Raging Anger On Fat Tuesday

Today was Fat Tuesday and I had a couple of things going on.  First, this was forecast to be the best weather for the next week.  Second, I had a vicious cold this weekend, and today is the first day in the last 48 hours that I actually had an appetite.  Third, The Bride was out to dinner with her friends, so I had full reign of the kitchen.  Lastly, it WAS Fat Tuesday, so I needed something a little decadent. After school I decided to grill up the Filet Mignon With Crimini-Wine Sauce on page 105.

I faced a problem right away.  I had been lazy.  Instead of driving down to Findlay Market and getting a product in which I could have some confidence, I stopped by Fresh Market right by school.  I asked the butcher to pick me out a nice filet.  This is what he picked out for me.

Looks good, right?  I thought so, until I gently picked up the filet to move it and this happened.

This video pretty much sums up how I felt:

Never again, Fresh Market!  I figure this guy was eager to get rid of a bad cut of meat, and took advantage of me not paying attention.   I would never get this type of treatment at Findlay.  This is unprofessional, uncalled for, and uncool.  This will be my last stop to Fresh Market for this blog.  As Master Blaster said in Mad Max II, "Embargo on!"  After much illicit language, I mixed up the rub.

Instead of sprinkling the rub on the steaks, since they were now small enough, I just dropped them into my prep bowl.

I decided to keep the small piece to see if I could make the best of it.

I also needed a side.  I recently came across a recipe for Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Bacon and Potatoes.  This would fit nicely, I thought.

The first step was to mix the olive oil and mustard.

From there I had to slice up the shallot.

I had a small problem.  The recipe called for three slices of bacon.  I grabbed three pieces of bacon, and this where I had the problem.

Yup, a fourth strip of bacon wanted to come, too.

Such is life!  I complied and took the fourth piece.  So I diced up the bacon and potatoes and moved them all to the mixing bowl.

After a quick tossing to coat everything, I dropped it all into a roasting dish.

While it was roasting, I began working on the Crimini-Wine sauce.  By the way, good luck finding a package of crimini mushrooms.  Odds are, you won't.  Never to worry, though!  A crimini is simply a baby portabella.  The first step was to liberate the criminis baby portabellas of their stalks.

Then I added them to the diced leek, carrot, and garlic.

I used a recently-acquired toy that you have seen in the past to grill the caps.

This made sure that no lost soldiers fell victim to The Forge.

Aren't they beautiful?  Halfway through roasting in the oven, I added the brussels sprouts by nestling them into the mixture.

The sauce is simple.  Saute the aromatics, add wine and reduce, add broth and reduce.  Strain, and then add in the chopped grilled caps and parsley.

Keep the sauce warm, and right before serving add some butter magic.

The filets came off the grill, and looked awesome.

The side was also looking good!

Before plating, I cut into the smaller filet.  I had cooked it for a shorter time period on a less-hot part of the grill, but it was still over-cooked.

Still, the flavor was AMAZING!  The rub created a nice bark and the meat, while overcooked, was still moist.

I plated and sat down for my Fat Tuesday meal.

This piece was cooked darned near perfectly for me.  And as for the sauce...

Sweet Baby Jesus this was delicious!  There are few finer ways to top a steak than with a good sauce, and this was a  GOOD sauce.  Long story short, with a few minor modifications, this recipe will be seen by guests.  For those of you interested (and you SHOULD be) in the recipe for the side, here ya go:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
3 to 4 medium yukon gold potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch chunks
1 shallot, thinly sliced
3 slices thick-cut bacon, diced
10 to 12 medium brussels sprouts (about 1/2 pound), trimmed and quartered

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil and mustard. Toss the
potatoes, shallot, and bacon in the bowl until evenly coated with the mustard and oil. Sprinkle lightly with
salt and a few grinds of fresh pepper.
Spread the potato mixture in a baking dish (a 9-inch square pan works) and roast for 20 minutes, stirring
halfway through.
Add the brussels sprouts to the pan and stir so that they are coated in some of the rendered bacon fat.
Continue roasting for about 20 more minutes (stirring once), until the potatoes are cooked through and the
bacon is getting crispy. Salt to taste.

