I live to eat and love to cook. Welcome to my life!

April 16, 2010

Thank you, my friends, for dinner!

How lucky are we to have good friends? And in addition to being good friends and keeping us amused and entertained, Brock and I are also fortunate enough to have friends that share.

With the weather holding steady and the sun shining regularly I was feeling a little summer-ish tonight and opted to take a couple of steaks out of the freezer. I paired this with the first corn of the season and a sassy little veggie salad.

In addition to the pig that is gracing our freezer in the form of sausage and loins (we've pretty much eaten everything else) we also have deer and elk in both ground form and a few steaks that our friend Tim gave to us.

To season the steaks I brought out a goody bag from another friend (Sarah!) who works for a food service distribution company. She recently met with some folks who were kind enough to give her samples (Love samples!) of some flavored oils and vinegars and some dry rubs and spices from a company called Char Crust. http://www.charcrust.com/

I *heart* Char Crust.

When I owned my restaurant it was all we seasoned our dry aged steaks with and we ordered the stuff by the 5 gallon bucket as we were known for our steaks and blew through it like crazy. It is a Mid-west company that started out inside of a restaurant that has now branched out in to a huge company. We always used the "original" flavor, but after Sarah gifted me with all of the samples, I found out that they have about 8 of them. Yay!

I chose the Garlic Peppercorn, which was delicious....I only forgot that with this stuff, you really have to dredge and pack it on to your steak/chop/rib as it is light in flavor otherwise. This rub really seals in the juices and creates an awesome crust on the outside of a steak....just sear on a high heat until it is done to your taste. The outside of the meat just caramelizes and is mouthwateringly delicious.

A little shallot & mushroom chopped up for a saute to top the steak with.....


Chopped cucumber, cherry tomatoes and sliced jicama tossed with pomegranate vinegar and arbequina olive oil from my local olive oil shop (WeOlive on Main Street in Ventura!) and a little salt and pepper.


Boiled corn on the cob with a little butter (just a smidge!) and a sprinkle of salt.


To the friends that contributed, thank you, we truly enjoyed dinner tonight!

Summer is almost here....I can just about taste it!

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