In the spirit of adventure, I’m trying something new with the bottom third of this weekly newsletter. Every other week, instead of a recipe, I’ll give you a hot tip. Something I do or know, that has changed how I cook certain things, or a different way of doing something, or a special ingredient. You get it.
Maybe it’ll stick, maybe it won’t! I will not be accepting constructive feedback at this time.
WHET YOUR PALATE WITH SOME HIGH-BROW LINKS
“Researchers warn that the thrill of good weather will wear off in relatively short order after moving, just as thrills tend to do after other happiness-inducing phenomena (such as marriage or coming into a lot of money).”
Why we wear watches on our left wrists
In case you’ve ever wondered about Financial Times pink
And what the smell of freshly cut grass is trying to say
“Once people see it, the need for care is hard to unsee.”
The world’s best cheese of 2021!!!
HOT TIP: REVERSE-SEAR YOUR STEAK
This week’s Hot Tip is all about STEAK, and a particular method of meat magic that you may or may not already know and use.
We don’t eat a lot of red meat in this house, for no more interesting reason than it seems expensive (and it’s not like we have a dog to give a bone to). But when we do eat steak, it’s all about splitting a ribeye and reverse-searing it to RARE.
This is an uncomplicated technique, and WAY better than shocking an expensive piece of meat with a scorching skillet and hoping for the best. Reverse-searing gives you juice! It gives you fond! Importantly, it gives you perfect steak.
Basically, you put room temp, seasoned meat on a baking sheet with a wire rack, set the oven to 250, and keep it in there until a meat thermometer (do not do this without one) reads about 10-15 degrees cooler than your preferred temp. Adrian and I are vicious, so we prefer rare (about 120). This takes about 20 minutes.
When it’s done, warm a cast-iron skillet on the stove, melt some butter, add the steak and baste it with the butter, about 15 seconds on each side.
No need to let it rest before serving -- it’s ready to go!