Cajun Styled Steak

I call this a Cajun Steak. I know there are a lot of people out there, most likely every chef known to humankind, that will disagree with my name for this steak. I call it that because I used a Cajun spice with this recipe. I ended up using a bit too much that caused it to be almost overpowering...although adding Mesquite seasoning to it might have emphasized the spicy flavor.

Ingredients:
1 lb NY Strip Steak
1 cup Vegetable Oil
0.75 cup White Vinegar
Garlic Salt
Celery Salt
Perfect Pinch - Cajun
Mesquite Seasoning
Italian Seasoning

First off begin by gathering all your spices.

Now I chose two of them to be more present than the rest. I'd say for I used twice as much of these two as the other spices used.

Place the spices in a Ziploc bag and pour in your Vegetable Oil and White Vinegar. You can use any kind of Vinegar instead of White Vinegar, but that is what I generally use for marinades. Seal bag and mix thoroughly so the spices don't clump up too much.

Now get your steak. It looks so pretty.

Put steak in bag and seal it closed. I pushed the air out and rolled the bag up around the steak so the marinade covered every part of it.

Now you can use a grill or a skillet. I chose a cast iron skillet since I do not own a grill. Living in an apartment does not provide a lot of use for a grill these days. Make sure your skillet is ready to go and turn the heat to MEDIUM. Once it begins to get warm to the touch...well hot to the touch, put the steak on.

I choose to flip it every few minutes for an even cook through. You can flip it every 5 minutes if you want, it's up to you.

I served it with it with some delicious Quinoa I made in my Rice Cooker, topped with Scallions. Enjoy.

Steak w/ Green Beans

At work today, I was discussing steak and how amazing it is with several coworkers. This got me thinking that I should cook some steak tonight for dinner. Well, as luck would have it after work I was going to the grocery store anyway! This is the result and my tasty dinner!

Ingredients:
1.2 lb Flank Steak
0.5 lb uncut Green Beans
0.5 stick Butter
1/4 cup Olive Oil
Italian Herb Mix
Ground Black Pepper
Garlic Salt
Fennel Powder
Lawry's Seasoning
Sesame Seeds

For the Green Beans:

I began by getting the beans out.

I then cut off the stems of the beans where they connected to the actual plant. And put them in a bowl with a heavy dash of Italian Herb Mix.

I then had a pot of water boiling which I added them to. Italian Herb Mix and all.

I let them cook for about 5 minutes. Then I turned the heat off and let them sit while I turned my attention to the steak.

For the Flank Steak:

Take your meat out.

I cut the steak in half for ease of use while cooking it in a saucepan. I then seasoned it starting with a thorough coating of Lawry's. On top of that were light dustings of Fennel Powder and Ground Black Pepper. I added quite a covering of Garlic Salt on top of this because I love garlic.

Start your Butter melting in a large saucepan. Heat on medium.

Once it's mostly melted, add in your steaks seasoned side down. Then cover the top unseasoned side with a similar spice mix as you just did previously.

Add in some Olive Oil and flip the steaks. This should be done about 1 minute later.

Let cook, covered, for about 3 minutes. Open up, flip.

Now after a few more minutes they should be thoroughly cooked. Turn off heat and plate. I dusted with Sesame Seeds and added the Green Beens on the side. Enjoy.

Spicy Thin Strip Steak

Today I stopped by the grocery store and picked up some meat on 'clearance'. Normally I do not do this since the meat looks like it has gone bad, however I watched the employee but the clearance tag on the package of steaks and they looked tasty. So, steak had to be cooked.








Ingredients:
3 Thin Strip Steaks
1.5 cup Vegetable Oil
.75 cup White Vinegar
Fennel Powder
Hot Paprika
Fenugreek Powder
Curry Powder
Garlic Salt
Ground Black Pepper

I began this recipe by gathering my ingredients. Huge shock, I know!

I then mixed the marinade together. I started by grabbing my metal mixing bowl and putting in a good 1/4 cup or so of Garlic Salt. I love that stuff. I'd say about 2 spoonfuls of Ground Black Pepper and about 1 spoonful each of the other spices. Top that off with the White Vinegar and Vegetable Oil. Mix.

Now you can put the steaks straight in there, or trim them like I prefer to do. Put them in the marinade.

Now put a large saucepan on the stove and turn the heat to medium. Once it begins to heat up, or like 20 seconds later, put the steaks and marinade into the pan.

Since these are a thin cut, they will cook quite quickly. So, pay attention and once the marinade starts to boil you should flip the steaks.

About a minute or two later, they should be done cooking so take them off and turn off the heat. Now just cut to see if it's done. If so, plate and serve. Otherwise cook some more. I plated mine with a sprinkle of Italian Herb Mix on top, as well as a dash of asian hot sauce. I think it's Siracha or something spelled like that. Enjoy!

