By Paul Suplee,
MBA, CEC, PC-3

As I sit here on Day 18 after closing the restaurant, I sip my black coffee, eating Genoa salami on wheat with Duke’s mayonnaise and spicy brown mustard.

Ah yes, the German side comes out of me on such rainy mornings … occasionally, that is.

Next,  I have to prepare classes for my students; a new challenge, in that delivering online cooking classes is beyond overwhelming and intimidating.

Luckily, there are resources online that I am slowly finding to apply to my different sections. There is an amazing video about ice sculpting. Is it the same as being present and carving ice? Absolutely not. But we all have to get creative during these trying times.

Having the kids home from college adds a new element to the fray, as the feeding frenzies that are now taking place act as reminders of days of yore.

It is easy to forget how much money we actually spent on food, instead pretending that the thousands of dollars in tuition and fees paid to the institutions of higher learning doesn’t really exist. Oh, but it will one day soon enough.

Last night, the rain cleared and it was time to take a break from all of this drudgery and make a wholesome meal. Honestly, with the new restrictions to which we have been adhering, I have had more hot meals with my children than I have in 18 months.

I’ll take that as a little silver lining. Of course, we all need this storm to blow over quickly, but I will take what I can get, and I hope that others can at least see that little nugget of sunshine for what it is worth.

The day has been filled with classwork, dealing with connectivity issues (the new normal), finishing projects around the house, removing trailer after trailer of trash and unneeded items and otherwise moving into the house that we purchased almost four years ago.

With a maddening list of events, we just never got the job done. So, I teach (well as best as I can from a laptop), clean, paint and move in. It’s all in a day’s work, I guess.

Before all of this nasty virus stuff happened, I already had a freezer full of meat, a leftover sentiment inherited from my parents. At this point, I am glad that I have it.

We are pulling meat out, little by little so as to preserve it, and making a great variety of meals. Of course, some include canned soup, and some include pre-made marinara (I am not a proud man), and so far, so good. No one has complained about the food.

The big thing for these steaks is to cook these outside, unless you have a commercial-grade exhaust hood.

These are smoky! But, done right, these are succulent and simple steaks that are sure to please. These work great on flame, charcoal or any high heat source. Just be careful!

And use a simple cut of beef: sirloin. It is inexpensive and works perfectly. At this point, we all need to save our resources. Be safe out there!

Pan-seared Steaks

serves 4

4 ea. 6-ounce Sirloin steaks

4 Tbsp. Ghee or clarified butter

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

Steak seasoning (recipe follows)

1. Pull the steaks out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before. This allows them to slack, or relax. Obviously, we can’t do this in restaurants as food is ordered a la minute.
2. Season the steaks liberally and set on a plate to go outside.
3. Heat a cast iron pan on a good flame outdoors. This technique creates a lot of smoke, so if you decide to do this inside, I accept no responsibility at all. You have to be responsible.
4. Add clarified butter (or Ghee) and the rosemary sprigs and cook for ten seconds
5. Carefully add the steaks, making sure not to crowd the pan.

• You could (should) get a little flame here, so with caution, baste the tops of the steaks with the butter as it sears on the pan on the bottom. If they start to sizzle less, remove some steaks and complete this in batches. The pan must be piping hot for this to work

6. Cook on first side for about 3 minutes.
7. Turn the steaks over and remove from heat. Allow the steaks to rest for about 5 minutes. They should be around a perfect medium rare. If you like them more done, then cook them longer. Science!
8. Allow to rest for at least 10 minutes before you serve, reserving all juices and butter to drizzle on top
9. Serve with roasted potatoes, rice or anything else that you have stashed in your pantry
10. Eat and be safe!

Steak Seasoning

3 parts Sea salt

2 parts Granulated garlic

1 part Cracked black pepper

1 part Onion powder

1 part Blackening spice (I prefer Redfish Magic©)

1. If you read this article on occasion, you might notice that this is very similar to the Trimix that I regularly use. However, I add onion powder and blackening spice to give this blend more of an edge. You will not be disappointed!
2. Combine well with a whisk, ensuring that you do not breathe in the noxious dust that will amass over the bowl.
3. Store in an airtight container until ready to use.