Charcoal grilling is just the best!  It may not be as convenient as a gas grill, but there’s just no comparing the flavor!  And with the thermometer actually hitting 60° today, grilling was definitely called for.

On my Monday grocery shopping trek today, I picked up 8 – yes, eight – bone-in New York strip steaks for a mere $24.00.  I love an in-store special!  Six of them were vacuum-packed for the freezer, and two became dinner tonight.  Grilled perfectly rare and topped first with a bit of Boursin cheese, and then slathered with caramelized onions.  Lots and lots of onions.

Baked sweet potatoes and peas rounded out the plate.

But that wasn’t all we had!

I also made Whole Wheat Sun-Dried Tomato Bread!  I took the no-knead recipe and tweaked it a bit and for this loaf, added some chopped sun-dried tomatoes in oil.  It was a little messy mixing them in, but the final result was worth it!

Whole Wheat No-Knead Bread

  • 3 cups lukewarm water
  • 2 pkg yeast
  • 1 1/2 tbsp salt
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

Stir ingredients together and let rise 3 hours.  Follow instructions for basic no-knead artisan bread.

For sun-dried tomato bread, chop tomatoes and mix into 1lb piece of dough, form into ball and follow instructions for rising and baking.

I really like the whole wheat version better.  It has a better crumb – not as chewy as the white, but the crust is still excellent.

And to add just another layer of decadency, Victor made roasted garlic butter to slather on the bread.  It’s quite simple.

Take a whole head of garlic and slice off the tips to expose the garlic cloves.  Drizzle with olive oil and place in a hot oven (450-ish) for about 45 minutes.  Let cool, then squeeze out the garlic and mix with softened butter.  Use on anything and everything.

And there’s flourless chocolate cake later on…..