Mike Colameco 7/14/07

In my latest "unofficial" post of Mike's recipes, [until someone happens to get around to updating his own website...] I happened to miss the majority of Saturday morning's show, but I did catch the final 10 minutes of the show where Mike usually cooks. I was a little surprised at how simple the dishes were that he cooked today. I didn't even have to take any notes.
Main Dish - Steak. He took a nice looking piece of steak seasoned it heavily with salt and pepper, put it in an already hot pan that had some hot cooking oil (when it just starts to smoke). He seared each side for about 5-8 minutes (including the "sides" of the steak, it was about an inch and a half thick) and this produced a nice medium rare steak).
Side Dish 1 - Potatoes ... He took some small potatoes - about 4-5 (I think they were russets), and simmered (NOT boiled) them in a large pot for about 18 minutes. When the rest of the dishes were done, Mike took the potatoes out of the water, put them in a small bowl, added some salt and used a fork to "smash" them instead of mashing them. After they were smashed, he drizzled some Extra Virgin Olive Oil on them, and plated them next to the steak.
Side dish 2 - Cauliflower... Really simple again... He sliced the Cauliflower into approx. 3/8" thick slices then threw them in a hot frying pan (again with the oil already hot), and seared them til they just started to get brown edges. Just before they were done, he added several tablespoons of butter, and again drizzeled some EVOO, and added some grated cheese over it all (I use this grated cheese trick on almost all my vegetables now).
He plated all three, and he was done. Very simple, but looked like a great meal. That's why I like watching Mike's show.

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