Chargrilled Flank Steak with Bleu Cheese and Port finishing sauce

Bleu Cheese Flank Steak with Port Wine Finishing Sauce

Ok so the weather is getting nice. Here's a steak you can make for Valentine's Day that will make her melt.

Ingredients/Supplies

1 Flank Steak - 18 oz If you can't find Flank Steak, a nice Filet or Flat Iron steak will work great too. For a Filet skip the slicing step and serve whole.
1/4 cup Bleu Cheese crumbles
1/4 cup Williams Sonoma Port Finishing Sauce - available at Williams Sonoma
you could make your own if you want to cook it all day
Garlic Salt (coarse ground), red/black pepper mix (McCormick makes a blend), 2 cloves minced garlic, season salt, Cavender's Greek Seasoning
2 T garlic steak butter
1 bag of Kingsford Charwood (not charcoal) this stuff burns REALLY hot and it is dangerous when it first starts getting hot. It pops and sparks so be careful and don't stand close when you see it start popping.
High Heat cooking spray

1. Start the coals. Charwood takes a bit longer to get going and you shouldn't use lighter fluid if you have a chimney starter use it instead.

2. Spray the grill grate with the non stick cooking spray before the fire is hot. This will keep you from turning the can into a flame thrower and also give the spray a chance to season the grate.

3. While the coals are heating up, throw the garlic salt, seson salt, pepper, the minced garlic and some Cavnders on the steak and rub it in. Put it back in the fridge UNCOVERD for 15-20 min. Let the salts penetrate the steak.

4. When the fire is so hot that you can't hold your hand over the grate for more than a second or two (around 900 degrees) toss that steak on and seer that sucker for about 90 seconds on each side twice and then on the last flip put the steak butter on top and cover the grill and let it slow cook for about 5 min. This should get it to a good Medium temp.

5. Take the steak off and let it rest for about 3 or 4 minutes.

6. Heat the port sauce in a small bowl for about 20 sec and then stir it up

7. Slice the steak across the grain making 1/2 inch strips and arrange them on your plate in a nice pattern I usually star them in a circle.

8. Pour some of the port sauce over the steak, top with half of the bleu cheese crumbs and then pour the remaining sauce over the cheese and steak

9. Serve with my potatoes and asparagus.

 

I promise you will love this one. Try it with a hand cut Filet or any other tender steak. My wife says this is one of the reasons she married me.


 

Posted by SHOWOFF_A16 @ 3:55 pm EDT | Permalink | 3 Comments

HDTV Replacement frustration

I have a great HD Theater setup at home, but recently I went through extended service policy HELL.

I started noticing a blue haze in the center of the screen on my 52" JVC HDILA TV. I bought the service policy for $259 at Nebraska Furniture Mart and I am glad I did...well sort of..

I called the warranty company and they went out a tech and after arguing with me for almost an hour about it being the convergence he finally agreed that there was a problem. About a day later I got a call from Assurance solutions that "Great news sir we're going to replace your TV with a new one. We've approved you for a 47" Samsung" my response was what you might expect "sooo you're going to give me a smaller TV than what I have now...Yeah..I'm out..." I called NFM and complained and they told me that I could get store credit to buy another TV. I thought OK cool I could get a SWEET TV for the $2800 I spent almost 3 years ago. Not so fast...they only gave me $1200 store credit which wouldn't buy anything close to what I had. I was pissed. I argued with them and went into the store to find what I wanted and to get what I paid for. I read reviews on CNET about the Samsung 56" DLP which I could pick up for around $1600 and get 1080p and all the things I was looking for. I also realized that since TV's had really come down they wouldn't give me all the money I paid before. This I understood, having to argue and negotiate for what I deserved was totally out of the realm of what I thought was good business. Being a Sales Manager at a car dealership, these people would not with negotiations with me. After making my ultimatums I got a Samsung 56" DLP. I thought this was a win for me. 

