Last night - made possibly the meal I would choose on Death Row right before execution. Not sure I've ever had a better one honestly.
New York Strip steak with succotash, roasted beets, cornbread and fig infused bourbon.
Steak:
New York Strip an inch thick
Salt
Pepper
Set strips out on a plate at least 30 minutes before cooking. Salt and pepper both sides. Let come to almost room temperature as best as you can wait.
Grill strips to rare over charcoal/hickory wood chunks. Let rest for ten minutes.
Succotash:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 strips of thick cut applewood smoked bacon (Wright's brand), diced
1 onion, diced
3 cups of sliced okra (1/4-1/2 inch thick)
2 ears worth of fresh yellow corn kernels. Use knife to scrape milk from ears into a bowl.
3 Tastee-Lee tomatoes
2 cans of crowder peas with their liquor
Salt
Pepper
2 tablespoons of butter
Basil (about 6-8 large leaves chiffonade)
Cook bacon in oil until bacon is brown and almost crisp. Add onions. Saute until translucent and fragrant. Add okra and turn heat to almost high (above medium high but don't burn your food). Stir almost constantly. You will see slime, but as the okra browns, the slime will dissipate. This takes about 8-10 minutes. Add corn and stir making sure the milk gets around. Add tomatoes and heat through. Add crowder peas with their liquor and bring to a slight boil then turn to a simmer. Add salt and pepper and taste (I used about a teaspoon and a half of salt and about 50 turns of black pepper. My grinder sucks). Add butter and stir until it's melted. Add basil and remove from heat or keep warm.
Roasted Beets
2 large raw beet heads
Italian seasoning
Olive oil - 3 tablespoons
1/2 cup water
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roast all ingredients in a pan that is covered tightly with aluminum foil. Roast for about an hour-hour and fifteen minutes. Peel beets afterwards wtih a knife.
Cornbread
Jiffy box
Cream corn
I usually make homemade cornbread but this meal was intense. Follow package directions. Add a cream corn for texture and flavor.
Fig Infused Bourbon
The star of the show. Had some mission figs on hand and a bottle of Jim Beam. I quartered the figs and smashed them. Then I covered them in a cup of bourbon. I did this about 30 minutes before I started cooking. Once the meal was finished, I strained it into a glass.
Bon appétit!