Kick'n steak

Oh pshaw, on Mon 15 Oct 2007 07:50:16p, meant to say...

Quoted message said:

I was watching Healthy Appetite, I think that's what it's called, on
the food channel. Ellie Krieger made what she called Cowboy Steak. I
was really interested in the rub so I tried it tonight.

It rocks!!!!

I used chile powder, not a powdered chile. I also substituted ground
cumin for the coriander since I had no ground coriander, and I left
out the salt.
This is a versatile rub, it can be "kicked up a notch" or kept mild.
This has become one of my favorites.
I salt treated the steak then rinsed and patted it dry before applying
the rub.
http://i24.tinypic.com/10532g9.jpg

The rubbed steak sat while the sweet potatoes and yams were roasting.
http://i21.tinypic.com/nf0k87.jpg

Broiled steak resting before slicing
http://i22.tinypic.com/9t2zba.jpg

I bought some organic baby sweet potatoes and yams that I roasted with
olive oil and coarse ground salt the freshly ground black pepper.
http://i23.tinypic.com/2qmd85z.jpg

I inadvertently overcooked the steak but it was still juicy and
delicious, I had to make myself stop eating it.
http://i22.tinypic.com/25i2phh.jpg

@@@@@ Now You're Cooking! Export Format
Cowboy Steak
meats

1 1/2 teaspoons ancho chile powder, or chilie powder of your choice
1 1/2 teaspoons espresso coffee; fine ground
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/4 pound top sirloin steak; 1 1/4 inch thick

Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and preheat it over
medium-high heat. In a small bowl combine all the ingredients for the
rub and coat the steak well on both sides. Cook steak for 14 minutes,
turning once, for medium to medium-rare. Allow steak to sit for 5
minutes before slicing.

Contributor: Ellie Krieger on food t.v.

** Exported from Now You're Cooking! v5.82 **

Try it. I think you'll like it.

koko

Thanks, koko, for posting this. I will definitely be giving this a try
soon, probably this weekend.

--
Wayne Boatwright
__________________________________________________

Answers: $1, Short: $5, Correct: $25, dumb looks
are still free.

Oh pshaw, on Mon 15 Oct 2007 07:50:16p, meant to say...

Quoted message said:

I was watching Healthy Appetite, I think that's what it's called, on
the food channel. Ellie Krieger made what she called Cowboy Steak. I
was really interested in the rub so I tried it tonight.

It rocks!!!!

I used chile powder, not a powdered chile. I also substituted ground
cumin for the coriander since I had no ground coriander, and I left
out the salt.
This is a versatile rub, it can be "kicked up a notch" or kept mild.
This has become one of my favorites.
I salt treated the steak then rinsed and patted it dry before applying
the rub.
http://i24.tinypic.com/10532g9.jpg

When you say you "salt treated" the steak, exactly what did you mean? I've
not done that before.

Thanks!

BTW, the sliced steak's doneness was just to my liking.

--
Wayne Boatwright
__________________________________________________

Answers: $1, Short: $5, Correct: $25, dumb looks
are still free.

Sounds good, but since "cowboy steak" is the name of a cut
of beef it's a slightly confusing name for the dish.
Akin to calling your favorite steak preparation "T-bone steak",
or some such.

S.

Steve Pope said:

Sounds good, but since "cowboy steak" is the name of a cut
of beef it's a slightly confusing name for the dish.

Yep. Cowboy steak is a whole bone ribeye, often frenched, and
preferably from the large end of the prime rib.

-sw

On Tue, 16 Oct 2007 02:57:46 GMT, Wayne Boatwright

wayneboatwright_@_gmail.com said:

Oh pshaw, on Mon 15 Oct 2007 07:50:16p, meant to say...

Quoted message said:

I was watching Healthy Appetite, I think that's what it's called, on
the food channel. Ellie Krieger made what she called Cowboy Steak. I
was really interested in the rub so I tried it tonight.

It rocks!!!!

I used chile powder, not a powdered chile. I also substituted ground
cumin for the coriander since I had no ground coriander, and I left
out the salt.
This is a versatile rub, it can be "kicked up a notch" or kept mild.
This has become one of my favorites.
I salt treated the steak then rinsed and patted it dry before applying
the rub.
http://i24.tinypic.com/10532g9.jpg

When you say you "salt treated" the steak, exactly what did you mean? I've
not done that before.

