Monday, June 20, 2011

Steak...

I love beef, and I really love it in the form of a really good steak. I have been craving beef and last night while at work one of my co-workers let me sample a piece of rib eye that he had grilled Sunday with a steak/meat rub called Grub Rub. It was so yummy, and I had been thinking of that steak repeatedly today so thought it is time for steak at home. I had to go to the store to get stuff for dinner regardless of what the dinner plan was to be, so I looked to see if they had Grub Rub, and as my co-worker said there was only one bottle on the shelf, he reports that HEB can not keep it on the shelves. The rub is a sweet savory dry rub that also has some tenderizer in the meet. I also picked up two rib eyes from HEB that looked to be marbled perfectly and a good steak is always cooked on the grill so grabbed a bag of light the bag coal, this stuff makes grilling a snap.

Once home I checked the burn warnings in Wilco, and while we are in a burn ban, the ban order states that as long as we are not in a red flag day you can grill, so I attempted to fire up the grill, I say attempted because I really used an entire box of matches trying to light the stupid little bag, it is windy out where we live. I was able to finally get the coal going even if it did come with some cursing. I slathered on the rub and rubbed it into each side of the steak and let the steaks come to room temperature while the coal were warming, there are mixed theories about letting it come to room temp first some say do some say don't when I have the time I do I feel like it allows for more accurate cooking times. Once the coal was ready on went Ashley's first because he wants it more well done, so his was medium to medium well and mine turned out a perfect medium rare. Just delish sweet savory crust that does not over power the perfect flavor of the steak. Yumm with a baked potato and a salad, all costing less then what one would spend at a not so good steak house.

Until next time...

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

We went to Greece, not grease today...

So I had to borrow the title from a question my dad asked my mom when he called tonight. Mom is in town and will be here for just another night, she goes home on Friday. We have had a wonderful time while she has been here, shopping and browsing, cooking and eating, and a lot of talking. I love times like this when I get to really spend time with my mom. What's even better is this trip has not been rushed like some in the past have been.

For starters I loved having mom here to help and she did. When I first started to crave this menu Ashley suggested that I wait until she came to visit for the birthday, so I did. Anyway we were going to have spaghetti if I learned she did not like lamb, but I was sure she did so once confirmed, Greek it was.

Regardless of all of that, I am sure the reader may be wondering about the title, well here is the deal. There is nothing more wonderful then a vacation to an exotic world, one where you can experience culture and cuisine. So tonight we went to Greece, not grease...

What was on the menu for this evenings dinner:
Shepherd's Salad
Lamb Kabobs with Tzatziki
Greek Potatoes with Lemon Vinaigrette
Hummus and
Pita bread

Let's first start by saying if you do not like lemon, olive oil, or Garlic you will not like this dinner. We all enjoy all of those flavors. It is a lot of work but if you have help in the kitchen you can get through it all pretty quick. Momma started the Shepherd's salad while I worked on mixing up the meat, then once we were both done with that it was on to the Tzatziki and the potatoes, mom doing the tzatziki and me the potatoes. Let me just say it is all delish!!

The hummus was my own and I have a slight variation on hummus every time I make it. I always start with Garbanzos that I drain (making sure to drain the liquid into a glass for later use), they all go into a food processor with some tahini, a touch of olive oil, a touch of lemon juice, a garlic clove, and then seasons; today's was and olive sun dried tomato bruschetta spread I had in the fridge along with salt, pepper, and a sprinkle or two of cumin; it turned out delish.

The important thing about dinner I think is that it allowed for a get away while sitting at my own table. This is the second time I have done the Greek menu, only the first time I also did Sunny Anderson's baklava cups, which you can access through the links for the lamb and the salad, as those are both hers, the are delish, had I not had birthday cake here from mom I might have made those too.

With full tummies and tired feet following a long day of shopping and a great dinner I got to fix with my momma we were ready to return back to the reality of Texas Summer and 100 degree temps. For now though we are a bit more relaxed because of our momentary get away, or maybe that's just that we are all so full none of us want to move. It was all delish!!!

Until next time...