I can hear God giggling right now... And that's okay - I'm sure that we humans all provide more than enough entertainment for God. This is what I get for waxing raphsodic about the rain and posting poems and whatnot - 6 straight days of rain and clouds. I asked for it, and God provided.
I feel like I'm back in Oregon again. No, actually, I feel like I'm in Seattle, because it has been not really raining - more like spitting. A constant spit, and because it is such a fine rain, the wind whips it around and right into your face. And I have a specific association with this kind of rain and living in Seattle (probably because I was always out in it during track practice). In Portland it rains (please read in deep, beefy, no-nonsense voice). There's none of this namby-pampy drizzle - if it is going to rain, it pours. At least where I grew up.
But there is one difference in San Francisco, and that is the fog that comes along with the rain. And I have to say, the fog is really really quite lovely. So ethereal and mystic. On Sunday, Neil came home a little bit early from the studio, which was quite a treat, and we went for an evening walk along the Marina Green towards the Golden Gate Bridge while the rain had paused. We could see the fog bank off behind a stand of trees in the distance and it was creeping down over nob hill towards our apartment. It was intended to be just a short walk, and we turned around before we got to the end of the Marina. As we started walking back towards home, I noticed that a little tree off in the distance was getting hazier and hazier. We stopped and looked back behind us, and the stand of trees had completely disappeared in the fog, and it quietly crept towards us. When we started walking again, the little tree in the distance had also disappeared. It's like being slowly, quietly surrounded by a giant, damp blanket. And with the foghorn on the Golden Gate Bridge sounding in the distance, I have to say again that it really is just a lovely feeling. I'm glad that we're coming into fog season again.
trees in the distance on Marina Green
same scene, 10 minutes later...One final difference between rain here and rain up in the PacNW, is that it is warm down here when it rains. This is no 30 degree, shivery, muddy, rainy day. This is 65 and a drizzle, which is actually a fairly enjoyable type of rain - a spring rain. So, overall, I have to say that I'm not at all dismayed with 6 days of spring rain. I don't have to water my garden, either. I guess I'll take what I asked for.
So, I'm trying a new approach to the excercise. I've fallen into the "join a gym because if you're paying for it you are more likely to use it" trap. I joined the YMCA. Primarily because they have a really nice pool and I really miss swimming. And I just really feel like I need to do something to get myself back into shape - any shape. And I've tried training for stuff (please recall the grand plans of a half-marathon) but that hasn't seemed to work. New plan = make excercise a daily part of the routine. Nothing strenous, nothing crazy, no pressure, but try to always do something. On Sunday, I tried out the pool. I did nice, easy laps of breast stroke and free for 35 minutes, and it was just bliss. I wasn't trying to train for anything, so I could just take it easy and enjoy the pool, but still get a workout. It was like an epiphany - a lightbulb went off. Then, yesterday, I took an easy spin on the stationary bike at the gym. Again, no pressure, nothing to train for and it was nice. I was supposed to follow the bike ride with some weight lifting, but at a brand new gym, I am always intimidated by machines that I don't know, and big beefy guys lifting lots of weights and grunting. So I wussed out. I called it a night after the bike ride and walked home, without a coat, in the drizzle.
Neil has a show tonight at his little school gallery. As the culmination of one of his classes, everyone in the class is showing a piece of art. So Neil is putting in a new piece of art that he is still kind of working on. But it will be nice for him to have it seen, and to get feedback.
Finally - and it was debatable whether this should come first or last in this blog post, because I am SO excited about it - I have discovered the holy grail of cooking steak. I settled on end of the post, because you should save the best for last. And lure your readers into reading the entire post because of the promise of something wonderful at the end. So, without further ado, the secret to mouth-wateringly tender and moist steak is: SALT!! Lots and lots of SALT! I found this method on a food writer's blog, and I have to say I tend to trust food blogs more than cookbooks, because there is the feel of an actual person on the other end of the recipe. Someone is testing and tasting and actually cooking the recipe and because there is usually writing beyond just the recipe and instructions, I can discern whether or not I trust the person and their opinions.
Here is the link to the original article: I will try to do a brief explanation for all of you who don't care to link...
http://steamykitchen.com/blog/2007/08/28/how-to-turn-cheap-choice-steaks-into-gucci-prime-steaks
So here we go: 30-40 minutes before you are going to cook your steaks, pat them dry and then cover them liberally with salt. And when I say liberally, I mean you shouldn't be able to see much meat through the salt. Also, you should use kosher salt. Then, just let it sit. Apparently (from my own research and it being noted on the food blog) this is blasphemy to most people, because salt is supposed to suck all the moisture out of the steak. HOWEVER - if you let it sit for a longer period of time, the moisture dissolves the salt, and some of it gets sucked back into the interior of the meat. Don't worry - it's not that much. Then, after a suitable period of time (timetable to follow), rinse all of the salt off of the meat (I just ran mine under the faucet) and pat it completely dry. Don't worry if the meat feels like an old, dry leather bag at this point. Mine did, and I was totally freaked out. It's ok. I promise.
Then season your steak the way you choose - I used garlic powder, onion powder and pepper - and grill or broil or fry, however you want to cook it - I used a grill pan. And when it was finished, I topped mine with 1 tsp of garlic herb butter (basically just mix butter, garlic powder and chopped parsley together) and can I tell you that I don't think I've ever tasted a better piece of meat, even in a restaurant? And to make it even better, it wasn't even a fancy piece of meat - just a top sirloin. So I saved money and had the best steak dinner of my life. I IMPLORE you to try this method - it will change your steak-eating life. Pretty-please?
Here is a timetable for how long to let the salt sit on the meat:
MEAT TIME
Less than 1″ 15 min
1″ thick cut 30 min
1.25″ -1.5″ (NY Strip, Ribeye) standard thicker steaks can sit longer to let the salt do its work throughout meat 45 min
1.25″ - 1.5″ manly-man T-Bone, Porterhouse
45 min
>1.5″ Massive ginormous “Barney Rubble” porterhouse
1 hr or more
Happy meat-eating to all!
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