Thanks!

BTW, the sliced steak's doneness was just to my liking.

Thank you Wayne.
I got the salt treatment idea from a food blog that I follow
http://steamykitchen.com/blog/2007/08/28/how-to-turn-cheap-choice-steaks-into-gucci-prime-steaks/

I posted about it here before. It was shortly before you graced us
with your presence again. :-)

I hope you try it. I'd like to hear what you think.

koko
---
http://www.kokoscorner.typepad.com
updated 10/14

"There is no love more sincere than the love of food"
George Bernard Shaw

Oh pshaw, on Mon 15 Oct 2007 08:52:52p, meant to say...

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 16 Oct 2007 02:57:46 GMT, Wayne Boatwright

wayneboatwright_@_gmail.com said:

Oh pshaw, on Mon 15 Oct 2007 07:50:16p, meant to say...

Quoted message said:

I was watching Healthy Appetite, I think that's what it's called, on
the food channel. Ellie Krieger made what she called Cowboy Steak. I
was really interested in the rub so I tried it tonight.

It rocks!!!!

I used chile powder, not a powdered chile. I also substituted ground
cumin for the coriander since I had no ground coriander, and I left
out the salt.
This is a versatile rub, it can be "kicked up a notch" or kept mild.
This has become one of my favorites.
I salt treated the steak then rinsed and patted it dry before applying
the rub.
http://i24.tinypic.com/10532g9.jpg

When you say you "salt treated" the steak, exactly what did you mean?
I've not done that before.

Thanks!

BTW, the sliced steak's doneness was just to my liking.

Thank you Wayne.
I got the salt treatment idea from a food blog that I follow
http://steamykitchen.com/blog/2007/08/28/how-to-turn-cheap-choice-steaks-
into-gucci-prime-steaks/

I posted about it here before. It was shortly before you graced us
with your presence again. :-)

I hope you try it. I'd like to hear what you think.

koko
---

Now that I know how, I will definitely give it a try and report back.

Thanks, koko!

koko said:

I got the salt treatment idea from a food blog that I follow
http://steamykitchen.com/blog/2007/08/28/how-to-turn-cheap-choice-steaks-into-gucci-prime-steaks/

I just read that blog entry and it is a bit different from the way
Judy Rodgers does it. The blogger suggests that she got the technique
from Judy Rodgers' Zuni Cafe cookbook. However, Judy Rodgers says a
much longer salting period is needed, of about 2-3 days. Russ
Parsons of the LA Times did an article not terribly long ago about
this method and he did explain the theory behind this, as is described
in the blog. However, he reiterates what Judy Rodgers says,and says
the process takes about 3 days.

I don't think his article is available for free anymore, or I would
point you to his.

This method of pre-salting which I heartily endorse, is great for most
meats, and poultry. But once again, this blogger uses way, way more
salt than does Judy Rodgers. In the Zuni Cafe Cookbook, about 3/4 tsp
of salt per pound of beef is recommended for pre-salting. And the
amount she uses for poultry is also distorted. It is not a massive
amount by any means. The salt is not put on that heavily.

That is not to say that this method doesn't work, but there is a fair
amount of distortion from this blogger about this method espoused by
both Judy Rodgers and Russ Parsons.

Christine

Christine Dabney said:

I just read that blog entry and it is a bit different from the way
Judy Rodgers does it. The blogger suggests that she got the technique
from Judy Rodgers' Zuni Cafe cookbook. However, Judy Rodgers says a
much longer salting period is needed, of about 2-3 days. Russ
Parsons of the LA Times did an article not terribly long ago about
this method and he did explain the theory behind this, as is described
in the blog. However, he reiterates what Judy Rodgers says,and says
the process takes about 3 days.

It would be my guess that a 3-day salting would be way more
sensitive to temperature, humidity, and initial bacterial
contamination of the meat. I would be wary of any claim
that a consumer can by a typical piece of meat from the store
and do this reliably.

And the one hour dry-salt method would have to be compared to
brining -- I disagree with the blogger's opinion that brining is a lot
of trouble, and for my money with brining it's very easy to
get an exact, even infusion of salt. I'd be interested to
hear from anyone who's tried both.

