No need to chase me down and throw me in a straight jacket, this is one of my crazy ideas that just happened to work.
My food inspiration most often comes in one of these three forms: 1) reading cookbooks or watching TV cooking programs and imagining how I would have cooked a dish; 2) tasting an unfamiliar ingredient or dish and brainstorming how I could cook it myself; and 3) looking in my fridge at all the random odds and ends and trying to determine what I could toss in a pan together that would turn into something semi-edible.
The third form of inspiration is how I came up with the idea for strawberry pesto. Because me and my black thumb have not once been able to keep a basil plant alive, I'm forced to buy basil in large bunches from grocery stores and farmers' markets, even when I need only three or four leaves. The leftovers usually go into pesto. However, I had a few past-their-prime strawberries. They weren't moldy or anything, but they were no longer shiny and firm. I thought to myself, "Hmm...I've seen strawberry granita with a hint of basil; so why don't I try basil with a hint of strawberry?" A few pulses in the blender, and I had a great summery sauce for a perfectly cooked pepper-crusted steak. The strawberry pesto also makes an excellent dressing for cold whole-wheat pasta!
Strawberry Pesto
2 large, or 4 small, slightly overripe strawberries, sliced
3 cups tightly-packed shredded basil
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 t. kosher salt
olive oil
Combine the strawberries, basil, garlic, and salt in a blender. Add a splash of olive oil and pulse a few times until blended. Continue adding a slow stream of olive oil until the pesto has reached a smooth consistency.
Pepper-Crusted Steaks with Strawberry Pesto
4 steaks, 1.5" thick, brought to room temperature
2 T. cracked peppercorns
kosher salt
Heat a heavy-bottomed frying pan, preferably cast-iron, over high heat. While the pan is heating, combine the cracked peppercorns with a few pinches of kosher salt on a plate. Press both sides of each steak into the peppercorn blend.
Once the steaks are seasoned, check to see if your pan is ready. It is ready when a drop of water beads up and dances across the pan's cooking surface rather than staying put and sizzling.
Once the pan is ready, add a few pinches of kosher salt to the pan, then add the steaks. Sear them 2-3 minutes per side, using tongs to turn them over.
Remove the steaks from the pan. Set them aside and let them rest for 5-7 minutes. It is very important that you do not touch the steaks while they rest; this step distributes the juices, and cutting into the steak too early results in lost flavor.
Once the steaks have rested, place them on plates and decoratively spoon the strawberry pesto onto the plates.
No comments:
Post a Comment