Some kind of Steak w/ Red Potatoes that appear to be cooked, Asparagus and Shallots with what looks to be a Mustard Sauce and Prosciutto or some other kind of cured meat

Doesn't that look good?

I realized I hadn't made a blog post in quite some time. So I began going through my Asparagus archives and I found this picture. I don't really even remember making this. Those are our plates though. And it is clearly something I would make. It has all of the things I like: Asparagus, shallots, steak, cured pork. Now I don't want you to get the impression I just haphazardly throw together Asparagus recipes. A lot of thought, time, consideration, and sometimes even compromise go into each recipe. I'm not over exaggerating in the slightest. I typically keep rigorous and extensive notes on each recipe so I can either reproduce what I've done, or make subtle changes to make the recipe better. Some asparagus incarnations go through as many as 12-15 attempts before I deem them worthy of this blog. That being said, I began looking for my notes for this recipe and subsequent photo shoot. To no avail. I'm not sure if I should be exposing this much of my method to my readers but generally my notes get hand written on paper and then transposed to a word document and saved in the archives on my computer. As I have the handwriting of a dyslexic 4th grader the transfer from the written document to the word document is usually the most arduous task of the entire process. This time however I could not find any notes on my hard drive. I can only attribute this to one thing. I must have had 3 glasses of wine, and titled the document something really clever. So clever that at the time I was absolutely positive I would never forget what it was. What I'm getting at is that this recipe may be lost forever. Or at least until I start trying to figure out what I did. I think for now we should just appreciate the picture and leave it at that. If there were some kind of a public outcry I would have no hesitation in beginning the resurrection process, but seeing as I have little to no initiative and only 3 readers come here per day, and I sincerely doubt any of them have even made it this far into the paragraph we will just have to come to terms with the notion that this recipe may be lost forever.

Here it is smaller.

Roasted Paprika Shallots and Asparagus with Red Potatoes, Carrots, and Broccoli

While going through my asparagus archive I noticed that I have two separate photo shoots for what was essentially the same shallot and asparagus recipe. It's a great recipe that's easy and versatile so that would make sense why I have so many pictures of it. While I attempted to narrow down my favorites I came to find that this was no easy task. So rather than giving myself more work, and subsequently never getting around to make this post, I decided to just post them all. This is going to be a longer post than usual, filled with a lot of beautiful pictures and it has a great shallot and asparagus recipe. Since both photo shoots involved steak dinners, rather than going over how to grill a steak again I am instead going to go over acceptable or appropriate garnishes to go on steak. I would be upset to think my blog could be getting redundant.

Steak topped with Chimichurri 

Shallot and Asparagus Recipe:

What I like about this recipe is it's basically all you need to make. It could be its own meal if it needed to be. I've also included brussel sprouts along with the rest of the vegetables. They all roast for the same amount of time except for the broccoli. I like to have mine a little charred though so I wouldn't wait too long to add them to your mix.

Ingredients:
1 bunch of asparagus
2 reasonably sized shallots
1-3 carrots
2 crowns of broccoli
3-4 red potatoes
Olive oil
Salt, Pepper (to taste)
Paprika 






Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees with your roasting pan inside. Wash and cut the ends off your asparagus. Peel your shallots. Chop your carrots. Quarter your potatoes. Add them to a large bowl. Add your salt, pepper, olive oil, and paprika. Mix them all together.  When your oven and pan are hot pour out the contents of the bowl into the hot pan and evenly distribute throughout. Cook for about 20 minutes. While that's cooking chop the flowers off of the crown of your broccoli and add them to the same bowl. Add some olive oil to those and more salt, pepper, and paprika. Check to see how far along your other roasting vegetables are. You want to pour the broccoli on top of the rest of them but make sure your broccoli has enough time too cook without over cooking your other vegetables. When they're all the desired texture remove pan from oven. Let them stand for 5 or so minutes, and then enjoy!


Appropriate Condiments for Steaks:

Argentina which is widely renowned for their beef and wine consumption, which for any respectable person are admirable traits. There's a condiment that you can find at most any restaurant. It's generally for steak but I've seen it used for dinner rolls. I've even heard it referred to as "Argentina's Ketchup". It's called Chimichurri. And with anything that is as wide spread through a region as chimichurri is through Argentina you can imagine that opinions on the correct way to make it are even more ubiquitous than the condiment. Ubiquitous²?


Ingredients:

1 bunch of parsley
5 cloves of garlic
3/4 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of red wine vinegar
Red pepper flakes (to taste)
Pepper/Salt (to taste)
Juice from 1 lemon wedge

Instructions: 

Add contents into food processor. Process. It comes out tasting better if you let it chill in your refrigerator for at least an hour before serving.

