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what'sfor dinner, your own recipes

Jusatele

Jusatele

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I loved the old thread. but let us step it up a notch

tonight we are doing Pizza

herb 2 cheese pizza

I start by about 2 hours before it is time to start cooking, making pizza dough
let it rise twice and separate it into two balls

when it is time oven goes on at 450, and 2 pizza stones go in

now we do use a store bought marinara, Fransico,s roasted garlic, however I do know how to make one from scratch

roll out the dough, put it on the stones, go to the garden and get fresh Basil, oregano, parsley and thyme, spread liberally on to with fresh bell pepper slices and about 2 pieces of pepperoni per cut slice

layer on some colby jack then a good layer of mozzarella, oh that gets such a nice crust

cook for 18 minutes and slice, get a Samuel Adams beer and a shot of good tequila and enjoy.

 
Seafood Gumbo.

Buy gumbo mix w/ rice. Make it. While boiling stir fry Swai fish (or whatever your favorite fish is) along with some shrimp. Toss them in the gumbo and eat it.
 
I'm excited for tonight's dinner.  My vegetarian partner is out of town for the weekend.  She doesn't mind if I cook meat, but since I do most of the cooking, I usually make something that we both can eat just so I don't have to do double the work.  But tonight its all me!

I can't really claim that this is my own recipe, because anyone who knows anything about cooking steak should know this preparation.  I popped for a grass fed bone-in rib eye from Whole Foods today.  This thing was like half of my normal weekly food budget, but tonight is a special occasion.

Heres the plan; let meat rest at room temperature for an hour or so before cooking, preheat the oven to maximum temperature, at least 450 or 500 degrees, get an old fashioned simple cast iron skillet extremely hot on the stove top, at the last minute before cooking season the steak with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper (white pepper in this case), sear the steak for about 4 minutes on each side (long enough to develop a nice crust), then pop the skillet into the oven to cook through to desired degree of doneness--rare in this case.  The amount of time in the oven depends on how hot the oven is, the thickness of the steak, and how well done you like the meat. 

This is my favorite way to cook a good steak.  As a bonus, while you let the meat rest after it comes out of the oven, you can add some diced shallots to the pan, cook on the stove top for a few minutes, deglaze the pan with some alcohol like brandy, bourbon, red wine or whatever you have on hand, let the alcohol reduce till its almost gone, add some butter, and viola, a perfect pan sauce to serve with the steak.  If you really want to impress someone you can even ignite the alcohol vapors (unless you're using wine) while the liquid reduces, but this step is not necessary and not recommended unless you know what you're doing.

I don't eat much meat these days, but when I do, I like it to be high quality.  Its worth the extra money to get grass fed beef not only for the taste, but also for the environmental considerations.
 
Nightclub Dwight said:
I don't eat much meat these days, but when I do, I like it to be high quality.  Its worth the extra money to get grass fed beef not only for the taste, but also for the environmental considerations.
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You're paying extra for grass-fed beef? I've never heard of such a thing. That's the stuff that's imported from Argentina and ground up to make fast food burgers. High-quality beef is raised in the US and is corn-fed. Really high-quality beef is the same thing, but young, prime grade and aged.
 
Cagey said:
Nightclub Dwight said:
I don't eat much meat these days, but when I do, I like it to be high quality.  Its worth the extra money to get grass fed beef not only for the taste, but also for the environmental considerations.
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You're paying extra for grass-fed beef? I've never heard of such a thing. That's the stuff that's imported from Argentina and ground up to make fast food burgers. High-quality beef is raised in the US and is corn-fed. Really high-quality beef is the same thing, but young, prime grade and aged.
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Nope, this meat was raised within 100 miles of where I live in Pittsburgh.

Corn fattens cattle fast, but I prefer cattle raised on what they naturally eat; grass.  I have a philosophical problem with corn, Monsanto has tried to insert corn into every part of our diet, which I don't think is healthy nor tasty.  For example take high fructose corn syrup which has pretty much wrecked the flavor of everything that we knew as children that used to contain cane sugar.

Plus, consider the acres and acres of corn that are necessary to feed the commercial cattle lots that supply supermarket beef.  Sure its cheap, but its not good.  Nor is it healthy for the environment.  I prefer to buy meat from a farmer who is limited to what he can produce by the amount of pasture land he has for his cattle to graze on.

