A Juicy Porterhouse Steak!

For my non-Christmas/Holiday dinner this year I was craving a porterhouse steak.  I found a good one that was calling out my name, "yo Kitchen Bitch, I'm a real heart stopper" so naturally I fell for that line.  I knew it was way too much for just me but I had a plan for what I couldn't finish.

When I'm in a meat eating mode basically that's all I really want to eat.  When I eat steaks I do like tomato wedges sprinkled with minced garlic, kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper and a few sticks of green onions that I rub in salt as I'm eating.  I'm a salt freak with no high-blood pressure problems so I just go for it.  I plug my steak with garlic slices and douse with more salt and pepper then I grilled it.  Here's the before and after...

 

When I ate all I could I wrapped up the remainder and saved it for the next day.  After a huge steak I'm not too hungry the next day and a little soup does me good.  I go for my favorite quickie soup that I call Oasis Soup after the Inn I stayed at in San Francisco while attending the Culinary Academy.  All I had to cook on was an electric burner and a small pot or pan.  My tiny refrigerator didn't hold much so I would take whatever vegetables I had on hand and chop them up to add to my canned chicken stock.  Usually I would put sliced carrots, broccoli, a brussel sprout or two, maybe a few sliced mushrooms and cook them in the stock/broth then add Ramen noodles, minced garlic and sliced green onions.  If I had leftover chicken I'd throw that in too.  I used the leftover steak from my Christmas dinner as the protein in this soup.  Its so easy, flavorful and inexpensive.  I'm sure a lot of people have cooked this soup when getting themselves through school.  Here's what the steak looked like the next day.  Yum.

I really enjoy this soup!

Lark Creek Steak, San Francisco

This has been a busy and rough week for me at the Chron. I've been slaving in the cellar over all the wines to unbox and log-in, I've been researching tons of information to print in the next few editions and I cooked (the bright side) today most of the morning. Tomorrow its back to the dungeon to tackle the wines again for the next upcoming tastings.

As a treat for my hard (and volunteer) given effort I decided to dine here tonight to give myself a little pat on the back for making all this happen. I ate alone and had the best service from a waiter who was over-the-top great. A waiter can make or break your evening in places like this when you're dining alone. He was James, a vivacious and genuinely friendly fellow but not overbearing like some can be. He knew everything he was talking about, especially the wines and pairings. He did everything right that I can think of that a good waiter should do when trying to assist the kitchen and serve the customer at the same time. He gently pushed the Sirloin Tartare, which you need to when its on the menu and there is a small crowd. Its not like it'll be good for too long. I guess that's why they have a nice truffled burger on the menu too. Use up that tartare.

He was really at his best when I was on my cell and my main dish was coming. He didn't want to interrupt so he just brought 2 little swallows of red wine in each glass for me to try that would go with my meal before I even ordered any wine. I thought that was the most thoughtful effort I'd ever experienced in a restaurant. Never did anyone try to be so helpful and non interruptive. When I got off the call, we discussed the wines and ordered one. My hats off to that man for his class and style.

I wanted to have a good meal in my home town before I leave the city at the end of the month and I did. I even had better service than I ever had anywhere and I'm glad it was here in San Francisco.

If you're ever around Westfield Mall at 5th and Market, stop into Lark Creek Steak, I know you'll enjoy the steaks that cut like butta and the double fried steak fries but more importantly the great service. It was well worth it.

Relax, Un-wine for a Moment

This week has the makings of a very good, easy-going week. We are studying Wines II. Today was a pleasurable tour through the Piedmont area of Italy where one of my favorite wines finds its home - none other than Barolo and also its kissing cousin Gattinara from the delicious, heavenly Nebbiolo grape. During our tasting of the Pio Cesare (my favorite producer) Barolo I couldn't help but think of a big juicy Porterhouse steak with slices of garlic and a drizzle of olive oil. It's really a shame not to have the food to go with the wine to further display the profiles of the various varietals and vintages, but I had to suffer through just rolling it down my mouth and into the wine keeper located between my rib cage.

We also tried a Chianti and then a Chianti Classico. What a world of difference even though it uses the same Sangiovese grapes and same first name. I can tell you not to order that Chianti in the cutesy little raffia decorated bottle but hey, you may want the bottle just to make a candle holder. So just pour out the wine (?) and stick in a candle. Serve the Chianti to your mother-in-law and you drink the Chianti Classico! Trust me on this. The first Chianti is a two pucker paint thinner. Have a problem cleaning your BBQ grill? Use that stuff.

Yesterday was also memorable. We had a taste of a really nice Moscato d'Asti [Muscat grapes]. It was a Frizzante, meaning it had a little zip of bubbly fizz to it. I really liked it even though it was white! It's a nice wine to take to a picnic on a sunny day (serve it cold). The flavor of the muscat grapes was really enchanting. Fruity, slightly sweet but so sunny and cheerful on the mouth. It felt like I swallowed Tinkerbell while picnic-ing with Peter Pan.

Tomorrow we are moving into the sacred land of the "Super Tuscan's". Some of the Tuscan Winemakers have a Devil May Care attitude about laws and regulations and make wines to suit themselves (bless their little hearts). Even though these great wines have a Grading of a mere Table Wine they will knock you off your table! Robust, hearty and unbelieveably round in the mouth. Yum (not a culinary term). I'll have to sneak in a T-bone steak or leg of lamb somehow to class. Those clever Italian winemakers add some Cabernet Savignon grapes to their flavorful Sangiovese grapes when making these wines. Its enough to make you want to move to Tuscany. Like I need a reason. Thank God for BevMo.

We really are treated to some excellent wines that would cost $60 retail and upwards of over $120-$200 in a restaurant per bottle. (getting some return on our tuition) Our instructor is a wine connoisseur and wine writer for The Connisseur's Guide to CA Wines, a monthly magazine. He is very informative and knows a vat full about wines.

We savored (I did at least) a Tignanello Super Tuscan today. Wow. I feel like I was introduced to a bad habit. This one can grow on your palate and deflate your wallet at the same time. It's a double hitter! Maybe more hits actually...

I was also impressed by a new kid on the block (for me) called an Amarone Valpolicella. I learned that these grapes get "rasinated" after picking to add more VAVOOM to the wine during fermentation. Rasinated is just what it sounds like. Most of the moisture is evaporated making the shrivelly little morsel even sweeter and stronger. This whole experience of the Amarone "raisinated" grape had me feeling like I ran into a old classmate from High School. You just have so much to catch up on, all night long. I definitely want to meet more family members named Amarone.

Its been a great day learning so much more than before and tasting so many varietals from different regions. The weeks not over yet! Hey, someone's gotta do it. Pick Me! Pick Me!!