Yesterday Michelle told me she had to go to a reception for work. Normally our youngest son, Michael, would be home for dinner, but he was flying up to
Then I had an epiphany: Home alone...I could eat anything I wanted for dinner.
Michelle doesn't like blue cheese, so I could make an Arugula Salad with Crispy Bacon and Blue Cheese. Michael doesn't like steak, so I could defrost and grill a nice rib eye steak. And what about a drink before dinner? A Perfect Manhattan with a twist. A Caipairina with Lime and Kiwi Fruit. A tumbler of the rum we brought back from our trip to 
Doing an errand, I passed Bay Cities, a great Italian deli in 
and get some treats. Inside there were aisles of olives, cheeses, salamis, Italian sausages with fennel, hams, prosciutto, breads, pastas, anchovies, and snails. I got carried away and bought enough to eat for days.
Back home I found another treasure, a jar of American caviar that Michelle had gotten in one of her Sundance Festival goodie bags.
My mind was racing. If I didn't calm down, I'd need a Lipitor chaser and an epi pen at the end of the meal. I decided against the Arugula Salad with Blue Cheese and focused on basics: a charcuterie plate with prosciutto, mozzarella, green olives, and fresh Italian bread. The caviar I'd have on slices of bread. The main course: the rib eye steak, grilled medium rare. For a side dish, artichokes with melted butter
4 oz. Bourbon or Whiskey
½ oz. Sweet Vermouth
½ oz. Dry Vermouth
1 twist of lemon peel, 1" long, ¼" wide
Keep the Bourbon in the freezer so it will be extra cold. Pour the Bourbon and both vermouths into a martini glass, stir, drop in the twist, and sip contentedly.
Serves 1. Preparation Time: 2 minutes.
From a good deli, pick out a selection of your favorite meats,. Some of the best are handmade by Paul Bertolli for his Fra' Mani label. You can find a selection of his salumi all over LA, especially at Joan's on Third, Whole Foods, or Surfas. For my plate, I laid out paper thin slices of prosciutto, slices of my favorite salami, felino salami, green olives, and mozzarella dredged in seasoned olive oil, with slices of Italian bread, drizzled with olive oil.
Grilled Steak
In college I was a vegetarian, but ultimately I missed eating meat too much and I re-discovered hot dogs, hamburgers, roast chicken, and steak. There is nothing that tastes quite so good as a steak, simply grilled, seasoned with sea salt and black pepper.
1 10 oz. steak, T-Bone, Porterhouse, Rib Eye with the Bone-in, washed, pat dry
Olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
I've talked before about the advantages of marinating meat with a simple, seasoned olive oil marinade before freezing. The meat stays tender and fresh-tasting, even after weeks in the freezer. Defrosted and brought to room temperature, the steak was ready for the grill. Seared on one side for 5 minutes to get the grill marks right, turned over for another 5 minutes to get that side marked, then for 5 minutes on each side again. The steak came out cooked perfectly: medium rare. Letting the steak sit for 5 minutes, covered with tin foil, the juices began to run. The steak was ready to join the feast.
Grilled Artichokes with Melted Butter
1 artichoke, washed, the stem trimmed, the sharp ends of each leaf cut off
2 tablespoons sweet butter, melted
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Cut the artichoke into 8 sections. Use a sharp paring knife to remove the choke from each section. Drop the artichokes into boiling, salted water, cover, cook for 30 minutes, drain, and put into a large bowl. Drizzle the artichoke sections with olive oil, sea salt, and black pepper. Toss well, then grill on the bbq on all sides. Serve with the melted butter and sea salt.
Home alone...not so bad.
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