Best Steak

The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook.
— Julia Child

How to cook a Juicy Tri-tip Steak

Driving home in the snow in a beat up old car that you bought for $600 wasn't a good idea at sixteen but you make your way to the mountains no matter the consequences of the weather. I would leave at the end of the day and know I had to go slow.    I loved the wetness of the big flakes falling.  My windshield wipers were strong but sometimes the snow collected on them so thick I thought I wouldn't make it home.  And yet I still went because it was the best days ever when I was there.  I know this sounds like the song but it is true. I would come home tired, super hungry, and invigorated that I drove home alone in that weather.  I felt like a superwoman.  Proud of my abilities.

I had a ski trip this year for a first time in a long time.  My body was tired, I felt the ache in my legs that I didn't remember the pain. All I kept thinking of was the memories. Those times when I skied for days at a time.  Where the snow was beautiful as I creeped on home.  Sometimes taking two maybe three hours but the next weekend I would be there again.  I was patient for my love of the white stuff.

 It's often the same story when you go to a restaurant and order a steak.  You wait for it.  Why do you go back?  Because it's good because it's memories  in your mind of that juicy, salty and flavorful chunk of meat.  In fact it's so good I wondered how do they do it?

 I want to do that at home.  I wanted that memory in my own kitchen.

Was it possible?

I always figured I would have to have a special pan or grill or something to make a steak taste like a restaurant.  But, as it turns out that is not the case.  After much practice and youtubing I finally realized like anything steaks can be fantastic made at home but it is all about patience.

 Hmm that is not always the easiest quality for anyone and especially when you want to just have dinner quick on the table.

 It's funny though because part of why we go to a restaurant is to have that time to sit and wait for our meal. It is forced patience. My mind started whirring.  What if I applied this same idea to cooking steak?

 If I went to a restaurant I might start with a glass of wine to linger and maybe some nibbles...and I would wait.

 So here it is:

the secret to cooking a great steak😋:

Prep time and Rest.

 I know you are in shock. 😱

How to cook a Steak

But no worries it is simple.

The hard work includes: removing from the fridge give it a little TLC or in this case,

OSPOOlive oil, Salt and Pepper, and Open up your bottle of wine. 🍷

Now I got ya hooked, huh?!  

Oh and while you drink that wine let me know what were you nibbling on?

screenshots from food blogger pro

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound boneless Tri-tip Steak

  • Kosher salt and Black Pepper

  • 1 Tbsp Olive oil

Instructions

Step 1

Take steak out of refrigerator at least 30 minutes prior to cooking.  If no bone in steak and it is thick, pound out the steak between two pieces of parchment paper using a mallet.  

Step 2

Coat steak with Olive Oil on both sides and then Salt and Pepper steak on both sides as well.  Rest steak (NOT IN REFRIGERATOR) on a plate on the countertop.  

Step 3

Heat Grill to a very hot temperature. If cooking inside heat oven to 450 degrees.  

Step 4

Once your oven is hot heat pan that can go in the oven until almost smoking when a drop of oil is added.  Lay steak in pan ending with the steak away from you.  Do not move steak around in pan.  It is ready to flip when it moves away from pan easily.  Flip and take off stove top and finish in oven. Cook 4-5 minutes or less. You want the steak just underdone as it will continue cooking on the counter.  You can check it with a thermometer and if you like it medium remove it at 155 degrees F internal temperature.  Remove steak from pan and allow to rest 5-10 minutes until reaches a temp of 160 degrees.  If you like your steak medium rare remove it at 140 degrees F and allow to rest same amount of time to reach 145 degrees F.  Using a thermometer is a good indicator when new at cooking steak to tell it's doneness.  As you cook more you will be able to tell by the touch.  So when it comes out touch the steak and then touch again when it is done resting to see what "done" feels like.  Do this each time you make steak until you can tell without the thermometer.

Step 5

If cooking on the grill it is the same technique except you do not need to place it in a pan.  You still need to remove it and let it rest.  The resting is IMPORTANT!

Step 6

Slice steak across the grain if slicing for the plate or for saving for another meal. You can finish with some finishing salt such as Smoked Paprika Salt or Spicy Salt if you want to kick it up a notch.

Tips

  • REST, REST, REST😴😴😴 the STEAK -this allows the cooking to be completed and assures that the steak comes to the perfect temperature. If you have hungry folks slowly plate any other food or ask them to pour the wine etc until time to plate the steak

  • If you buy meat that is meant to be cooked for a long time such as rump or shoulder it will not taste good cooked fast. A good way to remember is if it is a muscle in YOUR BODY that works hard or is big, it is a muscle IN THE ANIMAL that wants to be cooked long. Such as- shoulders, rumps, or shanks. Easy muscles include tri-tips and sirloins are not working too hard and are kind of the lazy muscles just chillin' 😎

  • Purchase extra steak and have leftover steak salads, steak tacos, quesadillas, or steak sandwiches

  • Serve with spinach or other leafy greens for extra iron and plate the steak over them and let the juices run into the greens for extra saucy greens.

  • A good steak made well starts at home...Don't feel like you have to go to a fancy restaurant to have a great steak, the best ones start at home with quality meat.

HAPPY EATING!

