The Way to Cook Steak

I'm a bit behind on my blogging -- I made steak for us last Saturday. I used (mostly) followed this piece of advice. It's short, with pictures, so go read it. Here's what I did (mistakes and all) and what I'll do next time. Even with these slip ups, the husband declare it "the best steak ever" and raved about it all night.

I used NY strip steaks, 1" thick. I seasoned them with a lot of Kosher salt and some pepper on one side. (Not as much as in the link picture, since my butter was salted and I'm not a huge salt fan.) I let them sit about 40 min. In the future I'll take the out of the fridge earlier -- having the steak fully at room temperature will help me cook it medium rare (instead of rare which I ended up with.)

I heated my cast iron skillet on high for about 5 minutes. It was clearly very, very hot. Now my pan sort of needs to be reseasoned -- it looked fairly dry when it got this hot. The original instructions didn't call for any oil in the pan, but I was worried given the condition of my pan, so I drizzled a small amount of olive oil into the pan.

This was a MISTAKE. The oil immediately started smoking and turned to ash. I know olive oil doesn't have that high of smoking point, but this had me concerned. I pulled the pan from the heat, let it cool a bit, then wiped out the ash with a paper towel. Next I poured a bit of canola oil in to pseudo-season it (as it was still very hot). After about 5 min I wiped out the excess oil and put in on the stove to reheat. I used medium high this time.

Once hot, I put the steaks salt side down in the pan and let them sear for 2 min. Then I flipped them and added 1 stick of butter in chunks. I topped the steaks with about 4 peeled cloves of garlic each. I didn't have any fresh time, so I sprinkled the tops with some dried thyme I had on hand.

Then I started basting with butter. Unfortunately, the butter I used was straight from the fridge -- it should have been room temperature, so it would melt faster. I basted for about 3 minutes. Then I removed the steaks to a plate and covered with foil.

While the steak was resting, I added some defrosted green beans to the browned butter & garlic sauce at the bottom of the pan.

After about 8 to 10 min, I served the steak with the green beans, some microwaved squash I had on hand, and sliced pears. The steak had *fantastic* flavor. The only down side was that it was more rare than I would have liked. In the future I will use room temperature meat and butter and use high heat.

This was by far the best steak I've had. I strongly recommend this method if your arteries can stand it. The green beans were also delicious. The garlic that cooked longer with the green beans was very tasty, but the stuff removed with the steak was still raw. This was no doubt because I used cold butter and so the butter didn't get hot enough.

This is how steak should be made. I doubt I'll try any other steak recipes for my NY strips.

New Year's Chili (& other goodies)

For New Year's Eve I held a board gaming party that started at 5pm and went until about 2:30 am. I made a ton of food for it, the main course being chili, since I'm swimming in ground beef.

My chili recipe:

• 3 lb ground beef
• 4 onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic
  
• 3 large cans of diced tomatoes
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 can pinto beans
• 1 to 2 cups beef broth
  
• 1 large guajillo pepper
• cumin (1-2TBs?)
  
• ancho chili powder (1-2TBs?)
  
• chipotle chili powder (2-3TBs?)
  
• cinnamon (1/2 tsp?)
  
• cocoa powder (1 tsp?)
• salt

Brown the meat in batches, and sautee the onions & garlic in batches as well. deglaze the pan with a bit of broth. Add everything together and simmer for a while. I cooked it for a few hours, but that was simply because I made it early in the day and left it on the stove on low while getting ready for the party. The spice amounts are guesses -- adjust for your taste.

I served the chili with cornbread (which turned out too dry for my taste), sour cream, grated cheddar cheese, and chopped green onions. I also had baked potatoes that could be topped with chili.

The chili went over well, though the big hit was picklewiches -- dill pickles smeared with cream cheese, wrapped in corned beef and sliced into rounds. I served veggies (carrots, celery, red peppers, greek olives) and pita with dips. I made hummus and Tsatsiki. While I used the same recipe as always for the Tsatsiki, for some reason it was quite bland this time. My best guess is that it was the cucumber, since I used a hot house cucumber as I can't get cucumbers from the Farmer's Market in January.

