Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Oh, the Things that Catalina Does!

Recipe: Pan Roasted Steak Dinner
Source: Kraft Food and Family Magazine, Winter 2006
Time: 1 hour and 10 minutes (include marinating time)
Ease: 3
Taste: 7
Leftover Value: 6
Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Keep it in the Strainer!

There isn't much that can be done to ruin a good cut of steak, but, there definitely is much that can be done to enhance it's natural goodness.


Enter Catalina.

Once upon a time, Kraft used to mail out this magazine titled, "Food and Family" for free.  I guess a lot of people subscribed for free, because now it costs $13.98 a year and it no longer shows up in my mailbox.

Back when I received it, I would always tear out the recipes that looked worth trying and store them with my other recipes.  This one, I never actually got to.  Perhaps it was out of laziness, cheapness (sirloin is stinking expensive!) or abhorrence to marinating...but it has sat with my other recipes for six years untouched.

The good news for you is that you can still find this recipe at www.kraftrecipes.com and hopefully make it sooner than I did.


Because it's delicious.  Then again, when is steak not delicious?

This time, I was prepared for the marinating.  Therefore I did not have to groan mournfully as I started this meal.  The Catalina was just the trick for making the steak look absolutely beautiful.  Look at the color.  It is so vibrant, so inviting, so artistic!  

Yes, we are still talking about steak here.


It was fairly easy to prepare.  After the marinating time was over, I started my rice.  The recipe called for brown rice, but I'm a bit of a rebel and went with white rice.

I was in such a hurry to smell the aroma of steak that I forgot to spray my skillet with cooking spray.  However, it didn't cause any problems.  After frying the steak a little, I added the veggies and prepared to put the skillet in the oven.

I'm dreaming of owning a cast iron skillet so that what I describe next never happens again.

I don't know for sure if my skillet is an ovenproof skillet.  The recipe says, regardless if it is ovenproof or not, to just wrap the handle in tin foil and use extra layers if the skillet is not ovenproof.

If you read my other blog, you know of my plastic melting in the oven experience.

Therefore, I was a little bit hesitant about putting heavy duty plastic that was wrapped in tin foil in my oven.

I kept picturing black plastic melted into my skillet, onto my seven dollar steak, and all over my oven.

It didn't help that I began imagining a plasticy scent throughout my house 15 minutes into the steak being in the oven.

Needless to say, I took the steak out early and did not cook it the extra five minutes the recipe suggested.


It still turned out magnificent.  As great as the steak was, the dressing coated veggies mixed with the white rice were just as glorious.  It was a perfect combination that made my mouth dance joyfully.


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