Gal Two Reports!

We had Gal One's April menu on a random Tuesday night. Actually, not so random as it was one of the only nights Mr. Two wasn't working late.

I did the majority of my food prep that morning while Mr. Two was out of the house. He is a better eater when he doesn't witness what actually goes into his dinner. I thought the food prep was a bit time consuming, but not at all difficult. I can see how easy and convenient it would be to prep this meal the day before a nice dinner party!

I started with the steak. Since it is only Mr and me, I halved the recipe. No mathematical issues there! When I rolled the steak it was messy due to sauce leakage, but the steak was easy to roll and held together well with toothpicks. I rolled it in plastic wrap and kept it in the fridge until I was ready to cook it.

Next I prepped the dessert. (Usually my favorite part of the meal)! My food processor is on the small side and I should have done the apples in 2 separate batches, otherwise it was very easy. I found I had extra apple filling, but I did use up all that cinnamon sugar topping. (Note, I am planning on using my extra apple filling on waffles this weekend).

I froze all my turnovers with the intent to thaw only two for dinner. The rest I will get out this weekend when we grill burgers and have some guests over. The make and freeze ahead part of this recipe is wonderful.

Dinner time: I let my steak rest out on the counter for about 20 minutes before putting it into my hot oven. I also watched it closely as the cook time was for a recipe double the size. I ended up cooking it 25 minutes, letting it rest for 10, deciding it was not done enough and cooking it another 10 minutes. The outside layer was a bit too done, but for the most part it was great! My favorite part was the cheese. YUM!

While my steak was cooking, I made the couscous. Not at all hard and I liked that it was a light, fresh side to a heavier main dish. I will be making that again as a side and experimenting with flavors.

You may be wondering where the salad went? I wasn't able to find coriander, and upon the advice of another Gal, skipped the salad. :-/

After dinner I thawed 2 apple turnovers, baked them and then let them rest as stated in the recipe. The house smelled delicious! And it took just the right amount of time to thaw/bake for us to be hungry for the dessert. Mr. Two insists on buying ice cream to have with them this weekend. And I'm contemplating a Barefoot Contessa carmel sauce...

The final verdict: this meal (minus the un-attempted salad) is a keeper! I still have all the ingredients, and I believe I will prep this on Saturday to serve as Sunday dinner in the near future.

My meal in pictures!