Playing Catch-up

Things have been so busy with the radio and TV stuff that I've neglected my blog. Sorry 'bout that. to help catch up, here are some photos of great food that I shared with great people. If you want recipes, just comment below with your request or shoot me an email at tom@tomramsey.com. Enjoy the photos and captions, I hope to get back in the regular habit of posting daily-ish soon.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

An awesome steak with lobster whipped potatoes and sautéed mushrooms that Kitty and I enjoyed with Mandy and Anders Ferrington.

Strawberries and puffed pastry from the same meal with Mandy and Anders.

A quick Sunday salad for Kitty this past weekend. I stuffed all of this in some focaccia and made a panini for myself. I ate it before I remembered to take a picture. Maybe next time.

Messy, burgery goodness from Lucy and Al Sabin's cookout on Saturday. It was the perfect way for Kitty and I to celebrate her return home from Muncie.

Ham and veggies from Easter Sunday. I got a big kick out of a friend of mine asking me after Easter Sunday church, "So what are you cooking for Easter dinner?" When I replied, "I have no idea, I guess I figure it out when I get to McDade's and see what is on sale." I thought they were going to faint right there in the Nave of St. Andrew's. Can you guess what was on sale?

For no apparent reason, other than I had defrosted two chickens, Kitty and I had a little dinner party last week. I made a lemon and mushroom risotto to go with my standard roasted chickens with compound butter. It was one of those great nights when everyone lingered over the dirty dishes and the conversations were lively long after the dessert was all gone. We had just the right mix of people and the evening will remain a fond memory for quite some time.

How did I forget to write about this steak?

Earlier this week, Kitty and I found ourselves in the enviable situation of no dinner guests, no class for me to teach, no clients in town and best of all...no kids. Sorry boys, we love you, but absence makes the heart grow fonder. In a grocery excursion the prior week, I made my usual stop at the "Manager's Special" section of the Kroger meat department. It's generally a nice place to grab a few pork chops or some ground beef that needs to get in the freezer on top of some heat before the almost meaningless "sell by" date. On this trip however, I found cheap shopping Valhalla. Nestled between some pre-formed burgers and a sad-looking flank steak were two absolutely beautiful dry aged steaks, the stuff that usually goes for $14.99 per pound. These were marked down to a paltry $3.99 per pound. Less than bologna! Less than Doritos for that matter! I rang the bell and asked the singing butcher if there were any more of these gems to be found, but alas, these were the only ones.

With only two of these steaks in the freezer, I had to wait for the right time to bring 'em out. It would have been rude to serve the boys Bachelor Dinner while Kitty and I noshed on these so we waited until just the right night.

Flash forward to earlier this week. Remember...the no kids night? I dropped by Kat's Wine Cellar and picked up a nice, jammy, Chilean Cabernet, and grabbed a couple of acorn squash from McDade's. When Kitty got home, I met her at the door with a glass of wine and gave her the good news. No kids, big wine, big steaks. Since it was still too cold for grilling, I seared the steaks in the black iron skillet and finished them in the broiler. the brown bits in the skillet were transformed into a sublime pan sauce and I finished off the plate with a neat little Basmati rice timbale.

Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Steak Salad...on Sunday?

I don't know what got into me on Sunday. I didn't have my usual hankering for fried chicken and since I made soup earlier in the week, there were no leftovers in the fridge for omelettes. For some unknown reason, I really wanted a steak salad. Kitty nor any of the boys objected so I rubbed down some flank steak with my coffee seasoning, seared it in a big 'ol black iron skillet and put it atop a crisp green salad with buttermilk dressing. I'm sure my chicken craving will be back next week. You probably don't need a recipe for this one, but if you do just shoot me an email and I'll put something on paper for you.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Dinner with Friends

Tonight, Kitty and I were lucky enough to be invited to dine with Mandy, Sid, Amy and Monte at Mandy and Sid's home. Monte and Amy brought a fantastic salad prepared from our good friends at Broad Street Baking Company. Sid and Amy picked up ice cream and Kitty and I brought v1.0 of a new soup that I am working to develop. The recipe below is v1.2, but the pictures are of the prototype. See if you can figure out the changes. If you can get them right, I'll award yo with a sample of my new Ivy & Devine Seafood Seasoning Blend, which is yet to hit the shelves.
The nexus of this soup derives from that last bite of steak on your plate at Char or Tico's or Shappley's. You know the one...when you use the one remaining sliver of beef to Zamboni around your plate and pick up the last smear of mashed potatoes, the last leaves of creamed spinach and the last drops of mushroom sauce. In one perfect morsel on the end of your fork you get the melding of the entire steakhouse experience.
Since I've been messing around with deconstructions lately, I wanted to see if I could create a dish that gave the diner this exact experience over and over again. The only thing I could come up with was soup. so give it a try and let me know if it lives up to the mark.

The dessert was featured in today's Jackson Free Press. They were doing a story on the Muppets' creator, Jim Henson (a fine Mississippi boy from Leland, way up in the Delta) and asked me for an appropriate dish. What I came up with was Ice Cream Sandwiches for Grover. You can get the recipe here, or wait a week and come back to this blog (publishing rights and what-not). At our dinner gathering, Amy, who had read the article today, kiddingly asked if we were having this dish for dessert. After a quick survey of Sid and Mandy's kitchen, the answer was YES (with only one short trip to McDade's).
Bon Appetit!
~Tom
Steakhouse Soup

