Steak Steaks with Sweet Potato Fries

Friday 1 February

Friday is obviously steak night (two in a row so far).  

It happened this way.

We were out of OJ and milk, so Barbara braved the half inch of snow on the roads and drove cautiously to Kroger's around 6 PM.  The store was in the sort of frenzy you find whenever snow falls: people really do run out and buy bread and milk, not to mention boxes of canned vegetables, mac 'n' cheese, mopheads, and other supplies suitable for a month in an underground bunker.  What with herds of children wandering dazed and the fat people playing chicken in motorized carts, Barbara was barely able to maneuver her cartful of milk, OJ, yogurt and coffee beans (well...they were on sale) through the aisles.  In the meat section, she found a white-coated man piling $6.99 boneless ribeyes into a case, and happened to casually ask whether there were any thick-cut ones.  Turns out that he was the butcher, and he promptly went into his lair and cut her four 1 1/2 inch thick, 1 1/4 pound steaks, which she carried home (with the milk, OJ, yogurt, coffee, dishwasher powder, ketchup, and cat litter) in triumph.  One went on the grill instantly, and three went into the freezer for later delectation.

As a side dish, Holt cut up and pan-fried one enormous sweet potato, dusting the almost-done fries with cumin and two kinds of smoky pimenton de la Véra (hot and sweet).  You want to cut them very thin, as here, though we don't always have bacon fat to frizzle them in.

We are great meat-eaters, and this was great meat.  We barely managed to finish, but you know they don't call us the Clean Plate Club for nothing.