Quiet, hushed tone... steak...

I finally bought groceries the other day. I think it had been about three weeks since the last time I did. One of the items I picked up was a package of two small thick cut marinating steaks, for $3.65. It is, I believe, the cheapest cut, and as the butcher said, the toughest, but I tenderize the heck out of them, so it works out fine in the end. I was going to do my usual lemon oregano marinade, but when I started to put it together, I realized that I had used up the oregano! It is one of the spices that I keep in a shaker, but did not know that there wasn't any left in the spice cupboard either. So.. I had to wing it, and went with a lemon peppercorn marinade instead, which consisted of fresh squeezed lemon juice, lemon zest, soy sauce, lemon-thyme sea salt, fresh ground black peppercorns, and hot pepper flakes. Anyhow... I had the smaller steak yesterday, but I had overcooked it, which I have a tendency to do for fear of the issues that could arise with an undercooked piece of beef. It wasn't that bad, but the one I cooked today... was considerably better.

At the last minute I decided on baked potato to accompany the steak. I preheated the oven, and while the pan for the steak was heating up, I scrubbed the potato, poked holes in it, wrapped it in a papertowel and popped it into the microwave. The steak went into the pan and sizzled away. The potato came out of the microwave, I cut a section off the top and scooped out the innards into a bowl with some becel, a wee bit of whipped cream, a little milk and Italiano cheese. I smashed it together... took a taste... oh my god it was good... creamy... good. I spooned the mixture back into the potato skin/shell, put a little more cheese on top, plopped it on a glass baking dish coated with becel, and popped it in the oven. It was supposed to be baked for 20 minutes, but I only did it for 10 as I knew the steak would be ready sooner.

I let the steak cook a little longer in the pan after I turned the stove off, then transferred it to a plate to rest. The buzzer went for the potato and I noticed that the cheese had turned a nice golden brown on top. I was tempted to just jump in there, but didn't. I threw some spinach on the plate with bacon ranch dressing, topped with some of the same cheese as in the potato, and figured I would take a picture and see how it looked.

When I sliced into the steak it was a touch pink, and I knew that it wasn't done as well as I thought it should be, but there was no way whatsoever I was going to reheat the pan just to cook it for one more minute. It was just barely tender enough for the soul to whisper in a quiet, hushed tone....  steak... 

Needless to say, it was pretty darn good. As for the rest, the cheese on top of the potato was crisped and toasty, the potato filling creamy and slightly salty just from the added cheese... the potato skin was not quite crisp, but it was good as it was.  The spinach with ranch dressing and Italiano cheese was perfect company for the baked potato. I don't know how many times tonight I said the words "Oh my God this is good."  The amazing thing is that this probably cost less than $5.00.

Prep and meat tenderizing music: Static X
Start a War - Perfect for attacking a piece of meat.

Cooking music:  Static X
Cult of Static - Perfect for stabbing a potato with a fork.

Eating steak music: Diana Krall
The Look of Love