Steve

Christine Dabney said:

That is not to say that this method doesn't work, but there is a fair
amount of distortion from this blogger about this method espoused by
both Judy Rodgers and Russ Parsons.

Christine

Replying to my own post:

I just got out my copy of the Zuni Cafe Cookbook, from which this
method is supposedly drawn. I went to the section where Judy Rodgers
is talking about steaks and salting them. She says a scant 3/4 tsp
salt per pound of beef is recommended, and then to leave it for at
least 4 hours, and preferably at least a day.

So, I am wary of this blogger's method.. especially if she says it
comes from Judy Rodgers. But if it works, hey...😉 I would be
inclined to do a comparison, myself....to see which really is the
better way.

Christine

On Tue, 16 Oct 2007 05:14:53 +0000 (UTC), [email hidden]

(Steve Pope) said:

It would be my guess that a 3-day salting would be way more
sensitive to temperature, humidity, and initial bacterial
contamination of the meat. I would be wary of any claim
that a consumer can by a typical piece of meat from the store
and do this reliably.

I have done this several times by the longer presalting method. It
does work, and works quite well.

Quoted message said:

And the one hour dry-salt method would have to be compared to
brining -- I disagree with the blogger's opinion that brining is a lot
of trouble, and for my money with brining it's very easy to
get an exact, even infusion of salt. I'd be interested to
hear from anyone who's tried both.

According to people like Judy Rodgers and Russ Parsons, you are adding
in salt water to the meat when you brine. With the pre-salting, you
aren't adding anything that isn't already there, other than the salt.
With the pre-salting, the juices that are inherent in the meat, are at
first drawn out, then re-absorbed over the course of those days, along
with the salt.

As I suspected, the article by Russ Parsons is no longer free. I tried
paste-ing the link to it, but it is way too long... If you want to do
a search for it, the keyword is pre-salting, at least in the LA Times
search engine on the food pages.

Christine

koko said:

Thank you Wayne.
I got the salt treatment idea from a food blog that I follow
http://steamykitchen.com/blog/2007/08/28/how-to-turn-cheap-choice-steaks-into-gucci-prime-steaks/

I posted about it here before. It was shortly before you graced us
with your presence again. :-)

I hope you try it. I'd like to hear what you think.

I don't know how I managed to miss that, but I did.

How to Turn Cheap “Choice” Steaks into Gucci “Prime” Steaks

However, in this day and age, "choice" isn't cheap anymore. It's
expensive and most of us are happy to be able to buy choice at a
fairly reasonable price.

--
See return address to reply by email
remove the smiley face first

Christine Dabney said:

This method of pre-salting which I heartily endorse, is great for most
meats, and poultry. But once again, this blogger uses way, way more
salt than does Judy Rodgers. In the Zuni Cafe Cookbook, about 3/4 tsp
of salt per pound of beef is recommended for pre-salting. And the
amount she uses for poultry is also distorted. It is not a massive
amount by any means. The salt is not put on that heavily.

Many of the people who responded to that blog article, once you
get past hundreds of, "Great Article" compliments, said they
tried it and it turned out so horribly salty that they couldn't
even eat the stuff.

-sw

sf said:

koko said:

Thank you Wayne.
I got the salt treatment idea from a food blog that I follow

http://steamykitchen.com/blog/2007/08/28/how-to-turn-cheap-choice-steaks-into-gucci-prime-steaks/

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I posted about it here before. It was shortly before you graced us
with your presence again. :-)

I hope you try it. I'd like to hear what you think.

I don't know how I managed to miss that, but I did.

How to Turn Cheap "Choice" Steaks into Gucci "Prime" Steaks

However, in this day and age, "choice" isn't cheap anymore. It's
expensive and most of us are happy to be able to buy choice at a
fairly reasonable price.

Hear hear! Besides, while the salting method may be good I don't think it
suddenly changes the USDA grade of the beef 😉

sf said:

koko said:

Thank you Wayne.
I got the salt treatment idea from a food blog that I follow

http://steamykitchen.com/blog/2007/08/28/how-to-turn-cheap-choice-steaks-into-gucci-prime-steaks/

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I posted about it here before. It was shortly before you graced us
with your presence again. :-)

I hope you try it. I'd like to hear what you think.

