5/28 - Home Grilled BBQ NY Steaks

Bone-in New York Steak from Safeway (about 1 inch thick)...on sale!!


salted + seasoned steak...left out about 1 hr on table


sear the fatty edges, then the bone first


get a good sear on one side, and flip


after a few more flips, we are done!



Steps:

1. take steak out of refrigerator about 1 hr prior to cooking
2. season with about 1tsp salt
3. season with all over liberally with 1-2 tbsp of bbq spice mixture (homeblend of paprika, brown sugar, chili powder, garlic powder, black pepper, salt, cumin, and onion powder...about equal parts each)
4. when 1 hour is up and steak no longer super cold, pat down steaks to remove moisture on meat
5. heat up cast iron grill pan...leave on medium high heat
   
6. sear fatty edge for 1 minute, then sear other fatty side 1 minute...run the sides all along the pan to grease it up
   
7. Sear bone side for 1 minute
8. Sear presentation side of steak for 2 minutes
9. flip and sear other side for 2 minutes
10. sear bone side again for 1 minute
    
11. flip and rotate to give presentation side the criss cross marks and cover with a pan (turn down heat to medium if needed)...cook leave for 2 minutes
    
12. flip and rotate again and cover for 2 more minutes
13. check temp...should be about 125-130 at about this point
14. rest 5 minutes on a heated place and loosely cover with foil

Result:

• super tender all around (meat was only select grade at best...no marbling at all...)
  
• all around medium rare even near the bone
• crisp thick crust...nice and caramelized because of sugar
• when cutting, not much juice or blood came out...resting really helped
• beautiful color
  

5/17 - Sambal Inspired Roasted Flounder

"sambal" ingredients:

• fish paste - 2 slices of 1x1x1/4 or about 1.5 tbsp
• garlic - 4 cloves minced
• onion - 1/2 minced
• ginger - 1 inch knob minced
• dried chili pepper - 1 ea (seeded)
• ketchup - 3 tbsp

fish - 2 flounders with head cut and gutted

Steps:

1. bash up garlic, onion, ginger, and chili pepper in a mortar and pestle
   
2. saute fish paste with 2 tbsp oil in medium heat pan
3. add garlic, onion, ginger, and chili pepper mixture
   
4. add ketchup and mix, then turn off heat...total time is about 4-5 minutes
5. let mixture cool
6. preheat oven to 425
   
7. salt fish lightly
   
8. slather on top of flounders and cut slits in fish to allow more absorption of flavor
9. place fish into oven and set timer for 20min
10. check doneness of fish and take out...should bea bout 20min and "sambal" should be darkened...(if too dark, turn down to 400)
11. serve asap!

** didn't write down recipe immediately so might have forgot a few ingredients (celery, sugar, and / or fish sauce might have been used)

Result:

• wow...the flavor is just amazing...spicy, sweet, and super complex
• crispy sambal but fish not crispy enough...
• very moist fish and salty enough
• sauteing fish paste and adding ketchup to it was amazing! never tried it before
  

Next Time:

• bake fish at 450 degrees 5 minutes, then place sambal on and roast at 400 til done...about 20 minutes total (to allow fish to get crisper and dryer)