Steak and Sweet Potato Fries

We really wanted to do steaks on the grill for tonight but it was just to windy outside oh and not to mention cold.  So I had to fix the steaks in the house.  I have always cooked the steaks on the grill, never inside.

Sweet Potato Fries
1 huge Japanese Sweet Potato (Japanese Sweet potatoes have a purple colored skin and are white inside - I happened to have this type of sweet potato in our pantry)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Peel the sweet potatoes and then cut in half.  Turn cut side down and cut in half again.  Turn so that cut side is down and cut into slices.  Take each slice and cut into pieces that will make a nice fry.  Put the sweet potatoes into a Ziploc bag, add olive oil, shake so that all oil has been distributed.  Pour the sweet potatoes onto a foiled lined baking sheet.  Sprinkle sweet potatoes with salt and pepper.  Place in a 450 degree Fahrenheit oven and bake for 35 minutes.  Turn the sweet potatoes over once during cooking time. This will help them brown more evenly.

Steak
2 grass fed beef tenderloin steaks (We get ours from Mountain Run Farm)
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil
Bring the steaks to room temperature (you don't want them refrigerator cold but not too hot either).  Brush or rub olive oil onto both sides of the steaks.  Sprinkle each side with salt and pepper.  I used a cast iron skillet to cook the steaks.  Place the skillet on the stove and heat it over high to medium heat.  If you have a flat top stove be careful as heating the pan up to fast and for a long time can crack the top of the stove.  Place the steaks onto the pan, you want them to sizzle.  Let the steaks stay on the skillet until they start to brown, turn over and place pan into a 450 degree Fahrenheit oven.  I cooked these steaks for about 9 minutes.  Which cooked them to a medium rare.  Let the steaks sit before cutting into them.  By letting them sit it helps to keep the juices inside the steak and helps it to not dry out and be tough.  I found that cooking the steaks on the stove and then in the oven was really easy.  So if you don't have a grill this is a great way to do it.  The only thing I missed about not cooking them on the grill was the smokey flavor.

The meal was served with a side salad, some barbecue beans and a couple slices of crusty bread.