Ended Spring Break with My First Aged Beef

SciAggie

I decided to end spring break with a good meal. We had bacon wrapped dates and sweet peppers stuffed with a mixture of cream cheese, mozarella, smoked gouda, bacon, and a rub that a friend gave me. 

Then we had some oysters. I made some with a compound butter made with bourbon, maple syrup, and chipotle. The other three had a compound butter made with DP Game On rub. All had smoked gouda and Yellow Bird jalapeno hot sauce. 

Next up were oysters Rockefeller. My wife enjoyed these the most. Breadcrumbs were homemade sourdough. 

After all this I made some roasted potatoes. These are par boiled - then seasoned with olive oil, garlic, and rosemary. Then the potatoes roast in cast iron in the oven. 
I smoked a nice 28day aged New York strip. Seasoned with Meat Church Holy Cow and smoked over hickory. I finished the steak in a CI skillet in the wood oven. I used the remainder of the compound butter, fresh rosemary, and garlic.  This was my first aged beef. SWMBO and I both really enjoyed the steak. 

Tomorrow I’m back to the grind. Thanks for looking. 

bgebrent

“Tomorrow I’m back to the grind”...extremely well fueled.  It all looks spectacular my friend.  Great cook.  Your DA beef looks delicious.  And the oysters.....yum.

Legume

StillH2OEgger

My lord, that looks like a year-end best-of list. Bravo!

lousubcap

I am running out of adjectives to adequately describe your cooks and presentations.  That is beyond words!  You take this forum to new heights with your cooks, presentation and magazine quality photos.  What a banquet.
Congratulations seems quite inadequate for the above.  Dang!

SciAggie

Thanks y’all. It’s really nice that my wife loved the steak. I used the LBGE to smoke the steak. It ran at about 250 degrees for maybe 15-20 minutes to get up to 120 degrees.  This was a treat for sure, but we’ll be doing it again. I’ve also really been enjoying the oysters. I think we enjoyed the oysters Rockefeller the best (of the oysters).

SciAggie

bgebrent said:

“Tomorrow I’m back to the grind”...extremely well fueled.  It all looks spectacular my friend.  Great cook.  Your DA beef looks delicious.  And the oysters.....yum.

I’m really glad others on the forum had warned that DA beef cooks faster due to the reduced moisture content. I was watching closely and checking with my Thermapen. It would have been overcooked if I hadn’t known to watch. And yeah, the oysters are a new favorite of mine. 

SciAggie

@lousubcap Thanks for the kind words. I just steal all the good ideas from all the great cooks here on the forum. 

YukonRon

C'mon Man! 
Setting the bar high is one thing, but jeez, trying to catch up to you is like conquering the Matterhorn using dime store thread as your climbers rope.
Beautiful cook as always. Over the top. Again.
Now you are dialing in the images of your flawless cooks. Winner of the forum, again.

johnnyp

Wow.  Dude, you're crushing it lately

SciAggie

@YukonRon As usual, you are too kind. I appreciate the compliment. 
@johnnyp Thanks. I'm back to work now and have a couple of busy weeks ahead. I'll be eating cereal and sandwiches made with store bread for a while.

northGAcock

YukonRon said:

C'mon Man! 
Setting the bar high is one thing, but jeez, trying to catch up to you is like conquering the Matterhorn using dime store thread as your climbers rope.
Beautiful cook as always. Over the top. Again.
Now you are dialing in the images of your flawless cooks. Winner of the forum, again.

What Ron said. So is back to work = finish the stone work?

SciAggie

@northGAcock Back to work = back to earning a living. Good news though - I found a guy to finish the last of the rock work. I am beyond happy about that.

northGAcock

Most excellent. Have a great week. One day....I will make the trip

caliking

Gary, 

your threads are like therapy. Better actually. Can't help but feel warm and fuzzy after reading your threads. 

And if the WFO people aren't paying you for promoting, they should be!!

GoooDawgs

Wow... just wow.  That outdoor kitchen is insane.  Do you have a pic you can post of the whole set-up?  That oven is probably on most of our bucket lists...

Thanks!

SciAggie

@caliking Thanks. The Sauscatapalooza thread is therapeutic - no wait - I think y'all need therapy after that, lol.
I tell ya, the wood oven is pretty cool. As you learned with the asado cross and the goat, you have to just go by how the food looks and go with your instincts while cooking. It get's easier as time goes by to just watch the food and listen and smell as it cooks (and use the Thermapen).
I'm anxious to see what some of the folks here do with the Roccbox besides pizzas. I think it can do much of the same.  

SciAggie

@GoooDawgs I'll post some views when I get back on a device that has the pics. Thanks for the kind words about the kitchen. We are certainly enjoying it.

jdkeithbge

I think it's funny when @SciAggie says he is ending Spring Break with a "good meal" after I'm pretty sure I've seen at least 3 or 4 mind-bendingly good meals posted by him this week.  The tapas one comes to mind in particular.  Amazing work as always sir!

Kcheves

@SciAggie, off topic, but with your comments about spring break and your username, do you work at TAMU?  My daughter has been accepted there for Engineering in the fall.  We toured it last month and were impressed.

bucky925

@SciAggie You sir are a cooking god, in my eyes!

SciAggie

Kcheves said:

@SciAggie, off topic, but with your comments about spring break and your username, do you work at TAMU?  My daughter has been accepted there for Engineering in the fall.  We toured it last month and were impressed.

I teach high school science. I got my degree from A&M. It's funny SciAggie is a throwback from wayyyyy back in the days of Instant Messenger and the like where you had to create a username other than your real name.  

SciAggie

bucky925 said:

@SciAggie You sir are a cooking god, in my eyes!

Lol, thanks. The funny part is I have learned so much just in the time I've been on this forum. I have cooked all my life, but I never really took cooking seriously until I got my egg a couple of years ago. My cooking changed dramatically for the better at that time. Part of the equation is that's about the same time my kids left home - I had time to cook instead of chasing them around. The point is that I owe thanks to many folks here on this forum that share their knowledge freely.