After spending 4 hours at Nebraska Furniture Mart getting my problems solved, I got the TV home set everything up and the TV itself looked amazing. I liked the idea of the inputs being on the side of the TV vs the back, so easy to get to. One thing I noticed on all of my XBOX or Tivo menus was that the screen was distorted or warped where there was a continuous line across the screen. It was swooping upward on the left side of the screen. I pushed on the screen itself and it was really flimsy and it would distort the picture. There was even a sticker on the top of the TV that tells you not to set anything on top of it to keep from having a poor picture quality. (where do you put your center channel now?) Called Nebraska Furniture Mart and told them what was up (even the TV repair man told me Samsung DLP's SUCK) I took the TV back and got another one, guess what...same problem. My neighbor went and bought the same TV because he had been eyeing it for some time, guess what, same problem. NFM is 25 minutes from my house and I don't own a truck so my dad had to come out from 45 min away to help every time I did this. - thanks dad -

I took the 2nd Samsung back and bitched about wasting 4 hours of my time twice and they gave me a 57" Mitsubishi 1080p. I had to pay $66 difference to upgrade to this TV. I love this TV but I'll say that I am disappointed with the type of inputs. The Samsung ran 1080p over component, but the Mitsubishi only runs 1080i unless you are on HDMI. The picture on this Mitsubishi is freaking amazing. Bright and vibrant and you can adjust all six colors instead of just the RBG like most sets. It's crazy when you are watching football in HD and you can read and make out every detail of the player's tatoos it's so clear.

I strongly recommend spending the extra couple hundred on the service plan on any TV you buy when it comes to HD. Just be prepared to fight if something goes wrong. Keep your cool and if you end up like me, you'll get what you want, it just might take a lot of extra effort you didn't plan on.  

Posted by SHOWOFF_A16 @ 12:19 pm EDT | Permalink | 2 Comments

Halo 2 during 3 pm TST (Timmie Standard Time)

You know, anonymity over the internet is a funny thing.

It's funny to hear people tell me how bad I suck and how big of a piece of shit I am on XBOX Live. Everyone has a bad game now and then. I have also had those games in Slayer where I beat the entire opposing team in swat getting 45 of the 50 kills and winning 50 to 15. I may have lost the game or you might have gotten your N0-Sc0p3 h34dsh07 off when clearly I watched you melee me after you shot twice and missed the second. I'm sure from the comfort of your parent's house in your bedroom from on your 13" TV that you and your little brother are playing split screen on after you finished your math homework it's pretty hard to see the game very well.

Usually after I'm fed up with the Timmie time which occurs during the hours of 3pm TST - Timmie Standard Time - (after elementary school gets out) to 10pm (usually they have to go to bed by them but they may be sneaking online) I'll grab a beer or something to eat and watch a movie or something Tivo'd. After 10 pm the field is narrowed to Stoned Jerkoff teens in their dorm rooms (I can tell by the abundant need to display some type of 420 reference in their gamertags). This is where the games get very interesting. Most of the swat, Big Team and sniper matches start out with some fuckbag shouting obscenities and one person on the host team (after they have forced host-yes I can see it in Commview) lagg or drop a player out . Somehow someone on their team will magically have a yellow to red connection during the match and they mysteriously are impossible to kill. The best gaming hours are between 9am and 2 pm. After that it's

Yes Timmie I'm 30 years old and no I don't live in my parents basement. I play Halo once a week (sometimes more) from the comfort of my 1200 sq ft fully finished basement on a 52" DLP while sitting in my leather theater chair.

BEACAUSE I EARNED IT.

P.S. I'm not bragging about what I have either for those of you that haven't taken the plunge on a full Theater setup.

Posted by SHOWOFF_A16 @ 5:17 pm EDT | Permalink | 2 Comments

Blue Tooth Retards - Are you really that important?

I REALLY HATE people that walk around with a fucking Blue tooth on their ear all the time. 

Is there a plasma disturbance on deck 5 of the fucking Enterprise that you need to tell Captain Picard about?

Are you so important that you might get that million dollar call any second while you're in the grocery store at 11:30 pm?

Do you realize how goddamned stupid you look with that fucker on your ear?

Do you realize how retarded you look to other people when you are talking in that thing and we don't see it until you look at us like we're evesdropping on your "important call" but we're just trying to have a normal day in line at McDonald's?

