Freezer Marinated Steak

The last time I purchased  a package containing four pieces of top sirloin steak from our mega-supermarket,  I filleted the one inch thick pieces into pieces one half inch thick so I could make sure they were cooked medium well for my wife.  That night I cooked one-half of the pieces and decided to freeze the remainder for another time.

Into a sealable bag I placed the pieces of steak, 1/4-cup of apple vinegar, 1-tablespoon of lemon juice, two tablespoons of grape seed oil, a pinch of salt and pepper, and one sprig of fresh rosemary.  This made a nice marinade that contains the three necessary ingredients: acid, oil, and seasoning.  Before I sealed the bag, I got as much air out as I could, and then I sealed the bag.  Next, I kneaded the marinade into the meat through the bag, making sure the marinade was covering the steak.  I popped the bag of steak into the freezer until the next time the weather would allow grilling.

This week I saw in the paper that we would finally have a few days of sunshine, so I removed the package of steak from the freezer and let it thaw for two days in the refrigerator.  The day I went to cook the steak, I found that it was still just a little frozen, so I let it soak for about fifteen minutes in a pan of cold water while I waited for the briquettes to get hot.

I split the briquettes and moved them off to each side of the bottom of the barbeque so there was an area in the center of the grill that had no briquettes below it.  I watched an Alton Brown Good Eats TV show where he said that when the fat cooking out of the meat and lands on the briquettes, it creates carcinogens that coat the meat (bad for you), but when you use indirect heat, the meat would still cook, but without the carcinogens.

I opened the bag of steak and drained off the marinade, and then I placed the steak pieces on the center of the grill and put the lid on the barbeque.  I grilled the steak for eight minutes on each side until they were just cooked a little beyond medium.  I placed all the pieces in a glass Pyrex pan, covered with foil and let the steaks rest for five minutes before serving.

I accompanied the steak with brown rice, sautéed mushrooms, steamed broccoli, and a green salad.  Unlike my normal direct heat cooking of the steak, this steak was very moist and tender.  The marinade added just a little extra flavor that really complemented the meat.  The marinade and the indirect heat had made a fairly inexpensive pieces of meat into quite a meal.  I just have to remember to do this the next time.

Adventures In Food: Author: Kerry Howell

BBQ Buffalo T-bone Steak

I reached into our freezer to find something for the next few night’s dinners and found two frozen buffalo t-bone steaks.  I thought that steak and potato sounded good for dinner and I pulled the steaks out of the freezer.

After all the problems with ground beef, we always use ground buffalo (Bison) meat in any recipe that calls for ground beef.  Buffalo is very lean meat and it is easy to overcook and it becomes tough.  Low and slow are the key words when cooking buffalo.  We typically eat beef steak, but we had purchased a side of buffalo, and these are some of the remaining pieces.

I put the steaks into the refrigerator to thaw for a day and then gave them a light sprinkling of salt and pepper.  I placed the steaks into a gallon zip-loc bag and added about a tablespoon of grape seed oil, a tablespoon of Italian herb vinegar and about a teaspoon of lemon juice.  I place the bag with the steaks back into the refrigerator to marinate for several hours.

When it was time to prepare the meal, I lit the briquettes in our BBQ and then went to our pantry where I found some white potatoes.  I scrubbed the potatoes and cut out the bad spots, then used my knife and poked about fifteen holes in each potato to let out the steam.  I put the potatoes on a plate and then put them in our microwave for eleven minutes on high.  I always pre-cook any potatoes that I will place in the BBQ to make sure they are fully cooked before I place them on the BBQ.  This prevents uncooked potato centers.  I also washed and trimmed some mini Portobello mushroom to place on the BBQ, and started preparing a salad.

Once the briquettes were ready, I spread them across the bottom of the BBQ and then put the grill in place to heat.  There are two things that keep meat from sticking to the BBQ grill, first thing is to pre-heat the grill, and the second is using a clean grill.  Once the grill was hot, I cleaned it well with my grill brush and then applied a thin coating of grape seed oil.

I placed the bison steaks on the center of the grill and then put the potatoes on the grill followed by the mushrooms around the outside of the grill (to keep them from burning from direct heat).  I cooked the steak for seven minutes a side, when I turned the steak; I also turned over the potatoes to keep the bottom from burning.

I removed all the food from the BBQ grill and took it all inside.  I let the steaks rest for five minute before cutting in to see how they were cooked.  They were still a little rare for our taste, so I put them in the microwave for one minute to finish, and then we dished up.

The meat was cooked to a nice medium-well, it was still a little tough and we used steak knifes while eating.  The buffalo had a nice flavor, which is a little different from beef, and the spices added to the taste without covering up the flavor of the meat.  The potatoes and mushrooms were perfectly cooked and had a nice smoky flavor from being on the BBQ.

