Today turned out to be just nice enough for a quick grilled dinner. Wife and son are in Florida for the week, so I have the house to myself. Most meals are already planned out, but I couldn't pass up the chance to take advantage of a few hours without rain today, so I went shopping for a good old man's meal - steak and potatoes.
I bought what is probably my third cast iron skillet today, as I think the best seared steaks come from a skillet on the grill. I really want to get one to the point that it's so seasoned that nothing will stick to it, but I never have the discipline to take the full care that's needed - it always winds up left out in the grill getting all rusted. I've done a bit more research and now know that no pan is beyond repair, so I'm making sure this is the last one. It came pre-seasoned, but I seasoned it in the grill anyway. I may have done some damage to the pre-seasoning, but it will all work itself out in time.
Those scratch marks are just from some waxed paper I used to put in some shortening to season it. It also seemed to take off something, though I'm not sure what, which is why it looks like a half-moon sort of. Either way, it's on its way.
Here's my 8-oz filet freshly put on the grill, which was around 650^. The selection at the grocery store was pretty poor, hence the string to round it out. I rub some olive oil in on both sides, as well as kosher salt and pepper, and then let it sit in a container on the counter for about 30 minutes. I know people who say let the meat come to room temp, and others who say it doesn't matter. I had the time to prepare my salad anyway, so I did it. I'm sure it doesn't matter much on such a thin cut of maybe 1-1/4", but for a whole roast or a nice 2" filet from Lobel's, I'd certainly let it rest. Letting the salt and pepper soak in a bit anyway is a good thing, and helps form a nice crust.
After 4 minutes, you can see how the edge is no longer raw.
I finished the steak on the grates for another 5 minutes over medium heat. I made the potato in our new Advantium microwave oven, which took all of 18 minutes. Came out like one of the potatoes you can find in stores that come in plastic for microwaving; these take only 8 minutes, and I'd stick with these in the future for quick baked's. But for a real meal, I prefer to do a real baking for the 45-60 minutes or so for a real crisp skin. Nevertheless, drench anything in butter, salt and pepper and I'll eat it.
And to think some people are vegetarians.
Finally, one of my favorite salads - spinach leaves, crumbled Roquefort cheese, chopped walnuts and balsamic vinaigrette. Sometimes I'll add granny smith apples too. It's painfully easy with all the good pre-packaged product available today. I like to let it sit for about 20 minutes to let the dressing soak into everything. Usually, I like to use only half the amount of dressing that most people do, as I prefer to actually taste the lettuce and veggies in a salad. But this one is very rich with the cheese in it, and needs a good dressing (and wine) to cut through everything on the palate. Being alone for a few more days, there's plenty ingredients left over for another serving!
I'm getting excited over the prospect of warm weather and more grilling time. Just to take an afternoon in the crisp spring air, and give the grill a nice cleaning, actually sounds like fun. It hasn't had much use over the winter and while I was seasoning the skillet today, the flames actually went out - fortunately I was checking on it every few minutes, so there wasn't a build-up of gas. Still, not a good thing, though I partially blame it on the windy day. For dinner though, everything worked fine. I've already got a recipe ready for the first big BBQ weekend - St. Louis ribs and baked beans, on the charcoal kettle, of course.
