Hello World!
Here is my 30-year meal
The other night, Sandra and I collaborated on a meal that took 30 years to finally bring to the table as one elegant meal. It was a grand success from the first bite to the last sip of wine. The menu: Marinated & Grilled Flat Iron Steak, French Potato Salad, Chilled Snow Peas, Joel Gott Pinot Noir, and Lemon Pie for desert.
The recipes came from Texas, Virginia, France, Massachusetts, and the wine from Oregon. Here is the story behind 'The 30-Year Meal.'
The recipe for the steak (1987) came from the no longer open Jolly Ox restaurant in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Being a steak lover ever since I had teeth, I took a chance and ordered a marinated rib eye, something I had never done before - ordered a marinated steak. It was unique and simply delicious. The waitress said it was marinated in four common ingredients, ingredients which she freely shared. This weekend, I took the ingredients and marinated a Flat Iron steak for 24 hours, flipping the steak every 6 hours. I grilled it to medium - rare and let it rest (covered) for 10 minutes before slicing very thin.
The French potato salad recipe (2014) came to Sandra from France by way of Julia Child. Child taught the world, and Sandra, that it was not necessary to use mayonnaise when making potato salad. Something else unique, it is served at room temperature.
The chilled snow peas recipe (1989) came to us by way of the Pungo Grill in Virginia Beach, Virginia, a place we called home fr 32 years. Again, the waitress shared the ingredients and steps. In addition to the (again) four common ingredients, it should be made the morning of and chilled for several hours. Serve chilled. I like mine fairly crunchy so I only microwave the peas for 2 1/2 minutes as opposed to the 4-6 minutes suggested on the bag. The first time I followed the instructions the peas were mushy.
The lemon pie recipe (2017) came to Sandra from Texas by way of Joanna Gaines, Magnolia Journal. Nothing boxed in this recipe. Sandra made everything from scratch - crust to finish. She took gram crackers and rolled them into oblivion for the crust. My only contribution was squeezing the lemons.Weadded a 'dob' of whipped cream right before serving.
The wine (2014) came to us by way of Seattle from a blogger-friend of Sandra's. who has a very exclusive gift shop, and often does wine reviews. Fortunately, we can purchase his recommended Joel Gott Pinot Noir locally, which is not always the case with many Oregon-based wines and especially the French wines. Sandra orders our French wine.
And that my friends is the story behind 'The Meal'. A meal that was 30 years in the making. The unfortunate part, it only took 30 minutes until our plates were empty. But, what an enjoyable 30 minutes.
If you would like any of these recipes, I will be glad to share. For us, food is an event to be shared and and enjoyed.
Until next time.
Michael.