The star of any show: demi-glace sauce ribeye steak.

Ingredients:

• If you have it form the last steak you cooked, throw in the leftover beef fat (with all the spices and aroma of the steak in it)

• 50 ml of beef broth (or 100 ml if you don't have leftover beef fat)

• 2 tsp rosemary

• 1 tsp oregano

• A few large leaves of basil

• 2 cherry tomatoes

• 1 green pepper (can be spicy, you decide)

• 1 small onion

• 1 clove of garlic

• 50 ml of wine (ideally, the wine that will be served with the finished meal)

• 1.5-2.0 kg of prime ribeye

• Olive oil

If you want to pre-season the steak (which will make it softer):

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tbsp tomato sauce

• Your favourite spices

Preparing the dish:

To pre-season the steak:

• Mix your spices, tomato sauce and olive oil; and incorporate well into the pieces of steak.

• Leave overnight in the fridge to rest.

To prep the demi-glace sauce:

• Sear the tomatoes, pepper, and onion in olive oil.

• In a separate pot, heat up your beef broth and beef fat. Add the seared veggies.

• Add the oregano, rosemary, and basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

• Boil for about ten minutes at high heat.

• Drain the liquid part of the sauce into a new pot using a strainer, discard the remaining bits.

• Add the wine (and prepare for the strong smell).

• Bring down the pot to the lowest heat possible, and simmer for at least half an hour. If you have time, leave it to simmer for about 6 hours, mixing it every half an hour or so.

To cook the steak (this is by no means the best way, it's just my favourite way):

• If your steak wasn't pre-seasoned, add a bit of olive oil to a pan (or even better, a cast iron skillet). If your steak was pre-seasoned, just heat the pan or skillet up.

• Sear both sides at high heat, flipping every 10 seconds or so.

• After a bit of browning, bring the heat down to medium-high. Keep flipping the steak pieces every 30 seconds. You can add some spices at this point, to one or both sides of the cooking steak.

• Depending on how you like your steak, cook 6-7 minutes for rare, 8-9 minutes for medium, and 10-11 minutes for well done.

• Finally, put the steak on a plate and pour that delicious demi-glace sauce on it. Enjoy!

Note:

The spices and veggies can be adjusted according to your preference. These measures work pretty well the first time, and you can adjust them every time you make it again. Oh, and always serve the steak with the wine you put in it, don't serve a different wine. That’s the one rule you cannot break.

The perfect winter drink: orange cinnamon hot chocolate.

Ingredients:

• 300 mL (10 fl. oz) whole milk

• 3 tbsp cocoa powder

• 1 tbsp granulated sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 tsp Cointreau liquor

• 1 tsp cinnamon powder

• a pinch of salt

Preparing the drink:

Produces one large mug of hot chocolate:

• Heat the milk to right before boiling, and take it away from the heat.

• Incorporate the other ingredients, stirring constantly.

• If you like your hot chocolate a bit more dense, put it back on low heat once everything is dissolved, and stir for a few more minutes. This will help make the drink more chocolate-y.

Note:

The vanilla / cinnamon / Cointreau ratio can be adjusted to taste. If you don’t have Cointreau lying around, very understandable, you can substitute any other orange flavored liquor or schnapps. Also, optionally, you might like to add a pinch of espresso powder to bring out the chocolate taste (personally, I like it as it is, but it’s your call).