Flickr is an online photo sharing site. It’s very cool because you can sign up for an account and then Grandma and Aunt Suzy can see all your photos of Baby Cutepants as soon as you upload them.

Genius.

And . . . what’s even more genius is that they have a group called “WE Love STEAK.”

It’s just photos of steak. Pure and simple.

You have to be a member of the group to add photos but anyone can see the decadent photos people have taken of tender, juicy steak in all its glory.

I’m getting hungry.

Click here to view these beautiful photographs. And, if you’re inclined, join the group and add some photos of your own — after you send them to me, of course!!!

Yesterday, I found a “crazy” recipe. Today, the recipe is “madness.”

Do you see a theme forming here?

My personal issues aside, Indian flavors have always intrigued me. This one includes curry powder, turmeric and lots of other good stuff.

Take a look!

4 Steaks, filet mignon, 1-inch 
1 tb Garam Masala – see any  thick Indian cookbook – (If Garam Masala is not chopped OR available, use 2 tb of Curry powder)
Pepper, white, cracked 
1 tb Curry, powder  
1 Lemon grass, stalk, 
1 bn Lemon thyme or 2 Peel, lemon, chopped 
1 tb Juice, lemon 
1 Ginger, 1-inch piece  thinly sliced Salt (to taste)
1 pn Turmeric, ground   
20 Peppercorns, black, crushed 
Pepper (to taste)
 
Curry Butter:
1/4 lb Butter, unsalted  and 
2 Ginger chopped or thin slices
1 lg Shallot, chopped
1 sm Garlic, clove, chopped 
1 sm Chili, green, seeded

Garnishes:
Onions
Pickled cucumbers in yogurt
Creme fraiche
Mint chutney 
Papaya, sliced 
Banana, sliced 
Other garnishes of choice chopped  

Steaks: Remove the steaks from your refrigerator at least 1 hour before cooking. (Steaks should be at room temperature before you cook them.) Press a generous amount of white pepper into the surfaces of the steaks. Cover. To prepare the steamer, place the lemon grass and water in the bottom of the steamer with ginger and peppercorns. Boil 1-2 minutes to release the oils and flavors of the aromatics. When ready to cook the meat, salt the steaks and steam them over vigorously boiling liquid for 3 minutes ONLY. Curry Butter: Blend all of the ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Accompaniments and Garnishes: For the pickled onions, use sweet onions if possible. Peel and trim top and bottom. Slice thinly, place in a stainless bowl, salt heavily, and toss. Leave for 1 hour and drain thoroughly. Bring 1 cup of vinegar to a boil and pour it over the drained onions. Reserve. For the cucumbers in yogurt and creme fraiche, slice 2 small cucumbers thinly, salt, and allow to set for one hour. Drain thoroughly, pressing gently to expel water. Mix 1.4 cup plain yogurt and 1./2 cup creme fraiche. Add a dash of chili powder and mix with the cucumbers. Chill. For the mint chutney, see any Indian cookbook. Other garnish should balance Western color and freshness with the Indian flavors. Possibilities include blanched carrots, green beans, zucchini, and okra. To Assemble: To serve, arrange accompaniments around the outside of a heated plate, place a filet in the center, and top with a dab of curry butter. Serve immediately. Source: Great Chefs of San Francisco, Avon Books, 1984 Chef: Bruce LeFavour, Rose et Le Favour, St. Helena, : Napa Valley, California Pastry Chef: Ann McKay File

You can see the entire recipe from bigoven.com here.

I love any recipe that has the word “crazy” in it. Check this one out from our friends over at foodbuzz.com.

It’s craaaaaaaaaazy!

