Tag: steaks

5 Minute Fixes and 2 Dollar Steaks

tonytow tony hunt gets angsty

Some things just absolutely tick me off.

I’ve always prided myself on my dedication to being the best I can be in my arena. Don’t get me wrong, there are PLENTY of people that know more than I do regarding IT…but there aren’t so many that when we meet, that we don’t recognize the need to network. I only do pc support for locals, they visit, bring their machine, sometimes a bottle of wine, and I hack on their stuff in spare time…it keeps me on my game, it’s never the same, and it’s basically it’s great to meet locals.

Sometimes you think its only a 5-minute fix…

Humility licks in for me when you’re 3 tiers and over 100 hours into a technical issue with Dell’s best people helping, and the the guys got enough knowledge that we compare training and knowledge to see where we need to brush up, and immediately swap contact information so we can pick each others brains without red tape, and of course compliment the guy for being committed to the solution. There aren’t many of us around…it’s not an age thing, its the caliber of training and whether or not you actually applied it.

Hell, the guy before me that passed the buck we’re working on now wouldn’t even touch the work, he billed more than me, ran completely unnecessary diags (with dated diagnostics – I found the logs), and shrugged his shoulders and left. If he’d spend 5 minutes listening to the client, he’d have known the hard drive was dying and the laptop was still under warranty. But that wasn’t the real problem either, and now because the rest is proprietary, I’ll just say that it’s nice being at the top, and pretty fun knowing that those now 20+ year old skills are still more effective than the overpaid support monkey trying to act like they are competition.

Yes, I am working at 2am…because it needs to be done before tomorrow so I don’t have scheduling issues.

Yes, this kind of thing normally takes 5 minutes…but then, sometimes things are tougher than a two-dollar steak and you still have to eat it.

The competition wonders why people come to me over them…it’s because it’s 2am and I am working.

…and I have somehow learned to love a two-dollar steak.

–micdrop–




The “Cowboy” Ribeye

The “Cowboy” Ribeye is this awesome steak recipe we came up with back in my restaurant days. I’ve evolved it a bit since then, but the basic idea is still prevalent.

Originally I held off on publishing this because it was my baby-ace-primo-you-cant-have-it-like-this-without-my-invitation-once-a-year specialty. Until now I’ve only allowed this recipe into the hands of a few friends (namely Erica and Kevin)…but it’s time, and doing it right isn’t cheap in this case, so it’s not like everyone can do it. I don’t remember how the term “Cowboy” started…I think it was a reference to the garlic butter that we used the first time we tinkered with the recipe.

In truth, it’s all about the temperature and the marinade.

I am a HUGE fan of high end ribeyes. Almost to the point that I am an elitist. My favorite steak outside my own kitchen is that of a rather infamous cut at none other than Del Frisco’s Double Eagle of Steak House (of Addison)1. Now that said, I also like my steaks cooked “Pittsburgh Rare”2

1. This isn’t a ribeye you should cook to well done. If you like your meat well done, please be adventurous and try it at medium, because I don’t have any experience in preparing edible charcoal and honestly I don’t know how it might taste. This recipe cooks best between Pittsburgh and medium rare.

2. Get yourself as many ribeyes as you feel necessary to prove your prowess.3

3. Ingredients: (per steak)
1/4 cup melted butter
1/8 cup olive oil
1/8 tspn rosemary
1/8 tspn thyme
1/8 tspn sage
1/8 tspn oregano
1/2 tspn salt
1/2 tspn pepper
2 tspn minced garlic

4. Melt the butter/margarine in a mixing bowl, mix with oil, after mixed, drop in all the rest of the ingredients until thoroughly mixed together.

5. Lightly cover both sides of steaks with the marinade, with a heavier layer on top of the steak. Let sit in the marinade for a nice long time, I do mine for up to 8 hours(room temp), however it tastes really good even after only 20 minutes or so.4

6. Cook to desired temperature over flame. 5

You will notice in the pic we accompanied our grilling delight with a truly satisfactory beverage (Shiner 101). I suggest some easy stuffed mushrooms or twice-baked potatoes with these. We opted for the stuff mushrooms in this case. I will post the recipe for those next.

Show 5 footnotes

  1. Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House is one of the best steak houses in the entire state of Texas. Their website is www.delfriscos.com and if you really want a memorable steak experience, I highly suggest it.
  2. Pittsburgh Rare is a steak temperature that is very high, allowing the steak to remain quite red on the inside with some char on the outside. This kind of steak preference isn’t for everyone, but it’s also one of the best methods of finding out if a steakhouse you’re new to actually knows what they are about. If they don’t know what “Pittsburgh” is when checking a preferred temp on your steak, I would be a little concerned, especially if they are trying to charge more than $15 for the steak. Here is a link to the Wikipedia’s article on Pittsburgh Rare.
  3. I recommend you find them thick, like at least an inch thick, they dont have to be 18oz. cuts, but the thicker the steak the more control you have over cooking them properly, and the less likely you are to burn them all the way to the middle.
  4. This sounds silly, but in my experience the absolute best way to insure a good soak is to use large ziplock freezer bags. They can take a beating, store well, don’t leak and you can leave them in the fridge with nothing to worry about while they soak.
  5. If you’re going to grill to a Pittsburgh Rare, try this: about a minute before you are at a satisfactory rare, place steaks within 1/2″ of the heat for that last minute char.