Respect The Chili

Like Jerry Maguire's "You had me at hello," Sean had my heart with his haiku-ending line, "Respect the chili."  I wanted to do a post that included a recipe that I had covered, but hey, it was a lazy Sunday.  Instead, I will keep this short and sweet, and simply end with Sean's winning comment.  Let me know what you bought!

Beans are vegans' meat.
Chili needs to have real meat.
Respect the chili.

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.

A Contest For A Contest

One of my favorite times of the school year is here, The Annual Chili Cookoff!  Eleven years ago I won, but have only placed as high as second or third since.  When I noticed that Weber had a couple of chili recipes, I decided to reserve them for this occassion.  This year, my entry will be the Chili On The Grill on page 120.

In honor of this contest, I am proud to announce another giveaway contest!  The details will be provided below!

First up was to roast the tomatoes for the sauce.  I did see at the store the other day that you can now buy "fire-roasted" tomatoes in a can, but that rather takes the sport out of it.

The skins came off, leaving the roasted goodness to be placed in the blender.  It only took a couple of seconds on a really low speed to get them to where I wanted them.  I learned the other day that you shouldn't over-blend tomatoes, as they become mealy if you do. 

While this was coming to a simmer, I started grilling the aromatics.

From here I had to put together a simple rub of chile powder (my homemade stuff), salt, and pepper. 

I found it interesting that the recipe called for both pork and beef.  I've done this in the past, but only with beef and a ready-made pork sausage.  This was using two rather lean cuts of meat, so I was a little apprehensive.  Regardless, I seasoned the meats to get them ready for The Forge.

 After only eight minutes they were ready, and had to be cut up and added to the sauce.

The second round of seasoning was pulled together and added to the sauce mixture.

Then the last step was to add the beer and broth. 

After a bit of simmering, we have a chili!

But wait! 

That's right...Weber and I have a major point of contention.  I was born and raised with the notion that beans have absolutely no part of any chili.  I cannot comprehend why you would ruin a perfectly good chili with legumes.  However, the point of this exercise is to let Weber teach me a thing or two, an exercise that has been quite fruitful for the last year.  Thus, I forged ahead and did the dirty deed.

Other than a minor salt addition, this tastes like a well-balanced chili.  It's got a decent amount of heat, good texture, and a nice ratio of solids to sauce.  It's not much like a chili I would normally make, but again, the point of this blog is for me to step outside my box.  I can't say that this chili has a smokey flavor, but it definitely has that grilled flavor that permeates throughout the flavor profile.

So, on to the contest! 

This is the same company that gave away a $35 gift card to multiple online stores that they operate back in October.  They want to give away another $35 gift card, and you have plenty of options!  The winner from last time picked out an awesome gift for her kid that she was even able to personalize through the website!

Because they run so many sites, and a wide variety of products, you can get anything from baby stuff (like Bru did), to cookware, to an awesome Eames lounge chair!  Again, I personally like the cookware stuff, but start browsing their sites and see what you may like!  Click on the link above, and then near the top-left of the screen you can click where it says you can shop all 200+ of their stores.  As for some minor details, this is for U.S. and Canadian readers only (let me know if you are reading this from another country, as I'm really curious), and there may be some International Shipping charges for Canadian addresses that the gift card cannot cover.

Personally, I'd use the gift card towards one of these.

So how do you enter?  Well, of course I'm going to make it interesting.  I would like to further delve into the beans/no beans debate for chili.  Leave a comment on this blog (not Facebook), explaining your stance on whether beans have a place in chili or not.  Although it is not necessary, extra consideration will be given to those who can phrase their opinion in the form of a haiku.  A winner will be announced in about a week!  Don't forget to leave your name (and email if I don't know you that well) in the comment so that I know to whom I can award the prize!