Day 221 - Consult a Cookbook for a Recipe

Date: August 15th, 2010

I haven't used my grill in a while.  I know this because rust doesn't form quickly.  Nor do wasp's nests establish themselves and then die over night.  And upon opening my grill, I found both rust and a now-defunct wasp's nest.  I am of the belief that neither of these things will make my steak taste particularly juicy and/or delicious.  And thanks to this delightful discovery, Justin and I were left with spectacular cuts of meat and no known ability to cook them.  Ok, granted that eventually any form of significant heat would cause the meat to be cooked, but I do not abide ruining good meat.

I thought about freezing it, but having had chicken twice that week already, I had a pretty solid hankering for beef.  Justin supports me in these sorts of decisions.  Going back in the house, I was getting a tad frustrated, but that dissipated when I realized my thusfar unopened copy of the Joy of Cooking was sitting on a shelf waiting for perusal.  Well, not perusal, as that word actually means a long, detailed analysis of a text.  (I love knowing that).

The point is, steak was back on.  I looked through the section on beef and discovered that it is significantly more versatile than I gave it credit for.  I knew about its magical bruise curing ability and its crafty Form-of-Kosher-Hot-Dog disguise, but the whole being cookable in a pan thing; well, that was news.

I preheated a skillet with some oil, butter and garlic salt (the three best cooking tools on the planet) and let those suckers sizzle.  Having consulted the Joy, I knew exactly how long to leave them on before turning them and how long to cook them before serving.  The increase in my cooking confidence was noticeable as I went through the final preparations.  I have a nasty habit of watching food cook too closely if I'm not sure how long before its done.  Knowing from an expert what I should expect definitely made the process easier.

I'd consulted family recipes before and read recipes to other people, but I realized as I stood there watching meat cook and not poking at it for once, that I'd never sought a recipe from the cookbook, followed it, trusted it and cooked.  In addition to having the slightly mind-blowing realization that this was an incredibly simple life skills I'd somehow managed to let escape my grasp until now, I also felt a little sense of renewed enjoyment of my project.  I'm still feeling slightly more ho-hum about it than before, but I started to remember why I did it in the first place.  Its these moments - and making sure to stop and notice them - that got me started and its these moments that will help me make sure I finish!