Steak Diane with Twice-baked potatoes

Kevin’s parents are beef-cattle farmers (no they don’t work for a big huge corporation…). They’ve been begging us to take some of their beef for awhile, so when we went there for Christmas, they gave us like 1/2 a cow’s worth of beef. Fine, it wasn’t *really* 1/2 a cow, but it was a LOT of beef! Needless to say, you’ll be seeing lots of beef recipes for awhile (the beef is in our freezer). Anyway, some of the cuts they gave us are steak, and I thought that as long as we have free steak, it would be good to enjoy it.  Found THIS recipe and it sounded good. It was delicious! I made some twice-baked potatoes to go with it. I based the potato recipe off THIS recipe. Note to self: when halving the recipe, don’t forget to halve the amount of milk and sour cream too! Oh well, still was tasty! : )

Steak Diane from Dinner Tonight, Cooking Light http://www.myrecipes.com

(link to actual recipe in paragraph above)

Ingredients

• 1/2  teaspoon  salt, divided
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
• 6  (4-ounce) beef tenderloin steaks, trimmed (about 1 inch thick) (I have no idea how big the steaks were that we made)
• 1  teaspoon  butter
• 1/2  cup  finely chopped shallots (used dried onion, about 1/2 T)
• 1/3  cup  water
• 2  tablespoons  Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2  tablespoons  fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2  tablespoons  dry sherry (used cooking white wine)
• 2  tablespoons  chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

Heat a large  skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle steaks evenlywith 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Add steaks to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side (or longer depending on how well done you want it). Remove from pan; cover and keep warm.

Melt butter in skillet over medium heat.  Add water and the rest of the ingredients and the dried onion, stirring with a whisk. Reduce heat, and simmer 1 minute. Stir in the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Serve sauce over steaks, and sprinkle with parsley.

Bacon Twice-baked potatoes based off the recipe from Cooking Light http://www.myrecipes.com

(link to actual recipe in paragraph above previous recipe)

Ingredients

• 5  (12-ounce) baking potatoes
• 1 1/2  cups  low-fat buttermilk (used lactose-free milk with vinegar)
• 1/2  cup  sour cream
• 1/2T dried onion
• 2  tablespoons  butter
• 1 1/4  teaspoons  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
• 4  bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.

Bake potatoes at 375° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool  until cool enough to handle. Cut each potato in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp, leaving the shell at about 1/4 inch thick. Place potato pulp, buttermilk, and the rest of the  ingredients in a large bowl; beat  at medium speed until well blended. Spoon about 1/2 cup potato mixture into each of 8 shells. Arrange stuffed potato shells on a baking sheet. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes or until heated.