Food Do we seriously not have an entire thread dedicated to STEAK until now?

Dedicated to Remixer​

I was going to post a blog about it, but I didn't want to make a big deal out of it.

The vegan experiment has failed. Indulgence, craving, and past experiences have prevailed. Let's also just say veganism has been quite alienating, though it was eight months of discipline.

I'm currently grilling a 1-lb. ribeye. It's 2 inches thick. (A thanks goes out to my loving SO.)

With grilled baby bok choy as a side.

I've always loved eating meat. I don't think I'm strong enough to be a vegan. I have mad respect for them.

 

You have my sympathy for the sense of loss that you must feel. After you let it all hang out publicly, it has to be at least somewhat of a big deal.

It's an inquiry and an experiment, not a failure.
It's hard to be on a restrictive/proscriptive dietary regime. I fall off of my low-carb regime every now and then. Sometimes I just want the texture and flavor of BREAD!

Veganism as a moral high ground philosophy, ...maybe.

But I can't see how, from an evolutionary point of view, that it makes sense nutritionally. There's just not enough there, there.

Try grilling heart of romaine brushed with olive oil. That's good too.

Lindy

 

[EDIT: Sorry, I know this thread is about steak....]

Yeah, that's a part of it. It was something that felt right at the time, and for a while once I was in the thick of it. I didn't regret anything or even miss eating certain things. It was only recently that I realized a slowly building resentment was happening. Then I started to lose faith, and then I started to crave meat—I think this was an emotional thing. Despite my beliefs, meat has always smelled good to me.

Yeah, a big part of me still wants to look at eating sustainably over the long-term. The steak was an indulgence, but I'm not sure I'd want to eat it very often. I'm still drinking soymilk, for example.

The nutrition isn't really a big issue. I was probably eating better than I ever have while I was eating vegan. My only concerns were perhaps a lack of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and cholecalciferol (vitamin D3). Though, interestingly enough, I was probably getting more EPA and vitamin D (albeit in the ergocalciferol form) than most people in North America. I was consuming small amounts of echium oil, which has a high conversion rate of EPA, in addition to higher amounts of ALA, which has a low conversion rate. I was consuming enough vitamin D2, but there are mixed studies regarding its efficacy compared to D3. There are concerns about how it doesn't last long in the blood and how its conversion may produce unwanted byproducts.

These weren't huge concerns, but let's just say that I'm happy to get direct EPA into me via (sustainable) fatty fish and an ample source of vitamin D that I know works the way it should. (I spend a lot of time indoors year-round, and am somewhat moley.)

That sounds delightful!

I've done vegetarianism off and on. I've mostly been omnivorous with vegetarian leanings. Leaning more towards what Michael Pollan would recommend: eat food, not too much, mostly plants.

As I stated above, I'm still concerned somewhat about sustainability. I don't think I'm too interested in eating meat with every meal (or every day for that matter).

It was good. It's difficult to ruin a ribeye. I tried for medium but got medium well. (I'm still not used to cooking steak on my BBQ. It's small and runs a bit hot.) I enjoyed it, though I was mindful that this is not something I would want to do often.

I hope to remain mindful in my food choices. I want to achieve a balance where I'm eating animal products not just because they're tasty but also with nutritional and sustainability considerations. I think most of my meat consumption will end up being fish that are highly replenishable, such as sardines, anchovies, and herring. I will eat chicken every so often, as it's a common choice in my household. Everything else will be as an occasional treat.

 

Congrats, you know how I feel about eating a good steak.


Honestly, as much of a carnivore as I am, I'm fine with people who choose to be vegan. I just have two caveats. One, don't walk around yelling to the world you are vegan, then go ahead and partake in something with dairy, cheese, or even meat knowingly just because there are no other conveniant options. If you do this, just tell people you usually try to avoid animal products, but don't always follow it. Two of the three people I personally know well that claim/claimed to be vegan would do this regularly. They insisted that every random person they encountered knew they were vegan. But one of them would indulge about once a week in a corned beef sandwich, or eat cheese on her salad because she "just had a huge craving, I couldn't resist". Well, then you aren't truly vegan, are you? The other would make the same claim, but if she was at a restaurant where it meant there was nothing she would like, she'd order non-vegan fare anyway. I also saw her devour pasta salad with pepperoni chunks in it because "most of the pepperoni fell to the bottom and I scooped off the top" because everyone else was raving about how good it was. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm ok with vegans, just not hypocrites. My second caveat is that vegans should make extra sure that they are getting the nutrients they need to. I can only imagine the extra research and effort it takes to do this, but it defeats the purpose of trying to choose a healthy diet if you don't also make sure it is balanced. Just my $.02, I guess people can do what they want though.


But welcome back to the dark side Baraka_Guru .

 

I had the second half of the ribeye as leftovers for lunch. I reheated it by braising it for five minutes in some water and Worcestershire sauce.

It was more tender and flavourful this way, and I enjoyed it more than the meat straight off the grill. Is that wrong?

 

YES!









First, there isn't supposed to be leftovers with steak.

Next time try this. Take the stake out of the fridge an hour early or so. Preheat the oven to 300-325*. Wrap the steak in foil and let it reheat slowly. Time will vary based on thickness of the steak. If you worry about it being too dry (i.e. it's already medium or more) then it is acceptable to use a few drops of Worchestershire sauce or the like when you put it in the oven.

 

Now you're being a purist—something for which I have little tolerance.

Cooking, in my view, includes versatility. I wasn't going to cut the steak in half and BBQ the second half the next day. Call me lazy. I found that the braising turned out well, and it was simple (and also allowed me to reheat some of the bok choy).

I actually quite liked the result of the braising. I think the method you listed here would have been less enjoyable to me. Maybe it's my French blood. I'm actually now considering going straight to braising for my next beef dish. Maybe some boeuf à la Bourguignonne... (With stewing beef, of course.)

I mean, grilled is great and all, but I've had so much grilled meat that I want to try other things. I've always been intrigued by much of French cuisine, yet I've had very little of it.

"[Boeuf à la Bourguignonne] is certainly one of the most delicious beef dishes concocted by man." —Julia Child

 

I was mostly giving Baraka_Guru a hard time. But yes, I am a steak purist for the most part. I'll try almost anything, but when it comes to really good beef, I almost always like to leave it to stand on it's own.

I believe I've posted a similar recipe with sirloin. Though I typically leave out the braising with tomato sauce and grill or broil the rolled steak.

 

Mm, I had some amazing tri-tip last night courtesy of my friend's dad. It was spectacular. I wish I had taken some with me for a meatsnack.