The Tomahawk Chops

It's no secret that I don't have a grill. There's not even a courtyard in my building I could use. So when I get the opportunity to jump over to someone else's joint and use theirs, I definitely hop to it. My now former boss had a housewarming/going away party (it's complicated) this weekend. To see him off I got a pair of tomahawk chops for the grill.

The grill I had to work with. It was fantastic. There you can see the chops front and centre, with some Argentine-marinated skirt steaks to the left, pork sausage behind, and roasting corn on top. 

These are the wonderful chops. They are HUGE. This was a little over four pounds of meat, rubbed down with olive oil, and then sprinkled liberally with salt and pepper. When I want great meat of all kinds I hit up the International Meat Market in Astoria. My friend Sal always jokes that this is actually a bar down the street whenever I say I shopped at the meat market. The butcher who cut and frenched these chops was nothing if not an artist of the highest caliber.

The final product. 

Your soundtrack for this entry: Michael Jackson - Rock with You.

The Chargrilled Steak

Toward the end of August I went out to the West Coast to visit my Mother at my Aunt's place for the former's birthday. My Aunt lives south of Portland, Oregon in some righteous farm country. Blueberries, pumpkins, corn...hops. It's beer central there. Walking into a grocery store beer section there is akin to walking into the world's greatest beer distributor.

We took a drive up to White Salmon, Washington on one of my last days in town for a family reunion of sorts. I met numerous cousins of various degrees and removals. Each and every one was impressive. Hoofing it back to Oregon in the evening, we were somewhat vexed as to what to do for dinner. I wanted steak. More importantly I wanted to take my first opportunity to cook steak on a grill and I wanted to do it in my Aunt's beautiful back yard.

Picked up a pair of fantastic chops at the grocery store.

Mom sautéed fresh jalapenos, onions, and mushrooms.

One of the wickedest beers I've ever had I picked up at the grocery store. The Deschutes Hop in the Dark was a taste bud tap dance inducing ambrosia of sensation. Looks like a porter because it's dark, but hoppy like a double IPA. Please bring this to Astoria! I can't get it here.

Here's the final table set. That's the Hop in the Dark in the foreground, the sautée in the mid-ground, and our steaks in the centre of the table. Overall my first steak grilling experience worked out well. I got one steak to a medium rare and one to a medium. Rare is what I prefer, but I had no experience cooking steak over charcoal, so I wasn't too fussed.

Your soundtrack for this entry: Dot Allison - Colour Me.

The Steak and Hasselback Potatoes

...with a side of lime-jalapeno-spinach salad.

It's time for a new way to do taters and yea I hath found it: hasselback potatoes.

According to a user at AllRecipes (a top search result) this recipe originated in the Hasselbacken Restaurant in Stockholm, Sweden. I have no quibble with that assertion, though pass it on at your own peril. You may just run into a Steven Hasselback, a cyclopean giant of a man who lost his left eye inventing the dish in 1972.

Hasselback Potato Ingredients (for two)
- 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter or Smart Balance Organic Buttery Spread (I used the latter)
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- two tablespoons cilantro (roughly chopped)
- salt
- two medium baker potatoes (peeled and kept in a bowl of cool water to prevent browning)

Some versions of this dish include cheese during the final stage. I do not.

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees and prepare a baking sheet or pie pan with parchment paper on the bottom.

Over low heat, slowly melt the butter. Once it starts giving you a bit of bubble, add the cilantro and cover. Cook another minute or two and remove from heat.

This is the part where you get to create the signature look of this dish. There are a couple of methods of creating this.

1. You can slice a bit off the bottom of the potato to ensure it sits flat, then create slices about 1/8 of an inch apart across the potato, taking care not to cut all the way through.

2. There's also a method where you sit the potato in a large spoon and make the same slices mentioned above. The rim of the spoon keeps your knife going all the way through.

I chose:

3. Take a thin slice off of the bottom as in 1 above. Then place a chop stick to either long side of the potato. Make 1/8 inch slices.

Spread the slices a bit with a paring knife. Then place the potatoes in the baking sheet or pie tin and brush with the cilantro butter mixture.

Make sure some gets in between the slices. Then bake for approximately 45 minutes.

Pull the potatoes out of the oven and pre-heat the broiler. Brush the potatoes with the remaining cilantro-butter mixture, then spread the panko over-top.

Place about 5 inches from broiler for 2 - 3 minutes.
 

Now, should you choose to make the same dishes as I did together, you should season the steak first and let it sit out a room temperature while you take care of the potatoes. While the steaks are actually cooking you should prepare the spinach salad (it's quick).

These were seasoned with salt, pepper, and a bit of coriander (I'm on a kick lately). Pass on the coriander here as it didn't add anything to the dish. I pre-heat my iron skillet and place the meat directly on.

As I've mentioned before that I like my steak rare, it should come as no surprise that I basically sear it for 2 - 3 minutes a side and that's it. And if you read that previous entry, yes, my skillet is finally properly seasoned. The Thrifty Sifter, for whom I created this wonderful meal, prefers hers medium rare, so she got the five minute treatment.

I forgot to take a good shot of the salad which accompanied dinner, but it's very easy.

Baby Spinach and Jalapeno Salad with Lime Vinagrette
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- the juice of 1 lime
- salt
- pepper
- baby spinach greens (use as much or as little as you want)
- 1 jalapeno (seeded, and roughly chopped)

Once you have all the above ingredients, mix them up in a bowl and enjoy.

This meal was Thrifty Sifter approved.

 Not even that spinach leaf was left.

 Served with a bottle of Carchelo red wine. It's a blend and Spanish.

Your soundtrack for this entry: Veruca Salt - 25

The Sun Dried Tomato Steak

Let me preface this entry by saying this recipe is not for everyone, least of all steak purists. Certainly almost every steak I make is seasoned with salt and pepper and that's it. However, over time I hope to share the five or six other ways I prepare steak.

This is one of them.

Start with:

• a nice rib eye angus steak (bone in)
• a can of sun dried tomatoes in olive oil
• hot paprika
• dried sage
• 6 cloves of fresh garlic
• olive oil
• salt
• fresh ground pepper

So far I haven't seen this particular combination in many recipes, but I think sage and paprika are great compliments. The relaxed heat of paprika settles in with the late afternoon smell of sage in a way that makes the back of my tongue light up and my nostrils flare.

For the baked potato, I pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees, put the potato on foil, lightly coat with olive oil, and punch a few holes in it with a fork. Then it's into the oven for an hour. 


While that's cooking up, spread paprika, sage, salt, and pepper on both sides of the steak. I like to let the spices sink in for a half hour to 45 minutes.

Slice the garlic cloves crosswise so you get some thin ovals. I often forget to do this, but you should preheat a cast iron skillet while you're slicing the onions. It takes a while longer for them to heat up to the right heat.

Once you've got it going, coat the bottom in olive oil and heat until it shimmers. Then add the garlic. While that's cooking up, slice up a handful of the sun dried tomatoes, then drop them in with the garlic.


Give this five to ten minutes, then push the garlic and sun dried tomatoes out to the edges of the skillet. It's time to cook up the steak! I like mine rare, so I only kept it on heat for about three minutes one side and three the other.

Pop out the potato, open it, and pour the sun dried tomatoes and garlic over the steak and potato. You're done!

Of course you don't want to have your steak without some nice red wine. With this I had a Simone International Selection Carmenère from the Henriquez Hermanos Winery. Carménère comes from a rather rare grape varietal once thought lost!

Your soundtrack for this entry: Iron Maiden - Can I Play with Madness