Surf and Turf with an Asian Mexican fusion on the side.
(I have switched to a new size of picture and am interested if they are large enough for you to view?)
Been working on the low calorie high flavor menus for the release of the newest venture in a month. I had a set of 3 ounce filet mignon for dinner tonight. Besides portion size the need for flavor is very important to keep the proper diet. Without flavor most will follow a diet for a while and then abandon it when they get tired of food that tastes like crap. So the idea is to create the proper calorie diet with all the flavors that we need to stay interested in eating healthier.
The filet mignon is easy, oak and hickory in a Weber, no brainer. But the side dish is going to be a little different. I am going to cross pollinate from Asian and Mexican culture to create a surf based side dish that offers the vegetable portion, the surf portion I wanted for the surf and turf type offering, and the starch in the form of long grained rice.
Had a bunch of smoke dried ancho from last year and decided we will fuse a fried rice with a chili con carne and have the fried rice feature shrimp for the surf part.
Boiled them down and into the food processor to puree. While I season with cumin, garlic and onion. I am using smoked dried onions as well. The meat will be a mixture of the pork and beef. You could smoke the beef and pork, but I don't bother as I want more of a background then a full on smoke flavor in the chili con carne.
Because I like my pork cooked a little harder then my beef I brown the pork first and then the beef goes in to the pan.
As soon as this is browned I drain off all the fat. In the beginning I was weighing the meat prior to cooking then after the cooking and draining to get a good idea of how much fat I was removing. I have to guess the water content as the difference between the cooked meat weight and the captured fat weight. Not perfect, but I am getting close enough to have a good idea of what I am getting rid of for fat content.
Then add in my diced bell pepper.
At this point the chili con carne is completed. I move on to getting the rice and shrimp ready as well as the pan with fried egg for making the fried rice to go with the steak. The filet mignon is only getting salt and pepper. I know people put all kinds of crap on filet mignon but to be honest with filet mignon salt and pepper is it for me. Don't tell me how good it is with freakin' garlic and other things piled on it, you're freakin' wrecking it! I paid for prime and I am going to taste prime and to do that I will tell you that you taste the filet mignon as beef best when you just salt and pepper it. PERIOD.
I use a rice cooker, they are so cheap now and have that add water, add rice, mash button and walk away 'til done.
Once done hit it onto some ice and get that rice cooling so you can fry it.
Now start to get the shrimp ready and fry up the egg. The egg in fried rice gets diced in the pan. Break the yolk and fry it hard but not so brown starts showing up on the whites. Mix in your long grain rice and then plop you chili con carne on top. This is followed by the shrimp and then toss it and fry it 'til some of it is crunchy.
As religious as I am about salt and pepper only on the filet mignon, I am about the way it gets cooked. Oak and Hickory in the Weber!
And since everyone will want to know how it was cooked. I think medium rare is best for this cut. I do rare as well, but generally with a ribeye. For filet mignon I like the medium rare range. The wife likes medium.
And that is my surf and turf with an Asian Mexican fusion. Not to far out then when you consider the amount of burritos featuring rice. But definitely a twist on serving the shrimp in a surf and turf combo. I know in the east coast it would be lobster and on the pacific coast lobster and/or crab, but in Colorado it is mostly done with shrimp.
Hope you enjoyed the pictures and let me know if the new size is better for reading and load times. I am trying to make them so those of you reading and sending the PMs can get the whole thing without waiting forever.
bbally
(I have switched to a new size of picture and am interested if they are large enough for you to view?)
Been working on the low calorie high flavor menus for the release of the newest venture in a month. I had a set of 3 ounce filet mignon for dinner tonight. Besides portion size the need for flavor is very important to keep the proper diet. Without flavor most will follow a diet for a while and then abandon it when they get tired of food that tastes like crap. So the idea is to create the proper calorie diet with all the flavors that we need to stay interested in eating healthier.
The filet mignon is easy, oak and hickory in a Weber, no brainer. But the side dish is going to be a little different. I am going to cross pollinate from Asian and Mexican culture to create a surf based side dish that offers the vegetable portion, the surf portion I wanted for the surf and turf type offering, and the starch in the form of long grained rice.
Had a bunch of smoke dried ancho from last year and decided we will fuse a fried rice with a chili con carne and have the fried rice feature shrimp for the surf part.
Boiled them down and into the food processor to puree. While I season with cumin, garlic and onion. I am using smoked dried onions as well. The meat will be a mixture of the pork and beef. You could smoke the beef and pork, but I don't bother as I want more of a background then a full on smoke flavor in the chili con carne.
Because I like my pork cooked a little harder then my beef I brown the pork first and then the beef goes in to the pan.
As soon as this is browned I drain off all the fat. In the beginning I was weighing the meat prior to cooking then after the cooking and draining to get a good idea of how much fat I was removing. I have to guess the water content as the difference between the cooked meat weight and the captured fat weight. Not perfect, but I am getting close enough to have a good idea of what I am getting rid of for fat content.
Then add in my diced bell pepper.
At this point the chili con carne is completed. I move on to getting the rice and shrimp ready as well as the pan with fried egg for making the fried rice to go with the steak. The filet mignon is only getting salt and pepper. I know people put all kinds of crap on filet mignon but to be honest with filet mignon salt and pepper is it for me. Don't tell me how good it is with freakin' garlic and other things piled on it, you're freakin' wrecking it! I paid for prime and I am going to taste prime and to do that I will tell you that you taste the filet mignon as beef best when you just salt and pepper it. PERIOD.
I use a rice cooker, they are so cheap now and have that add water, add rice, mash button and walk away 'til done.
Once done hit it onto some ice and get that rice cooling so you can fry it.
Now start to get the shrimp ready and fry up the egg. The egg in fried rice gets diced in the pan. Break the yolk and fry it hard but not so brown starts showing up on the whites. Mix in your long grain rice and then plop you chili con carne on top. This is followed by the shrimp and then toss it and fry it 'til some of it is crunchy.
As religious as I am about salt and pepper only on the filet mignon, I am about the way it gets cooked. Oak and Hickory in the Weber!
And since everyone will want to know how it was cooked. I think medium rare is best for this cut. I do rare as well, but generally with a ribeye. For filet mignon I like the medium rare range. The wife likes medium.
And that is my surf and turf with an Asian Mexican fusion. Not to far out then when you consider the amount of burritos featuring rice. But definitely a twist on serving the shrimp in a surf and turf combo. I know in the east coast it would be lobster and on the pacific coast lobster and/or crab, but in Colorado it is mostly done with shrimp.
Hope you enjoyed the pictures and let me know if the new size is better for reading and load times. I am trying to make them so those of you reading and sending the PMs can get the whole thing without waiting forever.
bbally
