The Panty-Dropping Filet

Crude title, we know.  But honestly, this was the ruphie meal that sealed the deal between the two of us.  And so, it holds a special place in our hearts.

A dry rub is a great way to enjoy a steak and your night. It adds amazing flavor and encrusts the filet to ensure that it remains rare on the inside and blackened on the outside.

Dry Rub Ingredients:
*note: this recipe is intended to make extra “rub” to store in an airtight container for future rubbing

• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons ancho chili powder
• 3 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons ground espresso coffee
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Mix the dry rub ingredients into a bowl and make sure that they are all well blended.  Take the two filet mignon and coat all sides of them in the dry rub so that it forms somewhat of a crust.  Afterwards, put the rubbed filets in an air-tight container and store them in the refrigerator overnight.  The salt and spices tenderize the meat, resulting in the accumulation of a thick fluid at the bottom of the container. After 24 hours of dry humping rubbing, take the steaks out of the fridge an hour before cooking – make sure to put an extra coat of that thick fluid on them so they look like this:

steak dry rub

Cooking the Filet:

Take out your cast iron skillet and let the fire blaze underneath it.  We like to put the fire on high so that the skillet sears the steak on the outside and leaves it rare on the inside (if you prefer your steak overdone and meh medium, then opt for putting the heat halfway). Once the skillet reaches sizzling hot, throw your steaks on.  We usually let it sear about 5 min, and then flip them and sear the backside for another 5 min (this is for a rare cooking temperature.  Call us stubborn, but we won’t give you instructions on how to cook steaks any other way).  Take the steaks off, plate them and let them sit for 2 minutes before serving (this lets the juices redistribute throughout the steak).

As a side dish, we went with a simple corn on the cobb.  We put water to boil, threw the corn in the boiling water (when we first flipped the steaks) and let them cook for about 5 min.  Took them out, buttered them up and sprinkled some Tajin seasoning on them.

Rare filet

For this meal, we went with a “local” wine which was recommended to us by a nice woman at the nearby (15 miles is nearby in this area) tavern/wine shop.  It’s a 2007 Silkwood Petite Sirah and for $40, it’s a bit overrated.  Though we loved the thickness and weight of the bottle, we found the contents to be unimpressive (disclaimer: we are not wine aficionados, but we do worship Dionysus).

2007 Silkwood Petite Sirah

Enjoy & may your panty-dropping wishes transpire!

Your Not So Average Chicken Fajitas

The Fajita Prelude.

On a spontaneous whim, we decided to escape to a secluded log cabin on Pinos Mountain, two hours north of Los Angeles, to enjoy a weekend of food, wine and nature (Caitlen interjects with “just food and wine for me”).  Shortly after submitting our payment to VRBO, we realized our lovely lodge was in fact 15 miles to the closest resemblance of a restaurant (we use the word restaurant generously since our dear friend Yelp deterred us from wandering there).

With little time to prepare, we made a run to Bristol Farms (the Bulgari of grocery stores) to shop for weekend groceries.  Opted for chicken breast, filet mignon, wine and cheese.  Since we don’t usually love chicken, we knew we had to invent a tasty marinade to keep it moist while grilling (“eww I hate the word moist…use juicy” – Caitlen).  And so, our moist juicy grilled chicken recipe came to fruition (clearly wine is on the mind).

Ingredients for the Marinade:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 3 tablespoons ancho chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon red pepper chili flakes
• 1 lime juice, squeezed
• 2 tablespoons Colavita balsamic vinegar (preferably aged)

Mix ingredients in a bowl.  You’ll notice that it’s a thicker, almost pasty consistency.  Add 2 organic, antibiotic and cage-free chicken breasts (mmm, breasts…) to the marinade and coat the chicken with it. Place chicken and marinade in an airtight container and let marinade for 24 hours, up to 48 hours, if time permits. After the 24 hour waiting game, take the chicken out of the refrigerator one hour prior to cooking. This lets the chicken get to room temperature before cooking which prevents the chicken from drying out. It should look something like this:

Marinaded chicken breasts

Fajita Ingredients:

• 2 Flour tortillas
• 2 pre-marinaded chicken breasts
• 1 block of 10-year aged white cheddar cheese, preferably from Wisconsin 😉
• 1 wedge of BelGioioso Peperoncino cheese
  
• A handful of cherry tomatoes
• Arugula
• Cholula’s hot sauce or Frank’s Buffalo Wings Sauce
  

While your bitch girlfriend is in the kitchen cutting tomatoes into quarters and slicing your desired amount of cheese, step outside to fire up the grill (if you’re sans grill, saute the chicken in a skillet on the stove top).  When the grill heats up to 400 degrees, throw the chicken on and close the grill cover. Wait about 10 min and flip the chicken. Cook until the inside of the breast is thoroughly white and the outside is nicely charred (about 5 more minutes).

Slicing the chicken fresh off the grill

The Assembly Line:

Slice up the chicken and warm up your flour tortilla (about 15 seconds in the microwave – the microwave keeps it moist and soft, whereas an oven or stove dries it out).  Fill your tortilla with sliced chicken, quartered cherry tomatoes, arugula, peperoncino and cheddar cheese.  Drizzle a little hot sauce over the ingredients.  Roll it up and take a hit eat!

Since everything tastes better with vino, we decided to pair this with a wallet-friendly Tempranillo from Spain.  It’s $8, medium-bodied, with flavors of black cherry and undertones of vanilla and oak (no, we are not sommeliers, but we do know how to Google).  Chosen due to economies of scale.