Christmas dinner for two in 30 minutes...give or take.

This year Brad and I were SO bummed because we thought we were going to so lonely on Christmas. However, yesterday turned out to be a great day! We Skyped with our families, so we got to see our loved ones, and the rest of the day was so relaxing! We didn't have a big hullabaloo, just the two of us enjoying our first Christmas together.I know the holidays are about being with your loved ones and celebrating and all of that, and I love all of the festivities! But I think everyone should scale it back at least once in their life. I'm not saying be alone in a dark room drinking eggnog from the carton! I'm just saying this year, my Christmas was very restorative and I had time to enjoy it.

We had actually planned on roasting a cornish hen, but apparently we weren't the only ones with that idea, and the store was sold out. So we bought a New York Strip and Brad prepared our Christmas dinner from start to finish in about half an hour. It was very simple. Just meat, veg ( I use this term loosely here) and a roll, but it was enough for us after gorging on Christmas treats all day long. The way I'm writing this is the order in which he prepared the whole meal, so there will be a little jumping around.

We just used our favorite heat and serve rolls ( I recommend any of the frozen pilsbury varieties that come in a resealable bag!) and put an 8-inch (oven safe!!!) frying pan in the oven for the durration of the preheat.

Microwave Asparagus Casserole

• 2 cups frozen peas, thawed* **
• 12 ounces frozen asparagus, thawed *
• 2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and sliced
• 6 slices of sharp cheddar cheese, cut in half diagonally
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp white pepper***
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs

Cut the asparagus into two inch strips. Put half of the asparagus and half of the peas in a layer in bottom of the casserole dish. Then put the egg slices in a layer. Next, make a layer out of half of the cheese slices. In a small bowl combine the sour cream, suop, onion powder, and pepper. Put half of this mixture on top of the cheese. Then repeat this process with the remaining ingredients, except the cheese. Combine the butter and the bread crumbs. Sprinkle that mixture on top. Microwave on high for 10 minutes. Top with the remaining cheese slices and cover with foil or the lid of your casserole dish, if you have one. Let it stand for 5 minutes or until the cheese melts.

While the casserole was in the microwave Brad put the rolls in the oven because the timing on them was the same. He left the pan in the oven while the rolls were baking too. After he removed the rolls, he left the pan in the oven and bumped up the temperature to 500 degrees (NOT BROIL).

Pan Seared New York Strip

• New York Strip (about an inch and a half thick)
• Kosher or Sea Salt
• Black Pepper
• Vegetable Oil
• (Seriously that's it!)

Take the pan out of the oven and place on the stove over high heat. ***USE AN OVEN MITT!! THE HANDLE IS HOT!!!***

Set the steak on a plate and generously sprinkle both sides with the salt and pepper. Drizzle one side of the steak with the oil then flip the steak on the plate and slide it around a bit, so you can get an even coating. Flip the steak again so you can coat the other side.

Put the steak in the pan and sear for 30 seconds. There will be lots of smoke. Don't be afraid, it's not burning. I promise! Then flip the steak using tongs and sear for 30 seconds again. Then put the whole thing (pan and all) in your 500 degree oven for 2 minutes on each side (flipping in between) for medium rare, 3 minutes on each side for medium or 4 minutes on each side for well.

Let the steak rest on a plate lightly covered with foil for 2 minutes before thinly slicing and serving.

It's a Merry little Christmas dinner! :o)

* Defrosted in the microwave, but you can set them out on the counter early if you like. It just takes a little forethought and a few seconds.

** Brad would like for you all to know that we actually used Laseur brand canned peas, because he thinks frozen peas are too crunchy. I like frozen peas better, but this recipe was still good with the canned ones. *sigh*

*** I think you could get by with regular pepper, although the white pepper was very mild and nice!