So last time I just had us putting the flank steak on the grill at Sur La Table...
It smelled great. It is hard to put into words just how good it smelled. Like...whoa. Garden of Eden with garlic level good.
Martha Being Tolerant Of Her Husband...again.
Fortunately, Martha and the other woman in our group did most of the cooking. I say that this was good because we already know what kind of cook I am. As in awful. As in terrible. As in I may be the only human on earth who has managed to set fire to a Caesar Salad. No. Really. Think it was spontaneous combustion. One minute it was all green and fluffy. The next...thick black smoke, billowing out from under the Romaine lettuce. Smelled like I was baking an owl over burning tire treads.
Okay, that’s not exactly the truth. And the burning had to do more with the croutons I was trying to make. And maybe I sort of completely forgot they were in the oven. And maybe I sort of accidentally set the oven to broil instead of bake. But the part about the smoke is all Snopes-able. You can ask my ex-landlord. And the guys from the fire department. And that was one date I never got to finish. And you wonder why a catch like me was single before I met Martha. Another mystery to ponder.
Anyway...Martha and the other woman borrowed a meat thermometer from the instructor and then, after checking, announced that it was done. We eagerly transferred the meat to the plates which the chef provided us. Then, we spread the Chimichurri over the meat. Here, we discovered there are different philosophies of Chimichurrism. Martha and I spread it thinly but evenly over the steak. The other couple covered their steak with a heavy layer of the stuff. Looked almost like a very green Swiss Steak. But, whatever works for you. So, no judgment here.
We ate the Pupusas first. These were very good and left me wanting more than the two each we’d made. You were also supposed to dose them in salsa. Honestly, I preferred them straight. But, again, whatever floats your Zeppelin.
The Pupusas Cooking...
The steak? Excellent. Truly excellent. We ate it in satisfied silence. The only thing wrong was that it was over a little too soon.
We finished the main course and sampled the dessert which Sur La Table had thoughtfully provided, Dulce de Leche ice cream. It, too, was very good, and it was no struggle to finish it quickly and completely.
Then, we were done.
We thanked the instructor-chef for his efforts, said goodby to our team-mates, and then browsed the store for a bit. We ended up not buying anything. Again, it is a high end store for people who either are or, perhaps, aspire to be professional chefs, and that is really a speed above our transmission’s particular settings. And ...okay, as I said before, it is a little expensive for us. But, again, that’s nothing against either the store, or its wares, or the people who shop there. Just saying that we fall in a little different category.
Finally, we finished up, as we left the store, I turned to Martha and said, “Great! What now?”
She looked at me. “Oh...”
“Ah...” I answered. I checked the time. It was only a little after five. We had the whole evening in front of us. Yikes! I had been so focused on finally getting Martha to the class that we’d spent three months waiting for that I hadn’t thought beyond, well, eating the steak. “I don’t know,” I said.
“I don’t know, either,” she answered.
And then we each realized something. The steak had been terrific, but it had also been rather small. And, we’d eaten very early. Meaning that in not too many hours, we were going to be hungry. Again.
The Steak In Mid Munch
“I’ll drive,” she said.
“And I’ll get directions to the nearest grocery store,” I said, whipping out my phone.
Once again, in spite of the meal we’d just had, in spite of all the cooking we’d just done, e were off to get the cheese, wine, and bread that form the basis of at least one dinner that we have any time we travel.
Ah well. At least we’re consistent. Maddening, but consistent.
More to come.
***
About the photos: The photo on this page, obviously, is Martha being tolerant of her husband while he snaps yet another picture of her. This is of her cooking at Sur La Table.
The photos that follow, meanwhile...
Here we have the Pupusas cooking.
And here we have the Remains Of The Day...I mean, the steak. It was reeeealllly good, too.
***
Care to help out?
I provide these blog postings for free. That’s fine and I’m happy to do so. But, long ago and far away, I was told that if you give away your material, that means you don’t really think it has any value.
So, to get beyond that, I’ve decided to make it possible for you to leave me a “tip” for my posts.
If you like what I write or the videos I produce, and feel you could make a small contribution to support my efforts, please go here:
That will take you to a Gumroad page where you’ll have the option of leaving me a few pence by way of encouragement.
Again, I don’t mind if you don’t. I just want to provide you with the option so that I won’t feel quite so much like I’m just tossing my works into the wind.
Either way, thanks hugely for dropping by the blog :-)
~mjt
Copyright©2022 Michael Jay Tucker