Week 7 – Valentine’s Day Steak and Lobster
MMMMMMM…. steak and lobster. What a wonderful combination. After a long list of things I could do for Valentine’s day, we ended up settling on an all-out surf and turf. First off… I need to share with you about this one amazing steak that I had once. It was at Charley’s Stake House in Orlando. It was the kind of restaurant where they bring out a selection of steaks to your table and you pick what you want. I chose this New York steak that was like 2 inches thick! It took forever for them to bring out the cooked dish but it was worth it.
Charley’s has a very neat grilling process. First, the steaks are aged and seasoned for a few days in a climate controlled room. Then, with all the fat left on, they sear the steak with a very hot flame on both sides. After a couple minutes searing, they move the meat to a lower heat area and is smoked with applewood. Needless to say, their process is a lot more involved than any normal backyard barbeque so of course it tasted much better. The best part about cooking with the fat on is the flavoring in the fat was absorbed into the meat. When diving into this steak, you just trim the stuff you don’t want.
I’ve attempted this method a couple of times but it never worked out. I think the reason is that I was using ‘cheap’ meat. This time I went to the butcher and again selected my steaks. I got a pair of NY strips that are roughly 12 oz each and about 1.5 inches thick. Expensive, but worth it!
For a dry rub, I mixed salt, pepper, dried minced garlic, paprika, brown sugar, and dried crushed red pepper. Most of it was to taste. I tried to follow a recipe but it didn’t smell too great. A little more pepper, garlic and red peppers than suggested fixed that.
Now I know that steak isn’t new for my cooking résumé, but the lobster sure is. I love food presentation at restaurants so I decided to butterfly. Thanks Google for knowing everything about butterflying a lobster tail.
Grilled some garlic /red wine asparagus
Combine all this together and BAM! A very delicious meal.
For a quick comparison, this size steak and lobster tail with a side is around $30-35 dollars per plate at Red Lobster. The entire 2-meal cost me only $29. Not bad and very easy to make.
As an added bonus... I've been a fan of cooking competition TV shows like Chopped and I felt like I should have been filmed during the making of this meal. I was literally running across the house to do prep and outdoor grilling!!
As an added bonus... I've been a fan of cooking competition TV shows like Chopped and I felt like I should have been filmed during the making of this meal. I was literally running across the house to do prep and outdoor grilling!!
