Yay, it’s the second installment in our occasional series, Chow, Baby’s Three-Step Recipes!!! (The exclamation points are actually part of the name.)
It’s back mainly by popular demand, of course, but also because after last week’s Eddie V’s excursion, Chow, Baby is too broke to eat out. Broke but not hungry, Chow, Baby hastens to add, as that visit also brought the leftover fridge’s collection of little yummy-smelling boxes to critical mass. And there’s nothing more apropos to these but-the-economy times than building a fresh meal around leftovers, right? So get your clip ‘n’ save scissors ready for the Cholesterol Collection, beginning with a classic from Chow, Baby’s EZ-cooking heroine.
Gracie Allen’s Roast Beef
Don’t know who Gracie Allen was? Ask your grandma to do an impression.
1 little roast
1 big roast
1. Heat the oven to 350°.
2. Put the roasts in the oven.
3. When the little one burns, the big one is done.
Bury the little one in the leftovers fridge; slice the big one thickly and serve with leftover russet potato gnocchi from Ruffino’s.
Smokin’ Rib-Eye
As good as most steaks you’ll pay $38.95 for in a restaurant, except that you (“you” meaning the beloved) have to do the dishes yourself. Thanks to Walter at Country Meat Market for the fine-tuning.
1 big, thick, near-prime rib-eye from your favorite butcher (Country Meat Market, right? Right?)
Not quite half a stick of butter, but more than a quarter stick
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
Two cigarettes
1. Heat a cast-iron skillet on the stovetop until the handle burns you every time you touch it, dummy.
2. Drop a chunk of butter in the pan and immediately plop the steak on the butter. When the bottom edge of the steak is seared, flip it and sear the other side. Then turn down the heat, cover the skillet with your gumbo-pot lid, and butter-steam for as long as it takes to smoke a cigarette (the French timing method.)
3. Every so often, poke the steak with your finger. When the middle is as resilient as the webbing between your thumb and forefinger, remove the steak to a plate, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and let it rest for another cigarette.
Serve with leftover truffled mac & cheese and creamed spinach almondine from Eddie V’s.
Garlic-Crusted Eye of Round
1 or more lbs eye of round
Big jar of minced garlic
1. Looking innocent, ask for round eye at Hong Kong Market’s butcher counter. Crack up at yourself. (This only works if you’re Anglo.)
2. Back at home, coat the round eye in the garlic. Really get it on there. You don’t have to use the whole jar, but it couldn’t hurt.
3. Cook at 350 degrees for 20 minutes per pound, or until the garlic crust is nice and crusty. Slice as thin as possible and serve with leftover green onion mashers from Grady’s. Bonus: Your house will smell great for weeks.
Contact Chow, Baby at chowbaby@fwweekly.com.
