Lou's Most Excellent Steaked Salad

I'm trying to watch it with not just how much I'm eating, but what it is that's actually going down my gullet. Two chins are enough.

Change gears here. I love red meat. Steak, BBQ, burgers, anyway that you cook a cow I'm likely to like. The problem with red meat is this little thing called saturated fats, which leads to a host of problems later on in life as I'm oh so slowly (and sometimes quickly) finding out.

Come the Italians to the rescue, and it's not olive oil or anything Mediterranean mind you. God I love my ancestral country. They've got an answer for everything. Piedmontese Beef. I'm telling you, the first time that Pam The Butcher at Wagshal's told me about it I didn't believe it. Pointing to an ink jet print out on the display case I figured it was fraudlent. How can beef - prime beef at that - be lower in saturated fats, cholesterol, etc. The way it's told is that it's better for you than skinless chicken breasts. The cows are bred to be leaner, and the way they're fed, managed, etc. leads to a leaner cut...even when that cut is considered prime by USDA standards.

None of this makes sense. But I'm buying it because a) it tastes great and b) we'll know soon enough as soon as I get my cholesterol tested again.

And yes, the shit ain't cheap. Sorry. NY strips run around $25/pound (which is what prime usually goes for) while sirloin is around $18/lb. But how much is your health worth? [You obviously don't have to use Piedmontese beef here - any good quality NY strip will work.]

Steak Salad - a good, healthy, and satisfying one at that. Serves two.

1 one pound trimmed, Piedmontese NY strip
2 TBS Montreal steak seasoning*
1 TBS canola oil
6oz of your favorite bagged/packaged salad mix (spinach/frisee/arugula/mache)
1 good tomato, cut into eighths.
1 small shallot, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 TSP high quality balsamic vinegar
1 TBS really stinky blue cheese, finely crumbled
Salt & pepper

*You can usually buy this prepackaged in the spice aisle. If you don't have any, as I didn't, mix your own using 2 TBS of sea salt, 1 TBS coarse ground black pepper, 2 TSP crushed red pepper flakes, 1 TSP cracked fennel seed, 1 TSP dried garlic, 1 TSP hot paprika, 1 TSP dried rosemary and 1 TSP dried thyme.

Two hours before serving, take the steak out, rinse and pat dry, and then generously coat with the steak seasoning. Set the steak on a wire rack and let sit at room temperature, uncovered and undisturbed, for two hours.

Preheat your oven to 400 F.

Rinse and dry your lettuce mix. Set in fridge to keep cool.

Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat for about 5 - 7 minutes. You want this searingly hot. Meanwhile....

In a large bowl add the olive oil, balsamic, shallot, garlic, a generous pinch of salt and more-than-a-few cranks of fresh black pepper. Vigorously mix with a whisk.

Add the canola oil to the pan, wait till it shimmers, then add the steak. It should immediately sizzle to the point where you feel slightly uncomfortable being near it and/or questioning my judgement. Cook about 2 minutes on the first side, flip, then place the pan in the oven. Cook in the oven for about 4 minutes. This will give you a rare steak, which is what you (should) want. Remove the pan from the oven and set aside, steak still in the pan.

Add the salad to the dressing and lightly toss to coat. Add the tomato and blue cheese crumbles and fold in. Set the salad into large bowls.

Slice the steak to your desired thinness (thin works better than than thick). Place on top and enjoy.

Goes good with a nice crusty bread; you could even make a sub out of the whole mix. A wrap too.

Lou's Most Excellent Insalata Caprese

There's really nothing to make here: you either have good tomatoes, basil, mozzarella and olive oil or you don't. Any one of these four legs of the stool go missing and it all falls down.

For this I used three different types of heirloom tomatoes (even the Roma's were an heirloom variety). Any good farmers market will have them this time of year; I got mine at Whole Foods since the damned Dupont Farmers Market is open on Sunday and not Saturday, which is when I went shopping. At least I tried to go local.

Buffalo mozzarella works best for this dish but if you can't find it choose your best cow's milk variety. Cut the cheese fairly thick and let sit on a cutting board for about 5 minutes to let residual liquid drain off. Cut the tomatoes to the same thickness as the cheese and stack them how you please. Sprinkle JUST A LITTLE flake-style sea salt over the tomatoes, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, and garnish with whole basil leaves.

These flavors carry their own. This is one dish were less is, in fact, more.

Lou's Most Excellent Provolone Chicken

Grilled chicken can be one of the most boring things around. Brining (see LME Chicken Brine) helps a lot as does marinating in other concoctions.

If you know how to grill chicken, however, salt & pepper are enough to do the job. A little of these sprinkled on the chicken, cooked over a nice fire, works wonders. Now, that all said….

Here’s a recipe that’s quick, easy, and yields a flavorful chicken breast that can be used in multiple ways. There are few ingredients; the prep of this makes the chicken come out great tasting so pay attention. This goes great on top of a green salad, on a bun, or even as a main course with corresponding sides.

