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People say I roll my eyes a lot.
(They’re right)
And there's no subject that makes my eyes roll harder than "personal growth."
Whenever I read some pop wisdom about sobriety, "embracing failure" or "the importance of kindness" my eyes roll so hard I can feel them smack the top of my skull.
But occasionally, the personal growers come up with something golden.
Like the phrase "majoring in the minors."
What does it mean?
It's not about baseball. It refers to the idea of distraction.
Instead of making the most important improvements, (often the hardest ones) you get distracted fixing the minute details that don't make much of a difference.
In home cooking, people major in the minors by:
Buying the most expensive knives
Stocking shelves full of cookbooks
Switching to pink salt from white salt
Now I'm not saying you shouldn't use a dope chef's knife. In fact, if you're a manufacturer, feel free to send me a couple.
But you don't become a better cook by making teeny-tiny improvements like these.
You do it by learning the basics, and improving your fundamental skills in cooking.
Pan-seared steak with lemon pesto orzo, charred broccolini, and pickled sweet peppers
Where to start?
I think of these 3 elements as the biggest leverage points in cooking. I call them the 3 T's.
Time
Temperature
Technique
Time: Being sensitive to how the flavor, color, smell, and texture transform during the cooking process.
Temperature: Recognizing how foods respond when exposed to cold and heat, and dry and moist environments.
Technique: Knowing how to make the most of any ingredient. For example, you wouldn't cook with fresh basil; you’d kill its delicate flavor. Instead, you'd chiffonade it, add it to your dish raw. Or pureé it into a sauce.
Once you've built up your skills in these 3 T's, the whole world of cooking opens up for you.
For example, many home cooks only feel comfortable cooking a steak on the grill.
But there’s so many other ways…
Like on the stovetop. Using a heavy sauté pan, or cast-iron pan for example.
(Which comes in handy during winter when it's too cold to fire up the grill)
Pan-searing a steak lets you create that delicious browned layer of caramelization that you also get from the grill, but a pan is better for flavoring the steak with other ingredients as it cooks...
Like I did in using butter and garlic in this week's recipe.
SIMPL Tip #1: Pan-searing meat
Dry the meat with a towel, and season both sides with salt and pepper
Preheat a heavy saute pan or cast-iron pan, and add 1 Tablespoon avocado oil
When the oil is smoking hot, place the meat in the pan, and reduce the heat slightly, if needed
Cook until the surface is browned, then flip the meat using a pair of tongs
Add butter and any other flavorings to the pan (garlic, thyme, rosemary)
Baste the meat using a spoon to infuse it with the butter and flavorings
Remove the meat from the pan to cool. Let it rest before slicing.
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I used this pan-searing technique to cook the steaks for this week's dish, and the results were delicious.
I used a combination of Ribeye and New York strips because that's what I had on hand, but this recipe is written for ribeyes. Use whichever you prefer.
This dish is paired with orzo pasta (yeah it's pasta, not rice) that I tossed with a bright-green lemon pesto pureed with blanched spinach to keep it green.
Pickled sweet peppers and charred broccolini round out this flavorful, high-protein summer entree.
Here's the nutrition breakdown for 1 portion:
Calories: 892
Protein: 55g
Carbs: 42g
Fat: 56g
Try this pan-searing method for cooking steak at home.
Maybe your eyes will roll too, as you take that first bite, drop your fork, and say (while chewing)….
"Oh ma gaaawd!”
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Pan-seared steak with lemon pesto orzo, charred broccolini, and pickled sweet peppers
