New York Strip - Half Way Home

There is something about "half way" that speaks to me.  On long road trips, half way is a milestone.  It's all "downhill" from there.  If your favorite team is leading a basketball or football team at halftime, you're feeling good.  If you're doing 100 push-ups, 50 feels pretty good.  And if you're cooking 60 cuts of meat over the course of a calendar year, cooking the 30th one in the 5th month of the year has you feeling great.  And that is where I sit today.

Let me give a shout out to the Half Way Cafe in Dedham, MA.  I don't know for sure how they got their name, but my suspicion is that it's because it sits on the border of Boston and Dedham.  At least, that makes the most sense to me.  But it's a great watering hole, has awesome Boston bar food (steak tips, turkey tips, steamed clams), is great for viewing local sports and provides free popcorn while you wait for your food, after you finish your food and before/after every drink you have.  Good times, to be sure.  I have a trip to Boston planned in July, and I might just have to go get me some tips.  Yum.  And hey, their name reminds me of good things, including where I sit today.  Can't get better than that!

But alas, the 30th cut of the year of cooking the entire display case of Paulina Meat Market is not steak tips.  Rather, it was the New York Strip.  Now, I'm making this up now, but let's say that the New York Strip appeals to the Filet Mignon fan in that it is on the leaner side of the Ribeye, and it appeals to the Ribeye fan in that it is on the more marbled side of the Filet Mignon.  It appeals to all, and that makes it a versatile steak to be sure.  So, with all the steaks I have to cut this year, how do I differentiate?  Simple!  Rubs and marinades.  For these New York Strips, insert a 5 star marinade recipe I found online.

But first, let's start with the meat.  I went to Paulina and had my eyes on a gorgeous and ridiculously thick New York Strip.  It was 3 inches thick, no lie.  So, turning that into two 1.5 inch steaks was an easy endeavor.  Andy (one of Paulina's most interested employees in the Year of Meat) helped me turn this 24 oz monstrosity into 2 perfectly sized 12 oz New York Strip steaks.  Yum.  In a glass baking dish, I mixed olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, crushed garlic, dried basil, Montreal seasoning and Italian seasoning (which I mixed myself here).  I pierced the steak a dozen or so times with a fork on each side, and marinated them for 2 hours (one hour on each side) in the refrigerator.  I took them out for 45 minutes to bring to room temperature.  Meanwhile, I got the Big Green Egg nice and hot, about 650 degrees, and cooked the steaks for a little over 4 minutes per side.  In hindsight, I should have gone about 3.5 minutes per side, as they turned out Medium compared to my preferred Medium Rare.  Anyhow, off the grill they went to a plate under foil (tented, not tight) for 5 minutes.  Served the steaks with crispy potatoes (which my wife concocted on a whim, and were phenomenal) and Michael Symon's watercress, radish and blue cheese dressing which we had made previously with grilled Ribeyes.  Washed it down with Pezzi King Cabernet Sauvignon, and we had a Memorial Day meal for the ages!  Half Way never felt so good!

30 down, 30 to go!

Ground Lamb - Holiday Burger with a Twist

Memorial Day weekend has long been considered the unofficial start of summer, and has sometimes become synonymous with grilling and barbecues.  But its origins are about remembering those who have given their lives in defense of our country and its freedoms.  And I do hope that unlike other holidays which have been hijacked by commercialism and diluted meaning, Memorial Day will sustain its purpose.  For me, this week, I have been faced with a memorial of sorts.

In August of 2002, I hosted my first ever Day of Meat.  With me that year, was an 11-month old puppy I had adopted just two months earlier, a puppy I named Stoli.  She attended every Day of Meat of all time, and let me tell you, she was as much a host as I was.  And she made out like a bandit.  I cannot even begin to guess how much "bonus" food she got during twelve Days of Meat.  And to be honest, I always knew it took place, and I loved it.

Last Saturday, May 17th, I had to say goodbye to my dear Stoli.  I lit the grill this week for the first time without her, and in three months, I will host the first Day of Meat without her.  She was the best dog I could have ever imagined, and she will be dearly missed.  But knowing her love of meat, and her love of being outside with me when I grilled, I know she would want to the show to go on, and so it does.

Many people would say that a Memorial Day without a burger is like the 4th of July without fireworks.  And to be fair, I am probably one of those people.  But just a burger?  C'mon.  So I looked to Paulina for some ground lamb, looked to Michael Symon for some inspiration/recipe assistance, and looked to the Big Green Egg for some grilling.  So, let's talk about Lamb Burgers with Feta, Arugal and Cucumber.  Yum!

