For my first Blue Apron meal, I decided to try something easy. Steak, potatoes, broccoli. Easy Peasy. Even I know how to make this.
Boil the potatoes, roast the broccoli. This should be easy. Step one cut the stems off the broccoli. Wait what? Why would you cut off the stems, that’s the best part. Especially when you are going to roast them. I left my stalks in place and roasted it as suggested at 450 degrees. I am really glad I kept the stalks on. When I pulled them out, the tops were kind of brownish.
After boiling the potatoes, they had me add something called labneh cheese. I had never heard of this cheese before but figured whatever. They also had me add a bunch of olive oil. Weird. Different, but ok.
Steak. Cook the steak on the stove. Done. Then apply this parmesan, plus panko, plus some orange seasoning stuff to the top of the steak. In general, I don’t usually go for breading on anything. Not on chicken, not on pork, not on fish, but I went against my better judgment and went ahead and breaded my steak.
Verdict.
The steak was small and grizzly. If I had a dog, I wouldn’t even feed this to him. The breadcrumbs…do you remember in grade school when someone would throw up and they would sprinkle some kind of orange stuff on it? I never knew why they did that. Why not just clean it up? Anyway, this is what I will forever assume that stuff tastes like. One bite and I brushed off the topping. Nasty.
The broccoli. It turned out ok. I am really glad I kept the stalks on there. The leafy part, the top, I don’t know what you call it, but it got a little overcooked in the oven. The stalks were really all that was edible.
The potatoes. The potatoes were ok. Kind of bland tasting. Maybe it’s just one of those things where if you know how to make something for real, any attempt that is less than real just falls short.
Portion Size
When I posted the above picture on facebook, someone immediately said, that looks like of small. And it was. I have a feeling this is made for those people that go to those super fancy city restaurants and get one bite main courses. As far as the Midwest is concerned, this was not two servings of food. After I forced down the steak and the “first portion” of broccoli and potatoes, I went back for the 2nd portion of broc and potatoes. I made one modification, I added some heavy whipping cream and some butter to the potatoes to bring them up to snuff. The other steak I threw away. It makes me sad to think I had to throw away steak.
What I would change
If I were making this from scratch, I’d use a nice fresh cut of flank steak. I wouldn’t bother cooking it in the oven. Instead, I would cook it in a cast iron skillet. I would top it with butter and garlic. For me, I think the only way to eat broccoli is to have it steamed. It should be not crunchy but not soft either. There is a happy medium in there. And finally, as far as the potatoes go, if you have to go mashed, you have to add butter and cream. Personally, when I’m eating steak, I much prefer a baked potato or some new potatoes.
Thoughts, questions, concerns. Feel free to leave them below. Somehow offended? Then this isn’t the blog for you. Move along.