Crazy Steak and Potatoes

This ain’t jo mama’s steak and potatoes. Or maybe it is…who really knows. Let’s find out. Still cooking for one this evening, but I misjudged some calculations in the process, so this recipe is written for two. Necessary items:

2 steaks, roughly 1/3 lb each (I used filet this time, but NY strip or rib eye would work just fine)

2 medium yukon gold potatoes, cube to roughly 1/4″

1/3 C chopped fennel bulb

1T chopped fronds from fennel bulb

1 shallot

1 carrot (I’m using a leftover carrot from last night)

1/4 C grated Fontina cheese (or Parm or whatever)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 C red wine (whatever you planned on drinking)

1/4 C low salt beef broth

1/4 C low salt chicken broth

1T tomato paste

1T olive oil

1T heavy creme or whipping creme

1 1/2 T non-salted butter

2T dried oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

Take the steak out of the fridge. Turn the oven on to 400. Combine in medium bowl potatoes, fennel bulb (not fronds), cheese, 1 clove minced garlic, oil, creme, oregano, salt and pepper. Oil or spray w/ cooking spray the interior of 2 cylindrical pieces of metal and place in roasting pan that has also been lightly oiled/sprayed. Toss all the stuff in the bowl until well combined and then pack into the cylinders. Place in oven and set timer for 20 minutes.

Pour/mix a drink. Dice the shallot and carrot. Mince the garlic. Pat the steaks completely dry and salt and pepper each side. Heat a pan on medium high heat and melt the butter until just sizzlin’. Place steaks in pan. (Take a look here for a piece of equipment that will make your life easier for a recipe like this. It’ll protect a lot of splatters and ease clean-up.) Turn the fan on ‘cause if you’re doing it right there’s gonna be lots of smoke. Cook 3 minutes each on the long sides and then 1 minute each on the other 4 sides so you have a nice browned sear on each side. This should realize a medium rare steak. Not sure how to tell if your steak is cooked enough? Try this.

Turn off heat. Place steaks on a plate and tent w/ foil. Let the pan cool for 2 minutes. Place 1/2 T butter in pan and turn the heat to medium. [By the way the timer for the potatoes probably went off about right now. Turn the heat for the potatoes completely off and let them continue to cook.] Back to the pan – saute shallots and carrot until relatively soft. Add wine and broths, tomato paste, minced garlic clove, oregano and boil until reduced to half, stirring occasionally. Set to simmer and add steaks back to pan. Add 1/2 T butter and stir sauce, occasionally flipping steak to warm back up and finish cooking. Do this for 2 to 3 minutes.

Plate steaks. Take potatoes out of oven. Use spatula to ease them off the pan (still in the cylinders) and place down on plates. Press down on tops of potatoes and carefully remove cylinder. Spoon sauce over steak and plate. Chop and sprinkle fennel fronds over potatoes.

Eat up.

You can see the entire article here.

Photo courtesy of foodbuzz.com.

I’m always interested to see what cut of steak people choose. And males and females seem to always gravitate toward specific ones.

This weekend we ate steak with two couples — neighbor friends. You can learn a lot about someone by the steak they eat. I always have a ribeye so I don’t count. We already know I have issues that need to be dealt with.

But the other two women? Filet mignon.

It never fails. It’s the smallest and debatably most tender cut. Perhaps they like to appear feminine and not at all hoggish.

I, on the other hand, have no problem eating every bite of my much larger ribeye.

The men fall into that “macho” category with two of them choosing KC strips and one a T-bone.

I like the T-bone, too. Does that make me macho?

I wore red lipstick that evening in an effort to scream, “I AM FEMALE!”

I hope it worked. Cuz my steak sure was good.

A good steak makes any recipe that much tastier. Here’s a soup recipe from Canada’s Heart and Stroke Foundation. And if they’re endorsing it it’s got to be heart-healthy as well! How could you go wrong with this one?

Steak and tomato soup

Makes 2 to 3 servings

Buy a small steak to create a full meal soup for two. Chockfull of vegetables and beef, this soup tastes fresh and delicious with little effort to get it on the table.