I don't know how I managed to miss that, but I did.

How to Turn Cheap "Choice" Steaks into Gucci "Prime" Steaks

However, in this day and age, "choice" isn't cheap anymore. It's
expensive and most of us are happy to be able to buy choice at a
fairly reasonable price.

Hear hear! Besides, while the salting method may be good I don't think it
suddenly changes the USDA grade of the beef 😉

Sqwertz said:

Christine Dabney said:

This method of pre-salting which I heartily endorse, is great for most
meats, and poultry. But once again, this blogger uses way, way more
salt than does Judy Rodgers. In the Zuni Cafe Cookbook, about 3/4 tsp
of salt per pound of beef is recommended for pre-salting. And the
amount she uses for poultry is also distorted. It is not a massive
amount by any means. The salt is not put on that heavily.

Many of the people who responded to that blog article, once you
get past hundreds of, "Great Article" compliments, said they
tried it and it turned out so horribly salty that they couldn't
even eat the stuff.

I've tried it only once, after reading something about it in the L.A.
Times. Let it work for two days, hated the result. I will continue
my dry aging practice instead. I know it has an effect that I
like. -aem

Sqwertz said:

On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 23:04:25 -0600, Christine Dabney wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

This method of pre-salting which I heartily endorse, is great for most
meats, and poultry. But once again, this blogger uses way, way more
salt than does Judy Rodgers. In the Zuni Cafe Cookbook, about 3/4 tsp
of salt per pound of beef is recommended for pre-salting. And the
amount she uses for poultry is also distorted. It is not a massive
amount by any means. The salt is not put on that heavily.

Quoted message said:

Many of the people who responded to that blog article, once you
get past hundreds of, "Great Article" compliments, said they
tried it and it turned out so horribly salty that they couldn't
even eat the stuff.

Seems to me the obvious risk with dry-salting is uncontrolled
dose. You control this much better with brining. Whether brining
adds too much fluid and degrades the result that way, I'm not
sure. (Works fine for pork, is all I know.)

Steve

Christine Dabney said:

On Tue, 16 Oct 2007 05:14:53 +0000 (UTC), [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

It would be my guess that a 3-day salting would be way more
sensitive to temperature, humidity, and initial bacterial
contamination of the meat. I would be wary of any claim
that a consumer can by a typical piece of meat from the store
and do this reliably.

Quoted message said:

I have done this several times by the longer presalting method. It
does work, and works quite well.

Cool.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

And the one hour dry-salt method would have to be compared to
brining -- I disagree with the blogger's opinion that brining is a lot
of trouble, and for my money with brining it's very easy to
get an exact, even infusion of salt. I'd be interested to
hear from anyone who's tried both.

Quoted message said:

According to people like Judy Rodgers and Russ Parsons, you are adding
in salt water to the meat when you brine.

Have they actually compared brining to their dry method, and
gotten worse results, or are they just speculating?

I'd need to talk to someone who has tried both, before discounting
brining, which has (I feel) advantages in giving an exact dose
of salt.

Steve

On Tue, 16 Oct 2007 18:14:31 +0000 (UTC), [email hidden]

(Steve Pope) said:

I'd need to talk to someone who has tried both, before discounting
brining, which has (I feel) advantages in giving an exact dose
of salt.

Steve

Better than that, try it yourself and compare. Get the results first
hand. If you decide to do it yourself, don't do that massive salting
in the blog, but the way Judy Rodgers does in the book. Do you have
the Zuni Cafe Cookbook?

Christine

On Tue, 16 Oct 2007 17:57:30 +0000 (UTC), [email hidden]

(Steve Pope) said:

Seems to me the obvious risk with dry-salting is uncontrolled
dose. You control this much better with brining. Whether brining
adds too much fluid and degrades the result that way, I'm not
sure. (Works fine for pork, is all I know.)

Steve

Somehow I can't see the logic in this. What is uncontrolled about a
measured amount of salt that you put on (the real Judy Rodgers way of
a scant 3/4 tsp per pound) vs the measured amount in a brine?

Christine