Sunday, June 29, 2008

Iron Chef - Secret Ingredient Limes

I belong to a cooking and recipes meetup with my friend Anjanette. Neither one of us has been able to make the actual meetups, but they started a new 'event' in april..a virtual event called 'Iron Chef'. Basically the organizer picks a secret ingredient, and then you make a recipe, post a link to the recipe and post pictures. You're supposed to post it at the meetup site, but I thought I'd post it here...then Shell will be happy I blogged..and I'll have posted. I actually made items for April (Secret Ingredient - Rosemary) and May (secret ingredient - vidalia onions) but never got them posted in time. I'm barely making this months posting.

I had picked a few recipes for the limes, but a drink..a dessert..and finally settled on an entree, in the interest of time, and killing two birds with one stone. We wanted to BBQ yesterday, use up some of the freezer o beef, and get to using some limes...so Grilled TBones with Chipotle Chili Rub and Cilantro Lime Compound Butter it was. I thought I'd post in P-Dub style..without the fabulous photography (hopefully it will be better by end of September).



the Cast of Characters - T bone steaks, lime, cilantro, butter (we used I Can't Believe It's not), ground chipoltle pepper, sweet paprika, Steak Seasoning (we used a combo of Seasoned Salt and a Salt free seasoning blend).

Preheat a two-burner grill pan over high heat or a table-top electric grill to high or preheat the outdoor grill.


Combine the steak seasoning blend with hot chipotle pepper and sweet paprika. A tablespoon is about a palm full of powdered or ground seasonings. Rub the seasoning blend into the steaks, distributing the spices evenly among them. Go wash up. Using tongs, place steaks on screaming-hot grill, carefully place the thin tip of 1 steak facing the wide end of the next so that all 4 steaks fit onto the grill pan or grill grate at the same time. Cook steaks 6 to 7 minutes on each side for medium doneness. Remove steaks and let them rest so that the juices can redistribute, 5 minutes.


So the recipe calls for Butter, but Pierre doesnt have butter, so I was a little scared, but used I can't believe it's not butter (i'm leary about melting it..but it did ok, and tasted just fine...and I'd use it again for this purpose (use it on toast and veg all the time )
You need to zest and juice the lime(s).

Cut butter into chunks. (or as we did..scoop a couple tablespoons) Place butter in a bowl. Place bowl in microwave and cook on high for 15 seconds.





To chop herbs super-fine, hold the tip of your knife on a cutting board and move the back of your knife up and down very fast going over the herbs again and again.



Stir in chopped cilantro and lime zest and juice into the butter using a rubber spatula. Transfer the butter onto a large strip of plastic wrap. (we left in the tub..since it had never been a cube..and had been 'soft' to begin with, i wasnt sure it would 'harden' in the roll). Gather the ends of the plastic wrap in on 1 hand and use a straight edge, like a small cookie sheet pan, to push the butter back and away from your body making the butter take on a log shape. Gently roll the log wrapped in plastic back and forth on the countertop to evenly round out the shape. Twist up the extra wrap on the ends and place the compound butter log into the freezer to make the butter cold enough to slice again.
NOW! Grab that glass of wine sitting on the counter. Take a big swig. Thank God for grapes. Then…



When ready to serve, top steaks with disks of sliced compound butter and serve with salad or vegetables on the side.


The actual ingredient listing.

  • 2 sticks butter

  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro leaves

  • 1 lime, juiced and zested

  • 2 tablespoons steak seasoning blend for the grill

  • 1 tablespoon chipotle (smoky) ground chili powder or dark chili powder

  • 1 tablespoon sweet paprika

  • 4 T-bone steaks, 1 1/2 inch thick

I would definitely make this again...we even had leftover 'butter'. Keep in mind..the rub is VERY spicy, so you definitely need the butter to 'tone' it done a bit . I also used leftover cilantro on our biscuits (my family should buy stock in Pillsbury), and leftover lime juice on the grilled asparagus.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Happy iced Tea Day!


My google home page, has a module called 'reasons to drink' (not that I'm looking for one..but they're funny). Today it notes that it's National Iced Tea day..and suggests Long island (i think I've had a couple in my life..but not something I'd order just because anytime soon)..instead I opted for some Sweet Tea.


Mind you..i didnt get the Sweet Tea because of National Iced Tea day..but because I was able to escape and drive myself to the ortho and grocery store, and decided to reward myself with one of these...actually I got two!


I actually prefer with splenda..but for the price, who can pass up. I wish we had it in the gallon jugs at the grocery store like they do at my sisters!!!
On a side note left leggged driving is pretty unnerving! I need to let my carpool buddies know i'm not going to be able to drive on the freeway!!