Tyler Florence's Rib Eye Dinner & Caramelized Onion Potato Tart

I love Tivo! There are a few Food Network shows that I automatically record, skim through and delete. This time, Tyler Florence's Rib Grilled Rib eye, Creamed Swiss Chard with panko crumbs and caramelized onion potato tart had me hooked. Tyler works and talks fast, but I like his no-nonsense way of rolling up his sleeves and how he gets right down to cooking.

As luck would have it, my local butcher shop had rib eye steaks on sale. I wanted to treat my husband to a special dinner to honor him for being such a great step dad to my son. My hubs likes rib eye steak, and my son had never experienced it.

This meal took over an hour, with prep work. However, it's worth every bit of it. The first thing to start are the potatoes:

Preheat the oven to 350F and caramelize thinly cut onion in some olive oil for about 15 minutes-- my mandolin works great for this recipe. In the meantime, I sliced potatoes really thin and evenly (the mandolin makes this easy) and added salt & pepper. Once the onions were cooked, I decided to switch pans since this would go into the oven.

The onions are added to the potatoes and seasoned with a bit more salt & pepper, then placed into the skillet. NOTE: I added one more clove of minced garlic, since some reviews said this dish tasted bland. I added a few dots of butter and put parchment paper on top, drizzled with olive oil so that it wouldn't burn.

Into the oven for 45 minutes... and on to the next dish:

For the Swiss chard-- I love the color of Swiss (or rainbow) chard. It's so pretty! Don't these look like arteries?

I discovered this wonderful green when it showed up in my CSA box at the beginning of spring. If you've never had Swiss chard, it's worth a taste. It's related to the beet. I think it tastes very similar to spinach, which I love. I made some delicious chicken enchiladas swiss chard with these, the first time I played with them. With this recipe, I messed up with Tyler's instructions by blanching the swiss chard whole (after removing the pretty red stems). No worries-- I put them into an ice bath after a few minutes. I figured I'd chop them afterward.

Tyler says to drain the Swiss chard and let it air dry. I have a trick, up my sleeve, that works really well for me.

Meet Mr. Potato Ricer. I think this is less labor intensive than squeezing the water out with a towel-- it's also less laundry to worry about. Of course, I use this for ricing sweet potatoes, and mashing ripe bananas...but that's another recipe. I chopped the swiss chard and then squeezed out the excess water and set it aside-- wishing I had made more. I wasn't sure if my son would like it, though.

Now, for the cream sauce for the Swiss chard. This, ladies and gentleman, was the highlight as far as I am concerned. I cut the cream sauce in half, using only one cup of heavy cream. For you calorie counters, I don't think fat-free milk would work. I figured I'd eat a small portion. So, I added bay leaves, two garlic cloves, fresh rosemary and thyme (from my garden) and let that slowly simmer-- like for 30 minutes. Don't boil it! Just keep it at a low simmer and it did thicken up. My whole kitchen smelled "herby" and "garlicky" and I was getting very hungry.

Next, I brought out my trusty cast iron skillet. (I really do need to buy a bigger one.) I only had room for 2 rib eye steaks, but I decided that hubby and I would split one. We like red meat, but we try not to overdo it. I liked that Tyler added olive oil to the skillet and then tossed in fresh rosemary and thyme. It crackles, which made my getting really close for a good photo a little intimidating.

I removed the thyme and rosemary onto a paper towel (for a garnish) and seared the rib eyes on both sides.

Perfect! Into the oven at 350F for about 12 minutes. It depends on the thickness of the steak and your oven.

While the steak was cooking, I melted olive oil, butter, thyme, rosemary and garlic slices into a pan-- then added about a cup of panko crumbs. OMG! This rocks!

By now, my boys are sniffing the air. I'm so looking forward to this meal and I can't wait to have the big "ta-da" with my potato tart.

I lifted the parchment paper... mmmmm. Next, I put a plate on top and inverted it...

Nothing! It didn't stick-- in fact, I think there was a little too much olive oil. No worries-- I blotted away the olive oil and plated this from the skillet.

I decided to strain the herbs and garlic from the infused heavy cream. I added the Swiss chard to the cream sauce and heated this on a low heat. I'm ready to put this all together.

Like Tyler did, I plated this meal by piling a little Swiss chard, then the panko crumbs. The potatoes were still very tasty looking. We loved it! This meal has so many flavors going on-- the texture of the panko crumbs, the creaminess of the swiss chard and the tender cut of rib eye. My son didn't like the Swiss chard, but at least he tried it. He's still bonding with green vegetables.

This is a 5 star meal, Tyler. It uses a lot of pots and pans, but it's worthy of entertaining company with. The total cost of this meal was less then $30.00, since I only used two of the steaks. The third one is frozen for something else. Yummy!

This week, I've made filet of beef au poivre, beef stroganoff and this rib eye dinner. I think it's time to focus on some fish, vegetarian and poultry for a change, don't you think? We don't always eat this way, though I could get used to it.

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