Steak with Corn Relish and Smashed Spuds

I wasn't as excited, beforehand, to make this dish as I had been for the drunken pasta; though, I suppose, any dish that involves red wine in its preparation gets immediate bonus points. Nevertheless, the heart of this week's recipe is the corn relish. Served on top of the steak, the two are accompanied by (what are basically) mashed potatoes. But since preparing these three items offered three distinct chances for something new, I thought it would be a good second attempt.

The three dishes are prepared, cooked, and served mostly independent of each other. This made it easy to lay out all the ingredients and photo them separately. First, the steak (with its seasoning) in its cast-iron skillet. Second, the onion, garlic, scallions, cilantro, corn, chicken broth, and new spices for the relish. And third, a bag of red boiling potatoes and some cheese (not pictured) to mash in.

On the advice of my friends, I tried Hannaford instead of Price Chopper and (though it had a smaller selection) found that it had a larger variety of goods (including that mysterious pancetta from last week!). Once the individual ingredients were assembled (it took two trips to Hannaford, two to Price Chopper, one to Target, and one to Marshalls... don't ask), I started slicing up the vegetables before anything else. This had proved to be a hassle when rushed last week, and - since I had no time constraints this time - I took it slow. The only person waiting on the food was me, and I'm hardly important.

Putting the potatoes on to boil, I started sauteeing the chopped garlic cloves, onion, and scallions. Confession: the scallions were meant to go into the potatoes but I didn't pick up on this until later (the inclusion must've struck me as silly at the time I started cooking). Spicing these with chili powder, ground cumin, sugar, salt, and pepper left the room with a fantastic aroma (though short-lived, the steak took care of that).

Now I seasoned the steak and threw it onto the stove-top in its skillet (pre-heated with EVOO). I left the steak for "last" since, though the three dishes all cook at the same time, I figured that the meat needed more watching and attention. As the steak was grilling, I added the chicken broth and corn to the pan with the vegetables (now golden). Flipping the steak after five minutes revealed exactly how messy grilling on a stove-top is: oil had sizzled its way all over the rest of the flat surface. What a mess! I assume Rachael Ray never had to clean up after herself on her show (where's my cleaning crew and/or small dog?).

The steak, however, turned out fantastic. These pictures do not do it justice. The corn relish was also very tasty when served on top of the steak. I must say, I enjoyed those dishes far more than the pasta from the previous week. The potatoes, however, were poorly neglected. Now lacking their scallions (and cream cheese, which I "purposely" left out), I added some grated cheddar which melted in and (though I'm sure it was fine) didn't look too appetizing. Maybe I should have skinned the potatoes first (I've been told the skin adds fiber, though?). Anyway, here's the result: a delicious meal and an absolute mess. The savory steak left its oily patina and I'll just thank the cooking gods (Alton Brown and Rachael Ray?) for surface stoves and Windex!