Farmers' Market Dinner

Friday was the first farmers' market of the year Lowell and I am already excited to go back this coming Friday. Not only did I get fresh, locally grown vegetables, I got mozzarella cheese and free-range, grass-fed beef tenderloin steaks. I was too pooped on Friday night from a week with Camille and Adeline to cook dinner and then we had other plans on Saturday night, so tonight I got to make a delicious dinner from some of my farmers' market food. Dinner included: corn on the cob, roasted green beans, roasted potatoes with sage, and grilled beef tenderloin steaks. All of the ingredients came from the farmers' market except the fresh sage, which came from my garden.

Grilled Beef Tenderloin (Filet Mignon) Steaks

It's hard to give specific instructions for cooking steaks since the cooking time depends on the size and thickness of the steaks, but I will share some things I learned recently from bon appetit.

First, take the steaks out of the refrigerator at least about an hour before you're going to cook them so they can come to room temperature. About 30 minutes before I grill them, I sprinkle both sides with coarse kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.

Heat up the grill so it's good and hot before the steaks go on. The amount of time depends on the grill. Last year, I decided that I wanted to take advantage of the natural gas that we use for our heat, hot water, and clothes dryer for a grill. We had a plumber run a line that goes out to our patio. I sold my old propane Weber grill on craigslist and bought a used natural gas Weber grill on craigslist. Anyway, now I no longer have to worry about how much propane we have, but the best advantage is that I am quite sure the natural gas grill heats up faster than the propane grill did. I don't know that it's a difference between the two fuels as much as that the natural gas grill might just be a better grill. So, the point of all this rambling is that 10 minutes is usually long enough to heat up my natural gas grill, but I think I used to have to heat up the propane grill about 20 minutes before I was ready to grill.

The total time on the grill depends on the size and thickness of the steaks. The steaks I grilled tonight were really thick and I had them on the grill for about 20 minutes total. I started on high heat and then lowered the heat to medium for roughly the last five minutes. For steaks, leave the grill open the entire grilling time. I have an inexpensive, but accurate thermometer that I've been using and for medium-rare steak, I leave it on the grill until the inside reads 120 degrees.

Let the steak rest after it is cooked for ten minutes. The inside temperature rises while it's resting, which is why it only needs to be at 120 degrees for medium-rare.

Roasted Green

Beans

1 pound green beans

olive oil

coarsely ground sea salt

fresh ground black pepper

Wash the green beans and cut the stem end of the bean off. Put the green beans on a rimmed baking sheet and toss them with a couple tablespoons of olive oil, coarsely ground sea salt, and black pepper. Spread them pretty evenly on the baking sheet. Roast them in a 400 degree oven for about 14 minutes. Makes about 4-6 servings.

Roasted Potatoes with Fresh Sage

1 pound red potatoes, washed and cut into chunks with the skins on

2-3 tablespoons minced fresh sage

olive oil

coarsely ground sea salt

fresh ground black pepper

On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the potatoes with the sage, 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil, salt,

and pepper to evenly coat the potatoes. Bake at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes or until the potatoes are slightly crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Stir the potatoes after 20 minutes, scraping up any potatoes that are stuck to the baking sheet. Makes 4-6 servings