Russian Roomie

So a couple of months ago I found out some great news. Captain Safety and I were in the midst of our long-term endurement of living apart in separate states when we found out a dear friend was interviewing for a job right by where Captain Safety lived.

Now when I say dear friend, I don't mean the kind that your grandma has in the small town she lives in. No, this friend is likely one of 4 living individuals who know nearly everything about me. We met at Junior College where we were both on the women's basketball team. We were always friends there but we really became close when we both decided to transfer to the same school to continue our collegiate careers.

We were roomies, best buds, amigos, teammates and quite simply confidants. After 3 more years together at school in Pennsylvania we found ourselves graduated and moving on our separate ways. Me back to Iowa because Captain Safety swept me off my feet, and her to Brooklyn to pursue a coaching career.

Fast forward a number of years and like a gift from above, she accepted the position and rightfully so...moved in with Captain Safety. Now to say I was excited was an understatement. Not only was I nearing in on moving back to the state to be with my husband, but I now had nearly full-time access to my BFF. Simply put, I was happy.

Now I'm not just happy because I get to see this caring, thoughtful, bright and beautiful individual each day. I'm mostly happy because there's a slight chance that I'll wake up some Sunday morning to this:

2011 Resolution...completed!!

Its official...I have finally baked meat in the oven.

It seems strange, even an hour after digestion has set in but I did it. I've never really been confident enough for cooking meat in the oven. Recipes always call for sauces and toppings but I like to see my meat. I mean, I have a real fear about under-cooked meat, who's with me??

Maybe I'm slightly paranoid but when some people say 300 degrees for 1 hour and others say 350 degrees for 45 minutes...well, quite frankly...I become worried. I'm a novice cook so there's still a very real fear that I may cause food poisoning.

But tonight...I was fearless. I picked a meat I've never worked with and ventured into the kitchen with uninhibited ambition (plus it's been in the freezer for over a year so either way it was going to get thrown out).

Here's what I did:

1) Let the meat unthaw on the counter for most the afternoon (usually this would mean in the fridge the night before)

2) Pre-heated the oven to 325 degrees (now the recipe said 300 but again, baking meat fear...that's an actual diagnosis, right?)

3) Heated some olive oil in a sauce pan (this is where I started to go wrong, should've moved this to step 5)

4) Poured two bowls for mixing, one with egg and milk mixture...the second with flour and whatever seasonings float your boat, I chose Lowry's, pepper and some steak dry rub

5) Dipped each piece of meat in each mixture (milk and egg first of course)

6) Toss the meat into the (now smoking heavily b/c I heated it too early) sauce pan and slightly sear each side of the meat

7) Put seared meat into baking dish, I used 9x13

8) Pour one can (16 oz) of french onion soup over the meat, cover with foil

9) Bake for 1 hour and voila

And you know what it actually worked. Cooked through, tasted delicious and Captain Safety like it. Russian Roomie didn't care for the french onion, but after some slight scraping thought it was delish.