Contest Update and Sirloin

Hey!  Weber got me third place!

Speaking thereof, a winner for the giveaway will be announced late this weekend.  So far there are already 3 comments, so if you are interested in winning a $35 shopping spree, you better get on it!  Comment on this post to enter.

In other news, I took advantage of the fact that tonight looks like the only night in the next few days that will have clear skies.  So I took advantage of this by grilling up the Molto Bene Sirloin Steak on page 112, and had the Eggplant Roll-Ups on page 82. 

 I had stopped by Findlay Market on the way home from school, and asked for a 1.5 inch thick top sirloin steak.  The butcher followed through.

I made the decision to cut this bad boy in half, so that it would cook more evenly, especially in the middle.

I pulled together the marinade and set it and the steak in a Ziploc bag.  Meanwhile, I got together what I needed for the Eggplant Roll-Ups.

The first step is the cut the eggplant into quarter-inch planks.  The mandolin is perfect for this.

It was time to try a new olive oil that a friend gave me.  He explained to me that this is really premier stuff, and the olives are pressed within 90 minutes of being harvested.  The Bride and I tried some right out of the bottle. 

WOW!  This stuff is HUGE!  In fact, it's HOT, as in spicy.  It has a gentle burn, but in such a good way.  This olive oil should not be used for cooking, instead being reserved for final drizzling and dressings.  It WILL be noticed.  Glorious stuff!  I used a lesser olive oil, along with salt and pepper, to season the planks.

 

A word on tomatoes.  In Cincinnati, in the bitter month of February, you cannot buy ripe tomatoes.  The stuff in the grocery store is picked when green and then gassed so that they turn pinkish.  I learned a long time ago that it's just better to buy canned tomatoes.  They are picked at their height of ripeness before canning, and I have seen multiple blind test tastes where participants try the same recipe - one made with "fresh" tomatoes and the other made with canned tomatoes - and invariably the canned tomato recipe wins.  So until summer, it's canned tomatoes for me!

I set them to drain for several minutes.

I chopped up the parsley and mixed it in with the goat cheese.

I also got to try out a new toy.  I recently acquired a citrus juicer.  It is a little menacing to look at, but it works great!

First, use the palm of your hand to roll the lemon on the counter to break up the juice chambers inside the lemon.

Insert the juicer and squeeze away.  Here is what it looks like when you are done!

I was able to get 12 - yes, count them, 12 - teaspoons of juice from one regular-sized lemon.  This thing worked amazingly well.  The juice went into the dressing for the Roll-Ups.

The steaks came off the grill, looking perfect.

While the steaks were resting, I quickly grilled the eggplant planks.

 The goat cheese mixture started to tear the delicate planks apart, but after 20 seconds in the microwave it behaved much better.

Then I rolled them up, putting the more narrow side in the middle so that it remained hidden.

After that, it was just a matter of plating and dressing.

The steak was, again, perfect.  It was cooked to the perfect temperature, and I'm glad I had cut that monster steak in half.  I would have liked to have marinated it longer, but such is life.  I didn't want to start cooking after 10:00 p.m.  The Eggplant Roll-Ups were also pleasant.  The heat from the olive oil really played off goat cheese and tomatoes well, giving a nice contrast of textures and flavors.  It was even fun to rub a little of the steak in the dressing for extra flavor.  I'd like to try this again, only with a longer marinade time.