Well, dear reader, Eric brought it to my attention around lunchtime yesterday that it was Thursday and not Friday. My week has been topsy turvy with Jordan home from school with a cold, prepping for Christmas, and then a snow day yesterday. My little darling didn’t want her dad to tell me about my mistake because she hoped to keep up the farce and have another day off school. I told you she acts like her dad…sigh.
Because I shared my recipe yesterday, I am off-schedule and off-topic. Let’s get back on track, and I will share a second recipe with you. As Christmas Eve quickly approaches, I find myself thinking outside the box for our Christmas Eve dinner. Here on the farm, I do our big meal on Christmas Eve, and we keep Christmas day simple. If you are a frequent or regular reader, you know my favorite goobers are not fans of traditional holiday meals. Although I won’t break from tradition on Thanksgiving, I do go rogue on Christmas Eve.
Many families have a Christmas ham for their traditional dinner. My bib overall wearing wonder buns detests ham. Yes, he raises pigs for pork. Yes, he loves pork products. However, he has no tolerance for ham. Again, poor GramBarb takes the blame for his repulsion for all things ham. The Bibbed Wonder claims that GramBarb bought a ham roughly the size of Jordan for every one of his childhood Christmases. She cooked it on Christmas day and fed the family leftovers well into Valentine’s Day. She created dishes like watery ham with yellow beans, scalloped potatoes with ham, various ham casseroles, ham sandwiches, and ham souffle. We all know The Bibbed Wonder’s propensity for exaggeration and skewing the facts for his personal entertainment, but you get the point. He dislikes ham.
I usually do steak or prime rib roast for our Christmas Eve dinner with baked potatoes, maple-glazed carrots, and seafood. Most often, I cook shrimp to accompany the beef. This year, I will do shrimp with the addition of baked crab in garlic-chile butter. Rather than buy our steaks and seafood from the supermarket, we travel to a small neighboring community and buy from the butcher who processes The Bibbed Wonder’s pigs. Going to the butcher shop is an event. I have already been invited to join my bib overall-wearing buddy for a “date.” Now that, dear reader, is the epitome of romance. We will go out for breakfast and then to the butcher shop. Swoon. I jest. I enjoy our little outings off the farm. My bib overall-wearing buddy makes every effort to spend time with me, and I appreciate his quirky but heartfelt attempts at date planning.
Today, I will share with you an easy but delicious recipe for steak. I can’t share the baked crab in garlic-chile butter because I have never made it before. If it is delicious, I will be sure to share it with you. Cooking steak is quite possibly one of the easiest meals to cook and clean up. I tenderize the steak, season it with a Monterey seasoning blend, broil it on high for 3-5 minutes on each side, then serve it with a side of garlic butter for dipping. My bean loves this meal. She usually does not eat a lot or very well, but she will eat an entire New York Strip steak without hesitation.
The recipe is very straightforward. Choose the cut of steak of your preference. I use a forked tenderizer on both sides of the steak. I then add a generous sprinkle of Monterey seasoning to both sides of the steak. For convenience, I broil the steak in the oven for 3-5 minutes on each side. I then cover the steaks with an aluminum foil tent and let them rest for 15-20 minutes.
While the steak is resting, I melt a pound of butter over a very low flame. I then add two tablespoons of minced garlic to the melted butter and let it simmer for a few minutes. I dispense the melted butter into small ramekins and set one at each guest’s place setting. It is simple and delicious.
I hope, dear reader, you enjoy our spin on Christmas Eve dinner. What do you do for holiday meals? Do you follow tradition or do something unique for your family? Please feel free to share your practices in the comments. I love reading about how others make the holidays unique. On this sunny December Friday, not Thursday…insert a wink here. Stay safe, be smart, feel free to share your traditions, enjoy the holiday season, and keep washing your hands.