Grilled Filet Mignon with Spiced Wet Rub

The Junior saga continues.

We’ve had our little wild kitty for just over a month now and oh what a month it has been.

She has had a lot of trauma in her early life, and she has done a lot of hissing, but she is really turning it around.

Saturday was a major test in our pet parenthood. We were taking her back to our new vet and we were pretty terrified. Last time we were there they had to call to ask our permission to give her a sedative. Obviously we said hell yes. She was covered in soot still and we could not bare to bathe her again!

We were not offended when the nice girl who runs the office pointed out that she was a little aggressive last time and that they might need a little help to administer her booster shots. But after we wrapped her up in our arms and calmed her, she took it like a champ.

Wes and I walked out of there like champions.

Sure she still hisses ever time we come within a three foot radius of her, but once you roll her up in your arms she becomes a snuggle bunny.

Oh how my life is changed. Weekends used to be full of brunches and late nights and dancing.

I’m pretty happy I traded in the dancing shoes for a little furry bundle of joy and really good food.

This steak is so simple it’s stupid. A little spice rub, a little Worcestershire sauce, some great meat. That’s all it takes.

You will need…

4 filet mignon steaks, 6 to 8 ounces each

2 tablespoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons fresh ground black pepper

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

½ tablespoons celery salt

½ tablespoon oregano

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

Start by preheating your grill to a medium high heat. About 400 degrees.

While the grill is preheating, dry your meat with a paper towel.

In a small bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients with the olive oil and the Worcestershire sauce.

When the rub is well combined, rub down the meat until it is well coated.

After you have coated the meat and the grill is nice and hot, place the meat on the hottest spot on the grill and seer until you have good grill marks. About 3 minutes a side.

When both sides are seared, move the meat off the hottest spot but to a place where it is still getting really good heat. Cover the grill and continue cooking until the meat is cooked. About 20 minutes for a piece about 1 ½ inch thick. Flipping once more about halfway through. When the meat is cooked to your desired doneness, remove from the heat and cover with foil for 10 minutes while it rests.

After the meat has rested, serve hot with a great red wine and good company.

Love and Beer Floats

Angela 

Grilled Filet Mignon with Spiced Wet Rub

4 filet mignon steaks, 6 to 8 ounces each

2 tablespoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons fresh ground black pepper

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

½ tablespoons celery salt

½ tablespoon oregano

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

Start by preheating your grill to a medium high heat. About 400 degrees.

While the grill is preheating, dry your meat with a paper towel.

In a small bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients with the olive oil and the Worcestershire sauce.

When the rub is well combined, rub down the meat until it is well coated.

After you have coated the meat and the grill is nice and hot, place the meat on the hottest spot on the grill and seer until you have good grill marks. About 3 minutes a side.

When both sides are seared, move the meat off the hottest spot but to a place where it is still getting really good heat. Cover the grill and continue cooking until the meat is cooked. About 20 minutes for a piece about 1 ½ inch thick. Flipping once more about halfway through. When the meat is cooked to your desired doneness, remove from the heat and cover with foil for 10 minutes while it rests.

After the meat has rested, serve hot with a great red wine and good company. 

Bison Cheddar Burger with Crispy Shallots and Pickled Cucumbers

Something is wearing me down. It’s either my old age, my over scheduling or both.

I’ve always been pretty good about remembering events and occasions with out much help. But lately since I’ve been so booked up (not complaining because I love it, just saying) that I’ve taken to using the calendar on my phone. You know, just to be safe.

So I was downright shocked yesterday at three-thirty in the afternoon when I realized that I was supposed to be at a party two hours ago and that the party was now over. Even though I had used my calendar, I had set it for the wrong time.

Dummy.

Literally did a forehead slap.

I felt HORRIBLE. Not only do I have FOMO, I really hate to let people down.

Luckily, my friend Lindsey is wonderful and understanding and forgave me as soon as I explained what happened. Good thing, because she doesn’t eat meat and it would have been really hard to win her forgiveness with this tasty burger.

