Steak Dinner a La Mode

A few weeks ago, Dan and I had my brother Peter and my future sister-in-law, Fiana over for a special steak dinner.  In the mood to break out the nice china and some fancy grub, we made it look a lot more complicated than it really was, preparing a broiled steak with chimichurri sauce and tapas-style roasted potatoes with a spicy mayo sauce.  The salad you see above was the preamble to this meal, and by using really good quality ingredients, we were able to make something spectacular out of just three simple items.  Ready in just about an hour, the dinner was fun to make and I can comfortably say that our guests really enjoyed it.  Here's how you can recreate it at home.

Spinach Salad with Cherry Tomatoes and Burrata Cheese:

Ingredients (serves 4)
8 handfuls of fresh baby spinach or arugula
Fresh burrata cheese (or you can also use regular mozzarella if you have it on hand)
2 cups of cherry tomatoes, halved
Salt and pepper to taste
Good quality olive oil

Directions:
Place the greens in an individual salad bowl and top with tomatoes and burrata (about 3-4 medium chunks).  Top with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  

Broiled Steak with Chimichurri Sauce

For steak:

Ingredients (serves 4)
4 medium - large pieces of filet mignon or ribeye steaks
Coarse sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil

For chimichurri sauce:
I followed this easy recipe

Directions (for steak):
Brush steak with olive oil and season properly with salt and pepper.  Let it rest for about an hour, until it reaches room temperature.

In the meantime, set the oven to broil.
Pop the steaks in when ready and broil for about 5-6 minutes for a medium consistency, or to the way you like it.  Let it rest for about 10 minutes and then top with chimichurri sauce.

Tapas-Style Potatoes:

Ingredients (serves 4):
3 potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup of mayonnaise
2 tsp of lemon juice
1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper or paprika (depends on your preference of spiciness)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Toss potatoes with oil, salt and pepper until well incorporated. Place into a lined baking sheet and bake for about 30 - 40 minutes or until the potatoes are golden brown.  You may have to turn them halfway into the process.

In the meantime, mix the mayo with the lemon juice, cayenne or paprika until smooth. Place directly on top of the potatoes.