Valentine's Day -Steakhouse at home

The Hub and I are both huge carnivores - if we could get away with it, we would probably eat red meat 3 times a day, 7 days a week and be happy as clams. (Clams that love red meat, that is.)
But that isn't good - for arteries, waistlines, OR the family budget. So a nice steak is always a way to make an occasion truly special at our house.
Our "Steak house at home" menu included grilled steaks with seasoned butter, steamed asparagus, and individual baked potato casseroles. To complete the experience, a nice dirty martini.

For this meal I actually went with a moderately priced cut of meat - the chuck eye steak (or chuck fillet as I have seen it labeled alot lately.) It is an underrated steak, in my opinion. You need to give a little extra time to selection when choosing one at the store - Look for a cut that has smaller, rather than larger, fatty deposits running through it -after all, you want to pay for meat, not just fat. But cuts from the chuck primal cut of beef can be very flavorful if prepared with a bit of thought.
I took ours home and marinaded in a mix of Worcestershire sauce and Balsamic vinegar in the fridge for about 4 hours, and then an hour before cooking, I pulled the steaks out of the fridge to let them come up to room temp so the inside wouldn't be raw while the outside was already overcooked. I cooked the steaks (which were about 3/4 inch thick) 10 minutes on a preheated George Foreman grill (so handy because both sides cook at once) to a medium-rare finish.
The baked potato casserole was made with some thawed mashed potatoes from the freezer (about a cup and a half), which got combined with 2 tablespoons of sour cream, 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 3/4 teaspoon salt, a bit of black pepper, and 1/4 cup of 2% cheddar cheese (shredded). I divided this between two ramekin's, topped with a bit more cheese and 1 slice each of extra lean turkey bacon (crumbled).
Into a 350 degree oven about 15 minutes to heat through.

Before serving the steak each one got a pat of buttery-spread that I had mixed with a minced garlic clove and some salt and pepper. Mmmmmm.
The asparagus steamed for a minute and a half in the microwave.

The dirty martini is an art in our house, 2 oz Svedka (or vodka of your choice) in a shaker with 3/4 oz vermouth, 1/2-3/4 oz olive juice or dirty martini mix, and ice - shake until the shaker is as cold as you can stand holding it, then pour into chilled glasses. Add toothpick with 3 olives (has to be 3 in our house) and enjoy.

It was a really great meal.