Catching Up

Let me lead off by saying I think I've become the poker player I've always avoided trying to become; the weak-tight nit. There's a big difference between playing a solid conservative game and being afraid of making a move or playing back with anything but the nuts. I've played a few SNG's this past week after a long stretch involving no poker and my play has been....scared. I need to shake this off and soon.

I'm heading to Vegas in two weeks and I plan on drinking, playing poker, drinking, hitting the sports book for some NFL action, drinking and maybe a little drinking thrown in. My goal in playing poker will be twofold: winning some money and tilting the table. I'm heading to vegas with some friends and I really need to blow off some steam I've been building up at work the past few months and nothing will help me release it like pissing off some local rocks and tourists. Hell, the winning part is only secondary at this point. We're staying at the Hooters Hotel because we got such a great deal, but I think the MGM across the street is where the major action will happen.

Onto the cooking front: I've done a couple of recipes from "The Way to Cook" or TWTC on my journey to completing them all. The first was "Chicken Simmered in White Wine" which Julia calls one of her very favorite stews. Sorry Julia, I love you and all but this was ok an everything but nothing I'll rush to ever make again. On a side note I used a white table wine from California called Menage a Trois for this dish and it's a decent, low cost wine. The second recipe was sauted beefsteak, otherwise known as something I've done a hundred times in my life but hey, it still counts. I used strip steak and made a pan glaze and it was delish as ever.

Speaking of steaks, I'm going to share a recipe I developed that I'm quite proud of. The basis of this steak recipe is that sauteeing steak has a distict advantage over grilling in that you can make a wonderful pan sauce with the 'fond', otherwise known as brown bits left over on the bottom of the pan. Grilling steak has a distinct advantage over sauteed steaks because of the smokey grilled taste that adds an incredible depth of flavor. SO, I combine the two techniques and you have Steak Canfield! The way it's done is thusly: get a cast iron or other pan (NOT non-stick!) scortching hot and brown on both sides for about two minutes, then immediately transfer to a hot grill and finish cooking to desired doneness (medium rare for me, medium well for the wife). Deglaze the pan with some red wine or beef stock (or both) and let reduce to a syrup consistency. Remove pan from heat and swirl in a pat of butter, taste and correct seasonings if necessary and server over steaks. AWESOME!