Asparagus Season is Here!

Asparagus is now in season. We love the long green vegetable! We served it twice last week. We served it once with a recipe provided by us with Jason from Palate. It is for Asparagus Topped with a Fried Egg and Green Garlic. It is delicious. You can get the recipe in our blog of: March 21, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe. We also made Asparagus with Parmesan Cheese. We steamed the asparagus and the topped with brown butter and grated Parmesan Cheese. We then broiled till the cheese was brown and bubbly. Yum.

We had an absolutely large bone-in Rib-Eye Steak. We purchased it at McCall’s Meat and Fish. We love the way that Osteria Mozza prepares steak. Cathy found the recipe in the Babbo Cookbook by Mario Batali. This is a delicious recipe for Dry-Rubbed Rib Eye. We cooked one big one and sliced it down for the two of us. It was fabulous!

Dry Rubbed Rib-Eye Steak
Babbo Cookbook – Mario Batali

2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon hot red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup dry porcini mushrooms, ground to a fine powder in a spice grinder
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 28-ounce rib-eye steak, cut 2 inches thick
Best-quality extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Best-quality balsamic Vinegar for drizzling

We dry-rub a thick-cut, well-marbled steak to help it form a nice crust while cooking. The effect of the sugar and salt on the meat is similar to dry aging, as it causes some of the steak's water weight to dissi¬pate overnight and intensifies the beefy flavor. Serve with roasted potatoes.

1. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, salt, garlic, red pepper flakes, pepper, mushroom powder, and olive oil and stir well to form a thick, fairly dry paste. Rub the paste all over the steak, coat¬ing it evenly, and refrigerate, wrapped in plastic, for 12 hours or overnight.

2. Preheat the grill or broiler.

3. Remove the steak from the refrigerator and brush off the excess marinade with a paper towel. Cook on the hottest part of the grill for 25 minutes, turning every 6 minutes, or to an internal tem¬perature of 120°F. for medium rare.

4. Allow the steak to rest for 10 minutes, then slice against the grain. Drizzle with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar and serve immediately.

Serves 2