2 large yellow onions

2 whole garlic pods

2 leeks

6 large Yukon gold potatoes

1 6 oz. bag fresh spinach

1 flatiron steak

1 tsp. Ivy & Devine Creole Seasoning Blend

2 Tbsp. mushroom base*

4 Tbsp. Dales Steak Seasoning

1 qt. heavy cream

2 qt. beef stock

1 bunch green onions

1 bunch parsley

4 Tbsp. olive oil

½ stick butter

1 baguette French bread

Salt

Pepper

Prep

Roughly chop onions and leek bottoms. Cut potatoes into 1” cubes. Chiffonade spinach. Finely chop parsley. Season steak liberally with Ivy & Devine Creole Seasoning Blend. Slice through the tops of the garlic (about ¼ inch cut), drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and butter, then wrap individually in foil. Slice Baguette into ½ in crostini. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook

Toast crostini in hot oven until gold around the edges. Remove and set aside. Place foil wrapped garlic pods in hot oven. Heat a large stock pot over medium heat and then add 2 Tbsp. olive oil. Allow the oil to heat and then add onions and leeks. Cook until onions are translucent. Add 1 qt. beef stock and simmer. Remove garlic from foil and squeeze out the roasted cloves into the stock pot. Heat a large iron skillet and add olive oil. When the oil is hot, add steak and cook until medium rare (approximately 5 minutes per side). Remove steak and deglaze with equal parts water and Dales Seasoning. Allow meat to rest and add deglazing liquid to the stock pot. Add spinach, mushroom base and remaining beef stock. In a separate large pot combine potatoes with enough water to cover. Add 1 tsp. salt to the water and bring to a hard boil. Reduce heat to a light boil and cook for ten minutes. Drain water and mash potatoes with ½ stick of butter. Finish potatoes by whipping with an immersion blender until creamy and completely free of lumps. Add potatoes to stock pot. When meat is fully rested, cut into cubes and set aside. Add any liquids remaining on cutting board to the soup mixture. Add cream and allow mixture to come to a simmer. Remove from heat and add steak and green onions. Salt and pepper to taste.

Plate

Serve immediately in a large, shallow bowl. Top with toasted crostini and garnish with chopped parsley.

(Serves 8-10)

*I recommend a brand called Better than Bouillon.

A Slab of Goodness

What did we do before the Flatiron Steak? I buy them by the half-dozen, keep em in the freezer and always have the ability to whip up a steak without much thought. When I can remember, I take a Flatiron out of the freezer and put it on a plate in the fridge (uncovered) about a week before I want to cook it. This alloys it to "dry age" a bit before you cook it. Doing this intensifies the flavor and makes it more...steaky (if that is a word). You can cook a Flatiron on the grill but tonight's recipe involves the stovetop and the broiler. Remember that a hot plate is imperative when serving steak. When I cook steaks in the broiler/oven, I put the plates in the oven when I remove the meat and turn off the oven. This way, the residual heat will warm the plates and the serving platter while you make the sauce.

Flatiron Steak with Brandy Pan Sauce

1 Flatiron Steak
3/4 cup beef stock
1/8 cup brandy
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 bunch parsley
salt
pepper

Prep
If you have time, unwrap the steak and place it on a plate, uncovered, and put it on the bottom rack of the refirgerator for a couple of days before cooking. It will turn a dark red and not look to hot, but trust me...it is much better than right out of the package. Finely chop the parsley. Peel the garlic and rub the clove all over the meat. Season the steak with salt and pepper. Place the oven rack in the center position. Turn over broiler on high and allow it to heat up for at least fifteen minutes.

Cook
Heat a large black-iron skillet over medium-high heat until it is very hot. Add olive oil and butter to the hot skillet and when the butter is completely melted, add the steak and cook for one minute on each side. Transfer the skillet to the oven and cook for 8 minutes. Remove steak and place on a cutting board and allow to rest under foil while the sauce is prepared. Transfer the skillet to the stove top over medium heat. Deglaze pan with 1/2 cup of beef stock. When the liquid is reduced by one half, add brandy and continue reducing until the liquid just covers the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to low and add remaining stock and butter. Carve the steak into 1 inch slices and add any juice remaining on the cutting board to the sauce. Stir the sace to incorporate all liquids.

Plate
Add sliced steak to a warm plate and top with sauce. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Coffee Rub Fillet

From the emails I received, I think y'all want the recipes from last night. Well...here you go!


Coffee Rubbed Fillet 

4 thick cut fillet mignon (2”-2½”)

1 tsp. Ivy & Devine Coffee Rub

1 Tbsp. olive oil

4 pats butter

Prep

Allow fillets to come to room temp, rub with Ivy & Devine Coffee Rub and drizzle with olive oil. Preheat oven to 200° and heat plates while prepping and cooking.

Cook

Make sure that your grill surface is very hot. Cook steaks for about six or seven minutes to the side (for medium rare). Cover with foil and allow steaks to rest for five minutes after cooking.

Plate

Place a pat of butter on the hot plate and top with the steak.

White Vegetable Mash

2 Large Parsnips

1 Head Cauliflower

2 Medium Rutabaga

½ Stick Butter

1 Cup Heavy Cream

Salt

Pepper

Prep

Chop all vegetables into 1” cubes.

Cook

Boil vegetables until fork tender. Pour off all but a small amount of the water. Whip* vegetables and slowly add cream until desired consistency is reached (all of the cream need not be used). Blend in butter and salt and pepper to taste.

*An immersion blender is the best way to achieve a whipped consistency.

Sautéed Mushrooms
1 box fresh button mushrooms
4 cloves garlic
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup good red wine
1/2 cup beef stock
1/2 tsp. fresh thyme
1/2 tsp. fresh rosemary
1 tsp. brown mustard
salt
pepper

Prep
Slice mushrooms and chop herbs and garlic.

Cook
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add butter and cook until it foams. Add garlic, mushrooms and herbs and cook until mushrooms begin to soften. Add wine, stock and mustard and cook over medium heat until reduced to 1/4 of original volume.

Plate
Serve mushrooms and liquid from pan over steaks.