I bought enough ground lamb for 2 "normal" sized burgers, about 3/4 of a pound.  I toasted about a teaspoon worth of coriander seeds, and ground them up with a mortar and pestle.  I zested a half of lemon, along with its juice, 2 tablespoons of chopped mint leaves and added all of it to the ground lamb.  Formed it into two patties and generously seasoned both sides with salt and pepper.  I got the Big Green Egg to about 500 degrees, and grilled the burgers for about 4.5 minutes per side.  Near the end of the cooking time, I added crumbled feta to the burgers (add plenty, and add more) and let the burger buns toast on the grill for about 45 seconds.  Served them burgers on the buns with arugula and sliced cucumber.

As a bit of a burger purist, I will be the first to tell you that good ol' ground beef is the way to go for the "best burger".  However, for a change of pace, and for a really delicious flavor profile, this recipe is fantastic.  The cucumber and arugula give it a light flair, and the feta and lamb give it a "kebab dish" kind of taste combination.  A wonderful burger which I will definitely make again!

Oh, as an aside, my total count of 59 cuts has crept up again.  Having somehow overlooked Lamb Shanks, I actually have a total of 60 cuts to make.  So, although I have progressed in terms of the number I've completed, I didn't make any progress on my to-go number.  Bad news is that I made no progress.  Good news is that I get to cook more meat.

For those interested, here is the list, with "strike-through" font through the ones that are completed.

29 down, 31 to go!

BEEF:

New York Strip Steak

Boneless Top Sirloin Steak

Ribeye Steak

Sirloin Steak

T-Bone/Porterhouse Steak

Tenderloin/Filet Steak

Flat Iron Steak

Tomahawk Steak

Bone-In New York Strip Steak

Bone-In Rib Eye Steak

Prime Rib Eye Steak

Prime New York Strip Steak

London Broil

Flank Steak

Round Steak

Ground Chuck

Beef Stew (just meat)

Honeymoon Potroast

Boston Rolled

Roundbone Potroast

Blade Potroast

Sliced Liver

Brisket

Sirloin Tip Roast

Bottom Round

Eye of Round

Rump Roast

Rib Roast

Oxtails

Short Ribs

Shank with Bone

Cubed Steak

Hanger Steak

Skirt Steak

VEAL:

Rolled Roast

Osso Bucco

Boneless

Chops

Ground Veal

Veal Stew (just meat)

LAMB:

Loin Chops

Shoulder (Blade Bone)

Shoulder (Round Bone)

Ground Lamb

Rosettes

Lamb Stew (meat only)

Leg with Bone

Rack of Lamb

Lamb Shanks

PORK:

Tenderloin

Center Cut Chops

Butterflied Chops

Pork Chop Suey (just meat)

Ground Pork

Pork Stew (just meat)

Loin Rolled (Boneless)

Baby Back Ribs

Shoulder

Shanks

Center Cut Pork Roast

Rib Roast - Prime Ribbin' It Old School

Sometimes, it's the old school flavors that treat you best.  Clearly, I've become a bit of a foodie.  Making recipes that span ingredients like shallots, fresh tarragon, fresh mint and using zesters, gravy separators and slicing celery on the bias, I'm realizing that "old school" is not exactly defining my palate or my repertoire.  Well, sometimes a little old school is all you need to remind yourself that there is a reason why certain styles just don't go out of style.

This past Friday was another one of our "let's have some friends we haven't seen in almost a year" dinner parties.  These means that I got the opportunity to go big in terms of the size of the meat in question.  Sure, I could cook individual steaks or chops, but when there is a Rib Roast still on the list to be attempted, and a Big Green Egg waiting for a new focus, it was an easy decision.  So, let's talk old school in terms of preparation.

I got a 3 Rib Prime Prime Roast at Paulina Market.  There was much debate that led to the size and cut.  Do we go Choice cut?  Do we go Prime?  If you read my previous blogs about Rib Eye and Prime Rib Eye, despite the amazing meal I had with the Choice, I didn't waver long and I went with the Prime Rib Roast.  Then, there was the debate of 2 bones vs. 3 bones.  If you start from the large end, 2 bones may be too much meat for 4 people.  If you start from the small end, 2 may not be enough.  So, I threw the curveball.  I reached back and said "give me 3 from the small end".  Now, the guys at Paulina are great to me.  I've learned more in the past 5 months from them about meat than I had in the previous 40+ years.  You have no idea how awesome it felt to say "give me 3 from the small end".  It meant what it said, sure.  But it also meant, I'm starting to know what I'm saying when it comes to this stuff.  Too much fun, I tell you.

