Two weeks ago, ten of us had dinner to celebrate the semi-retirement of my partner, M. It was a great evening. Interesting people talking about interesting things. Many of us knew each other well, others less so. All in all, a good time.
The meal was good, but the prices were wonderful, for the restaurant. Because it was the last weekend before Valentine’s Day, getting a reservation for a sizable party was not easy. We ended up, not unhappily, at one of the city’s three “up scale” (meaning expensive) steak restaurants. On a scale of one to five, the food was a three. Two of the ten meals were sent back because the meat was either too rare or too well done. When the local newspaper reviewed the restaurant, after our meal, it found that t number of things were not done too well.
In the aftermath, a bit of internet research showed three things:
First, none of the three give their prices on their web sites(probably the two most famous steak restaurants in the country are Peter Luger’s in Brooklyn and Bern’s Steak House in Tampa. Luger’s does not show its prices, Bern’s does). With steak prices ranging up to $50, this may be something other than modesty. Second, while these type of restaurants generally do a good job, they do so in a narrow field. The vast majority of their main courses are adequately described as grilled (or in the case of a restaurant, broiled) steak. By my count, at least four of the people in our dinner party could have cooked most of the entrées. Third, everything beyond the entrée is sold ala carte, and sold at what could kindly be termed a premium price. In a sense, it is like modern air travel where you can spend five dollars for a pillow.
This entry on the blog addresses the third factor, preparing side dishes. I am almost certain that a baked potato can be served for less than $9.00. ($9.00 seems to be the breaking point. No restaurant, at least in the Midwest, appears willing to argue for a $10 Idaho product.)
But $9.00 was something of a constant. At one of the three, that was the cost of a baked potato, Cesar’s salad, sautéed mushrooms or French fries. The third, striving to avoid $10.00, charged $9.95 for the Cesars, $8.95 for mushrooms, but dropped to a mere $5.95 for a baked potato.
At FH Foods, a single large potato costs 79 cents. Eight ounces of portabella mushrooms costs $2.49. A head of romaine lettuce is $1.49.Here, we will describe how to prepare interesting baked potatoes, Cesar’s salad, and sautéed mushrooms, all staples of steak houses. A fourth commonly found appetizer, creamed spinach, will not be described here because the mere idea makes me woozy.
Potatoes
Baked potatoes are simplicity itself. You clean them, bake or microwave them, and they are done. What they are not is very interesting. Instead, when cooked thoroughly, cut them into halves or thirds, vertically, so you have sizable chunks.
In a sauté pan, heat a table spoon of butter with one of vegetable oil. When good and hot, use a pair of tongs and sear the cut sides of the pieces with the butter/oil until you have a brown, crispy surface.
Cover with foil to keep warm and proceed to the sautéed mushrooms.
Mushrooms
Mushrooms can be a bit tricky. If not cooked properly, they end up being limp and soggy. Done correctly, they are almost crisp. Crisp is better than limp and soggy.
Clean the mushrooms with a wet paper towel. Cut off the bottom half or all of the stem. Cut the mushrooms into whatever size you like, halves, quarters or slices. Put them into a small bowl, season with garlic and salt (or, crazy as it sounds, garlic salt) and add two table spoons of olive oil. Quickly, stir everything in the bowl. If you pause, the greedy, sponge-like mushrooms in contact with the oil will soak it all up.
In the same pan that you used for the potatoes, heat oil and butter UNTIL NEARLY SMOKING, put in the ‘shrooms and stir around for two to four minutes. These are great served next to or on the main course and, if you want to show off, mix them in with green beans.
Caesar Salad
Finally, most restaurants of whatever kind, offer a Cesar’s salad. As indicated above, it will often cost north of $6.00. It is a great start to a dinner. It does not have to be a start to bankruptcy.
There are probably hundreds of recipes for the dressing on the internet. I use this one, because it is good and there are no exotic ingredients.
First, take a head of romaine lettuce, rinse it thoroughly, break it into digestible pieces, and put it where it will stay cold. In Michigan, if the refrigerator is full, for much of the year this place is called the “front porch”.
For the dressing, I use a recipe from Wolfgang Puck’s “Pizza, Pasta and More!”, Random House, 2000. You may have seen Puck on an obscure cable channel, selling his cookware. He is the guy who calls lettuce a “vegee table”.
The recipe, complete with snide comments:
1 egg yolk
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (the world does not end if you use one of those plastic juice containers)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 anchovy fillets, mashed (NO. Anchovy fillets come in small tins, containing several of the little fishes. Unless you plan to use them on pizza, and I’m the only person I know who would, what do you do with the remaining fillets after using just two? Solution: rather than fillets buy anchovy paste, which will be on the same shelf. Squeeze a couple table spoons of that in, put the top back on, and put it in the fridge)
I cup vegetable oil (I use canola)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
Freshly grated parmesan cheese (I agree. This dish is too good to grab the green cardboard container.)
2 cups croutons (you can actually make your own croutons if you want to. You can also repair your car’s transmission. That doesn’t make it a good idea.)
In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, lemon juice, garlic, Worcestershire, pepper flakes, mustard and anchovy paste. (At this point, use only 2/3 of the lemon juice. In the end, the lemon will be the most important flavor. You want it to be a slight, not overwhelming taste. You can always add more at the end. Removing it will be a problem.)
Slowly whisk in the two oils, salt and pepper to taste. At this point, taste and decide if you want more lemon juice.
Put the romaine in a sizable bowl, drizzle on some of the dressing, then sprinkle with parmesan and add croutons. For S and I, this recipe lasts three to four days, tightly sealed in the fridge.
I am way too lazy to calculate the cost of the dressing, but I doubt that it would bring the price to $9.00.
I realize that the relative costs do not take into account labor and the justifiable need for a profit. The point is that these pricey restaurant items perhaps cannot be duplicated at home, but terrific versions or substitutes can be.