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TIP OF THE DAY: Steak Grilling Tips

July 3, 2012 at 5:05 am · Filed under Meat & Poultry, Tip Of The Day

If you’re grilling steaks on July 4th, here’s how to keep the sizzle and avoid the fizzle: grilling tips from Carlos Garcia, Executive Chef at Sullivan’s, Austin’s* premier steakhouse. In the cattle-rich, red-meat-loving state of Texas, you’ve got to get it right!

*There are 20 Sullivan’s locations across the U.S. See the website for the roster of cities.

Here are Chef Garcia’s tips to avoid the most common grilling “misteaks”:

MISTEAK #1: Going Too Lean

Marbling is what delivers the flavor: It is one of the most important factors in steak selection. When selecting your meat, look for small streaks of fat and you’ll have a more flavorful steak. But, the more marbled the cut, the pricier the meat. The solution (approved by your healthcare provider): Eat smaller amounts of better meat.

MISTEAK #2: Taking Meat Directly From Fridge To Grill

Take the steak out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature before you start grilling. This engenders more even cooking and more tender meat.

 
A beautiful rib-eye steak from AllenBrothers.com.
 
MISTEAK #3: Under- Or Over-Seasoning

The steak should be the star. Avoid heavy marinades, butter and rubs; let the flavor of the meat shine by simply seasoning with salt and pepper. Chef Garcia recommends larger-grain salt, such as kosher salt or coarse sea salt, and cracked pepper. He advises, “Be generous but not heavy handed.”

MISTEAK #4: Skipping The Pre-Heat

For the best prep, the grill should always be preheated before the steak goes on. Gas grills require 5-10 minutes; charcoal grills may take a bit longer. When using a charcoal grill, make sure the coals are white hot: They will produce the most heat. Searing first will help keep the seasonings on the steak through the cooking process.

MISTEAK #5: Not Letting The Steak Rest

Pull the steak off the grill and let it rest for 5-10 minutes before serving. While the meat rests, the hot juices are absorbed back into the muscle, making it juicier and more tender.

DO YOU KNOW YOUR CUTS OF BEEF?

Check out our beautiful Beef Glossary.

  

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RECIPE: The Reverse Steak Salad (Or Grilled Chicken Or Fish Salad)

July 3, 2012 at 5:00 am · Filed under Meat & Poultry, Recipes, Vegetables-Salads-Herbs


Add the salad on top of a skirt steak. Photo
© ChickenFriedGourmet.com.		   We recently discovered Louisiana chef Michael O’Boyle, who writes the blog ChickenFriedGourmet.com. The photo gallery on the site is an inspiration to lovers of nouvelle cuisine, and has inspired us to cook up a storm based simply on his concept.

Lucky people in the Shreveport area can take part in Chef O’Boyle’a Gulf Pig Underground Dinner Club, with changing locations and menus. (Next up: a dinner in late July/early August and two in September/October.)

Chef O’Boyle is a consulting chef to the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, which acquainted us with him by sending one of his recipes.

While most home cooks may not want to take on his Tomato Gelée, it’s easy to whip up his reversal of the conventional steak salad, greens topped with sliced steak.

Here, the positions are reversed.

 
Chef O’Boyle topped a skirt steak with pickled green tomatoes and a baby arugula salad, garnished with Parmesan cheese. Create your own variations with this template:

Ingredients

  • Protein. Take your pick: beef, lamb, pork, poultry or tofu.
  • Pickled Vegetable. It’s easy to pickle your favorite veggies: asparagus, bell peppers or hot chiles, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, jicama, mushrooms, onions, summer squash, tomatoes, etc. Here’s a quick and easy recipe; you can pickle in as little as an hour in advance.
  • Salad. Look for “flexible” greens that can be mounded atop the protein, as opposed to stiff lettuces. We like baby arugula and spinach, mâche and mixed baby greens. Toss the salad lightly in vinaigrette right before serving. A good recipe: Whisk together 3 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons vinegar and 1 teaspoon Dijon or whole grain mustard.
  • Garnish. Choose from croutons, freeze-dried vegetables (see Crunchies), dried berries, cheese (crumbled blue cheese, grated Parmesan), slivered nuts, etc.

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    Preparation

    1. Pickle the vegetables (this can be done up to a week in advance).

    2. Cook and plate the protein.

    3. Top the protein with the dressed salad.

    4. Garnish and serve.

      

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    PRODUCT: Yummy Cookies From New Yawk

    July 2, 2012 at 1:18 pm · Filed under Cookies-Cake-Pastry

    New Yawk Baking Co. was founded by the husband and wife team of Stephanie and Christopher DeMark, who named their company after their accents—they’re New Yawkers and proud of it! (They were born and raised in the Long Island suburbs and currently live in Queens.)

    Both food service professionals (Christopher is a pastry chef and graduate of the Culinary Institute of America), they can be commended for their excellent palates as well. The two varieties of cookies we tried were winners.