Buckwheat waffles

A waffle is like a pancake with a syrup trap.
— Mitch Hedberg

I stepped back in time this morning into my grandfather's 1970's  truck camper.  The malty sweet hue drifted into my nose and the crackle cooking swept into my ears.

 "Do you want a lead balloon?" he used to ask me as a child eagerly sitting in the canvas covered bench awaiting what were his buckwheat pancakes.

 "Yes, please. Grandpa." I would respond.

 He would heave one, and if I was lucky two, "lead balloons" onto my plate from the small electric griddle.

 I never knew how he could make them fit the size of the plate with such exactitude, but I loved that I could attempt to drown the pancakes in Knotts Berry farm syrup.  It was always blackberry. The purple hue contrasted well with the spotted cement colored pancakes.  

Our prayer, short and sweet, was still never short enough for the oodles of syrup to be sucked up by the lead balloons.

 I have moved on from lead balloon pancakes to light and yeasty buckwheat waffles, but I continue the tradition of serving them with Marionberry Syrup.  

Berry syrup fills the waffle caves and makes every bite taste just a little bit better. Or maybe it's the fact that I see myself sitting with my Grandpa sharing a hot lead balloon.

Hands up for the life experiences of our grandparents!

 What's your favorite grandparent story?

screenshots from food blogger pro


Recipe adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 teaspoons or 1 package active dry yeast

  • 1/4 cup warm water

  • 1 teaspoon sugar

  • 2 cups lukewarm milk

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1 1/2 cups flour

  • 1 cup buckwheat flour

  • 2 tablespoons sugar

  • 5 tablespoons canola oil or butter, melted

  • 2 eggs, beaten

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1 cup blueberries

Step 1

In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast into 1/4 cup warm water and stir in the one teaspoon of sugar. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.

Step 2

Put the warm milk and salt in a large bowl, then add the yeast mixture and whisk in the flours. Cover and refrigerate overnight if the weather is warm or leave out on the counter if it's cool.

Step 3

Next morning, add the sugar, oil, eggs, and soda. Cook according to your waffle iron's instructions. The batter will be thin but a Belgian style waffle maker can be used.

Step 4

Enjoy with Marionberry or Blackberry syrup!

 

Mandarin Juice

Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.
— Henry David Thoreau

Mandarin Orange Juice

Let's be healthy and Drink Juice.

 Let's be healthy and get up early.

 I have always wanted to be a morning person.  Thus far it hasn't happened.  I think my Grandpa who is 90 years old this month isn't even a morning person so I kind of wonder if there is hope.😉  

And just to clarify by morning person I am not referring to getting up at 7 am to an alarm clock and rolling out of bed because you have no choice, you have an appointment at 8 that you made because you thought you could force yourself into being a morning person.  

Rather I was making reference to those whom morning is a natural thing.  The alarm⏰ probably doesn't even need to go off they will wake up.

 I on the other hand would miss a flight, sleeping straight through until some sub conscious part of me dreamed of missing a flight.

I'm  talking about those who get up and head to the gym 🏃 for the 6 am class and arrive 15 minutes early.  My body barely moves at those moments.  I keep having dreams of swimming 🏊with the masters at 6 but alas it just doesn't happen....  

My go to however when people ask are you a morning or night person is to say: "neither. I'm 10-2. And you?" I usually get a chuckle taking the pressure off of being that early bird who catches the worm or the night owl who writes novels.

Magnuson Park Bird

Don't get me wrong, I do like it when I rise early.  The house is quiet, no one is stirring.  My cup of coffee calls and in the winter my fireplace🔥 is on (yeah it's electric).

But I also like to have that sweet taste of sunrise.🌄  I love to wake up with the birds outside and watch them rise in the air with me.

Magnuson Park Birds

 I love to go out and walk at the park when the sun is coming up and grab the first light for photos. 📷 These moments happen a little more in the PNW during the winter as the weather permits because the sun⛅️ takes a little longer to come up. I think it likes to sleep in as much as I do. 🌞  So if I wake up early by chance and have had my cup o' joe ☕️and went out on a jaunt I love coming back to some fresh squeezed juice. 🍊 Not just plain ol' orange juice although as a kid I lived on that before coffee (existed in my world).

 Something different, something with a little kick and that says:

"Good job. You are part of the morning crew. You made it."

That is what this juice is for.

 If it is already made upon your return home, even better.  If not it's quick and yummy straight out of the juicer.  No need to refrigerate it prior to drinking cause, after all, you just went out for a walk in the cold early in the morning, didn't you? 😉

Ingredients

  • 7-9 mandarins peeled

  • 1/4 inch peeled ginger

  • 1 lemon peeled

Instructions:

Step 1

Place mandarins then ginger then lemon into juicer.  

Drink up!

Tips:

  • Satsuma mandarins make the best juice and they are in season from early winter to early spring depending upon where you live

  • Good news one mandarin gives you about half of your vitamin C for the day and 2 grams of fiber

  • Clementines aka "cuties" although good are not the same as satsuma mandarins and do not have the same juice ratio as mandarins are more similar to oranges in this regard.

  • Little known facts: Mandarins originated in China, Clementines are a grafted fruit from a guy in Algeria.