipe by clicking the link and then the tab for cooking. The three of us love to cook almost as much as we love to eat (blushing). Gavin created his own potato recipe called “Bubbataters” which were pretty sinkin’ good I might add. More on those later. Anyhoodle, here are a few pics of our dinner extraordinaire. I don’t take very pretty food pictures so they don’t really do the dinner justice but it sure was the tastiest beef critter and tater dinner I’ve had in a while.

Bon appétit!

Marinated and straight off the grill.