If you ever go to a farmer's market you may find a local beef purveyor.  Most likely it will be grass fed beef.  Corn fed beef is generally farmed on a larger scale, and the quality does suffer.

Next time you're in my part of the country I invite you to join me for dinner, and if you don't agree that my local grass fed beef is the best you've ever eaten, well, we'll pour more wine and debate it further.  :icon_smile:

Furthermore, the Argentineans have a long history of being beef connoisseurs, and the pampas grasslands are considered ideal cattle ground.  I was always under the impression that the fast food beef was coming from areas burned and cleared in the rain forest.

In any case, I ate the steak, and can confirm it was top notch.  One thing I forgot in my original description is to add a small amount of good quality mustard to the pan when sauteing the shallots.
 
Pan-fried Flounder caught yesterday at my in-law's bay house in Galveston. Done with olive oil instead of Wesson to keep it light. Very tasty. Hopefully the mercury level won't kill me.
 
This rub mix will cover about 4 steaks but you can easily double it or triple it.  Here are the ingredients:

1 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika
1 tsp smoke paprika
1/2 tsp granulated garlic (not garlic salt or garlic powder)
1/2 tsp dark brown sugar
1/2 dried thyme (powdered works better but you can use French style as well)
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Get the nicest Prime grade rib-eye steaks you can find.- Prime not Choice or Select  Certified Angus Beef is good too but remember that only 2% of all beef is considered prime and 8% is  Certified Angus Beef.  Get dry aged if you really want to go all out.  You want the steak to be nicely marbled.  You are looking for about 1/4" of fat around the outer edge.  You can always trim a fattier steak by hand if needed.

Marinate the steaks in a resealable bag in Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce for at least 30 minutes but preferably 90 to 120 minutes.  Place the steaks on a broiling pan for 30 minutes prior to broiling so that meat fibers relax ensuring tenderness.  Also, the steak will cook faster leading to a juicier steak.  Sprinkle the steak with a little coarse kosher salt about 20 minutes before cooking, but use it sparingly - you don't want the salt to draw out the moisture. Using a pepper mill, garnish the steak with fresh ground peppercorns.  Any kind of peppercorn will do but I prefer Indian tellicherry peppercorns.  Lastly, sprinkle our spice rub to taste.  I like to coat the entire steak with this rub one side at a time (i.e rub, broil, flip, rub, broil) but you can do both sides in advance.  One side at a time maximizes the amount of rub that stays on while cooking.

Before broiling, make sure your broiling rack is at the next to second highest position.  You don't want to burn the brown sugar in the rub too quickly and the sizzling fat will cause flareups if it is too close to the heat source.  Broil the steak until the fat just begins to blacken for rare, char the fat for medium rare.  Do not flip your steak with a fork - use tongs to maximize juiciness.  After you flip the steak, apply more rub to the second side and cook as above.  

After removing it from the broiler, remember to let the steak rest for 5 minutes before cutting in to it - the heat from cooking forces juices to migrate to the center of the steak away from the heat.  Resting allows the juice to migrate back to all parts for juiciness throughout.

We like to have steak with salted baked potatoes and fresh picked green beans but anything goes good with a great steak.  Enjoy!



 
CrackedPepper said:
Get the nicest Prime grade rib-eye steaks you can find.- Prime not Choice or Select  Certified Angus Beef is good too but remember that only 2% of all beef is considered prime and 8% is  Certified Angus Beef.  Get dry aged if you really want to go all out.  You want the steak to be nicely marbled.  You are looking for about 1/4" of fat around the outer edge.  You can always trim a fattier steak by hand if needed.
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Costco carries Prime beef these days.  The packs usually have 4 steaks, and run in the $30 range for rib eye or NY strip.  Its a decent price for prime beef, which can be very hard to find in a lot of supermarkets.

I heard that Costco was able to source Prime this past year or so because the down turn in the economy has lessened the demand from the top restaurants who used to pretty much buy out the Prime market before it ever reached ordinary consumers.  Its always been available at good butcher shops, but only recently have I seen it in ordinary places like Costco or a supermarket.
 
Yeah it's a challenge.  I usually "settle" for Angus because that's the best that is generally available in Pittsburgh but my folks live in Buffalo and Wegmans. the big grocery chain there, started carrying Prime Dry-Aged Rib Eye.  It is really something else!
 
