In one of the numerous gift exchanges I had the pleasure of being involved with I received some local goodies from my very good friend Joe
xray
His package included something I've never seen here. It is a Peruvian marinade. Joe sang the praises about this stuff and as soon as it got here I just had to open the jar for a taste. WHOA!! It has a deep, rich, smokey, pepper flavor that's almost scary. Not scary from being spicy, just the flavor is so pronounced I was concerned it may totally overpower the flavor of the steak...especially after the debacle I went through to get these cooked. I set them to marinate early afternoon on Tuesday (Christmas eve) figuring 3 hours or so should be plenty. Tracy came home and informed me that she had a late office party / lunch at work and was not hungry. Back into the fridge went the steaks. Well, Wednesday was Christmas so they didn't get cooked. Thursday she met up with a close friend after work for their gift exchange and a cocktail. Friday rolls around and I FINALLY get to cook these things. What started out to be a 3 hour soak turned into a 3 day and 3 hour soak. Now I'm really concerned about the marinade being too flavor-forward but I don't care. I'm not gonna throw these steaks away. Here we go....
Here are the steaks
The marinade. I'm gonna need to find a source for this stuff!!
Steaks lathered up with the marinade
Vac sealed for a three hour journey...or so I thought
3 days and 3 hours later out of the vac seal bag and ready to go on the grill
Some veggies in the grilling wok and getting happy
Small CI griddle over the sear burner running about 900* with some sizzling butter
Toss the steaks on. This isn't gonna take long
Flip
Steaks done, in the house, and sliced for serving. I think the lens on my camera is dirty. Pic is not very clear
Money shot with veggies and a beef flavored rice pilaf
Another simple meal that came out absolutely decadent!! I can't say enough good about the flavor of that marinade. It was spectacular and my fears of them marinating too long were totally unfounded. Although the pic isn't very clear, the steaks were perfectly cooked, the veggies done to al dante, and the rice was surprisingly flavorful. My only takeaway is that I didn't get the sear I was looking for on the steaks. Not sure if it was the butter, the marinade, or a combination of the two. It wasn't worth torching the steaks for the sake of the sear so I flipped and pulled them when it seemed the right time to attain that medium rare finish. Need to make a small tweak to the rice next time but it'll be perfect from there. I am honestly giving consideration to ordering 8 of these steaks and putting them in the marinade for several days like these were done then freeze so I'll have them on hand all the time. They were that good and Tracy agreed 100% with my idea. She loved these as much or more than I did. Typically we don't marinate beef except for fajitas but this one has been a game changer. I can't thank Joe enough for sharing this stuff!! I just need to find a source for it in 55 gallon drums
Well....another day of entertaining the Navy guests. Thanks for dropping in and I'll see y'all on the next one
Robert
xray
His package included something I've never seen here. It is a Peruvian marinade. Joe sang the praises about this stuff and as soon as it got here I just had to open the jar for a taste. WHOA!! It has a deep, rich, smokey, pepper flavor that's almost scary. Not scary from being spicy, just the flavor is so pronounced I was concerned it may totally overpower the flavor of the steak...especially after the debacle I went through to get these cooked. I set them to marinate early afternoon on Tuesday (Christmas eve) figuring 3 hours or so should be plenty. Tracy came home and informed me that she had a late office party / lunch at work and was not hungry. Back into the fridge went the steaks. Well, Wednesday was Christmas so they didn't get cooked. Thursday she met up with a close friend after work for their gift exchange and a cocktail. Friday rolls around and I FINALLY get to cook these things. What started out to be a 3 hour soak turned into a 3 day and 3 hour soak. Now I'm really concerned about the marinade being too flavor-forward but I don't care. I'm not gonna throw these steaks away. Here we go....Here are the steaks
The marinade. I'm gonna need to find a source for this stuff!!
Steaks lathered up with the marinade
Vac sealed for a three hour journey...or so I thought
3 days and 3 hours later out of the vac seal bag and ready to go on the grill
Some veggies in the grilling wok and getting happy
Small CI griddle over the sear burner running about 900* with some sizzling butter
Toss the steaks on. This isn't gonna take long
Flip
Steaks done, in the house, and sliced for serving. I think the lens on my camera is dirty. Pic is not very clear
Money shot with veggies and a beef flavored rice pilaf
Another simple meal that came out absolutely decadent!! I can't say enough good about the flavor of that marinade. It was spectacular and my fears of them marinating too long were totally unfounded. Although the pic isn't very clear, the steaks were perfectly cooked, the veggies done to al dante, and the rice was surprisingly flavorful. My only takeaway is that I didn't get the sear I was looking for on the steaks. Not sure if it was the butter, the marinade, or a combination of the two. It wasn't worth torching the steaks for the sake of the sear so I flipped and pulled them when it seemed the right time to attain that medium rare finish. Need to make a small tweak to the rice next time but it'll be perfect from there. I am honestly giving consideration to ordering 8 of these steaks and putting them in the marinade for several days like these were done then freeze so I'll have them on hand all the time. They were that good and Tracy agreed 100% with my idea. She loved these as much or more than I did. Typically we don't marinate beef except for fajitas but this one has been a game changer. I can't thank Joe enough for sharing this stuff!! I just need to find a source for it in 55 gallon drums
Well....another day of entertaining the Navy guests. Thanks for dropping in and I'll see y'all on the next one
Robert
