Steak Diane and Two Ways Potatoes, with salad and quick pickled red onions

I've had the pleasure recently of participating in an online cookoff, with the requirements as below. I really enjoyed having to challenge myself to try recipes I wouldn't normally and plating is definitely not something I excel at. I pulled inspiration from a bunch of great websites and blogs but because complexity and presentation were the only judging criteria I was sometimes looking for the more complex option, it turned out deliciously!

I made a couple of other entrees and a dessert as well that I thought they all came out really well - reasonably easy for someone with some experience cooking at home but also delicious and quite presentable. Hope you enjoy!

-Participants must prepare:

1) an entree with chicken, beef, or vegetarian option as the main ingredient

2) any dessert of their choosing

-Submissions must include the following:

1) Picture of pre-cooked ingredients with Discord username and date stamp

2) Picture of finished meal and dessert with with Discord username and date stamp

3) Recipe must be included so that we can duplicate these delicious entries in our homes

Judging Criteria and Scoring

-Submissions will be scored on the following criteria:

1) Complexity - how difficult it was to prepare the meal (max 10 points)

2) Presentation - how delicious it looks (max 10 points)

-There will be 5 Judges and the maximum total points awarded is 100 for a submission

 Serves 2. Epicurious and Food and Wine inspo.

Steak Diane

2 Ribeye steaks 227g/8oz each

150g/5oz mixed mushrooms, sliced

3 echalion shallots, peeled and sliced

1 tablespoon salted butter

3 peeled and crushed garlic cloves

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

80ml/1/3 cup brandy or cognac

240ml/1 cup heavy/double cream

Small handful of chopped parsley

Olive oil

Garlic Roasted Potatoes

250g/9oz baby/new potatoes, halved or quartered

1 tablespoon good olive oil

½ teaspoon salt, freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon crushed garlic

1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley, handful rocket/arugula

Cooking Steps

1.Preheat the oven to 200C/400f and take steaks out of the fridge. While preheating, if you are making the Cheesy Garlic Mash, this is a good time to start boiling the broth.     

2.Toss baby potatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic then spread on a baking tray in one layer.     

3.Roast for 45 mins or until browned and crisp then toss with parsley and rocket/arugula to serve.     

4.Once the baby potatoes are in the oven, start the Quick Pickled Red Onions    

5.Season the steak on both sides with salt and pepper, cook to your preferred doneness then set aside to rest, I used a cast iron pan and canola oil.    

6.Diane Sauce: Heat some olive oil in a separate pan, add the shallots, allow to soften briefly before adding the mushrooms with a tablespoon of butter, then add the crushed garlic cloves, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and heat through for a minute.    

7.Turn up the heat and tilt the pan away from you, pour the brandy into the far end and allow to ignite or carefully ignite with a long match. Once the alcohol has burned off, add the cream and allow the sauce to thicken before turning down the heat.     

8.Add half the parsley to the sauce in the pan. To serve, divide potatoes and salad between plates, arrange steak alongside, pour sauce on top and sprinkle with remaining parsley.    

Note: In the first step you could shorten the cooking time and add the steak/resting juices to the Diane sauce to finish, this is a bit less presentable.

Quick Pickled Red Onions

Modified the Cookie and Kate refrigerator pickle Ingredients

1 thinly sliced medium red onion

120ml/½ cup water

60ml/¼ cup distilled vinegar

60ml/¼ cup apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1½ teaspoons salt

  1 teaspoon hot chilli flakes

Cooking Steps

1.     Pack the onions into a 1 pint jar. In a small saucepan, combine the water, both vinegars, maple syrup, salt, and pepper flakes.

2.     Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat then pour the mixture into the jar over the onions.

3.     Press the onions down into the vinegar, ensuring they are covered then let them cool to room temperature (20-30 mins). 

Cheesy Garlic Mash

Steakhouse style based on The Stay at Home Chef

Ingredients

250g/9oz potatoes cut into 1 inch cubes

240ml/1cup chicken broth

30g/1oz salted butter

2 cloves garlic

30g/1oz cream cheese

30g/1oz buttermilk

30g/1oz grated cheese

Cooking Steps 1.     Bring chicken broth to boil in a pot over high heat. 2.     Add the cubed potatoes and garlic cloves into the boiling broth until tender, around 15 mins. 3.Strain the potatoes from the broth, then mix with butter, cream cheese and buttermilk, then mash until your preferred consistency.      4.Top with grated cheese and add to the oven with the roasted potatoes for the last 5 mins of cooking time.     5.Garnish with finely chopped parsley, chives, spring onion or other herbs.     Note: Leftover broth can be used as the water for onepot pasta or other similar dishes.