The menu? Ribeye, Baked Yams, Steamed Broccoli, and Salad.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mario-batali/bechamel-sauce-recipe/index.html
The "complicated" part came when I decided to make a bechamel sauce to accompany the broccoli. The following link to a recipe on Food Network is a relatively simple sauce, one which I have avoided making for years because it required heated milk, which always scares me a little. But I decided to go for it, and with a lot of oversight to ensure no burnt milk, it turned out beautifully. So if you have any reservations about making something in the kitchen, just try it out. If it doesn't work, you can just dump it and pretend it never happened.
The yam, with several holes poked in it to speed up the cooking time, was just wrapped in aluminum and popped into a 325-degree preheated oven. The great thing about yams and sweet potatoes is that, if you pop them into a microwave for about five minutes prior to putting them in the oven, you can let them go as long as you need, and they will be perfectly done every time.
The salad was leftover from last night, and it's a side we just normally have on hand. The broccoli was steamed in a fancy new piece of kitchen equipment we received during Christmas. If you don't have a steamer basket, you can just pop some fresh broccoli florets into salted boiling water and test the doneness with a fork.
Now the best part: the steak. For several years (roughly three), I made the choice to be a semi-vegetarian, meaning I ate chicken and seafood but no red meat or pork. It was more of a health choice than anything, but I realized within the last year of this experience that I was actually eating worse and felt tired and depleted most of the time. So, within a few months of dating my now husband, I decided I needed red meat back in my diet. And I will never forget that first taste of red meat, specifically a steak, that he fixed me in his apartment. Prior to my semi-vegetarian years, I always ordered steak or hamburgers medium well. That night, he fixed a medium rare steak, and it was like butter. I realized grilling or cooking red meat to any other temperature was practically blasphemous. I know to each his own, but I'm always a little offended now when someone orders red meat and practically screams, "No pink! Make sure it's well done!" It's like the cow just died in vain. Next time, if you're feeling a little adventurous, try a cut of red meat medium, or even medium rare if you're feeling spunky (unless you don't trust the restaurant to cook it correctly, in which case you probably shouldn't be dining there anyway). I can't guarantee you'll fall in love with a rarer temperature, but at least you will be trying something different. As to our preferred manner of grilling steak, I think we're more "steak purists," meaning we find just a simple seasoning of salt and pepper to be sufficient. And a grill pan is a great investment if you want to grill indoors during the winter--in fact, our grill plan has replaced the actual grill on our deck since it's an easy clean-up and you can control the heat better.
It's a rare occurrence in this house, but dessert followed in the form of a Mixed Berry Cobbler. I'm kind of a cobbler snob, and I was especially wary of this "healthier" version, but it's a terrific alternative. I switched out the frozen mixed berries for fresh ones just because I find fresh much, much better than the frozen version:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/healthy-appetite-with-ellie-krieger-/mixed-berry-cobbler-recipe/index.html
To top the cobbler, I made a homemade whipped cream, which is tremendously easy and tastes much better than the standard tub of Cool Whip. Starting with one cup of heavy whipping cream, beat until soft peaks are formed (meaning that, when you dip a whisk into the cream, a peak forms at the end and holds in place for several seconds and is thicker than when started; be sure to keep a close eye on this process, though, as you can move from whipped cream into butter within a matter of minutes). Next, add 2 Tbsp. sugar and any other spice of your choice (I chose ground ginger and cinnamon for tonight) and beat until soft peaks form again. The key to a great whipped cream is chilling the heavy whipping cream and even the equipment beforehand. If you have a standing mixer (another terrific kitchen gadget investment that significantly cuts down the time it takes to beat the cream by hand), pop the bowl and whisk attachment into the refrigerator for 15 minutes then proceed.
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