Be careful what you wish for is the slogan of the day. Mr. Kitchentales has come home or is visiting from Las Vegas (depends on your point of view) for the summer and I have to think of what to feed him.

Yesterday I cooked a giant T-Bone steak that was about 1 1/2 inches thick. We shared it, and it lasted for two meals.



(This is a stock photo. I didn't serve those sides with it.)

I was worried about how to cook such a thick steak, so did some research, and this is what I ended up doing:

Let it sit out of the refrigerator for about an hour to take the chill off. Wash and pat dry but don't season it yet. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Use tongs to hold it on edge and brown the fat around the outside (if there is any) to render it out for flavor and make the edge look nice. If there isn't much fat on the edge, put some oil in the pan.

When the edge is brown, put a pat of butter in the pan (cast iron) and lay the steak in there. Don't salt it yet. Brown on the first side for 6 to 8 minutes until very well browned. Pour out the grease that is in the pan because that butter will have broken down. Put in a fresh pat of butter for the second side. Brown it for 6 to 8 minutes until very brown. You can salt the top side now.

Baste it with some of the grease in the pan and put the pan in the hot oven for about 8 to 10 minutes until it tests 120 degrees (for medium rare). Remove to a platter or cutting board and cover with foil (but don't tighten down the sides). Let it sit 10 to 15 minutes for the juices to settle.

With it I served red rice:

Red Rice

2 - 3 pieces bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
Cooked rice
1/2 cup canned tomatoes
V-8 Juice

In a small Dutch oven, cook the bacon until crisp. Drain off all but 2 tbsp of the grease and stir in the remaining ingredients. Use enough V-8 so it is fairly moist, but not soupy. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, until the liquid is absorbed. It's really good with butter on it, but you've already got the bacon grease, so you decide.

And sauteed spinach:

Sauteed Spinach

Cook some finely diced onion in good olive oil until soft. Stir in some minced garlic for a little minute, but don't brown it. Add a bunch of baby spinach and stir it around the pan until it's wilted and cooked to your liking.

Okay, so that was yesterday. And today we had leftovers from that meal for lunch. Tonight? Here it is supper time already. I have chicken hind quarters thawed out, or I can heat up this casserole that I named after the cookbook I found it in.

Queen of the Nile Casserole

Ground beef
Chopped celery
Diced onion
Diced green pepper
Grated cheese (I used Swiss)
Tomato soup from the can
Raw macaroni

Mix this all together and let it sit overnight. Bake at 350 degrees until it's hot through and the meat is done. Gloppity warning: this is not gourmet company-worthy food.

I used less macaroni in this than I usually do, so we'll just see if that's a good idea or not. I guess I'll serve deviled eggs with it or maybe I'll just work on my quilt until the last possible moment and heat up a can of green beans. No. Wait. I have fresh brussels sprouts. We're having Brussels sprouts seasoned with bacon.

Tomorrow's lunch is chicken cooked some way with tomatoes and basil. Gee, it was nice when I was alone with the cat and could get away with an apple and piece of cheese when I got hungry.