This next garnish is a piece of guanciale that I roasted on the top of the steak. Guanciale is made from the pigs jowl or cheek and is similar to bacon but richer in flavor and fat. As it was finishing on the grill I added the guanciale to the top of it and I finished it off in a hot oven at 425 degrees. This is my version of the bacon wrapped filet mignon.

 The white sauce on the plate is 50% crème fraîche and 50% horse radish. Mixed together in a bowl and served cold. It can add a nice tangy flavor to your steak. 

Broiled Parmesan Shallots and Asparagus with Grilled Steak

Remember that time you went out to eat and you thought to yourself, "That was good, but there was just too much cheese?" Neither can I. You should keep that in mind when you're performing the tedious task of cheese grating. This is another broiled asparagus recipe that will take about 8 minutes so when you put the asparagus and shallots into the broiler you should be grating cheese for at least half of the amount of time that the asparagus is under the heat. Unless you're slow at grating cheese. Then you should be grating for the full amount of time. I don't like to give strict measurements on cheese but in my experience the more you have the less likely you are to be disappointed that there's not enough. It's math.

Grilling Steak:
It was brought to my attention earlier today that grilling a steak isn't just common knowledge passed from one generation to another that can be taken for granted. I was at a butcher shop with a man that confessed that he wasn't that good at grilling. He said that he considered "taking a class on it". I thought it was the most effeminate thing that I had ever heard from a man before. I always knew it was a fickle art form but it's nothing like trying to teach your rebellious child appreciation for abstract expressionism. So this is how you're supposed to grill a steak:

1. Lay your steak(s) out so they reach room temperature.
2. Heat your grill (high medium heat) so they're going onto a hot grill and they're searing when they touch.
3. Leave it on the first side for 7-9 minutes. (This varies depending on the thickness)
4. Flip once. Only once. When you keep turning it over it dries it out.
5. Let it cook until it's just a little too pink for your taste.
6. Let it rest for at least 5 minutes before you serve it.

If you under-cook your steak just a bit then as you're letting it rest your steak is going to cook itself to your desired outcome. If you cook it on the grill to the place you want it done to, then as your steak is sitting it's going to over-cook itself and you will end up with a slightly over-cooked steak.


Now that that's settled we can move on to the important part: shallots and asparagus!

Ingredients:
1/2 bundle of asparagus
1 1/2 shallot
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Parmesan Cheese (To Taste)










Instructions:
Cut (or snap) the coarse ends off the asparagus. Place them in a pan that's broiler safe. Cast iron or a cookie sheet that has aluminum foil across the top. Add your salt, pepper and drizzle olive oil over them all evenly. Put them in the broiler on high for 7-8 minutes. Grate your cheese while this is happening. After they're blackened and almost done pour your grated Parmesan across the top and put back into the broiler for an additional minute. Serve immediately. Enjoy.

I have two post scripts to add to this post:

1. I assume children don't care for abstract expressionism for two reasons. 1. Most people don't seem to. 2. They always seem to be concerned with coloring inside of lines. Which is counter intuitive to the abstract expressionist.

2. When I made this recipe the person I cook for ate all of her asparagus before she ate all of her steak. As you can imagine she's tired of asparagus. I took this as a compliment.

Grilled New York Steak w/ Rainbow Chard, Sopressata wrapped Asparagus and Shallots

Slowly and consistently as the months progress towards summer our weather here in Portland is turning around. Last weekend was the first chance I had to break out my barbeque this year. Grilling is the first way I learned to cook and it's subsequently the first thing I refer back to. If I'm ever wondering how I should do something in a kitchen I'll consider how I would do it on a barbeque first. The simplicity of an open flame is something that the rudimentary cave man inside of us all can easily relate to. Living in a condo/apartment isn't entirely conducive to the grilling lifestyle most of us try to maintain. I am sadly relegated to a small charcoal grill where every square inch of cooking space is valuable. I envy those of you with the opulence of space. I appreciate what I have, but it would be an easy and accurate accusation to say I've planned entire camping trips solely because I wanted to cook over an open flame. As the sun was slowly starting to wane towards the West Hills I set up our barbeque and this is what I threw together:




Ingredients:

1 New York steak (or Ribeye)
1 Bunch of Asparagus
1 Chopped shallot
7 slices of Sopressata
1 bunch of Rainbow Chard
3 tablespoons of butter sliced
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

