Early Summer Steak Club

Over the weekend we had friends over Saturday night for Steak Club.  Everyone brought over different bottles of wine and their steaks, and JD and I just made an easy side dish and dessert.  When the weather finally cooled off and the sun went down, it was the perfect evening relaxing outside around the table for hours.



I made JD haul our dining room table out to our front porch.  I used herbs from Trader Joes as an easy centerpiece.  (I don't think it was quite like a table setting you'd see of Ina's, but it's a start!)

We set up a bar on the other side of the porch.  With cocktails we just had simple store bought appetizers - grapes, baked brie, crackers and spiced pecans.  Two friends brought over Rose wines, and everyone loved them with cocktails for a nice change!

Early Summer Steak Club Menu:

Steaks on the Grill with Provencal Butter

Roasted Fennel, Fingerling Potatoes, Haricot Verts and Asparagus with shaved Parmesan

Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Balsamic Strawberries

  

For the main course, JD cooked everyone's steak on the grill.  We served the steaks alongside lots of Provencal butter in case anyone wanted to doctor up their steaks. 

For the sides, I roasted fennel, potatoes, string beans and asparagus.  For 8 people, I used one fennel blub, 2 lbs of small potatoes, 1 1/2 lbs of string beans and 2 bunches of asparagus.  I chopped up the veggies that morning while I was waiting on my coffee to brew and later on in the day tossed them all with olive oil and salt and pepper.  Cook the potatoes and fennel on 425 for about 25 minutes, then add the asparagus and string beans to the same sheet pan and roast all the veggies for another 15 minutes.  When you pull the veggies out of the oven, shave a little fresh parmesan right on top.  I love this side dish because everything can be prepped and ready in advance.  You only have to toss them in the oven when your guests arrive.  And JD loves this side dish because he only has a sheet pan to clean when the party is over. :)

For dessert I knew I wanted something light because after steaks we would likely all be full!  We tried Ina's Panna Cotta with Balsamic Strawberries and everyone LOVED it!  We'll share the recipe soon because it's one we'll be keeping.