There come those auspicious dates when worlds and time are locked on a collision course destined to upset the most insanely organized calendar.
Get over it.
Oh, sure you could try to make it to each and every related shindig, but really... why? So little faith that next year's Grand Holiday Event won't come again? Oh, right. Well, look, if you die before the next Big Day, I guarantee you won't be giving that calendar a second thought.
SO - just smush it all together. Hybridize it. All the cool geeks are doing it. Just ask the The Editing Biologist. Of course, he'll mostly just tell you about e coli and flies, not so much food, but you get the idea.
Man, was I ever glad that I was in a cooking mood when I realized that three biggies were all happening at the same time this year: Valentine's Day + Chinese New Year +
Mardi Gras.
{What, you don't have Mardi Gras in your trailer park? I am so sorry. Truly. For the uninitiated, mardi gras is a slice of rich cultural history to be enjoyed with wanton frivolity and gleeful gluttony just prior to engaging in the austerity of the Christian Lenten season. You ain't gotta be Cajun to dig Mardi Gras, especially if you bringin' yo cash to spread around the celebrant's streets.}
Even more
auspiciousness abounds: this Naturally Occurring Multi-Cultural Holiday Explosion just so happens to have fallen on the heels of food stamp benefits dispensation to my lucky household. More clarity on that another time, but for now just know that I am pretty well stocked after a pretty long dry spell.
A Prime Tenet of Trailer Park style is making do with what you've got on hand. And as any good cook (or even bad ones) know, unless you've done some planning, it's damned near impossible to have everything you need on hand for some recipes. What were the chances that I had everything I needed -- without wandering out into the cold drizzle -- to meet my urge to create a Cajun/Chinese/Love-oriented dish that would also warm up my kitchen by way of the oven?
Turns out, chances were pretty damned good.
Hybrid Steak
1# tenderized sirloin tip steak
cajun seasoning rub
quarter thick-sliced yellow onion
1/2 c unsweetened chunky peanut butter
1/3 c hoisin sauce out the jar
1 tblsp soy sauce
1/2 c hot water
2 tsp hot sauce (like Tabasco)
........
Preheat your oven to 325.
Pour yourself a nice glass of red wine.
Set up your roommate's girlfriend's glockenspiel that you're planning to learn how to play before the next church service.
Take that Dollar Bin tenderized sirloin tip steak and rub it with about a tablespoon of cajun seasoning powder.
Now -- I wanted to make my own rub, but remember that Prime Tenet of Trailer Park style? I had the concoction by (Name Withheld Pending Signed Advertising Deal), but did not have a chief ingredient in Cajun food: cayenne pepper. Sigh.
Use what you got.
And not a tablespoon on each side. For a 1# steak, should be only one tablespoon needed to coat the whole thing, front and back.
Lay it flat in a shallow baking pan. Put onion slices on top.
Pour a second glass of red wine.
Make your sauce: Combine the other ingredients in order in a bowl until smooth and blended. It should be thick but pourable.
Tell the dogs to move out the way. Better yet, go feed them now so they'll stay out of your way. (Someone's been feeding them from the kitchen counter.)
Spoon the sauce on top of the steak. You could save some of it for dipping other meat for grilling or broiling (like chicken legs) in at a later date, or just go whole hog and dump it all on there, like I did.
Stick it in the oven, uncovered, and cook for half an hour, while you have another glass of wine.
Serve slices of Hybrid Steak (which is now coated with a thick gooey spicy sauce) over rice for authentic Chinese Cajun effect. And since you're also catering to St Cupid, g'head and throw some green beans on the side -- true love means never wanting your sweetheart to have a veggie-less meal.
And realize that after the wine's gone, you're probably not going to be mastering that glockenspiel tonight.
Get over it.
Oh, sure you could try to make it to each and every related shindig, but really... why? So little faith that next year's Grand Holiday Event won't come again? Oh, right. Well, look, if you die before the next Big Day, I guarantee you won't be giving that calendar a second thought.
SO - just smush it all together. Hybridize it. All the cool geeks are doing it. Just ask the The Editing Biologist. Of course, he'll mostly just tell you about e coli and flies, not so much food, but you get the idea.
Man, was I ever glad that I was in a cooking mood when I realized that three biggies were all happening at the same time this year: Valentine's Day + Chinese New Year +
{What, you don't have Mardi Gras in your trailer park? I am so sorry. Truly. For the uninitiated, mardi gras is a slice of rich cultural history to be enjoyed with wanton frivolity and gleeful gluttony just prior to engaging in the austerity of the Christian Lenten season. You ain't gotta be Cajun to dig Mardi Gras, especially if you bringin' yo cash to spread around the celebrant's streets.}
Even more
A Prime Tenet of Trailer Park style is making do with what you've got on hand. And as any good cook (or even bad ones) know, unless you've done some planning, it's damned near impossible to have everything you need on hand for some recipes. What were the chances that I had everything I needed -- without wandering out into the cold drizzle -- to meet my urge to create a Cajun/Chinese/Love-oriented dish that would also warm up my kitchen by way of the oven?
Turns out, chances were pretty damned good.
And so I present you with: Hybrid Steak.Red meat & oven cooking = Love
Hot spices & pepper sauce = Cajun
Hoisin & soy sauce = Chinese
{The photo at right is NOT Hybrid Steak,
but tofu with ginger, served at our local buddhist temple
to celebrate the New Year.}->
1# tenderized sirloin tip steak
cajun seasoning rub
1/2 c unsweetened chunky peanut butter
1/3 c hoisin sauce out the jar
1 tblsp soy sauce
1/2 c hot water
2 tsp hot sauce (like Tabasco)
........
Preheat your oven to 325.
Pour yourself a nice glass of red wine.
Set up your roommate's girlfriend's glockenspiel that you're planning to learn how to play before the next church service.
Take that Dollar Bin tenderized sirloin tip steak and rub it with about a tablespoon of cajun seasoning powder.
Now -- I wanted to make my own rub, but remember that Prime Tenet of Trailer Park style? I had the concoction by (Name Withheld Pending Signed Advertising Deal), but did not have a chief ingredient in Cajun food: cayenne pepper. Sigh.
Use what you got.
And not a tablespoon on each side. For a 1# steak, should be only one tablespoon needed to coat the whole thing, front and back.
Lay it flat in a shallow baking pan. Put onion slices on top.
Pour a second glass of red wine.
Make your sauce: Combine the other ingredients in order in a bowl until smooth and blended. It should be thick but pourable.
Tell the dogs to move out the way. Better yet, go feed them now so they'll stay out of your way. (Someone's been feeding them from the kitchen counter.)
Spoon the sauce on top of the steak. You could save some of it for dipping other meat for grilling or broiling (like chicken legs) in at a later date, or just go whole hog and dump it all on there, like I did.
Stick it in the oven, uncovered, and cook for half an hour, while you have another glass of wine.
Serve slices of Hybrid Steak (which is now coated with a thick gooey spicy sauce) over rice for authentic Chinese Cajun effect. And since you're also catering to St Cupid, g'head and throw some green beans on the side -- true love means never wanting your sweetheart to have a veggie-less meal.
And realize that after the wine's gone, you're probably not going to be mastering that glockenspiel tonight.
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