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In honor of Brandon’s upcoming birthday, I thought I’d share one of our favorite date night ideas!
BTR and I have always celebrated Valentine’s Day at home, in high school and college he used to work at high-end steakhouses and he would always say the worst night of the year to go to dinner is Valentine’s Day. So date night in it was! Plus we were kids and had no money. And since his birthday is the day before Valentine’s Day, these days we usually go to a fun dinner sometime during the month to celebrate him!
So it has been a long-standing tradition to make something at home for Valentine’s Day. I’m excited to be partnering with Schnucks and sharing a little bit about our Date Night Steak Night recipes!
This month’s Simply Schnucks magazine has some easy recipes and tips for how to have a steak night at home. We decided to do a fresh herb rub and a compound butter this time!
BTR loves going to Schnucks for our steaks because they always have butchers on hand will make custom cuts for you. We like our steaks a little thicker, so we had them cut us two strips that were about 1-1.25 inches thick!
Our favorite way to cook our steaks is sous vide. Which is just a fancy way of saying under vacuum in a water bath. You basically take an immersion heater in a tub of water and cook your steak to the exact temperature you want and then do a quick sear at the end! Of course, you can always make your steaks in an oven and sear or straight on a grill!
We marinated our steaks with a fresh herb rub recipe found here. Then we put them in a FoodSaver to seal and lock in the flavors. After a few hours of marinating, they were ready to cook in the sous vide! For medium rare (the best) we set the temperature to 127. The best thing about the sous vide is you literally cannot overcook them! They can sit anywhere from 1-4 hours in there! And having that flexibility is great when you have small kids who need to be tucked in for bed!
Ok but about that compound butter. This step needs to be started ahead of time so it has time to set in the fridge. You basically just soften the butter and mix it with all the ingredients and then form it into a log with plastic wrap. We used the recipe in the Simply Schnucks magazine minus the jalapenos! I can’t wait to make butter like this with fresh herbs from our garden this summer!
On to the sides! A few years ago we started making this potato recipe and we keep coming back to it! All it is is small fingerling potatoes cut up, parsley, and sliced lemons all tossed with some olive oil and salt and pepper. You actually roast the lemons on the pan with the potatoes and they are so tasty! We do this in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20-30 minutes.
But back to that steak! Once it’s done in the sous vide you take it out and sear for a couple of minutes on each side. BTR says the most important part about cooking steak (and he would know better than me!) is to closely monitor the temperature with a good thermometer. You can’t overcook if you know your temps!
After searing let your steak rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting. This lets the meat soak up all the juices! Slice your hardened compound butter and place on top of the steak and serve! We added our roasted potatoes and some steamed broccoli to complete the plate.
Steak really is one of our favorite meals to make at home, and it can be really easy and delicious if you monitor that temperature! Don’t forget to ask your Schnucks butcher for a custom cut next time you’re grocery shopping!
Schnucks is having a #SchnucksMadeWithLove Sweepstakes right now where you could win Certified Angus Beef for a year! Tag your photos on Instagram and Facebook with #SchnucksMadeWithLove and head here for all the details!
What’s your favorite date night food?