A thing about provolone. There’s provolone and then there’s provolone. Domestic provolone tends to be mild in flavor. Here in the US most commercial makers have it in their minds that all provolone is destined for some incarnation of the Italian sub so it has to slice nicely and musn't upset the masses. A hearty, aged provolone is very difficult to slice; it can have the texture of block of Parmesan if it gets old enough. It will have a very sharp – near 5 year cheddar-like – bite and feel like there are patches of salt crystals within, like an aged Gouda. This is often labeled as provolone piccante and is typically aged 4 - 12 months.

THAT, my friends, is provolone.

4 boneless chicken breasts
¼ pound Italian (i.e. imported) sharp provolone
1 TSP Herbs de Provence
2 garlic cloves, finely minced or pressed
Juice of ½ a lemon
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt & Pepper

Take the herbs and add 2 TSP of hot tap water to them. Set aside for 15 minutes to let them rehydrate. While this is going on….

Rinse and pat dry each breast. Using a very sharp, thin knife, insert the knife down the length of the breast from the thick end down ¾ of the way toward the thin end, creating a 1” wide, deep pocket. Cut the provolone into ½” wide ¼” thick strips about half the length of the chicken, two strips per breast.

Add 4 TBS of olive oil add the herbs, garlic, 2 big pinches of salt, 5 cranks of pepper and the lemon juice. Whisk together.

Rub some of the marinade over the cheese strips. Insert two strips of provolone into each breast. [It’s OK if it’s sticking out a little.] Add the breasts to a bowl and cover with the remaining herbed olive oil. Set in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Cook chicken on a grill using the indirect method (on the side of the heat, not over it), with some hickory pieces thrown in for flavor. Place the chicken on the grill and pour the remaining marinade over. Grill closed for about 20 minutes, perhaps longer for thicker pieces.

Goes great on a salad, in a bun, or just on the side.

Lou's Most Excellent Blue Cheese Dressing

You are not going to find a better blue cheese dressing than this.

Anywhere.

Really - you won't.

Once you have this you will never go "back to the bottle" and will sneer in mild disappointment at every restaurant that has blue cheese dressing as an option.

I got this from my buddy Jim who in turn got it from a cookbook by Paul Prudhomme, whom I had the honor to meet for all but 14 seconds at the 2008 Fancy Food Show.

"Hi Chef Paul - I'm a big fan of your blue cheese dressing."
"Thank you. I have a new one that you should try."
"Really? Great! I'd like to know..."

And by then he was talking to some other schmuck and giving his autograph.

I've modified it a tinge (more garlic and chili powder). Also make this eight hours or even a day before you need it: it's much better the second day as the flavors have had a chance to blend together.

½ large white onion, coarsely chopped
5 garlic cloves, coarsely minced
1 egg
½ cup buttermilk (lowfat or fat free - doesn't matter)
2 cups canola oil
6 ounces of crumbly blue cheese (typically Danish)
1 TSP ground white pepper
1 TSP table salt
½ to 1 TSP cayenne pepper
¼ TSP chili powder

In a food processor add the onion and garlic and puree until smooth, about one minute. Add the egg and salt and process for 30 seconds, then pour in the buttermilk while the processor is running.

With the thing still whirling away, slowly pour in the oil in a continuous stream. Add 2 ounces of the blue cheese and white pepper and process for another 15 seconds.

Pour the dressing into a glass bowl (if you use plastic it will wreak of blue cheese forever). Add the remaining blue cheese and the cayenne and chili powder.

This comes out pleasantly spicy with a tinge of smokiness. You can leave the cayenne and chili out, or reduce the amounts, and you still have a great dressing.

Serve on a wedge of cold iceberg with bacon bits, chunks of tomato and red onion. Good times, good times.

Lou's Most Excellent Salad Dressing I

This takes minutes and is pretty danged tasty on a weeknight.

A major mistake people make with salads is overdressing them (although one could argue that for a blue cheese that's never an issue). Here you just want to lightly dress it - the leaves should be covered enough. If you have residual dressing on the bottom of your tossing bowl you over dressed it, dipshit.

[Which I've been called many times....]

Four big handfuls of lettuce mix (mache, radicchio, frisee)
Five chopped Medjool dates OR 1/2 of a sliced ripe pear OR fennel OR all OR peach...
1 TBS macadamia nut oil
1/2 TSP honey
1/2 TSP balsamic vinegar
1 pressed garlic clove
Juice from 1/3 of lemon
Salt & pepper

Wash and dry lettuce in a salad spinner. In a big bowl add the oil, honey and vinegar together. Whisk until emulsified then add garlic. Toss in lettuce and gently mix until covered, then add lemon juice and lightly toss. Add a pinch of salt and about 4 cranks of ground pepper. Add dates and/or pear.

Top with slices of parmesan.