You will need…

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and julienned

½ cup white wine or other tasty vinegar

5 large shallots, very thinly sliced

1 cup olive oil

1 ½ lb ground bison

½ onion, grated

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

6 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded

2 cups baby arugula

4 brioche buns (or other soft roll), lightly buttered and toasted

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, combine the cucumber and vinegar and season well with salt and pepper. Set the cucumbers aside to pickle, stirring every so often. Let them sit for at least 1 hour and up to over night.

In a large bowl, combine the bison, onion, onion powder, garlic power, paprika and Worcestershire sauce. 

Combine the mixture well and season well with salt and pepper.

Divide the meet into 4 equal sections.

Separate 1 of the sections into to parts and flatten each out into a patty. Fill the center of one of the patties with a handful of cheddar and top it with the other patty. 

Form the two patties into 1 large patty filled with cheese. Set it aside and repeat with the other 3 sections.

Heat your grill to a high heat.

Lightly oil the burgers and grill them until they have good grill marks and are cooked through. About 6 minutes a side.

While the burgers are cooking, heat the oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. When the oil is very hot, add in the shallots and fry until golden brown and crispy. 

Using a slotted spoon, move the shallots to a paper towel to dry.

When the burgers are done, place them on the bun, top with arugula, crispy shallots and the pickled cucumbers and serve hot.

Love and Beer Floats

Angela 

Bison Cheddar Burger with Crispy Shallots and Pickled Cucumbers

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and julienned

½ cup white wine or other tasty vinegar

5 large shallots, very thinly sliced

1 cup olive oil

1 ½ lb ground bison

½ onion, grated

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

6 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded

2 cups baby arugula

4 brioche buns (or other soft roll), lightly buttered and toasted

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, combine the cucumber and vinegar and season well with salt and pepper. Set the cucumbers aside to pickle, stirring every so often. Let them sit for at least 1 hour and up to over night.

In a large bowl, combine the bison, onion, onion powder, garlic power, paprika and Worcestershire sauce. Combine the mixture well and season well with salt and pepper.

Divide the meet into 4 equal sections.

Separate 1 of the sections into to parts and flatten each out into a patty. Fill the center of one of the patties with a handful of cheddar and top it with the other patty. Form the two patties into 1 large patty filled with cheese. Set it aside and repeat with the other 3 sections.

Heat your grill to a high heat.

Lightly oil the burgers and grill them until they have good grill marks and are cooked through. About 6 minutes a side.

While the burgers are cooking, heat the oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. When the oil is very hot, add in the shallots and fry until golden brown and crispy. Using a slotted spoon, move the shallots to a paper towel to dry.

When the burgers are done, place them on the bun, top with arugula, crispy shallots and the pickled cucumbers and serve hot.

Fried Chicken and Watermelon Salad

For months now my youngest brother Joshua has been nagging me to take a crack at fried chicken. Week after week that he attended NFT’z I brushed it off. “Sure, I’ll do fried chicken. Next week for sure.” Of course my fingers were crossed behind my back the whole time. Then I would conveniently have a reason that he couldn’t come to dinner so I wouldn’t have actually make fried chicken.

It wasn’t because I do not like fried chicken, or because I think my fried wouldn’t be good.

I kept avoiding fried chicken night because I have a serious fear of a deep pot of hot, bubbling oil.

Just stop and think for a second about all the things that can go wrong in a scenario where a huge pot of boiling oil is involved. I can think of 5 of the top of my head.

1. Oil bubbles over, catches flame and burns condo complex down.

2. Oil bubbles over, catches flame and burns hair/skin of me or people around me.

3. Oil is too hot and melts important cooking tools.

4. Oil is too hot mixes with water and splashes up and burns my face/skin.

5. Oil is too hot and splatters on face/skin leaving scars that horrify little children

Ok… 4 and 5 are similar, but one involves water and the other just needs super hot oil. But, the bottom line is that all of these result in some sort of destruction.

Regardless of my intense fear of the scalding oil, I decided to go for it this week. I have to admit, even though I would have much preferred to have an actual fryer with a basket with a very very long handle that insured I would be no where near the oil, it was not as bad as I thought it would be.

