Sunday Dinner

Sorry, no pictures, but the plain truth is, when I'm fixing dinner, I don't want to mess around with photos. If the other priest wants to take pictures, he's welcome, but I'm not going to ask him to do it.

In any case, we all need to remember the compelling power of the written word.

This is a frequent dinner menu, with some variations.

Antipasto, prepared not too long before, featuring different tasty things, that go with a martini. I'm the only one who has a martini (details below).

Insalata Caprese, which is a variation; usually it's a tomato salad, but I came across some real, home-grown tomatoes, and they deserve to be in a caprese. I peeled them, too. FYI, my caprese is simple: sliced tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, olive oil, pepper. The other priest likes balsamic vinegar.

Ribeyes, which began to be prepared early this morning, with a dredge of kosher salt and cracked pepper; they sat in the fridge all day, allowing the salt to migrate into the meat, and the surface of the meat to dry out -- for a better sear. They went into the oven at 150 degrees around 3:15 pm or so.

Mushrooms, sauteed slowly, with olive oil, salt, pepper, cayenne and a bit of worcestershire sauce; cooking them slowly gets out the water and intensifies the flavor. Oh, and I tried a bit of msg, that helps. Finishing them with some butter, I put them in the oven, along with the plates for the steaks. The salad plates went into the freezer.

Around 4 or so, the other priest and I prayed Evening Prayer, then a cocktail with the antipasto. Then I brought out the steaks and finished them on the grill outside. Then we had the salad with the steaks; yes, I know, not the proper sequence, but oh well. Plus some cabernet. The steaks had to rest for a bit; my method is to douse them in dried thyme and plenty of butter; that all melts and flavors the steaks while they rest. Goal: medium rare. Father and I are getting where we like eating a bit earlier.

Verdict? The steaks were great; I'm getting pretty good at this. The star of the show was the fresh tomatoes in the caprese. Those people who say they don't like tomatoes have, I suspect, never had a vine-ripened one. It's worlds apart from store-bought tomatoes.

Oh, I think it's time for dessert!

Oops: I forgot the details on the martini: gin and vodka frozen, along with the glass. Two parts vodka, one part gin. The vodka is shaken vigorously with ice; honestly, the purpose isn't to chill it, but to add some ice shards. The gin is added, and it's stirred -- swirled, to be precise. A small bit of vermouth; garnished with bleu-cheese stuffed olives.