OK.  I get home with my 3 bone Prime Rib Roast.  I put a few slices into the fat side, and just coat everything with Worcestershire Sauce.  I then coated it with Montreal Seasoning.  Lastly, I put a layer of Lawry's Seasoned Salt (for Prime Rib) on it.  That's it.  Three wonderfully old school ingredients.  Nothing else.

Meanwhile, outside, the Big Green Egg had been lit, brought up to heat and set up with a plate setter used for cooking things out of direct heat.  I got the Egg up to 350 degrees, put the Prime Rib on, and slowly monitored the cooking temperature to let it rise to 375.  After a couple of hours, and using a thermometer diligently, I got the internal temperature to about 122 and took it off, tented it in foil, and left the thermometer in there to let it rise.  Once the temperature got to 133, I carved.  It is kind of amazing that a roast will rise in temperature by 11 degrees over 15 minutes or so, when it's not even over the heat.  Fun stuff.  I apologize, once I carved, we were ready to eat.  So, no pictures of the wonderfully medium rare inside that tasted insanely delicious with that crispy old school coating on the outside.  But, here is a shot of it pre-carving.  A thing of beauty.

28 down, 31 to go!

Pork Stew Meat - Skewers on the Big Green Egg

One thing that I have not done much in the past is grill meat on sticks of wood.  In many ways, I have gone back to mankind's roots with the all natural wood charcoal, no lighter fluid, open flame cooking.  But putting meat on sticks and grilling it?  Clearly, I have not done that enough.  Think of the pictures in ancient history books of cavemen.  They are cooking animals on large sharpened wood over open flame.  I seek to return to that principle.  Enter skewers and Paulina Pork Stew Meat!

First, the recipe!  I took a can of unsweetened coconut milk, white pepper, Kosher salt, sugar, curry powder, fish sauce and soy sauce and whisked it in a sauce pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes.  I transferred it to a mixing bowl and let cool for about 15 minutes.  I then whisked in some sweetened condensed milk, and added the pork stew meat (diced pork shoulder, trimmed of as much fat as possible).  Covered it and put in the refrigerator for an hour.

During this hour of waiting, I prepped the Big Green Egg with fresh charcoal, and fired it up to get it good and hot.  I also got the sides going.  Prepped 1/2 lb of French green beans and some garlic for one side, and got the rice cooker going for the other.  After the hour was up, I skewered the pork in soaked sticks and set them on the grill for about 6 minutes per side, give or take a few minutes depending upon the temperature of the grill.  Meanwhile, I busted out the wok with vegetable oil, garlic, salt, French green beans and chicken broth.  Awesome side!  And so simple.  Off the grill came the pork skewers.  Served them with the rice, green beans and some lime and cucumber wedges.  The lime on the pork gave them a little citrus flavor.  Seriously an awesome dish.  With this year of meat and 59 cuts to make, I can't guarantee that I'll make this again this year.  But I can guarantee I will make this again!  And I can definitely guarantee I'll be cooking more skewers this year!

27 down, 32 to go!

Skewered Awesomeness

Round Steak - Anchovies Please!

I was never the kid that grew up wanting anchovies on pizza.  Never.  I had issues with the look, feel and salty taste of those little fish.  Don't get me wrong.  I love seafood.  Growing up in Boston, that is sort of a right of passage, i.e. Red Sox, Italian Food in the North End and Broiled Scallops (for some, Baked Scrod).  But anchovies?  No thank you!  To take things a step further, one of my favorite bands of the '70s and '80s, Boston's own J. Geils Band, wrote a song on their Love Stinks album called No Anchovies Please!  It wasn't as much a song as it was a funny story, which culminates in "..next time you place your order, don't forget to say, 'no anchovies please'".  It became a calling card for me when I ordered pizza.  "No anchovies please".  And most Bostonians got the joke, from the song that is.  Anyhow, we fast forward from 1980 to 2012.

