The Glories of Cumin...and Steak

Last night, I tried to make steak for the first time. Yes I know, everyone is probably saying, "Haven't you ever worked a barbecue?" The answer is, no. I even went through a period of time last semester where I hardly made any sort of meat believing it to take far too long and too much effort. However, what I realized is that by not eating protein, I filled up instead with carbs--pasta, bread--things that don't fill us up efficiently, so we eat more.

I read in a health article that when our body doesn't get the nutrition it needs, it tells us we are still hungry and then we over-eat (which is also very very bad for our body and consumes more energy than we can give). So! Moral of the story is eat meat! Or if you're a vegetarian eat eggs, rice AND beans (only by mixing do you get the complex protein), or whatever other crazy fake meat concoction they've got going on at Whole Foods.

On to the cookin'. I had two raw filets I picked up at King Soopers. Your fairly average cuts of meat--lean, a little marbled. I have no idea what temperature to cook it at, for how long, whether to braise, baste, steam, fry, saute, smoke...or what else? Beef has been a hallmark of U.S. meat with our regional barbecues and a prominent cattle industry. So every once in awhile, we're bound to come across some raw beef with potentially no idea what to do with it. So. Here's what I did:

I made a rub. A rub is a great way to go if you don't have the time to marinate or have no idea what else to do. Just look in your spice cabinet and throw some things together, rub it evenly on the steak and throw it on the grill or on the stove. This rub comes from Sharon Lee in Seattle.

 Combine equal parts of salt (I used garlic salt), ground black pepper, and cumin. Rub evenly on all sides of each filet. Easy right?


Then, to add something extra, I wrapped it all in bacon. Yes, a meatlovers ultimate dream. Like butter, everything is made better by being wrapped in bacon. So, throw your diets out the window and indulge yourself in bacon-wrapped-anything at least once! It's like how Texans view deep-frying. You will probably become addicted. Just don't start wrapping your carrots in bacon, ok?

The bacon helped add a lot of flavor to the steak, and a heavy dose of fat which is the key ingredient in many delicious meals, unfortunately. Then, I fried the steak in a pan, continuously checking until it reached a pinky medium.

Next, I made a salad with raw spinach, roma tomatoes, asparagus (which I steamed first for about 7 minutes to make crunchy), and threw in some humbolt fog crumbles.

Humbolt fog. No not the term for a widespead fog in Humbolt county, California caused by too many pot smokers. Humbolt fog is an AWESOME blue cheese made entirely from sheep's milk (for all you lactards or goat/sheep cheese enthusiasts as I am both). It comes from my hometown, Washington, and the middle blackish-blue line that runs down the middle of each cheese slice is the ash from Mt. St. Helens eruption. Pretty cool, eh? And by the way, you do not taste the ash, in case you were wondering. It's a wonderful dry blue cheese that has a consistency like brie cheese and is great for salad or just plain munchin'.

Lastly, I took the bowl with the extra dry rub (salt, pepper, and cumin) and mixed in fresh lemon juice, olive oil, some white truffle oil, and a little bit of balsamic vinegar to make the dressing. Toss, and enjoy!

I want to talk about Cumin. No this is not a sex talk. Cumin is a completely underrated and underutilized spice in my view. It's often found in middle eastern cuisine, specifically in hummus, and gives this earthy, spicy, totally fragrant smell. Throw it in guacamole to give it some extra zest, in your salad dressing like I did above, on meat, or anywhere else you can find. It's potent, so make sure to start with just a little at first and build up from there.

In final, I paired the whole meal with a nice $8 bottle of Yali Cabernet, my favorite wine that I drank in Chile this past winter and just happens to be the cheapest (and you can find in the U.S.!). Also try their Sauvignon Blanc.

Oh! And for dessert, made pre-mix Ghiradelli brownies from Costco. But! Little secret of mine is that I threw in butterscotch morsels and salted cashews to give them a sort of salted caramel taste. Try it!

Love & Doughnuts,

The Mrakulous Kitchen