The Kitchen is Open

Made a delicious dinner tonight, but I’ll get to that in a sec.

First, my entry for this weekend’s Cat Blogging event, hosted regularly by the lovely Clare at Eat Stuff. There are reasons why I try to stay away from visiting shelters and pet adoption days. Meet the newest reason:

Meet Sugar

Pucker Up!

I ran into a pet store last night and they were holding a pet adoption day. I was really drawn to one cat and after a little convincing, The Husband agreed I could go back this morning and adopt her. When Nicholas and I went back to the store this morning, I got a chance to meet her and hold her, and as cute as she was, it just didn’t feel right. Then they brought out this one. Instant chemistry. She’s seven months old and very, very similar to our Luke; so much so, that Nicholas needs to look carefully to tell who’s who. But there’s a few special things about this one. One, she’s a polydactyl, which means she has extra toes on her paws (my sister has two polys). Polydactyls by their very nature are not very common, and when they exist, they usually have an extra thumb on one or both of their front paws. Well, she’s definitely the exception, because all four of her paws have extra toes. Next her name. When we originally went to the store, I had planned on letting Nicholas name the cat we brought home, but when we chose this kitten instead of the one I had gone back for, and I heard the store’s name for her, it was kismet. She was named Sugar. Leave it to me to pick a kitten with a “food” name. Tonight when I was putting away her paperwork, I noticed that they included information on how and where she was found. She was a stray found at a NYC Fire Department. With The Husband being a fireman, just another confirmation that she was meant to come home with us. And there you have it.

Here’s Luke. You can see why Nicholas has to really look to tell them apart for now:

Luke

Onto dinner tonight. The Husband ended up being out most of the day and I seriously considered getting take-out, because the day got kinda screwed up along the way. I ended up dashing to the grocery store to pick up a few things and formed a quick meal in my head. I made Grilled Steaks with Brandy Cream Sauce, a new recipe for me and one I will definitely be repeating. I’ve never cooked steaks this way and it produced a very flavorful tender bite, and the sauce was divine. In fact, my mouth is watering just thinking of it again.

My herbs from this summer are still in abundance, so I made some Golden Crispy Herbed Potatoes to go with it (and also some Roasted Asparagus for me). Since I used a bunch of herbs for the potatoes, it’s becoming my entry for this weekend’s Herb Blogging event, hosted by Kalyn’s Kitchen. The potatoes could not be simpler to make. I used Yukon Golds and sliced them pretty thinly. I put them in a single layer on a greased cookie sheet and drizzled them with extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and a smattering of herbs. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes at 350 or until slightly crispy. Delicious, and a perfect complement for the steak. Dinner on the table in under 30 minutes – perfect.

Crispy Golden Herbed Potatoes

Tune in tomorrow to see what hits the table for The Neighbors Dine Over Sunday. If you haven’t sent in your pup picture for the Weekend Dog Blogging #10 round-up, there’s still time. Until then…

Grilled Steaks with Brandy Cream Sauce
(Serves 2)
2 12-oz steaks (I used rib eyes)
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup brandy
1 cup heavy cream
salt

Sear steaks on both sides in a pan on high heat until done. Remove steaks from pan. Pour stock and brandy into pan and boil hard, stirring, until reduced by half. Lower heat, stir in cream and cook for 10 minutes. Add salt to taste. Put steaks on plate, then pour over sauce.