What We WON'T Do for Steak

All pictures for tonight's blog provided by family and friends.

Food brings people all over the world together.  I was humbled when I learned that this blog is now being read by people in South America, England, and Eastern Europe, as well as a nice following in the US.   I hope - someday – that we can all sit down and share some great food and wine together! 

To my new friends, whoever you are!  Cheers!

I was in St. Petersburg/Clearwater, FL this week on business and I was offered the chance to see a couple of long-time girlfriends who I had not seen since the summer; Julie and Judy.  I stayed at Julie’s new condo in her spare room-- overlooking the bay-way to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.   


The girlfriends decided they wanted me to cook the Beringer Great Steak Challenge steak recipe.  They had both been there to cheer me on in Orlando that scorching hot July summer day (106° in the shade), but neither of my friends EVER had a chance to taste it. 

Unfortunately, I have not yet gotten the permission from the wonderful Beringer folks to re-print the recipe (it’s theirs now).  But I can account to you the fun we had recreating it.  If I do get permission, I promise that I will post it here to share!

The girl's night in event wasn’t what gave me the idea to write this blog  - at least not at first.  



Brother-in-law, Mike, cooking steak in the snow in CT.



My brother-in-law, Mike, celebrated a birthday this week.  He posted this picture;  Mike is cooking steaks outside on the grill in snowy New England, on his birthday.  There was lobster cooking, too. 

 

Mike's Birthday Steak and Lobster



My husband and his brother have a history of this kind of  ROGUE Steak cooking under any condition -- 


Dan once grilled steaks on our front porch when we lived in South Florida… in the middle of Hurricane Frances!  I remember plating the steaks just as we lost power and the new oak tree that was planted in the front yard bit the dust in the wind. 


But oh, those steaks were not just good—they were fricken' GREAT! 

BTW - Happy Birthday, Mike!

Our girl’s night in started with me opening up a crisp bottle of Beringer Pinot Grigio. Judy does not drink wine so she had her tea.

BUT, MK DID YOU SAY ---

White wine with steak? 

Yes!  You pair the wine to the sauce, not the meat. 

No rules. 
Drink what you like!

My steak recipe includes goat cheese (which is perfect with Pinot Grigio) and a citrus and mint sauce -also perfection!  There is wine in the sauce, too!

My friend, Julie, is recently starting over.  Her condo is lovely but she had to let go of many of her kitchen items.  I didn’t think to ask about what she had on hand before I agreed to cook there.  Here is the knife that I was supplied to use for the chopping portion of the evening event.




Now that's some knife, eh?



My steak was a grilled recipe.  She doesn’t own a grill, so I compensated by cooking it all on the stove.  Pan seared steaks are my favorite, anyway. 

Julie didn’t have a cast iron (or even an oven safe pan).  When I cook big, juicy tenderloin on the stove, I like to sear it and then transfer it to a 375° for a few minutes.  So I asked Julie if she had a cookie sheet that I could transfer the steaks to since the pan could not go into the oven.  She couldn’t recall where she put the cookie sheets…


So we improvised... 



"When in Rome..."

When the oven was heated, I opened it up, only to find this - “Ummm… Hello, Julie???”




Ah-HAA!  There they are!

 





Humble Pie

After a good laugh, we realized that the cook (me – DUH) forgot one of her MAJOR ingredients for the sauce. Yes, I forgot something. 

I, AGAIN, improvised, and believe it or not, the sauce came out great.  If and when I do get the permission to print the recipe, I will share more of the details.  



Filet and Goat Cheese with a Pinot Grigio Butter Mint Sauce


A good steak, it’s like butter; a great steak, it’s about the memories.