CrackedPepper said:
Yeah it's a challenge.  I usually "settle" for Angus because that's the best that is generally available in Pittsburgh but my folks live in Buffalo and Wegmans. the big grocery chain there, started carrying Prime Dry-Aged Rib Eye.  It is really something else!
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When I used to do work in New Jersey I'd save up my meal allowance and at the end of the week load up on the Wegmen's Dry Aged Prime.  I wish we had a Wegmans closer to Pittsburgh.

Giant Eagle Market District now carried Prime beef.  I've seen it in the Shadyside and Fox Chapel stores.  I live in Pittsburgh too, if you don't have a Costco membership I'd be glad to take you if you ever want to buy some of their Prime.  Its cheaper than at Giant Eagle, and I think the butchering is better.

Personally, when I spring for Prime, I want the simple flavor of the beef and just some salt and pepper.  You're recipe above looks delicious, but I'd use it on Black Angus or other Choice meat.  For Prime, I don't want anything in between me and the flavor of the beef.
 
Thanks Dwight - I'd like to try this grass fed beef.  My wife works in Shady Side not far from Whole Foods - what should I tell her to look for?
 
CrackedPepper said:
Thanks Dwight - I'd like to try this grass fed beef.  My wife works in Shady Side not far from Whole Foods - what should I tell her to look for?
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Note, the grass fed was not marked as Prime.  But I believe that the meat that Whole Foods dry ages is Prime,  The people at their meat counter are very knowledgeable and should be able to answer any questions.

The particular steak I ate this weekend was simply marked "grass fed rib eye."  They had a few different rib eyes available, but one batch was clearly marked grass fed.

Also, I go to a farmer's market in the Strip District every Saturday (in the parking lot of the Firehouse Lounge.)  There is a local farmer with grass fed beef there every week.  My minor complaint about buying from the farmer is that the meat isn't out on display, its pre wrapped in a cooler.  I like to be able to pick out my individual steak.  I've learned that even within the Prime grade (or choice too for that matter) if you carefully choose your steak, you can find exceptional pieces that have a visibly discernable extra amount of intramuscular marbling.  On the best pieces it almost looks like a fine spiderweb of marbling equally dispersed through the meat. 

In reality I do eat both corn fed and grass fed beef.  Its a rare treat for me, not part of my weekly diet, so when I do decide to splurge I like to go all out. 

The Prime beef that Giant Eagle Shadyside (or Costco) sells is likely corn fed.  Whole Foods is definitely the most expensive place to buy steak, but they usually give you several choices of each cut, ie: choice, prime, grass fed, dry aged etc.  Its all good, some just appeal to one person more than another.

Another great option if you can find it is Wagyu beef--a relative of the famous Japanese Kobe beef.  I used to be able to get it at Right By Nature in the Strip, but they've unfortunately closed at least temporarily.  I found the Wagyu to be the most tender beef I've ever eaten, but flavorwise on par with a good piece of Prime or grass fed.
 
Kobe, good stuff
What I miss about back home was there were several dairies that raised veal calfs. We would buy one every year and split it up with our familis, veal is always good.

Out here in LA you can travel north a bit and go to Harris Ranch and buy good beef in bulk, but locally it is basically a steak by steak affair
 
We're having Korean style pork belly with a scallions salad and Kim Chee and home grown lettuce to wrap the pork. That and a California Chardonnay.
 
Andouille sausage, Greens (collard, turnip, onion, smoked bacon, spices), red beans and rice, IPA to wash it down. Yum Yum!

For those who aren't familiar with greens, they are very easy to prepare and very nutritious.
 
Troubled

you are making me home sick, I love greens and red beans and rice, just no one makes them out here in L.A.
 
Jusatele said:
you are making me home sick, I love greens and red beans and rice, just no one makes them out here in L.A.
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I hear you. Well you just have to make them yourself. I used to live in the south and there are some good things I miss about the food. I really miss the  Baptist revivals with the huge tents. There would always be a trailer parked somewhere nearby with smoke just pouring out of it! Some really great Bar-B-Que being tossed through the window.

If you need a good recipe for greens, I've got the easiest and I know where you can get the ingredients here on the west coast. I also didn't word it quite right. Proper way to say it is "mess-o-greens"!
 
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Read about the meal here -----> http://www.blueshottub.com/GA2008/pagefifteen.html
 
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