For sweets, I made Aztec Bark and cookies. The bark was a spiced chocolate with pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds). The nuts were definitely appreciated -- next time I'll add extra. The chocolate wasn't quite as popular as I expected, but I think it just got lost in all the other food.

I made refrigerator cookies a few days in advance and baked them up the day before. This recipe is for a base and then you mix in different flavors. Orange cranberry was the most popular of the three I made. I used the zest of four clementines, 1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries, and vanilla extract. The lemon poppy seed cookies(zest of 2 lemons, 1/4 c poppy seeds, lemon extract) were also good. The coconut chocolate chip (1/2 chocolate bits, almond extract, rolled in coconut flakes) did not turn out as well as I hoped. The almond extract overpowered things I think. I wanted to use coconut extract but I couldn't find any at the grocery store.

Over all the cookies were a bit sandy, which is to be expected for shortbread style cookies. I found the dough to be a bit dry -- it didn't want to stick together when I made the logs. Mixing it a little longer helped with that. The picture of the cookies at smitten kitchen shows lovely cookies. Mine all got brown on the bottoms. At first I thought it was just baking on too low of a rack, but even moving them up a shelf didn't help. (Next time I'll try the very top rack.) I tried pulling them out early, before they browned but the cookies hadn't set yet and had to go back in. I don't know why I have this problem. However, even slightly browned they were tasty.

Along side all these goodies I also had some cheese (soft goat, castello blue, and a double gloucester with chives), since I had a new cheese board and knives to use. The only special drink I served was hot apple cided. I put fresh cider in the crockpot along with some thin apple slices, orange zest, cinnamon sticks, a smashed nutmeg and a few dashes of cloves and allspice. Turned it on a high for a hour or so before the party and let it go all night, refilling as necessary. It was quite popular.

Hope you have a fun and food fill new year!

Beef Stroganoff

Stew meat #2 up. One of my favorite dishes is Beef Stroganoff. I used eat it a fair amount growing up and loved it. I keep tweaking how I make it trying to get the flavors of my childhood without the can of cream of mushroom soup. I based this version off a recipe from Cooking for Engineers.

I cut the meat into smaller pieces and salted it. Then, in batches, I browned it in butter. After removing the meat, I sauteed a chopped onion for a few minutes before added a package of sliced baby bella mushrooms and a bit more butter. Cooked down the mushrooms for about 10 minutes. Then I deglazed the pan with some beef broth. Added back in the meat and about 2 or 3 cups of broth as well as a few handfuls of dried chinese mushrooms and a tablespoon or so of Worcestershire sauce. I let it all simmer for 1 to 2 hours for the sauce to reduce. Then I added in some sour cream (1/2 carton) and a few spoonfuls of greek yogurt (since I didn't have any more sour cream). I seasoned it with black pepper and some mushroom flavored dark soy sauce. After tasting I wanted it a bit tarter, so I added a teaspoon or so of dijon mustard.

Served the stroganoff over couscous with a side of microwaved sugar snap peas, steamed carrots with dill, and a sliced pear. I greatly enjoyed the stroganoff and will probably stick with this version.

Sichuan Dry-fried Beef with Green Beans

Next up: Top Round

I wanted to use the piece of top round in a stir-fry. Tigers & Strawberries recently posted a recipe for Sichuan Dry-fried Beef that looked really tasty, so I gave it a try.

My dry-frying skills need work, since I didn't manage the lovely textures she describes.
It was a bit spicier than I expected, but tasty. Served it on top of some brown basmati rice with some sliced Bartlet pears on the side. Wasn't quite worth the work, but I'm glad I tried it.

Liver Attempt #1: Liver with Bacon and Onions

Well I defrosted a package of liver to motivate me to use it. My past experiences with liver have been mixed. I have very dim childhood memories of my mother making liver with bacon and onions. My father still raves about it, but I remember only liking the bacon. In gradschool I had a craving for liver and got it at a restaurant. I really enjoyed it. Then I tried it again at another restaurant and didn't care for it.

Tonight was my first attempt at making liver. I had my concerns. Everything I read about cooking liver said to use calf's liver and not beef liver, which is not an option here. The other key point seemed to be not to over cook it, but no temperature readings were ever given.

