Anniversary Dinner

You'll note by the use of our fine china that we were celebrating our anniversary for this meal. To keep me from spending all night in the kitchen I kept it pretty simple.

A spinach salad with some surprisingly nice tomatoes. They were somewhere between a cherry and a small slicer. Topped it off with some sprouts. I made a quick dressing out of canola, red wine vinegar, dry mustard, touch of sugar and fresh tarragon.

I cubed some potatoes, dressed them with salt and malt vinegar and roasted them at 425 for a half hour. I picked up some asparagus that was also surprisingly sweet for off-season. I sauteed these with some garlic and salt and pepper.

Amy wanted shrimp and I wanted steak. I sauteed the shrimp with salt, pepper, garlic and fresh tarragon again. I finished it with just a little butter.

I was after steak and picked up a Piedmont strip. It wasn't bad, but I should have picked up the prime strip. It was only another buck a pound.

I cranked up the heat on a cast iron skillet and put a serious sear on it, I then finished it off in the oven at 450 while the shrimp was finishing.

I plated it with a few shrimp because, well, I wanted some of those shrimp.

Nevertheless, it was beefy, just a little leaner than I was hoping for. We had a nice Rancho Zabaco Zinfandel to go with it.