Happy 4th!

For our non-traditional Fourth of July feast, R and I prepared a sumptuous grilled ribeye smeared with garlic butter and pasta with a fresh tomato, basil, and roasted garlic sauce. Mmm.

The ribeye is v. easy. Mash together 1/2 stick of softened butter, 4 minced cloves of garlic, some salt, and pepper. Rub onto one lovely ribeye steak. Grill steak. Eat steak.

For the pasta. I used about 5 roma tomatoes and 3 plain old vine ripened round tomatoes. Peel by slicing a small x in the bottom of the tomato, and dipping in boiling water for about 30-60 seconds. Remove and place in ice water. Once cool to touch, remove peel, squeeze out seeds, and set aside for future use. Here is a naked tomato:


To make the sauce, I prepared 1 lb of spaghetti according to the package directions, but undercook by 1 minute. Meanwhile, I took one head of roasted garlic (plus a few minced garlic cloves, just in case it wasn't garlicky enough), about 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, and 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes and heated over medium low heat until very very fragrant. I lightly chopped the naked tomatoes and added them. I let the mixture saute for about 10 minutes and then added about 1/3 c julienned basil. Add the slightly undercooked pasta into the saute mixture and toss for a few minutes until the pasta is fully al dente. Add in some parmesan and bob's your uncle.

We also had a random "cheese course" with some aged Gruyere and smoked "robust" blue cheese. We both tried the blue with the ribeye which was really very good. Mmm.