on the continuing quest to find the best steaks, ryan and i found a good combination.

we started with grass fed, angus ridbeye steaks. when whole foods has meat on sale, we get them for $9.99/lb and worth every penny.

first, we wet the steaks on both sides with peanut oil. i then smashed/chopped fresh garlic (3 cloves) and sliced a jalapeno pepper very thinly. i ground sea salt onto the steaks, then rubbed half the garlic and some of the jalapeno all over the steak. i flipped them and gave the other side the same treatment. i tried to get some of the pepper’s juices onto the steak, plus the seeds. the seeds stick to the steak — this turned out to be a good idea. then i coated all sides of the steak liberally with cayenne pepper and rubbed it in, giving the steak a good massage.

then i turned the steaks over to ryan, where he holds the expertise in cooking them.

preheat the oven to 500F, with your cast iron skillet inside. once at temperature, bring the skillet out and sear the steaks on it, about 30 seconds per side. this will cook any sticking pieces of pepper. then you put the steaks in the oven for 3-4 minutes, flip them over, then another 3-4 minutes (depending on the thickness and desired doneness).

i’m not sure if it was the particular pair of steaks we got, or the rub, or the peppers.. but they came out awesome. probably the best steaks we’ve done to date.

chili and garlic rubbed steaks, rosemary potatoes, and fried green peppers. served with a 2000 la grange clinet bordeaux. cooking at home rocks.

this is one of my negative scans, a photo of boman and myself taken with the burke and james 8×10. this was during the housewarming party.

boman is helping me build custom workbenches for my darkroom, so hopefully soon i’ll be back in the printing business.

i feel like a robot sometimes. especially when i take the train to work. i board at the same time, i depart at the same time. walking to the train, the train moves me to the next location, i walk to work. it’s so very consistent. i see the same people on the train. i see the same conductors. i’m starting to memorize the stops, all but one i don’t need to know.

i’ve been reading isaac asimov’s bicentennial man. the story of the same name is fantastic, a full circle of the life of a particular robot. a robot whose imperfections themselves steered the evolution of robots in opposing directions.

sir said, “i don’t want your damned money, andrew. i’ll take it only because you won’t feel free otherwise. from now on, you can select your own jobs and do them as you please. i will give you no orders, except this one — that you do as you please. but i am still responsible for you; that’s part of the court order. i hope you understand that.”

little miss interrupted, “don’t be irascible, dad. the responsibility is no great chore. you know you won’t have to do a thing. the three laws still hold.”

“then how is he free?”

andrew said, “are not human beings bound by their laws, sir?”

sir said, “i’m not going to argue.” he left, and andrew saw him only infrequently after that.

tonight i cooked lomo saltado, a classic peruvian dish. it came out well. sirloin, garlic, onion, tomato, red pepper, potato. it was served with rice and wine, a bv 1999 merlot. man, that was good wine!