It was supposed to be date night last night, but after getting off to a late start after work, that quickly turned into an hour together at the gym, massive indecisiveness about what we wanted to eat, then me watching boyfriend eat two blue cheese wedges after realizing it was too late to be hungry. We made up for it today, though, starting with a two-scoop ice cream cone at Ben & Jerry’s: 1 scoop Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, 1 scoop Late Night Snack, in a chocolate-dipped sugar cone with sprinkles. (Many tasting spoons were sacrificed on Chocolate Therapy, Coconut Seven Layer Bar, What a Cluster [miraculously too peanut buttery even for me!] and the impressive new Bonarroo Buzz.)

Then we headed to a Hoboken sports bar we’d been wanting to check out, mostly because of a long-ignored wings craving. These were worth the wait: half buffalo and half root beer BBQ, with really excellent blue cheese. The root beer was too sweet for me; boyfriend ate all but one of them.

After debating main course choices for literally about half an hour, he settled on a classic burger (medium, no cheese, ew, BORING) with onion rings and I got the 1Republik special: sherry roquefort fondue, ale-battered thick-cut bacon, caramelized onions and mushrooms.

Their handcut fries are absolutely fantastic: salty and golden on the outside, fluffy and creamy on the inside, like the very best of fast-food french fries. The combination of the roquefort fondue and the caramelized onions and mushrooms was superb. It was an amazing burger. So, I did something I never, ever do at restaurants. 

I sent it back. I’d asked for medium rare, like actually, really, on the pink side of medium rare. I know it’s bad to order burgers that way. I know I’m being a jerk. I don’t care. I don’t see the point of eating them gray and flaccid all the way through, as this one was when it arrived.

Ten minutes and one apologetic waitress later, I had my burger just the way I wanted it. Having helped myself to the onion rings while I was waiting, I ditched the top bun, cut the burger in half, and made a giant double-stacked burger sandwich. Yum.

Who am I kidding; it’s impossible to spoil my appetite. So, yes, I carried on with the steak dinner plans directly following those cannoli. Go big or go home.

Steak & potatoes:

• 4 filet mignon steaks
• 4 Idaho potatoes
• 10 cloves garlic
• 4 shiitake mushrooms
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup milk
• salt & pepper

1. Wash potatoes and cut into quarters, skin on. Peel 6 garlic cloves. Place garlic and potatoes in a pot of boiling water and sprinkle generously with salt. Boil until soft, about half an hour.
2. When potatoes have been cooking for about twenty minutes, peel remaining garlic cloves and chop roughly. Heat olive oil in a nonstick pan and add garlic. Sprinkle steaks on both sides with salt and pepper and place in the pan. Surround with sliced shiitakes. Cook on medium heat, about five minutes per side for medium rare.
3. When steak is halfway cooked, drain potatoes and garlic and return to pot. Add butter, milk, salt and pepper and mash with a fork. 
4. Let steak rest a few minutes before slicing, so that the juices stay in the meat instead of running out onto your plate (although you’ve got all those potatoes to sop them up with, so really, it’s a win-win situation.)

I like to bake fresh bread almost every day, and I try to mix it up a little and make something different each time. When I asked the boy for a preference this morning, the response was “as fluffy as you can make it and what you would call too salty,” which I felt was a description I could work with. The measurements listed below are guesstimates, since I didn’t measure. When the dough was rising it didn’t seem light enough to fit the fluffiness requirements, so I decided to turn it into focaccia - but once it was baked, it tripled in size and defied categorization.

Onion & cheddar breadcaccia:

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 2 + 1/4 cups flour
• 1 + 1/4 tbsp salt
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp honey
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp cornmeal
• half a small yellow onion, sliced into thin rings
• 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated thin
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add honey, salt, egg, and flour in increments. Mix until smooth and knead for at least ten minutes.
2. Let rise until doubled, about an hour, in a bowl greased with olive oil, then punch down and knead for an additional ten minutes. Let rise until doubled again.
3. Knead dough for a third time and flatten into a thick disc. Place in a 1.5” by 8” round pan and let rise a third time, about half an hour.
4. Sprinkle cornmeal over loaf. Top with onion, cheese and garlic. Bake at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes (check often to make sure garlic doesn’t burn.)