In the future I will continue to BBQ beef steak, but it was nice to sample the buffalo steaks.  My conclusion is that while they taste good and are better for you, buffalo steaks are not worth the price and the extra care needed to make sure they correctly cooked.

Adventures In Food: Author: Kerry Howell

Steak and Potatoes, It’s What For Dinner

On Wednesday, I went shopping at Costco and looked to see what I thought would be good for our dinner.  I looked at the seafood and passed, and then I got to the meat area and saw the steak.  I remembered watching a steak cooking challenge on The Food Network and how one of the contestants used a cast iron frying pan to cook her steak in the BBQ.  I thought that was an interesting way of cooking steak.

While at Costco, I looked at the Kirkland set of stainless steel cookware for $169.  I thought it looks like a good possibility to purchase.  It has a 5-ply construction with a copper heat spreader on the bottom.  It’s something for us to consider because $169 is much better than $1599!

When I arrived home, I took a trip into our attic.  Even though our house is only 21 years old, it still has about 1000 square feet of walk-in attic space, so even after multiple trips to Goodwill; we still have quite a few “treasures” stored away in the attic.  In December on one of my trips to get some Christmas lights, I remembered seeing an old cast iron frying pan that my mom had given me 25 years ago or so.

In the attic, I quickly located the #8 cast iron frying pan and took it downstairs to take a look.  I had to wipe out chunks of wood and dirt that had fallen into the pan when we had the wood shake roof removed and a composition roof put on the house.  I thought I remembered that the pan might be cracked on the bottom, but so far it looks fine – no crack.

I used a wet paper towel and wiped out some of the grime and what I thought might be 25-year-old egg on the inside of the pan.  I put about two cups of water in the pan and put in on the range top on high heat to boil for a bit.  This was a good test to see if the water foamed which would be an indication that soap was used to clean the pan in the past (would not be good).  No foaming was present and the boiling water loosened the remaining food in the pan.

I dried the pan and then wiped the pan with a thin coating of canola oil and placed it back on the burner on medium high.  Once the oil started to smoke, then I wiped the inside of the pan with a good coat of Crisco.  I let the pan sit on the heat (with our vent fan on full) for several minutes, then turned off the burner and let the pan cool.  I repeated the process with the Crisco a second time after about an hour.  This provided the inside pan with a very nice protective non-stick coating.

While cleaning the pan, I took the top round steak from Costco and trimmed off the fat and filleted each steak in half to make them thinner.  I placed two of the steaks (now four pieces) into a zip lock bag with some salt and pepper seasoning and a little (1/4 cup) Paul Newman’s Caesar Salad dressing.  Closing the bag, I gave it a good shake and then massaged the contents to work the oil and seasoning into all the pieces, then tossed the bag in the refrigerator to marinate.

My wife and I went to exercise and when we returned home it was kind of late, so quickly decided to pass on lighting briquettes for our Weber BBQ as it takes a good 20 or more minutes to be ready to cook.  I thought why not use our Coleman stove, and cook outside without making a splatter mess on our range top.

Out came the Coleman stove and I placed the newly seasoned frying pan on the burner to heat.  I went inside and washed two potatoes and placed them in the microwave to cook for nine minutes while I cooked the steaks.  I also washed and trimmed some asparagus and placed it in a pan to steam on low heat.

I put the steak in the cast iron frying pan and let it cook (flipping once) until it they were cooked to medium.  I took my potatoes and sliced them crosswise into 3/8-inch slices.  Removing the steaks from the pan, I placed them in a glass Pyrex container to allow the steaks to rest.  Into the frying pan, I put some margarine then placed the sliced potato pieces to cook.  After a few minutes, I flipped the potato pieces and then cooked them until both sides were slightly crispy.

My wife peeled and sliced some raw carrots and we were ready to eat.

The steak was very moist and cooked to perfection.  Next time I might try adding a little butter on top of the steaks while they cook like I saw on TV, but the marinade seemed to do a great job of adding flavor and keeping the steak moist.  The potatoes were cooked all the way through because I had micro waved them before pan cooking.  They had a crisp exterior and tasted a little like French fries.  This time the asparagus was cooked to just the right texture, slightly crunchy.  It turns out that 30-year-old Revere Ware can cook on low heat and perform the same as the expensive waterless cookware!

Cleanup of the pan took two minutes with some hot water and some course steel wool.  A light coating of vegetable oil over the entire pan and it is ready for it’s next use.

I look forward to trying the frying pan in the BBQ and see if by adding the lid on the BBQ changes the cooking properties of the pan (bake and sear).

This also revives the way my mom used to cook when our family went camping.  The next time my wife and I go camping, the cast iron frying pan will go with us!

Adventures In Food: Author: Kerry Howell