Theresa's foray into cooking meat: Steak with gorgonzola sauce.

When I first started experimenting in the kitchen (circa 2004), I was a near-vegetarian, some would say pescatarian (or just call me picky). As a result, cooking with meat has always been a challenge. I am adept at any ground meat or fish (hard to screw up!) but shy away from a good ol' steak. I decided it was time to get out of that rut. I was assisted by a seasoned meat eater, sometimes meat cooker (albeit on the grill). We explained our dilemma to the Whole Foods meat counter guy and he recommended a top sirloin, which, lucky for us, was on sale.

Here's what you'll need:
About a lb of steak
8 oz of blue cheese (we went with gorgonzola)
one red onion
some butter
red pepper flakes
garlic
some sour cream (optional)
parsley (fresh is better, dry will do)

For sides, I had sweet potatoes and white asparagus on hand. Pretty much any potato, veggie combo would go nicely with this steak (dousing anything in blue cheese sauce is a sure crowd pleaser).

First sides: I up some sweet potatoes, added a good strong coating of olive oil, salt and pepper, and a bit of cinnamon and cayenne. They went into the oven at 400 for about 20 minutes (check frequently - I got involved in a conversation and they ended up quite crispy). Start the steak in the meantime. After they came out, and while I was doing the finishing touches on the steak, I covered the asparagus in olive oil, salt and pepper in the broiler for about five minutes with a pinch of lemon juice.

The Steak: I sliced the red onion and sauteed on medium high in a little bit of olive oil and butter until soft. I added the garlic and a bit of salt and pepper. I turned down the heat and started adding the cheese, stirring frequently.

At this point, get some butter nice and hot in a separate pan and then add the steak, cooking to your desired rareness. [I let my sous chef handle this, but if you don't do meat, just google. Post suggestions in the comments].

As the cheese melts down, add about 2 tbls of white wine and a bit of sour cream along with some red pepper flakes. Turn off the heat. When the steak is ready, add 1/4 c. water to the drippings and boil for two minutes. Stir the water/drippings/butter mixture into the cheese sauce. If you haven't satisfied your saturated fat intake for the year at this point, you could consider adding a tiny bit of bacon or prosciutto to the sauce.

Prepare a plate with steak, asparagus and potatoes. Drizzle blue cheese sauce over steak (or the whole thing!) Top with chopped parsley.

Yum.