It's the first snow of the season, so that means it's time to COOK! Looking for comfort food, and I am thinking steak and potatoes. No, it's not a long-simmering stew or mac and cheese, but I'm pretty comforted by the menu I have planned for tonight. I have a vision. Time to make it real.

I start with (2) grass-fed NY strip steaks from Fry Farm in Peterborough, NH. I came home one day and Bob had 1/8 of a cow in our freezer. Sectioned out, of course, in lovely vacuum sealed packaging and clearly labeled. Sweet. The steaks defrost quickly. I score them in a diamond pattern on the fat side, much like you would a ham. This keeps the steak from curling up when you cook it, and helps the marinade sink in a bit.

To marinade, rub, or lightly salt, that is the question... I choose marinade. My quick go-to steak marinade is 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup good red wine, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 3 minced garlic cloves (I use a garlic press), 1/2 tsp. each of dried thyme, oregano and rosemary - or 1.5 tsp. of any individual herb or herb combo - plus 2 generous pinches of pepper. The soy sauce brings the salt, so I leave the salt out. I whisk the ingredients together in a measuring cup and pour over the steaks. PS, a good squirt of dijon mustard would work well here too!

I pour it over the steaks, refrigerate, and then head to the cabana for a fire and the Seattle Sounders game. Apparently, they are in the finals. I will probably come up and turn the steaks in an hour, since soccer is not my fave. Sorry soccer fans.

After one hour of soccer, Seattle vs. Toronto for the championship, I am ready for the next step. Meaning, I am bored. The score is 0 - 0, and the Sounders have no shots on goal yet. So I head to the kitchen and start prepping the yukon gold and sweet potato hash. I could leave the skins on, but they are not pretty, so I peel one large sweet potato and three large yukon gold potatoes, cut them into a 1/2 inch dice (no, I did not break out a ruler), and then toss them with olive oil, two pinches of salt, two pinches of pepper and 1 1/2 TBSP. of dried rosemary. I would have gone out to the garden and picked some fresh rosemary, but it is snowing and my feet are cold. I do a finer dice on a large onion and keep that separate, as they will cook quicker. Once I toss the potatoes and put them in a covered container, I place them in the fridge and head down for some more of this scintillating soccer game. These games are long.

Oh boy, the Sounders just lost. Bob is not happy. Running to the kitchen post haste, time to prep the next course. Gonna chop some mushrooms and saute them up in olive oil, garlic, a touch of soy sauce for carmelization, fresh thyme, salt and pepper. I can do these in advance and heat them up when it is time. Christmas music, anyone? Why, yes, let's. I also got Bob to agree to fire up the grill for the steaks. I will use the marinade to make a lovely sauce.

I chop some brocconlini and put it in a bit of salted water, no heat yet. All the dishes are ready to go, time to add some fire to this party! Bob lays the steaks on the grill and I heat some olive oil in a cast iron skillet and when it is hot, add the prepped potatoes with a bit of Old Bay Seasoning. I start a good browning on one side, cover to let them get tender (5 - 10 minutes), then uncover and stir often to promote even browning on all sides. I taste and check the seasonings. Always.

The mushrooms are already done, so once Bob flips the steaks, I remove the mushrooms from the pan and put them aside to make a sauce from the reserved marinade. The marinade goes in the heated skillet and starts to reduce. I add a splash more red wine and some chicken stock. It simmers, I taste it, and I got nothing. It is not delicious. Pan sauces are tough without cooking the protein in the same pan. So I cheat with some "Kitchen Accomplice " beef broth concentrate, basically a reduced stock/demi glace with super concentrated flavors. The ingredients aren't that bad, and I use it sparingly. A good 1/4 cup squirt sets me up and things look and taste good. I decide to add the mushrooms, so we now have a very tasty and concentrated beefy mushroom sauce.

When the steaks come off the gril, they need to rest. That's when I fire the broccolini. Once the water comes to the boil, I give it 4 - 5 minutes, drain, shock with cold water, then add a pat of butter and the juice of 1/2 lemon. I think we are good here. Time to plate.

First I put the steak down. I add a large handful of chopped flat leaf parsley to the potato hash, stir, and plate. Then the broccolini. I drizzle the sauce over the top of the steak, and then, because I can, I crumble some Stilton blue cheese over the top of the sauced steaks. About 2 tablespoons per steak, or to taste.

It is delicious. The combo of the steak, the sauce and the blue cheese is amazing, and the blue cheese does not overpower, it just adds a creaminess. The hash is wonderful, and the lemony broccolini adds a bit of acid to cut the richness of the sauce. The broccolini looks pretty and it is good for you. So eat your veggies, dammit!

This is a great meal and was not that hard, as I did the prep in stages. Started at 4:00pm by marinating the steak, prepped the potato hash at 5:00pm, did the mushrooms and the veggie prep at 6:00pm, started cooking at 6:45pm, ate at 7:30. Advance preparation is key. I learned this in Girl Scouts, before they kicked me out. True story. I kinda deserved it. Bad language will get you in trouble every time.

If you have a special occasion or want to prepare a romantic meal, this is the one. More of a fall/winter dish, totally not a summer/spring thing. Leave off the blue cheese, change the herbs, make it your own, but stay true to the technique. You may just get applause with this one. And if you don't, I applaud you. You are amazing.

BTW, sooo many leftovers. Soon, I will chop the steak, add it to the hash, maybe add some chopped broccolini and a bit of the mushroom sauce, stir it around gently and put a fried egg on top. Breakfast. Or maybe dinner. Round 2 out of every meal is a good thing.