I saw some jackoff on the news the other night with one on his fucking ear during an interview from the couch in his livingroom. Seriously you douche....

Posted by SHOWOFF_A16 @ 2:40 pm EDT | Permalink | 12 Comments

Summertime Grill Specialties

I LOVE TO COOK. There was a meat thread in the forums so I added this one. You should really try this for a famliy or couples BBQ, its truly one of the best meals I have made on the grill.

Try this one on your steaks...
Go to your local Super Target and head over to the meat section. Grab a small can of Sutton and Dodge Savory Steak and Roast Rub, a package of their Garlic and Herb steak butter and a bottle of the Peppercorn Brandy finishing sauce.
Get your favorite cut of meat from the butcher or grocery store and let it sit out on a plate or glass dish (covered of course) until it developes a little moisture.
Heavily spread the steak rub on both sides of the cut and place the meat UNCOVERED back in the fridge for about an hour.
About 25 min before you're going to cook those bastards get that grill as hot as you can. I recommend using Kingsford Lump Charwood instead of charcoal, but be careful when getting the fire started because that shit pops like fireworks.
Put your steak on the gill in the hottest part and burn the shit out of that thing. Midway through your grilling flip it and repeat. On the second turn to get the black lines looking good on the steak drop about 1 tsp of that steak butter on the top of the steak and repeat again. When they are cooked to your liking, take them off the grill and let them rest. NEVER serve a steak without letting it rest for at least 5 minutes.
Pour a small amount of the Peppercorn sauce on your plate and rest the meat on top and spoon out about 1 tsp of the steak butter on top and let it melt for a minute or 2. Pair this with a grilled asparagus and a twice baked potato and you're in heaven. I suggest eating this steak with a dark beek like a Killian's Red or my favorite Kansas City's Own Boulevard Lunar Ale.

Signature Grilled Red Wine Vinegar Asparagus

Prep Time - 5 min
Cook Time - 5 min
Supplies:
1 Bundle Asparagus
Red Wine Vinegar - Alessi is a good brand
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea Salt - Coarse
Fresh Cracked Black Pepper

1. Clean your asparagus and clip off the bottom inch to inch and a half
2. Mix 1/4 cup olive oil and 2 tbs Vinegar
3. Brush the asparagus with the oil vinegar mixture generously
4. Sprinkle with salt and pepper
5. Grill over coals or gas grill and brush with oil vinegar mixture midway through until the skin on the asparagus bubbles a bit and starts to brown
6. Serve hot

Recipie for my ULTIMATE twice bakeds:
Serves 4
Prep/Cook Time 20 min
Tools:
Large Mixing Bowl
High Speed Hand Mixer
Spatula or scraper
Supplies
6 Med sized baked potatoes (2 of the shells will be discarded)
3/4 cup sour cream
1 pint Heavy Whipping Cream
2% milk
Coarse ground garlic salt
Seasoning salt
1/2 stick REAL BUTTER (margerine is OK)
Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
Scallions or chives
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees

1. Pop the spuds in the microwave and nuke them until they are soft.
2. Take them out (they're hot as hell) and score the tops longways, then hollow out the entire potato and keep the shell. Place the cooked tater insides in a large mixing bowl.
3. Drop the butter and sour cream in with the potatoes and start to smash them with the mixer at a slow rate. Once the mixture is even, add the whipping cream to get them to an almost frosting or pudding consistency. Then start to add the pepper, garlic and seasoning salt to taste. The garlic salt is the key as is the pepper, go easy on the seasoning salt. If your taters were pretty large use the 2% milk to get the consistency right.
4. Whip the potatoes until they are full of air and really fluffy. There should be NO LUMPS.
5. Fill the shells with the mashed potato mixture and use the spatula to make little peaks on the top of the potato. This is important.
6. Place the twice bakes on a cookie sheet (non stick) and place them in the preheated oven for 10 min and for the last 2 -3 min Broil the tops until the little peaks turn golden brown and a light crust is formed. When this happens take them out. Top with chives or scallions.
7. Serve

People will LOVE you for this one.

 

 

 

Posted by SHOWOFF_A16 @ 8:28 pm EDT | Permalink | 2 Comments