As you know, I host Day of Meat annually.  And I've mentioned before that my wife and I have a good "foodie" friend from whom we have learned a great deal about cooking.  Well, with the grill still going, she showed up at Day of Meat 2012 with a large piece of meat wrapped in foil and said, "throw this on the grill".  I obeyed, and helped monitor its progress.  Time passed and we checked its temperature, and slowly but surely it was close to being done.  What was it?  It was a lamb roast, shoulder I believe.  What was the rub on it?  Yep, you guessed it.  Anchovy paste.  I'm sure my foodie friend did more than just the paste, so I'm not doing her recipe justice, but the point is on that night in August of 2012, I ate anchovies for the first time in I don't know how long.  The lamb was amazing.  The rub phenomenal.  It opened my eyes to those little fish again.  Anyhow, we fast forward to May 10, 2014.

My wife and I subscribe to some food magazines, and as you have probably gathered from the likes of authors who created many of the recipes we've tried, we tend to attempt the 5 star specials from the tried and true.  Well, a few months ago, my wife cut out a recipe for "Minute Steaks with Herbed Anchovy Butter".  The cut of meat in question?  Round Steak.  I had no idea what I was supposed to do with Round Steak, so this recipe easily fit the bill.  AND...it would force me to use something with which I have never used in preparing any food.  Anchovies.

Let's talk about Round Steak briefly.  At Paulina, these cuts are about 3.5 lbs each.  And from what everything I have read suggests, there is not a lot of flavor in Round Steak.  So, my education (even before buying it) was well worth the research.  Best cut for Beef Braciole?  Round Steak.  For those not aware of braciole, it's flattened steaks rolled up with a stuffing inside, usually slow braised in a tomato pasta sauce and served with a side of pasta.  I've had it.  I love it.  And I'm excited to make it some day.  You take the Round Steak and cut it into long pieces, and take a meat tenderizer and pound them down to 1/4 inch thick.  Well, for this Minute Steak recipe, I did the same thing, except got the steaks pounded to 1/4 inch thick by about 6 inches in diameter.

But before we get to the meat preparation, let's talk about herbed anchovy butter.  I took 2 small chopped shallots, 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar and 2 tablespoons of fiileted chopped anchovies in oil and sauteed it together over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until the moisture all evaporated.  I let it cool in a small bowl, and added a stick of unsalted butter, 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper of a 1/4 cup of chives, parsley and tarragon (all equal parts).  I took cooking gloves and mashed it all together, rolled it out onto a sheet of parchment paper and rolled it into a stick and put it into the refrigerator.

Back to the steaks, I seasoned both sides of the steaks with Montreal seasoning.  I heated a cast iron skillet with canola oil, and cooked these steaks for only 40 seconds per side.  That's it.  I stacked them on a serving dish, and put a "pad" of herbed anchovy butter in between each one and served them.  The sides of choice?  We made cauliflower au gratin and a mixed green salad.  And it was phenomenal.

So, for those who like me used to quote J. Geils Band, perhaps next you place your order, don't forget to say, 'Anchovies Please!'.

26 down, 33 to go!

Pork Chop Suey - Chow Mein Noodle This!

I went to a Catholic grade school for eight years, a Catholic high school for four, and a Catholic college for four more.  At Boston College, we had pretty solid food options.  The cafeterias were top notch.  We had ample selection, varying from the healthy to the deep fried and everything in between.  However, in grade school and high school, you had one option per day.  That was it.  At St. Theresa's grade school in Boston, MA, I particularly remember Fridays fondly.  Standard fare was a slice of rectangular frozen pizza (in hindsight, nothing special, but at the time, quite tasty), steamed green beans (rarely eaten, but they were a mandatory side) and chocolate cake with white frosting (delicious and I can still remember the moist texture, yum!).  At Catholic Memorial (CM) High School in Boston, MA, I became a "brown bag" guy pretty regularly.  I wasn't a big fan of the cafeteria food.  That said though, CM was smart enough to have the local amazing donut shop (at which I worked during my sophomore year) deliver several dozen each morning.  My senior year, after "homeroom", I had "study".  I went straight to the cafeteria, and ate a donut or two.  Good times!

At both locations, I do remember that they served Chop Suey.  And always, without fail, you'd see a large bowl with a small spoon it, filled with La Choy Chow Mein Noodles, these little crispy things that masked the taste of the cafeteria style Chop Suey.  In looking them up just now, I learned that they are essentially sticks of wheat and rice flour flash fried.  Mmmm.  Sounds delicious and good for you, right?  Well, I have to tell you, on those days I didn't "brown bag" and chop suey was on the menu at school, I made the most of that small spoon in the big bowl of chow mein noodles.

