Step up steak, potatoes with a punchy horseradish

So often when I’m making dinner, I’m also learning. I’m testing out a new cooking technique, trying a new-to-me flavor combination, or learning to use spices or condiments in a fresh way.

My husband loves that I work in food. He’s the first to say that he has benefited from my job since my days in cooking school when I’d come home with pints of onion soup, a loaf of challah or scoops of cassoulet. (We often recall the year I decided to perfect pralines and that resulted in almost every surface in our apartment being covered with the trays laden with various iterations.)

But sometimes he just wants something familiar and simple, so this little dish will be my Valentine’s Day treat for him this year. The beauty of making it for the midweek romantic holiday is that it barely requires a recipe and takes about 30 minutes to throw together. Still, somehow, it feels festive.

I tested this recipe from America’s Test Kitchen before writing this, but it took only one run-through because it is simply seared steak and roasted potatoes with the bonus of a spicy horseradish sauce.

First, to make sure the timing works, buy small potatoes no more than about 2 inches in diameter. Slice those little spuds in half, rub them with oil and place them, cut side down, on a sheet pan. Then slip that pan into a very hot oven until the potatoes are tender with golden and crisp bottoms.

While the potatoes cook, whip up that horseradish sauce by mixing the condiment with sour cream, salt and pepper. Use refrigerated prepared horseradish, if you can find it, because it contains fewer preservatives and additives, the folks at ATK say.

Finally, sear the steak tips on all sides in a bit of oil brought almost to smoking in a hot, hot skillet.

If you like, you can add a sprinkling of chives or chopped parsley to the plate. Serve the steak and potatoes with a lightly dressed green salad and a bottle of red wine for a dinner worthy of a steakhouse -- at a fraction of what it would cost. Then dig in, together.