Friday, March 5, 2010

Filet Au George: Newfoundland Gourmet

This is from my dad. I don't believe he actually ever followed his own instructions. I have never in my life seen him drink more than two beers in an entire day. I'm sure it's happened once upon a time, but he must be stealthy about it.

Anyway, my dad's a BBQ-er, but winters are awful in Newfoundland and stepping outside, even after having imbibed several beers, is not pleasant. So, his great BBQ-ing skills are reserved for the George Foreman grill during the long winter months. Note that this recipe can be applied to pretty much any kind of meat, as long as it's thin enough or you don't care about it being cooked all the way through, or being charred on the outside if you insist on cooking it all the way through. This is funny for my dad, since I don't think he believes in the concept of rare, medium-rare, or even medium for red meat. Perhaps his thought is that you get all the beer into your stomach and that's where the true marinating takes place?

Note: the recipe below has been unchanged from what was sent to me from my dad, but the parentheses are my own additions)

Instructions
1. Take beer from fridge. Take off cap to let it breathe (who knew my dad was such a gourmet? What constitutes breathing? 5 seconds? 30? Either way, I'm very impressed).
2. Take steak filet from fridge and place gently in marinade bowl.
3. Plug in George Foreman grill to pre-heat.
4. Marinade: Grind liberal amount of fresh pepper over steak. Add a small amount of beer to marinade. That was too much.
5. Sit down and drink rest of beer.
6. When beer is gone, place steak in the George (At least he's not personifying the grill like his snow-blower, Mr. Snob...).
7. Relieve fridge of second beer. This makes available extra space which may be needed later. Maybe not too.
8. Did you remember to note the time when the steak went on? I didn't think so. Start on second beer.
9. After about five minutes it will be rare? Too late for that? Medium or medium well is OK too (Ah, it IS my dad's recipe! I was getting suspicious after the instruction to start a second beer). Relax and have another (Hmm...).
10. Steak should be finished now. Well done is fine. Don't worry about it.
11. Add your favourite sides. Mary Brown's fries and cole slaw are good (Mary Brown's fries are very good, and make this a Newfoundland specialty both in that you can only get them in NL and only someone in NL would actually put it in the recipe to serve with these specific sides. Just make sure you purchase the sides before grilling the steak. You will not be walking to Mary Brown's, and I will not condone drunk driving to purchase even specialty food products).
12. Have another (Really??). Well done! You earned it (I s'pose).

Love,
Amie

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