Friday, April 15, 2011

Adventures in Cooking - Butterflied Steak Sarnie

When I bought my new cookbook, I decided that my first recipe was going to be the butterflied steak sarnie. The reason for this was 1) this was the 1st recipe in the book, 2) it sounds fancy,  and 3) it was listed as being made in under 20 minutes. In addition to that,  4) I only needed 3 ingredients to make it - filet mignon, portobello mushroom and watercress. I'd never had watercress before (it reminds me of the book "The Trumpet of the Swan"by E. B. White), but I love steak and portobello so I figured I would really like it. That was the plan, anyway. Unfortunately I got sick and made that horrid soup (the horrid part was entirely my fault; not Jamie Oliver's!), so, in the end, the steak sarnie was not my first recipe. 

This afternoon I remembered that I had bought an awesome piece of steak that I never used. At first I freaked out a little bit because the meat had been in my fridge for over a week. I don't know how long meat lasts before it expires! I called my mom for a quick consult, and she reassured me that I was probably ok. I should just check to make sure it wasn't green or slimy (yuck!) and wash it off before grilling it. My grandmother also chimed in that with a bit of lime juice, I didn't have to worry. Armed with the reassurance of the ages (and a ton of lime juice), I set to following the instructions. These were actually fairly easy! I only had to add spices, grill the mushroom and then grill the steak. I have an amazing foreman grill so that was done incredibly quickly. The only glitch (beside the whole bad meat thing) was that the recipe also called for some grilled ciabatta bread. That, unfortunately, didn't hold up as well as the meat so I had to throw it out.  

The end products came out pretty good! And it tasted good too!!!! I am very impressed with myself!

Lessons Learned:

  1. Butterflied Steak Sarnie is a great, super quick meal. Plus, it sounds and looks fancy so it works for guests!
  2. I need to either cook or freeze fresh meat as soon as I get it. Also, bread doesn't stay fresh for long.
  3. Watercress is great (and not just for swans)!

By the way, I am having the hardest time photographing food. Somehow the pictures never do the food justice. I'll get the hang of it eventually though; promise!

The cooking score is officially: 1 lose, 1 win.

Am I a good cook yet? Well, I can cook meat on a grill. Does that make me any good?

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