Don’t have a probe thermometer handy to judge your meat’s level of doneness?  Experienced chefs often test steak doneness by feel. 

As meat cooks it firms up (cooking protein causes it to tighten and expel moisture), so if you’ve felt enough steaks, you can tell how cooked they are by how they spring back when pressed.  

Though it will take experience to be exact, here’s a quick and easy way to roughly estimate how done your steak is, using a tool you always have with you – your hand!

Directions:

1. Push down on the surface of your steak with a (clean!) finger.

2. Hold one hand relaxed, and likewise push down on it with a finger from your other hand.

Does your steak feel:

Like the meat of your thumb? (where your thumb meets the rest of your hand)
Then it’s currently Rare.

Like the area between your thumb and your palm?
Then it’s currently Medium.

Like the middle of your palm?
Then it’s currently Well Done

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More of a technique than a recipe, here’s the method we use for marinating red meat in oil. This recipe works particularly well for Kobe beef, grassfed beef, and beef-like game meats like bison, ostrich meat and kangaroo meat.  Pretty much any meat cut can be marinated, though skirt steaks & flank steaks absorb marinades particularly well.

Basic Oil Meat Marinade
1 part canola oil
1 part olive oil
Peppercorns
Bay Leaf
Garlic Cloves
Coriander
Thyme
Rosemary

Use just enough oil to cover the meat cuts you’re marinating, and vary the quantities of other ingredients based on how prominent your want their flavors to be in the finished dish.

Directions:
1. Crush the garlic cloves with the flat of your chef’s knife, but don’t bother peeling them.

2. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring just to a simmer.  Remove from the heat and let cool completely.

3. Pour the marinade over your meat in a zip-top bag, and place it in a bowl (to protect against drips) in your refrigerator to marinate for several hours or (preferably) overnight.

Variations:  Try adding cumin or paprika/pimenton to bring some heat to your marinade.

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(serves 4-5)

These kabobs have a nice beefy flavor that fades in and out with the heat of the marinade.  Have your guests drizzle on more aioli if they wish to tone down the spice.

Ingredients:
2.3lbs (1 pack) thawed bison kabobs
 ½ cup fresh cilantro
½ cup fresh parsley
Chilies (we used 1 dried habanero pepper and 1 dried aji pepper)
~1 cup peanut oil
1 tbs fresh ginger
½ cup white wine vinegar

And: Blood Orange Aioli

Cooking Process:

1.  Reconstitute the dried peppers.

2. Peel the ginger using a spoon (safer) or the back of your knife blade. Slice thinly.

3.Puree (in a food processor or blender) cilantro, parsley, chilies, ginger, and white wine vinegar. Drizzle in peanut oil.

4.  Pour over skewers in shallow dish. Cover and marinate for at least an hour in the fridge.

5. Cook the skewers on a cleaned and oiled grill. Bison cooks a little faster than beef as it is lean.

6. Serve with the aoli on the side garnished with blood oranges cut into supremes.

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What is a Geoduck? (And How Is It Pronounced?)

Say it with us: gooey-duck. To clarify, geoducks are neither gooey nor a duck. They do not quack and have no feathers. What a creature they would be if they did! Until recently geoducks had not been commonly known about by anyone other than Pacific Northwest clam diggers and adventurous foodies. But the world is slowly awakening to the culinary delights of this giant shellfish, and the recipes that can showcase it are endless.

Geoducks are almost exclusively found in the tidelands of Washington and BC. While they typically grow to an average of three feet in length (with neck extended) and two pounds in weight, they have been known to grow as large as six feet long and fifteen pounds! That’s a big dinner. The body of the clam is so large it can’t even fit into its shell.

Geoducks can live to be 150 years old and spend their whole lives buried three feet under the sand. As they grow they use a small foot on the bottom end to burrow further down. The name geoduck is a Nisqually word meaning ‘dig deep’.

Geoducks are such bizarre looking creatures that it’s no wonder they garner a wide variety of responses. The usual reaction is “You can eat that?!” Fortunately someone was once brave enough to try one, and now they possess worldwide culinary esteem. In China, where the geoduck is called the ‘elephant trunk clam’, it is considered a delicacy and an aphrodisiac (unfounded but understandable). The highest quality meat can fetch upwards of $160 per pound. The neck, or siphon, is eaten raw as sushi and the body meat, or mantle, is cooked fondue-style in a hot pot. In Japanese the thinly sliced pieces of raw sushi are called ‘mirugai’.

