Thursday, February 11, 2010

Dark Days: Failed the Challenge, but Still Cooking! Steak.

So, it's been a while....bet you wondered if I succumbed to botulism and died after all. But no, I just gave in to that other dreaded disease called BUSY that threatens all of us from time to time. I primarily enjoyed...in fact, relished in, my recent busy-ness. Family and friends visiting, getting out and about and going on adventures in town and out. I all but stopped experimenting in the kitchen, even putting my kefir grains into dormant phase in the refrigerator.

So, I guess I failed in the official dark days challenge, but it's a failure I'm willing to accept. I had a lot of fun eating in restaurants these last two weeks, some of which were super-local focused, and I went to a pickle-themed party in Boston to which I took some apple kimchi which received mixed reviews.

Without further adieu, this week's dark days meal: Kimchi Sirloin Steak!
This month, two of my pounds of meat from the meat CSA turned out to be sirloin steak. I'm pretty sure I've never cooked a steak in my life before this month, so I looked it up. Alton Brown's food network recipe really took the cake (err, Steak), so I went with that for my first steak last week. I think my roommate was a little dismayed at the hunk of raw meat placed directly on the oven rack, so this week I refined my tactics.

Last week's steak was so-so. Tough and a bit hard to chew, and needing a little more flavor. This week I had major kimchi cravings and finished off another jar, leaving a about three cups of fuschia kimchi juice. What to do with the probiotic goodness? Marinate meat!

I soaked the second raw steak in this juice in the refrigerator for 24 hours, then followed Alton Brown's advice, this time with a broiler pan. Success! More tender, more juicy, more flavorful. Served with, what else...Kimchi! Iron-rich, priobiotic goodness.

2 comments:

  1. HAHAHAHA I cannot even tell you how scared I am at that thought of what that poor steak endured at your hands. Though I do understand the terror of dealing with steak for the first time in your life. I find most people buy cheap cuts of crap meat, don't know how to cook it, and that's why there exists such a horrible thing as 'steak sauce.' IMO the best way to cook any 'good' steak cut (meaning something that doesn't need to marinate forever to be tender) just needs some salt and pepper rubbed on both sides about 15-20 minutes before you grill it. Though of course grilling is probably a challenge for you with the snow at all, but I'm sure it could be done. If you get any flank or skirt (or similar thin cuts) check out this recipe -- http://userealbutter.com/2008/04/10/chinese-stir-fried-beef-recipe/. All her recipes are great, but this is one of my favorites.

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  2. Hey, my kimchi steak was pretty darn good! Lol. But yeah, I had no idea what I was doing and I'm going to check out your recipe suggestions ;) All the meat for the rest of the month is ground beef, so theoretically I can't screw that up too badly....

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