Carnage du Jour - 24 July 2014

This time I don't have to share credit with my normal flavour consultant.

Christian was over for dinner, and there were steaks in the fridge, so it only made sense to fire up the Weber and cook them.

As sides we had a mess of kale (fresh from the garden!) with bacon, shallots, and a few peppers, and then a nice pot of yellow rice with some caramelized onions.Both sides were excellent.
 
As to the steaks, they were nice thick strip steaks, so while the coals settled in, it gave them a nice dose of salt and pepper, seasoning the second side as the steaks hit the grill seasoned side down.
I'm not sure whence the inspiration, but I was thinking about oranges and lemons as they cooked. Well, there were a couple nice lemons in the basked, so I got my microplane and as the steaks finished up on the second side, that nicely seared first side received a dose of lemon zest. It smelled great, and the zest seemed to melt into the juices collecting on the steaks, so they didn't really look very different from any other steak.

However -
Both Heidi and Christian are likely to add some steak sauce when enjoying a steak, but both tasted first and then totally refrained - the steak needed no enhancement.

I still think I'd like to try this with orange zest, but the lemon was so delicious that I can heartily recommend this to any and all.

Enjoy!

Carnage du Jour - 08 April 2014

It was a decidedly Alaskan dinner on the 8th.
No, there was no salmon involved, nor halibut, nor caribou, nor even muskox.
No, it was none of those, but rather an attempt - and quite a successful one - to replicate the steak bites at Brewster's in Fairbanks.

Heidi managed a very tasty marinade and then a sauce by mixing Hoisin, Worcestershire, Soy, and Szechuan stir-fry sauces, then adding a bit of sesame oil to add just that special note that it always brings.
Given that the original was fairly secret, apart from its base being Alaskan Amber (what a delicious beer, and what a shame it's not available in Michigan yet), the flavour profile (and aroma) was spot on to this reporter's recollection.

Next up, we'll have to beer batter some fresh halibut!

Cheers.

Carnage du Jour - 11 July 2012

I never would have thought to do this, so credit goes to Heidi for this very successful experiment.

Ever use those smoker bags?
You know, heavy foil bags with wood chips in the interstices that can go in the oven or on your grill to smoke foods.
If you haven't, you should. They work a treat, and the food at least can be spectacular.

Sure, we've done salmon in there (delicious); chicken and pork chops too.
But steak?
Really?
Really.

We had a pretty massive bone-in ribeye in the fridge, and we had some hickory smoker bags waiting to be used, so ... why not?
Well, I had never heard of a smoked steak before, so I was a bit hesitant at first, but what the heck, right?

Just a bit of salt on each side of the steak (after patting it a bit drier than usual), and in it went.
These things start at 500F for the first 10 to 15 minutes with the oven door cracked as in broiling.
That does two things:

• It keeps the bottom element going (with the bag on the lowest rack position) so the chips really start smoking.
• It lets all that great smoke aroma waft out into the kitchen and enhances whatever level of hunger is extant.

Once that first bit has been done, it's down to 375F with the door shut for the balance of the cooking.
The steak took about 20 minutes total, and we had some roasted asparagus and a nice pesto pasta salad to go with.

Oh, I forgot to mention: it was spectacular! The meat was as tender as we've ever had, the flavour was wonderful, and the texture (beyond the tenderness) was a revelation. Frankly, I had no idea that cooked meat could taste or feel like that, and now that I do, I'll certainly be cooking steaks this way again.

Try it, you'll like it.
Enjoy!

Carnage du Jour - 23 June 2011

from grandteuton.blogspot.com

It's a nice problem to have: what to do with extra filets? (Yes, as in Mignon.)  Well, with a bit of a nod to Eggs Benedict, we had a very tasty little treat.

Once a batch of Bearnaise sauce was complete, the steaks - which had been cooked on the grill a few days before - were reheated while an English muffin (don't you just love all those nooks and crannies?) toasted.

Straight from the toaster, the muffin halves were slathered with a bit of chipotle cheese, then topped with the steaks.

Into the pan vacated by the steaks went the eggs to be cooked to a perfect over easy, dusted with a bit of marjoram, oregano, and thyme.

The eggs topped the steaks and then were covered with the beautiful Bearnaise.

Slicing into this lovely stack of flavours, we were treated to a perfectly thickened yolk oozing over the rest of the savoury goodness.

Yum, is as good an expression as most, and actually quite apropos.

Marinade du Jour - 11 May 11

from grandteuton.blogspot.com

What to do with steaks that were packed at the last possible selling date, then brought home and not used for a few days?
What indeed?
Well, that is precisely the situation in which we found ourselves as we made plans for dinner with a couple friends who were joining us.

My preference with steaks is to keep them quite plain when cooking them. I really do like the flavour of a good steak on its own without much other than salt and pepper to set it off. Still, this seemed the perfect setting for a good marinade.
And so it was.

When my brother-in-law moved to Florida (many years ago), we received a couple nice Tupperware marinating units (I have no idea what they're really called). They've been quite handy many times over the years, and the one that remains was pressed into service once again.
Opening a bottle of wine (Barefoot Merlot, I believe), I poured some for the steaks, and some for the cook. Into the steaks' wine went about half as much Zesty Italian dressing and a bit of my (formerly) secret ingredient: vanilla extract.
Vanilla has a wonderful affinity for beef - I've used it in coffee for a pot roast as well - and you get that great "what's that other flavour in there?" reaction from discerning tasters.
Be sure, though, to use good vanilla extract - never imitation - as it really does make a huge difference in the final product.

And by the way, the meat was quite delicious.

Carnage du Jour - 16 March 2011 (plus Sauce-age!) [Updated]

from grandteuton.blogspot.com

Steaks are fairly simple things, aren't they?  Typically they are - and rightly so - and so they were again this time. What wasn't terribly simple was the accompaniment to the nicely broiled strip steaks.  Oh, and since there was a nice pile of shrimp from an earlier shrimp cocktail platter, they had to get heated at the last moment and piled on top of the steaks. [The shrimp are the update.  How could I have forgotten those beautiful shrimp sitting on top of my steak?]

Swiss chard is always great, and this was particularly fresh and tasty from the steamer (stalks in first to soften a bit, then the rest of the greens - don't toss the stalks, they're at least almost the best part!).
Still, what starch to go with?  Potatoes?  Pasta?  Rice?  How about grilled cantaloupe instead?
Brilliant, no?
Brilliant, yes!

A good-sized cantaloupe (probably really a muskmelon, as we don't get real cantaloupes much in the States) was seeded and cubed, then dusted with a bit of white pepper.  Into the very hot grill pan (how do people cook without one of these?) with some canola oil they went to develop some nice grill marks and begin to soften even beyond their nice ripe softness.  They were awfully tasty as is, but what's better than grilled fruit with something to drizzle on it?  (Answer: not much.)  So a quick sauce (which will definitely be repeated!) was created.
About a tablespoon of nice aged balsamic vinegar went into a quarter cup or so of honey, along with about a half tablespoon of dijon mustard and a sprinkling of beau monde (another go-to seasoning at Cleveland, by the way).  When they were fully mixed, it was little short of spectacular, really.  It worked perfectly on the melon, but as it got on the chard and steak, we discovered that it was simply delicious on each of those elements as well.

Definitely worth repeating, and soon.