Simple Steak Snack

When I was out food shopping yesterday, I picked up a Flank Steak. I did not know of this cut of meat until I moved to Texas. It is quite the tasty morsel.









Ingredients
1 lb Flank Steak
Butter
Port
Teriyaki Sauce
Lime Juice
Ground Black Pepper
Lawry's Seasoning
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Celery Salt

Alright, so I began by taking the steak out and putting it on a cutting board. I know some might not know what this cut of beef looks like, so here you go:

Other side:

I began by cutting the steak into several smaller pieces to fit in my large saucepan better.

I then put the heat to medium and put some Butter in there. I think it's between 1/3 and 1/2 of a stick.

I seasoned the steak with a nice mix. I covered them first in Lawry's, then a light dusting of everything else.

Now, since the Butter is mostly melted I put the steak in seasoned side down. I then used some Lawry's on the top of them.

I flipped them over about 30 seconds later.

Now I let them cook for about 2 minutes and that's when I added a healthy splash of Port.

About a minute later I added a criss cross pattern of Teriyaki Sauce and a splash of Lime Juice.

I then flipped the steaks.

I took one off to check how they were cooking, it looked like this:

Now I know a lot of people who like it at this point of cooking, however I like my Flank Steak medium to well done. So they went for another minute.

Finally once they were cooked enough, I took them off and plated them. Of course, a beer was necessary while eating this delicious lunchtime snack. Enjoy.

Flank Steak pt. 2

I decided to cook some Flank Steak again today, it's just so tasty. That and I wanted tasty lunches for the rest of the week rather than go out to get fast food. So I looked in the fridge and made some slight changes to the recipe I used last time.





Ingredients:
1 bottle of Rahr Stormcloud (1 for you too!)
dash of Sea Salt
dash of Indian Spice Mix
healthy dose of Ground Black Pepper
2 tsp of Italian Herbs
1 tsp of Ground Cumin/Coriander
1/2 tsp of Fenugreek Seeds
1/4 cup Roasted Hot Hatch Chilies
1/2 cup diced Red Onion

There is local food store that is called Central Market and I went there last week. I noticed there is a Hatch Chili Festival going on this month complete with containers of roasted chilies, so naturally I bought some since I know I'll use it somewhere.

As per usual, I cut up the steak into 4 pieces to better fit in my large saucepan/skillet. I then put the skillet on the stovetop and poured in 1 bottle of delicious Rahr Stormcloud brew. It smelled amazing, and also produced a lot of foam. Don't worry, it dies off pretty quickly. Once the foam is mostly gone, turn the heat to medium.

To this, I added in all my spices and diced Red Onion. I grabbed one of the Hatch Chilies and cut it up into several smaller pieces and put that in the skillet as well. It should be simmering by now, so stir everything in there to make sure it's mixed well.

Put in the steak a piece at a time. Cover. Let cook for about a minute, then flip them over. You want just enough browning to happen to almost seal the juices in that side.

Let cook for about 5 minutes, then flip again. I did this to try and make sure the cooking was thorough and even. It worked pretty well. Leave them like they are now for approximately 6 minutes, then cut to check if they are cooked to your satisfaction. I aimed for medium/medium-well, I hit the mark perfectly.

I then took the steaks off, sliced them into strips and presented them with a spoonful of the Red Onions from the skillet on top. Looks great, tastes even better.

I then used my Rice Cooker to cook regular white rice and a small pot to cook some frozen vegetables. The rice, vegetables, and steak are now my lunch for the work week. Enjoy!

Who doesn't like Flank Steak?

I love steak. I had never even heard of a Flank Steak cut of meat until I moved to Texas, however it has quickly become one of my favorite cuts. It is a quality cut with a moderate amount of fat that pretty much melts 100% away while cooking. This is a simple recipe I used today when making my lunch.



Ingredients:
1 bottle Rahr Stormcloud IPA
1 lb Flank Steak
Lowry's Steak Seasoning
Garlic Salt
Ground Black Pepper

A simple recipe that I started off with cutting my flank steak into 3 portions. This is due to the fact that I like to eat my steak right after I buy it, so any longer is just pure agony. It's also easier to flip and cooks faster when in smaller portions.

I then turn the heat to medium and put my saucepan on the stove. I grab a bottle of Rahr Stormcloud IPA and pour all of it in. Any IPA would do, but I prefer local Rahr beer for this purpose.

I then turn back to my Flank Steak and season one side with Lowry's Steak Seasoning and a dash of Garlic Salt. I then place the Flank Steak seasoned side down into the beer. I then season the top side with Lowry's, Garlic Salt, and Ground Black Pepper.

I make sure to turn over the Flank Steak every so often, probably every 2 to 3 minutes. I let this go on for about 8 minutes and took out a piece, cut it to check how done it was. Still needed a minute, so back in it went. I did this only once, and then the Flank Steak was done to my desired doneness...medium well. Then I took it all out, cut it up, and had an amazing lunch. Enjoy.