Ingredients

• 1 beef grilling steak, about 6 oz/175 g (such as rib eye, striploin or tenderloin)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp (5 mL) dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp (1 mL) hot pepper flakes
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) canola oil
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
• 3 cups (750 mL) low sodium beef or chicken stock
• 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) diced canned tomatoes with juices
• 2 cups (500 mL) frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) Worcestershire sauce

Directions

1. Trim visible fat from steak and discard. Thinly slice steak and place in bowl. Add garlic, oregano and hot pepper flakes and toss to coat; set aside.
2. In nonstick skillet heat half of the oil over medium high heat and brown steak on both sides, reserving any garlic and herbs for onions. Remove to plate.
3. Add remaining oil to soup pot over medium heat and add onion, celery and any remaining garlic and herbs from steak and cook, stirring for 7 minutes or until softened. Add stock, tomatoes, vegetables and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a boil. Add browned steak; reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes for flavours to develop.

Tip: Use frozen diced vegetables like carrots, peas and corn or green beans for the vegetables. Any small vegetable mixes will work well too.

Nutrition information per serving

• Calories: 242
• Protein: 19 g
• Fat: 9 g
  • Saturated fat: 2 g
  • Cholesterol: 25 g
• Carbohydrates: 24 g
  • Fibre: 5 g
• Sodium: 517 mg
• Potassium: 841 mg

Developed by Emily Richards, P.H. Ec. ©The Heart and Stroke Foundation.

You can see the recipe and their other great resources here.

You’ll find stories about and recipes for steak everywhere:  newspapers, magazines, books, BLOGS, movies, even your local TV news.

Here’s a piece from News 14 Carolina. Steak sure is photogenic . . .

Ingredients: 

• 2 12-ounce steaks

For the marinade:

• 2 Tbs fresh chopped rosemary
• 1 Tbs minced garlic
• 2 Tbs minced fresh ginger
• 4 Tbs soy sauce
• 4 Tbs olive oil
• 1 heaping tsp Dijon mustard
• 4-8 vegetable skewers with assorted vegetables (like zucchini, onion, pepper etc.)

Procedure:

Plan ahead and let the steaks marinate in the fridge for 2-3 hours before you grill them. 

For 2 12-ounce steaks, and enough vegetables to feed 2 to 4 people, combine 2 Tbs of finely chopped rosemary, 1 Tbs of minced garlic and 2 Tbs of grated or minced ginger with 4 Tbs soy sauce, 4 Tbs olive oil and a heaping tsp of Dijon mustard and whisk it up.

Use a pastry brush to brush half of the marinade onto both sides of the steaks, and keep those in the fridge for a couple of hours. Assemble the vegetable skewers and then just before you’re ready to grill, brush the rest of the marinade onto the vegetable skewers.

Preheat the grill and throw the steaks on and throw the vegetable skewers on. Make sure you bring a clean plate out with you so you can bring the steaks back in on a clean plate when you’re done.

The skewers will probably be done before the steaks so take those off when they’re cooked through. When the steaks are cooked to your liking, it’s time to eat. Just make sure you let the steaks rest for 5 minutes or so before you cut into them, so the juices have a chance to redistribute themselves.

Hints:

Two 12-ounce steaks could serve either 2 or 4 people depending on how much meat you need and you could also make meat and vegetable kabobs instead of cooking things separately.

Serves 2-4

You can check out the entire article here. There’s even a link to some video.

Just found an interesting set of recipes for a full “date night” steak meal over at naninpachat.blogspot.com. The author mentions her significant other “Aaron” in the recipe so if you have an “Aaron” that means somebody in your life likes to eat a lot — so allow for that.

Here’s her scrumptious lineup . . .

Delicious Steak Night
12 oz Angus beef shoulder london broil

Marinade:
2 counts Balsamic vinegar
2 counts Red wine (I prefer Malbec)
1 good squirt Spicy brown mustard
1 count Soy Sauce
2 counts Orange Juice
1 count Lemon Juice
2 dashes Salt
1 dash Pepper
1 Finely chopped garlic clove
Dried herbs: parsley, cilantro, oregano, basil, sage

Marinade as long as possible (even 24 hours ahead). I only had 3.5 hrs, and it was still delicious. Flip the meat every few hours or so.

