Easy Surf and Turf for a dinner party! Or make it just for you and someone special.
What’s better than a delicious Surf and Turf Meal? It’s probably one of the easiest meals to prepare but yet people seem to be afraid of making it.
Find some good-sized shrimp at your grocery or fish market – frozen or fresh. Cook according to directions. It’s easy! Keep it cold in the fridge while you sear and fry or grill the steak and you’re all ready to sit down to a delicious meal. Have your favorite shrimp sauce ready and alongside veggies or a tossed salad you have a beautiful and delicious meal with someone special.
Whether you are doing a dinner party for friends or just and your very own someone special, make a date of it and create your own memories. We had some shrimp in the freezer that we used for tonight’s meal.
My hubby pulled 10 shrimp out of the freezer bag so we’d have 5 each. At first, I thought that would be too many shrimp, but as they cooked, they shrunk more than I expected, so he was right. Seems some frozen shrimp companies
add way too much water when they freeze their shrimp. I was going by the number of shrimp per pound, but they seemed much smaller than in other brands I had purchased.
My hubby had picked up one very nice thick well marbled New York Steak of just under a pound. He seared it long enough for the middle to become bright pink for a medium temp. Yum! (In fact, the steak was large enough that we each ate about 5 ounces each that night. We had enough for steak sandwiches the next day for lunch.)
We usually enjoy sweet vermouth sauteed mushrooms with our steak but opted out for the tasty shrimp this time. And, accompanied by a homemade sweet vinegar cucumber salad, all was right at our dinner table.
This one meal recipe suits the two of us.
Prep your pans:
- Set up a 3-quart saucepan on the stovetop for cooking your shrimp.
- Preheat an 8-10” sauté pan for searing your steak.
Gather up your Ingredients for the meal:
One New York Steak, about 1 ½” thick, one pound weight
8-10 Shrimp, depending on size, frozen or fresh
Cocktail Sauce for dipping
Salt and pepper to taste
One large cucumber for the salad
½ C Vinegar
1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
½ C Sugar
Salt
Pepper
Get your meal going:
- Fill a 3-quart saucepan with one quart of water, bringing it to a boil before adding the cooked and frozen shrimp. He cooked it according to the package directions, which is not very long. It will be ready in a matter of minutes. You should follow the directions on your package. Or you can ask your butcher for information about the best way to prepare them. (Sometimes I prepare them with garlic butter in the oven. Another YUM!!)
- At the same time, heat the sauté pan on medium high on your stove top. When you think it’s very hot, test it by sprinkling a few drops of water. If they sizzle immediately, it’s ready to take the steak.
- We don't salt or pepper our steaks. Yes, the salt enhances the flavor of the meat, but when you're working with a low sodium diet, you get used to not emptying the salt shaker on your food. It's up to you.
- Fry 5-6 minutes on one side for a medium steak on medium high heat, depending on how thick the steak is. Ours was about 1 ½” thick. Flip it to sear the other side for another 4-5 minutes, depending on how done you like it. Check it to see if it's done to your specifications.
- If you are unsure if it’s done to your liking, place the steak on a cutting board and slice into it, but not all the way. Is it done to your taste?
- If you let it sit on the board with a piece of aluminum foil tented loosely over it, the steak will continue to cook a little, and let the juices reset inside the meat. I like to let the steak on the cutting board for about 3 minutes to let the juices reset. If you cut it right through right after taking it out of the pan, it’s likely that the juices will flow right out of the steak, creating a dry piece of meat. So, be patient and let it set a few minutes before cutting all the way through.
How about some cucumber salad?
- In most areas, cucumbers are available throughout the winter. If you are not averse to the flavor of the “winter” cukes, grab a couple of long ones, not fat ones. I don’t care for the fat ones since they may have too many big seeds inside.
- Wash them, and peel if you like. If you like the full green peel, just slice them as they are. Or, peel, leave a strip of green and peel, repeating around the cuke. When sliced, this creates a pretty combo of colors in your salad. If you like more color, add a few sliced pimento stuffed olives or some diced red and yellow peppers.
- In a small bowl or jar, mix equal amounts of white vinegar and sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Then mix with the cukes. Add a tablespoon of vinegar. Then add a little salt and pepper to taste and you have a deliciously bright salad. My mother used to add sliced onions – yum!
Another option is to peel and slice the cukes very thin on the mandolin. Place them in a glass bowl, layered with salt. Then after letting them sit about 10 minutes, pour them into a colander. Rinse under cool water. Press out as much water and salt as you can. Then add the vinegar mixture in a serving bowl. It’s another delicious version, but is much heavier in sodium. It’s a version I no longer make or eat due to the high sodium content.
Serving it up on a dinner plate:
- Serve the steak on a dinner plate with a large lettuce leaf holding the cold shrimp. Add a small sauce bowl with the red shrimp sauce. In a separate small bowl, serve up your cucumber salad.
- What a beautiful dinner to share with your special someone or a group of your best friends!
We used to hold so many dinner parties for friends over the holidays in the winter, including New Years Eve by serving up delicious meals such as this one. It’s easy to create and prepare, especially for special friends. This is just another great way to “Bake your own Memories!”