April 4th, 2011
Steak Night II
Perhaps you’ve wandered by the meat case at Costco and seen massive pieces of USDA Prime Beef and said to yourself, “That looks like an incredible piece of meat at a very reasonable price, but there’s no way I could eat it all.” Well there’s an easy solution: Gather some friends and have Steak Night.
On Saturday, 10 people converged on a lovely Humboldt Park condo for a feast for the ages. Here’s the star attraction:
We took this drop dead gorgeous hunk of beef loin AKA NY Strip, put it on the smoker and began the evening.
This artichoke/cream/parmesan/garlic dip was freaking delicious. I tried to focus on watching the Butler-VCU game but kept finding myself back at the counter, scooping up obscenely large quantities of this stuff on Triscuits. With the hors d’oeuvres finished, the group moved to the table for dinner to begin.
The meal began with a peppery pureed cauliflower soup with potato and leek that was refreshing and served to whet the appetite for the main event of the evening. It was followed by a salad topped with a poached egg that I forgot to photograph, largely because it was a salad. I was also distracted by a little break I took to during that portion of the meal to help the host tend to the meat.
That sexy meat was smoked atop a bed of lump charcoal and pecan wood until it reached 110 degrees, when it was taken off the smoker to rest. While the steak took a nap, we opened the vents on the smoker, which magically turns it into a very hot grill. When the temperature got over 700 degrees, we put the inch-thick steaks on the grill for a couple of minutes to sear a nice crust onto the beef.
Yes, it was every bit as good as it looks. And there was only one possible way to finish a meal this spectacular. Two pies from Hoosier Mama (which you might remember from here). We had a chocolate cream with bananas (fresh inside and dried on top) and a key lime pie. Both were extraordinary.
You know those feelings of jealousy you’re feeling right now? They are all justified. If there is a steakhouse in Chicago that can put out a meal this good, I haven’t had it.
