Being quarantined at home doesn't mean you can't enjoy a decadent steak dinner, so last weekend, my family and I did just that. We already had some baby potatoes lying around and plenty of milk, butter, cheddar cheese and Whiskey (Nothing goes better with a crisis than a bottle of Whiskey!), so we decided to plan a steak dinner complete with mini twice-baked potatoes and Whiskey Sours to wash it all down. I made a super easy compound butter (it sounds fancier than it is!) to go with our steaks, and in under 2 hours we had ourselves a lovely steakhouse dinner (quarantine-style ;-)) Check out the recipes below, and I hope you feel inspired to create your own fancy-ish dinner at home during this difficult time. As always, happy cooking & eating!
Mini Twice-Baked Potatoes
8 baby russet potatoes
1 stick of butter at room temperature
1/2 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup Kerrygold Irish Cheddar
1/2 cup sharp orange cheddar (whichever you prefer)
1/2 cup whole milk
3 scallions chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and bake potatoes for about 45 minutes-1 hour. Remove from the oven once they pierce with a fork easily, cut them in half (lengthwise), and scoop out the inside into a separate bowl, being careful to keep the shell intact. Once you've scooped all the potatoes, add the butter, sour cream, the Irish cheddar, half of the orange cheddar, whole milk and scallions to the bowl, and mix with an electric hand mixer until smooth and creamy. Feel free to adjust the amount of milk, butter and cheese to your taste. You're really just making mashed potatoes to be added back into their shell, so get creative. Bacon is a great addition too if you like! Once you've mashed the potatoes with all the other ingredients, carefully scoop the mixture back into the potato shells on a sheet pan. Sprinkle with remaining orange cheddar, and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes just until the cheese is melted. Enjoy!
Whiskey Sours
*This recipe yields 4 cocktails
3/4 cup Whiskey (whichever you prefer)
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2/3 cup simple syrup
Luxardo or Maraschino cherries for garnish
Place cherries in the bottom of each serving glass. In a cocktail shaker filled 2/3 way with ice, add the whiskey, lemon juice and simple syrup, and shake for a full 30 seconds. Strain into the cocktail glasses and enjoy! Cheers!
Compound Butter
A compound butter is really just an infused butter mixture, and can be made savory or sweet. For our steak dinner, I did an infusion of lemon zest and garlic to melt over the steak, but you can make a sweet one with orange zest, honey and cinnamon, or any flavor combination you fancy.
Garlic-Lemon Butter
1 stick butter at room temperature
1 minced garlic clove
zest of one lemon
chopped parsley
In a bowl, add the softened butter. With a fork, mash in the minced garlic, lemon zest and a few leaves of chopped parsley. Once blended, Plop the butter onto a sheet of saran wrap and form into a log. wrap completely with the saran wrap and put it back in the fridge to set. Once it's completely set, you'll have a perfect butter that can be sliced and added to grilled meats, veg, or scones and toast if you've done a sweet, breakfast one. Enjoy!