Happy Holidays out there Discovery people.
One of my favorite parts of the holidays is Great Food.
And as you all know, for me, Food is LOVE!
As I was telling a couple of good friends of mine in a text exchange earlier today, one of the best ways to Love Yourself and the Ones You Care Most about is to share Good Food with them!
So what is Good Food, to me??
Well - lemme show ya!
Ok. So it's been awhile since I've posted the results of a Paleo shopping trip and the prep for the meats and veggies I buy so here goes.
I got done with a wonderful Core Strength and More group exercise class run by Liz Prehm at Anytime Fitness on St Michaels in SFNM and had remembered a weekly Smith's ad on some T-bone steaks at $4.77 / lb and was feeling that need for maximum protein in the days ahead after the Body Busting Workout Liz put us through so I mosied over to the Smith's just down the Plaza from Anytime.
And what did I find?
Holy Mother of Mercy Cheap, Lean and Tasty Protein Batman!
Boneless Pork chops for $1.69 / lb. That's 3.7# of Protein Goodness for $6.27!
Sign me up and call me Ready to Eat!
Aaah - there's the other Meat Lover's Delight in line with Carnivorous Intent!
$4.77 / lb T-Bones!
Wills - you Paleo MF'er - that's a Nice Cart!
Damn Straight - Practice what you Paleo Baby!
Whoa Whoa Whoa - that's not Paleo!
Hey Hey Hey - Fresh Breath and Dark Chocolate is important too!!
So enough bantering and bullshit - People taste my Meat and say - Hang on. That came out wrong.
Women taste my Meat and say..... Whoa there Wills - Wrong Post - You already wrote one on that subject...
Ok - People tastes what the Rock is Cooking and say - Damn that Steak tastes good!
How'd you do that?
Well - it's all in the preparation and the cooking method and it starts with the following:
Adolph's Seasoned Meat Tenderizer
Salt
Pepper
Pepper
Mix of Curry Powder, Garam Masala, Allspice and Tarragon - all purchased from the bulk spice section of Sprout's.
Apply to the meat liberally in the order given above and then fork your meat. There you go again Wills with the Sexual Innuendo.
No - really - Fork the Meat - hard and a lot and on both sides (Ooh I like that!) - this does 2 things:
1. Drives all that good meat tenderizer and seasonings and spices down into the meat so it tenderizes and seasons the meat from the inside too.
2. Mechanically tenderizes the meat.
Here you can see the fork marks.... Ooh that's the way I like it - uh huh uh huh!
Sing it KC!
Oh my God, I used to love to watch Soul Train and the Solid Gold Dancers! Remember that!!!
Damn - I miss Disco!!!
So - insert a pic here of a pork chop I seasoned and tenderized a couple of days ago and this is the way I cook my meat.
Smoking hot cast iron skillet.
This is about a 3/4" thick pork chop -
Rule of thumb for a medium steak is 1 min per 1/4" of thickness to get it to medium which would be 3 minutes on each side BUT....
This is pork and I want it medium well so I put 4-1/2 mins on each side.
And mind you this is a cast iron skillet on high heat - you can see the smoke coming off the pan as this pork chop is cooking.
Why?
Because I want to sear all those great seasonings onto the outside of the steak which creates this incredible tasty crust AND seals the meat from the outside so that it remains juicy and tender on the inside.
Capiche???? OR
You get it???
You get it???
So while the Pork chop is cooking - Back to the steaks prep.
I've seasoned and forked both sides of the T-bones and put them in a plastic Tupperware type dish and will put a lid on these and into the fridge for a minimum of 24 hours before cooking.
That meat tenderizer (which is basically dehydrated papaya - Yep - meat tenderizer is the enzyme from the papaya!) will break down the connective tissue in the meat and make it that much tenderer.
Tenderer? Is that a Word and do you Swipe Left or Right???
Stay on Track Wills!
Same thing goes with that 3.7# of boneless pork chops.
Geez - my biceps have grown an inch just thinking about eating all this wonderful Protein.
Oh yeah - you can work out till you blow yourself up and if you don't eat enough Protein (minimum of 1g per # of bodyweight for people working out with any kind of intensity at least 3 times a week and Yes - Ladies - this includes YOU!!!), you're not gonna make much progress.
Based on my experience, I would break down progress in physical fitness (however you define that - I define it as lean muscle mass, i.e. not skinny fat, but lean, attractive and noticeable and notable muscle mass) being attributed to the following with the follow percentages:
- Diet and Nutrition - 60%
- Workout Program, Intensity, Duration and Frequency - 15%
- Rest and Recuperation - Proper Sleep - 15%
- Stress Management, Schedule Control, Life Prioritization and Planning - 10%
Yep - What You Eat is the Majority Factor in Physical Fitness!
Nice!!!
Package and Refrigerate!
Back to cooking the Pork Chop.
Flip that Mutha and give it another 4-1/2 mins.
And NO! It's not burnt - that's the level of blackening you want of those wonderful spices on the outside!
So now, most importantly, let that pork chop rest at least 5 mins to finish cooking.
DO NOT CUT the meat until it has rested!
If you do, all that wonderful juice you have tried to keep in the meat will run out on the cutting board or plate.
So, in that 5 min resting period for the meat, let's get the vegetable and fruit medley going.
Red Bell Pepper, Jalapeno Pepper, Carrot Sticks will go in first because they take longer to cook!
Zucchini will go next and then some cubed up fresh pineapple.
All the veggies are seasoned with Salt and Pepper and that wonderful Moroccan spice mix and the fresh cubed pineapple with Cinnamon before cooking.
3 mins on the pepps and carrots, then in goes the zucchini with a minute on each side of the slices.
Out they come and into a tupperware container where they are hit with a drizzle of balsamic and EVOO.
Then put a grill on the pineapple cubes.
Then throw everything back together in the skillet with some pre-cooked Basmati rice!
And there's the finished product garnished with fresh blueberries, almonds and fresh julienned basil and a dollop of sour cream in the middle.
Look at that pork chop - perfect medium well.
You can tear the meat with a fork!
And what goes better with a meal like that than fresh flowers.
From Smith's - "New Year's Shimmer"!!!
Why?
Cause that's the Way Wills Rolls!
Happy Holiday and Healthy and Delicious Eating Everyone!
From Discovery....
To YOU!!!
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