This was a Monday, and the morning started at 10:30am. We hovered around the Urban Farmhouse at the corner of Cary and 13th (http://theurbanfarmhouse.net/). I admit that the guests seemed to be more interesting people than those you see in the Barnes and Nobles at west end. There were singles who carry Apple laptops, and all of them did. There were couples who held their hands and shared drinks and food. There were girl friends, blond and nicely dressed, talking sweetly in small volumes. There were also people stopping by to get a hot drink (sorta windy and cool day it was), and I envy the easiness from their walks, who could've afforded this kind of slowness on a Monday morning? Maybe I've stayed in the countryside for too long, maybe it does have its charm just in a different way, this Richmond downtown.
The main event of the day was the Iron Chef challenge at Mise En Place, Richmond's premier cooking school and culinary team building company, located in historic Shockoe Slip (http://www.miseenplaceshockoe.com/). I thought all cooking classes should be bright and spacious, so somewhat disappointed when after walking down the staircase, finding myself standing in the basement of a rather congested and dark looking place. But my worries were very unnecessary, we had a blast. Good food and good wine and good cooking advice from professional chefs are the best thing in life. I always believed that people can't cook don't deserve good life. Cooking can be such a diversion of the busy work, the variety, the flavor, the styles, bring such joy and freshness to one's life. Here's the recipe from our team, the American Meat Lover Classic.
Preparation -
- Meat: 2 pounds of flat iron beef steak, cut into 4 pieces, marinate with salt and pepper for 3 iterations, sprinkle xxx (Todd?) and slowly massage the meat
- Onion, Garlic: chop into small pieces
- Dry Mushroom: add water and re-hydrate for 30min and do not throw away the water
- Chicken stock
Cooking -
- Meat -
- High heat empty pan for 3min, add olive oil (enough to coat pan), high heat pan again for 1min
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
- Place beef into the pan, brown each side for 2min on high heat until the surface becomes almost burned black
- Move browned meat into an oven pan, and put into oven; Thin pieces: 5-6min; Thick pieces: 8-10min
- Touch the center of meat to feel if the meat becomes soft and juicy
- Remove oven pan outside, and let meat cool down for about as long as it cooked (10-15 mins)
- Mushroom sauce -
- Re-use the pan after browning the beef (no need to wash the pan), add chicken stock and water from the dry mushroom hydration to a boil
- While that is boiling, use a small and clean pan, medium heat and add olive oil
- Throw in chopped garlic, and little bit later add the chopped onion; add salt, and cook until the onion is translucent and soft (about 5 min)
- Add rehydrated mushroom, and stir fry for 5min
- Move things from small pan to chicken stock and cook for 10min
- If preferred, add cream to chicken stock in the end and cook for another 5min until the liquid thickens