I usually end up buying huge steaks that most people can't eat by themselves. Split the large steak into as many servings as is reasonable. People's definition of reasonable seem to vary so you should generally trust your own instincts. When the steak is still cold add a coat of salt and pepper to both sides. You shouldn't put the steak on a cold grill. Wait until your charcoal or your gas has heated up your grill to an adequate temperature. While your grill is heating up you should take a long sheet of aluminum foil and lay it out flat. Add the chard in a row all along the bottom. This is going to be a bed of chard. Add salt and pepper to taste. You may even want to consider some garlic powder or garlic cloves if you're a garlic lover. At this point you should start cutting thin slices of butter and interspersing them throughout the chard. The butter is going to add flavor to it and keep it from drying out. You can use Olive Oil if you prefer. Take your asparagus and chop or snap the ends off of the bottom. I like to use three at a time. Take three pieces of asparagus and wrap them with the sopressata. Put the folding ends on the bottom so it stays together, and lay them into the bed of chard. You can use a toothpick to hold them all together if you like. I wouldn't put them too close to the pieces of butter though. The fat from the sopressata is going to soak into the asparagus so you won't need the butter for them. You can also use prosciutto or any other cured ham. Salami could even work. When that's all done you should put your chopped shallot across the entire thing. If your piece of aluminum foil isn't long enough to fold over itself then add an equivalent sized sheet across the top. Roll the corners and the edges into themselves. Try to make sure everything is inside of your aluminum foil before you do this. I forgot the shallots and had to redo it. You need to make sure your seals are tight. There is going to be liquid forming at the bottom when it's cooking and you don't want it to spill onto your fire. This is going to be melted butter and you want your chard to soak in it. It's delicious.

The steak should only be flipped once and should cook roughly for about 9 minutes on each side. This all depends on the thickness of your steak. Right before you think you should flip your steak is when you should put your vegetables on the grill. They're going to take less time than your meat. There's a way to tell if your steak is done without cutting it open. Poke the center of your steak with tongs or with a fork. If the consistency feels the same as the consistency of meat in between your forefinger and your thumb, then it's medium rare. If the consistency of the meat feels like it's the same as the pad of your thumb then it's well done. If you are wanting it rare then you can probably figure out that the less time it's spending on the fire, the more rare it's going to be. When you're approaching the end it doesn't hurt to open up your aluminum foil to check it out a bit.

 

When you feel like you've gotten everything cooked to the point you want it. You should remove it from the grill and plate it. Now eat!

Delicious

New York steak with grilled asparagus w/ a shallot & whiskey butter sauce and a baked red potato

It's difficult to not get excited about asparagus and shallots when you're talking about using whiskey as a sauce for them. The New York steak doesn't hurt as a garnish either. Everyone has their favorite cuts of steak and I have mine as well. New York steaks are rich and full of flavor and easy to cook with. I have a local store that sells them in ridiculous sizes and it's difficult for me to not want to buy one when I see them. I grilled this on a Lodge cast iron skillet. I can't understate how much I like to cook on cast iron. I gave this skillet to my girlfriend as a Christmas gift. I'm a strong proponent of giving gifts to people you care about that are also useful to yourself. It just makes sense.

Ingredients:

2 large shallots sliced
1 bunch of asparagus
1 large New York Steak (or two reasonably sized ones)
5 oz of Whiskey (plus additional if needed)
2 tablespoons of butter
A few splashes of water (if needed)
1 teaspoon of mustard 
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 red potato
Salt/Pepper to taste

Instructions:

The thing that will take the longest is the potato. Drizzle some olive oil around the entire thing and add some salt and pepper to taste. Put it into the oven at 450 degrees on a preheated pan. Put about a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and add your sliced shallots. Heat them up and let them brown. Pour 3 ounces of whiskey into a glass, and another two ounces into another glass. When the shallots are looking thirsty it's time to add the whiskey. Pour the whiskey in slowly and reduce the heat. Deglaze the pan. Let the shallots simmer while the whiskey is reducing. Drink the other glass of whiskey.


At this time you should be heating up your skillet for the steak and the asparagus. The asparagus should have their ends cut off of them (or snapped, but I find that practice to be time consuming and obnoxious).



The steak should be seasoned with salt and pepper. If you are preparing a cut inferior to the New York or a Rib eye I recommend coating it lightly with salt, pepper, garlic powder, a small amount of olive oil and some Worcestershire sauce. This can hide the lackluster meat quality. While you're preparing the steak you should add about 2 tablespoons of butter to the shallots.  The asparagus will cook for about the same amount of time the meat is cooked. Generally you should only flip the meat one time. I recommend waiting about 8-10 minutes and then flipping the steak. When you're cooking with cast iron it has the ability to retain heat very well. After you flip the steak for the second time you should wait several minutes. Not as long as you waiting on the first side however. Once you turn off the burner the steak and the asparagus will continue to cook. I like mine to be medium rare. At this point when everything is almost done add the teaspoon of mustard (stone ground) into the shallot whiskey sauce and stir it. It will help emulsify it. You may need to add some water if it looks to be separating. If that happens add a little water and whisk it all together. When all of this looks good to your standards you should plate the dish. You're ready to enjoy.