Of course, I couldn’t just serve fried chicken. So I racked by brain for all the things that I have been served a long with fried chicken. I couldn’t do mashed potatoes because I made those last week. No waffles because I don’t really like waffles. I have no idea where to get okra or what to do with it. I decided to go with corn and watermelon. Two tired and true favorites. But I couldn’t just grill corn and slice up a watermelon. Why on earth would I do something SO EASY. Seriously, heaven forbid I decide to do something easy.

So, I went with heirloom tomato carpaccio (they were calling my name at whole foods)...

a watermelon, arugula, pancetta salad with feta and a citrus vinaigrette…

Grilled summer corn with garlic and thyme butter (which might have been the biggest hit of the night)…

And of course I had to add some garlic bread in there because once again I somehow ended up with 10 people over on a Tuesday night and I had to make sure everyone was full.

Everything ended up being absolutely crispy and delicious. And, I now have some great tips for cooking fried chicken.

1. All the recipes will tell you to shake off the excess breading. DON’T. Pile on that breading!!! It will be way more delicious.

2. When the recipe tells you to use oil, they really mean go buy a freaking humongous vat of oil because 2 bottles will barely be enough to fry 4 pieces at a time.

3. Fill up the that biggest pot you can pretty high with oil or you will end up cooking the chicken for hours since it takes about twenty minutes a batch.

4. Do not make the oil to hot are you will have very very burnt fried chicken.

We live and we learn right? Right.

Love and Beer Floats

Angela

P.S. There were too many awesome photos of the chicken. Enjoy!

If that was not enjoyable enough for you... hopefully this is!

Fried Chicken

Ingredients

1 quart buttermilk, plus 2 cups

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

2 teaspoons chile de arbol powder, or 2 tablespoons hot sauce, plus 2 teaspoons chile de arbol powder, or cayenne pepper

2 chickens (3 to 4 pounds each), each cut up into 8 pieces

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

4 green onions finely chopped

Peanut oil, for deep-frying (a lot a lot a lot of oil)

Directions

In a large bowl or baking dish, whisk together 1 quart of the buttermilk, 2 tablespoons salt, 2 teaspoons of chile de arbol powder, or hot sauce, and a little bit of pepper, if desired. Add the chicken pieces, turn to coat, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. *** bloggers note... I only let it sit for an hour and it was still yummy.

Place the remaining 2 cups of buttermilk in a bowl. In a second bowl, stir together the flour, garlic and onion powders, green onions, paprika, and 2 teaspoons chile de arbol powder (or cayenne) in a large bowl. Divide flour mixture among 2 shallow platters and season generously with salt and pepper. Drain the chicken in a colander and pat it dry. Dredge the pieces a few at a time in the flour mixture and pat off excess, then dip in the buttermilk and allow excess to drain off. Dredge in the second plate of flour and pat off the excess. Put the chicken pieces on a piece of waxed paper or on a clean platter while you heat the oil.

Pour about 3 inches of oil into a deep cast iron skillet; the oil should not come more than halfway up the sides of the pot. Put the pot over medium-high heat and heat the oil to 375 degrees F on a deep-fry thermometer. Working in batches, add the chicken pieces to the hot oil, 3 or 4 at a time and fry, turning the pieces occasionally, until evenly golden brown and cooked through, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and transfer to a rack to drain; repeat to cook the remaining pieces. Serve hot.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Watermelon Salad

Ingredients

For the vinaigrette:

1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)

1/4 cup minced shallots (1 large)

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 cup good olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

6 cups baby arugula, washed and spun dry

1/8th seedless watermelon, rind removed, and cut in 1-inch cubes

12 ounces good feta cheese, 1/2-inch diced

1 cup (4 ounces) whole fresh mint leaves, julienned

8 oz pancetta

Directions

In a skillet, brown the pancetta with one tablespoon olive oil. Remove and let cool.

Whisk together the orange juice, lemon juice, shallots, honey, salt, and pepper. Slowly pour in the olive oil, whisking constantly, to form an emulsion. If not using within an hour, store the vinaigrette covered in the refrigerator.

Place the arugula, watermelon, feta, pancetta and mint in a large bowl. Drizzle with enough vinaigrette to coat the greens lightly and toss well. Taste for seasonings and serve immediately.