I made this recipe from Epicurious. I tweaked it by added a bit of paprika, as suggested by Elise, from Simply Recipes. I was out of smoked Spanish paprika, which would have accompanied the bacon nicely, so I just used Hungarian paprika.
My liver was already sliced. Unfortunately the slices were a bit thicker than what the recipe called for, so the timing on the cooking was a trick. When I was done, they were still faintly pink inside, but no longer bloody. I'm wondering if I cooked them too long. Anybody have a suggested thermometer reading for liver?

I paired it with a mashed sweet potatato that I microwaved and some edamame I pulled from the freezer. The result?

Well I thought it was edible, but not stellar. Anything with a half a slab of bacon in it should taste better than this. The hubby almost gagged on his first bite and refused to have anymore.

I'll be looking for new liver recipes in the future. The distant future.

Ground Beef #2: Pasta with Meat Sauce

We got back from a friend's birthday party starving. Unfortunately, the usual quick stand by of grilled ham & cheese with a side of veggies was not an option since we were out of cheese. While I had liver defrosted (as an encouragement to use it), I didn't want to try something new while very hungry.

The cupboard did hold the always easy meal of pasta and tomato sauce. So I threw a pot of water on the stove and decided to try the auto-defrost on the microwave. Seven minutes later the ground beef was ready to cook. I browned it up with two cloves of garlic and then added a jar of basil marinara sauce. While I normally jazz it up with my own seasonings, tonight it was left as is. Cooked some capellini and microwaved some frozen peas. Finished things off with some freshly grated parmasan and the last of our mandarin oranges. Not a spectacular meal, but quick and easy.

Grocery shopping tomorrow, most likely.

Shepherd's Pie -- Ground Beef # 1

We picked up the beef the Monday after Thanksgiving. Given the tons of ground beef we have to eat through, I started with a 1lb package of ground beef. It leaked all over my fridge when defrosting. First lesson learned: defrost in a plastic bag or on a plate.

The beef looked like a coarser grind than I was used to, but it cooked up nicely. I could see little white specks of fat throughout the meat, larger than I generally see when I get it from the supermarket. However, it cooked up with a lot less grease than I see when I get the 80% ground at the store.

Since I had a huge bowlful of mashed potatoes left from Thanksgiving, not to mention some celery left from making the stuff and a few carrots and parsnips remaining from the farmer's market Shepherd's Pie seemed like a good idea. (I know that many people say Shepherd's Pie is made with lamb and Cottage Pie is made with beef. However, its all Shepherd's Pie to me, so deal.)

I'm a very intuitive cook. I love looking though cookbooks and reading recipes, but in the end I just through together whatever I have on hand. Measuring tends to be optional (unless I'm baking) and I can't seem to follow a recipe without tweaking it.

Shepherd's Pie is one of my thow everything together meals. I haven't found a recipe I really like, so I just toss in whatever suits my fancy that evening. Tonight the recipe when something like this:

• 1lb gound beef
  
• 1 onion chipped
  
• 3-4 parsnips, peeled and chopped
• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
  
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• some frozen corn (1/4 c?)
  

I browned the beef and then added the vegetables as I finished chopping them. Then I did some seasoning. Just dumped stuff in, but if I had to guess I'd say:

• Worcestershire Sauce (maybe 2Tbs? I just pour a bunch in)
• a couple cranks of black pepper
• a lot of dried oregano. (1-2TBs? I take of the shaker and pour)
• a dash of dried basil (changed my mind and decided against it)
• a fair amount of chipotle pepper (2-3 tsp?)
• a dash of cinnamon, since my favorite food blog recommends it with beef
  

Mixed it all in and cook until the carrots are almost tender. Dumped in a greased pan. Topped with (in order):

• Some grated cheddar cheese
• Leftover mashed potatoes. Thinned with milk and spread as thin as needed to cover the entire pan. Made designs in them using my fork.
• Dotted with a small amount of butter
• Dusted with Hungarian paprika

I baked it at 350F for about 30 min. It really just needs the top browned and the potatoes warmed. I should have had it on a higher rack or a higher temperature to get good browning. I forgot that I sometime just put it under the broiler. But I ran out of time and it was tasty even if it wasn't nicely browned.