Preheat broiler.
Lightly spray broiler pan with a coating of extra virgin olive oil.
Place the meat on the pan. Drizzle some of the marinade on top, and keep it 5 inches or so away from the heat. Depending on how cooked you want it, follow this guide:

Medium: 5-6 minutes on each side
Medium-Well: 6-8 minutes
Well Done: 8-10 minutes

Be sure to carefully flip the meat half way through. Before putting it back into the broiler, drizzle some more marinade on top.

While the steak is still in the broiler, make the gravy.

Heat a pan on medium, and slowly add 1 tablespoon of honey. Slowly stir it as you introduce half a pat of butter. As it bubbles and develops a creamy caramel color, stir in 2 tablespoons of flour (a little at a time) until fully incorporated. Lower the heat and slowly add the rest of the marinade and continue stirring in a figure eight. The color should look like cafe au lait. Turn off and remove the pan to a cooler part of the stove.

After the steak is done, remove from the broiler and immediately cover with aluminum foil. It is time for the meat to rest so that the juices are retained. Let it sit for 6-8 minutes.

Cut the steak on the diagonal, and dress with gravy.

Mashed potatoes
6-7 potatoes
2-3 heaping tablespoons of sour cream
Dried or fresh herbs (sage, basil, cilantro, parsley, etc.)
Salt to taste.

Bring to a boil a pot of water that has already been salted.
Quarter potatoes and place in pot.
After 10 – 15 minutes (depending on quantity and firmness fork test) drain potatoes.
Place potatoes back into the pot, and begin to mash them.
Add sour cream.
Add herbs.
Salt to taste.
Mash a little more depending on your preferred texture/consistency.

Feel free to use the gravy on these taters even though you won’t want to.

Quickie Spinach
1 package of frozen spinach
1 oz water
pinch of salt
pinch of sugar
1 finely minced clove of garlic
1 scallion completely chopped
1 tsp evoo (extra virgin olive oil)

Heat pan and coat with EVOO.
Add scallions and cook until slightly translucent (2 minutes or so)
Add garlic, and salt.
Add spinach and water.
Cover and turn heat to low and allow to simmer/defrost for 5 minutes.
Uncover and break up spinach block.
Add salt and sugar.
Cover and let cook for another 5-6 minutes.
Heat uncovered for 3 minutes to allow some evaporation.

Everything serves 3-4 people. In my case, it serves 2 (Aaron and myself) and leftovers were his lunch today.

Check out her entire post here.

There’s an apron that’s labeled “Scary Steak Apron” over at Zazzle.com. It has this picture on it . . . 

 
I don’t understand why it’s scary, but more importantly the story behind it is intriguing. This is a photo of an abandoned mural.

Someone actually took the time to paint a HUGE steak on a wall somewhere.

Now if that doesn’t tell you a good old-fashioned steak is an integral part of our society I don’t know what will.

Check the apron out in all its glory here.

While I never refer to myself or anyone else as a “dummy” I did enjoy this cute take on the “Dummies” series of books.

See for yourself!

Mmm . . .Grilled Steak! Adapted From: Cooking Around the World All-in-One For Dummies

You can see this entire article here.

Oh, I love summer. This weekend we sat by the pool and my cabana boy served me my steak the way I like it — along with bacon for my baked potato.

We sat in the breezy early evening wishing this season could go on forever. It really makes me want to move to Miami.

The start of something beautiful

Served with love

We had planned on grilling our steaks on Friday night but first the neighbors on the right side came over for an impromptu swim. Then, the neighbors on the left side came through the gate. It was then a full-blown par-tay in the yard.

After the sun went down we ventured over to the first neighbors’ house to play their Wii. Don’t get me started on that obsession. It’s like crack.

It was 10:30 pm when we got home and put the kids to bed. So my hubby and I had popcorn for dinner.

Yummy.

So, we enjoyed our steak on Saturday night. An extra night of marinating did our steaks good. They were that much more tasty.

And the anticipation was almost more than we could stand. They were worth it though. And the service was impeccable. (Not to mention the view.)

If only I could make weekends like that last forever. Good food, fun neighbors and activities to make the kids fall into bed with exhaustion.

Summer really is the best season of them all.