But those were NOT needed tonight when I made Pork Chop Suey, using Emeril's recipe that treated me oh so kindly.  First, I started with a pound of Paulina Meat Market's Pork Chop Suey cuts of pork.  I learned while there that this cut is essentially diced Pork Shoulder.  But since it's on display, well you know the rules, I need to cook it.  Now, truth be told, Emeril's Chop Suey recipe calls for Pork Tenderloin, a much leaner cut than pork shoulder.  But I figured I'd be brave enough to use a cut called "Chop Suey" for a recipe called "Chop Suey".  Call me crazy.  That said, I was smart enough to prep the diced meat by removing all fat, and making these little dices of meat lean and ready to go.

So, first, I mixed some oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, Chinese rice wine, red pepper flakes and corn starch together.  I then marinated the diced pork in that for 30 minutes or so.  In a separate bowl, I mixed some additional oyster sauce, Chinese rice wine and corn starch together.  This would be used late in the cooking process.  In a hot wok over high heat, I added vegetable oil (2 tablespoons) and coated the pan.  In went garlic for about 10 seconds, then came the pork for about 2 minutes, then some red pepper and onion for about a minute, then celery and shitake mushrooms for about a minute, then bean sprouts and water chestnuts for a minute, and finally some red chili paste and the separate sauce mentioned earlier for a final minute or two.  Transfer it to a serving bowl, and garnish with some chopped green onion, and you have a colorful, tasty dish.  We served it over white jasmine rice with a bottle of Robert Biale Stagecoach Vineyard Zinfandel.

Now, people ask me what are my favorite dishes so far this year.  Let it be known that this dish is most definitely top 10.  I loved it.  And those crispy crazy wheat/rice flour chow mein noodles?  They were nowhere to be found in this meal.  And that was because the deliciousness of this meal required nothing to cover it up.

25 down, 34 to go!

Lamb Shoulder (Blade) - Dried Fruit Extravanganza

I'm probably aging myself a bit, but does anyone else remember Johnny Carson's routine about holiday fruit cake?  He had a theory, one with which I agreed back then, that there was actually only one holiday fruit cake in the entire world.  He mused that since absolutely nobody likes fruit cake, they just keep re-gifting it.  And there is actually only one in the world.  Good stuff, in my opinion.  Of course, back then, I didn't really think dried fruit had much of a purpose in this world, let alone for baking cake.  But, my palate has changed, and I now enjoy dried plums, apricots, cherries, raisins, cranberries, etc.  Now, I won't go so far as to say let's put them all in a fruit cake.  But, I will say I enjoy them.

Well, cooking with them has become a bit of a trend now in this Year of Meat.  In this Alton Brown recipe for Lamb in Red Wine, I needed to use some chopped dried apricots and dried plums.  And from my recent experiences with dried figs with potroast and dried apricots with pork chops, I had all the confidence in the world that dried apricots and dried plums with lamb shoulder was going to be a winning combination.  And as Charlie Sheen would say, "WINNING" was what I did!

I took 4 lamb shoulder (blade bone) chops and coated them in vegetable oil.  And then seared them for one minute per side.  After cooling them off, I put them in a zip lock bag with 16 oz of Bordeaux Red Wine and 4 rosemary sprigs.  Let them sit in the marinade in the refrigerator for 3 hours.  Preheated the oven to 250.  Put the lamb chops, wine and rosemary in a 10 inch saute pan and covered it, and put it in the over for 3.5 hours.  Yep, just sit back, relax and let it braise.  After 3.5 hours, I removed the pan from the oven, and moved the meat to a serving dish (bones falling off in the process, good times).  I used our newly purchased gravy separator (very cool contraption) to separate the fat from the good stuff.  And put 2 cups of the good stuff back into the saute pan.  Over medium heat, I added dried apricots and plums, and whisked for 10 minutes.  Then, I slowly added unsalted butter, one small piece at a time and let each piece melt as I stirred.  The smell just kept getting better with each additional piece.  Yum.  After all butter was mixed in, I added a teaspoon of chopped rosemary, a tablespoon of wine and stirred it all together.  Added Kosher salt and black pepper for taste, and we were ready to serve.  I poured the sauce all over the meat, and served with mashed potatoes and asparagus and a glass of the aforementioned Bordeaux.

There is clearly a trend developing.  Good food and good wine are a winning combination.

24 down, 35 to go!