  • The Peanut Butta n’ Jelly Cookies are a delight: large thumbprint cookies with a grape jelly filling. The peanut-buttery goodness comes from a triple infusion of peanut butter, peanut butter chips and chopped peanuts.
  • Mishmosh Cookies have sweet and savory inclusions: potato chips and pretzels joining chocolate chunks, hazelnuts, marshmallows and peanut butter chips.
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    Cookies packaged with the New Yawk skyline. Photo © New York Baking Co.
     

    With next week’s cookie and calorie budget, we’ll look forward to working on the rest of the line: Big Apple Caramel Cookies (with dried apple slices and butterscotch chips), Black n’ White Cookies, Chawcolate Chunk Cookies and Dulce de Leche Cookies, sandwiches of two cinnamon and clove cookies filled with the milky caramel spread.

    Shop online at NewYawkBakingCo.com or call toll-free: 855-NEW-YAWK.

    Find more of our favorite cookies and recipes.

      

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    TIP OF THE DAY: Star-Shaped Ice

    July 2, 2012 at 7:58 am · Filed under Cocktails & Spirits, July 4th/Independence Day


    Make star-spangled drinks with star-shaped ice. Photo courtesy Promo-Wholesale.com.

    		   It’s the little touches that make guests smile. Like star-shaped ice in their July 4th drinks.

    Make each soft drink or cocktail more special with star-shaped ice, made in a silicon mold.

    No time to find ice cube trays?

    Head to the market for carambola, star fruit, to garnish the rims of glasses.

    Then, find some special cocktail recipes.

    Here are options in addition to the Star Spangled Banner and Patriot cocktail recipes we published last week:

    JULY 4TH DRINK RECIPES

  • American Flag Cocktail: Individual red, white and blue tequila shots. Recipe.
  • Fruit Cocktails: Red, white and blue cocktails made with blueberry purée, peach purée and raspberry purée. Recipe.
  • Sangrita: Tequila, triple sec and ginger ale with white ice cubes and blueberries. Recipe.
    		•
     
    COCKTAIL SPARKLERS

    Serve glasses of red, white or blue Prosecco or other sparkling wine:

    The red sparkler has a base of cranberry juice, the white is plain and the blue uses blueberry juice. Add two inches of juice to a Champagne flute and top with the sparkling wine. Don’t stir: It breaks up the bubbles.

    You can make a non-alcoholic version with with lemon-lime soda.
     
     
    Find more cocktail recipes.
      

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    TIP OF THE DAY: July 4th Menu Ideas

    July 1, 2012 at 5:00 am · Filed under July 4th/Independence Day

    There’s plenty of time to create a star-spangled menu for July 4th. Here are recipes for foods and drinks:

    BREAKFAST

  • Yogurt Parfait: Start the day with plain or vanilla yogurt, or cottage cheese, topped with raspberries and blueberries.

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    LUNCH & DINNER

  • Patriotic Cheeseburger: Cut cheese slices into star shapes and tint the pickles blue. Recipe.
  • Potato Salad: Make red, white and blue potato salad with your favorite recipe. If you can’t find purple Perurvian potatoes (pretty close to blue!), keep the skins on red-jacket potatoes. Sprinkle top with crumbled blue cheese or goat cheese, and decorate the bowl with a perimeter of blueberries or a dice of cooked Peruvian potatoes.

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    SNACKS

  • Bean Dip: Make a white bean dip and garnish the perimeter of the bowl with chopped, seeded tomatoes. Serve with a mix of blue corn, red corn and white corn tortilla chips. Recipe.
    		•   
    Red, white and blue cookie pizza. Photo courtesy California Strawberry Commission. Get the recipe.
     

  • Fruit, Cheese & Crackers: Spread crackers with goat cheese and garnish with a strawberry slice,
    topped by a blueberry. For a sweet version, use graham crackers and cream cheese.
  • Goat Cheese Stuffed Celery: Crunchy, creamy and accented with pomegranate arils and blueberries. Recipe.
  • Tortilla Chips: Use blue and red tortilla chips with your regular nachos recipe, along with white Cheddar or other good white melting cheese. Sprinkle some blue cheese or goat cheese (it‘s very white) atop the red salsa.

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    DESSERTS

  • Angel Food Cake: White cake with red and blue berries. If you’re grilling, grill the cake first. Recipe.
  • Parfait: Layer vanilla ice cream with strawberry or raspberry purée; top with whipped cream and blueberries.
  • Patriotic Cookie Pizza: Sugar cookie dough (from the supermarket), whipped cream, vanilla yogurt, strawberries and blueberries. Recipe. Similarly, you can top a white-iced cake or vanilla pudding pie or tartlets with red and blue berries.
  • Patriotic Cupcakes: Red velvet cake, white frosting and blueberries. Recipe.
  • Patriotic Toll House Cookies: America’s favorite cookie is cut into star shapes with a red, white and blue icing and garnish. Recipe.

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    If you have a favorite July 4th recipe, please share!
      

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