Though a geoduck is a very odd looking creature, it is actually quite straightforward to prep for the table. For complete instructions, visit our prepare geoduck page. Please note how the recipe you are making requires the meat to be prepared. Some require the use of a meat grinder. For this recipe however you will only need to slice. Some recipes also make use of only mantle or siphon meat; for this one you can use both. Mantle meat is softer and not eaten raw, while siphon meat is firm and almost crunchy in texture.

Mantle on left, siphon on right

Your geoduck, whether you purchased it from a market or dug it yourself, should be fresh and alive with no bad odor. Careful, it may squirt!

This recipe for marinated geoduck skewers has a great combination of flavors, enhanced perfectly by the smokiness of the grill. And who doesn’t want an excuse to cook with tequila?

Margarita Grilled Geoduck Skewers

Prep Time: 15 Min
Cook Time: 5 Min
Ready In: 50 Min

Serves 4 as an appetizer

Ingredients
1 Geoduck, cleaned and sliced thin
2 cloves Garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh Lime Juice
3 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 ½ tablespoons Tequila
3 tablespoons Fresh Cilantro, chopped
1/4 teaspoon Ground Red Pepper
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 Red Pepper
1 Yellow Pepper

4-6 Bamboo Skewers, soaked in water

1. Combine the geoduck, garlic, lime juice, olive oil, tequila, cilantro, red pepper, and salt in a bowl; toss to combine; refrigerate 30 minutes.

2. Dice peppers into 1 inch pieces.

3. Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat and lightly oil grate. Drain the marinade from the geoduck and discard; alternately thread the geoduck pieces and pepper on the skewers.

4. Cook on preheated grill until the geoduck turns opaque, about 5-6 minutes.

5. Mix an actual margarita and enjoy!

Post by Ashley Jones, Photos by Grant Jones

(because he asked nicely, I gave Nyoki some raw beef)

Tri Tip Beef Satay (makes 6 appetizer servings)

Wine Pairing: Reisling from Rheingau, Germany or Clare Valley, Australia

This satay sauce has a pronounced lime flavor blended with garlic and a tiny bit of heat from the jalapeno and pepper.  The sourness of the lime accentuates the flavor of the grilled beef.

Tri Tip Beef Skewer Ingredients:
1 1/2lbs Grassfed Beef Tri Tip (you could also use Kobe Beef Tri Tip)
3 cloves of garlic
½ cup of olive oil (enough to coat)
½ bunch fresh thyme
Portuguese Sea Salt to taste

Bamboo Skewers

Satay Sauce Ingredients:
1/3rd of a jalapeno
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp sesame oil or peanut oil
1 small clove of garlic
Juice of 3 limes
¼ tsp freshly ground Tellicherry pepper

1. Cut the tri tip into long ribbon-like strips (1/4” thick, 1” wide).

2. Thread each strip onto a bamboo skewer.

3. Finely chop or slice the garlic, remove the thyme leaves from their stems.

4. Lay the skewers in a large baking dish, two layers maximum.

5. Top the skewers with the garlic, thyme leaves and olive oil.

6. Cover the baking dish and move it to the bottom of the fridge to marinate for 2-24 hours (the longer the better).

7. Make the satay sauce: Fine dice the jalapeno and garlic. Mix them with the lime juice, sesame or peanut oil, and tellicherry pepper.

8. Season the skewered beef strips with salt.

9. Grill the skewers until they’re cooked through, plate with the satay sauce on the side.

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These venison skewers are paired with roasted sherry vinegar shallots and sauteed wild mushrooms with butter and garlic.  The hedgehog mushrooms will be nice and buttery with a hint of garlic, the venison will have a slight sourness from the vinegar coupled with a fruitiness from the gastrique.  The shallots will be similarly fruity with a mild onion flavor.

Ingredients:

One pack of venison kebabs (about 2.3 pounds)
~ 1 1/2 cups sherry vinegar
6 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 cloves of fresh garlic
1 ½ cup light olive oil
¾ lb fresh mushrooms (fresh wild hedgehog mushrooms used here)
A half stick or more of unsalted butter
About 20 shallots
Salt

Also: Cranberry Sherry Gastrique

Grilled marinated venison kebabs:

1. Mix together sherry vinegar, oil, thyme, minced garlic, and a pinch of salt in a sealable container.

2. Add the venison kebabs and marinate in the fridge for one to five hours.

3. Remove the venison from the marinade and grill over high heat. Venison is extremely lean, and will cook quickly.

Serve with a gastrique on the side for dipping and roasted shallots and sauteed mushrooms as side dishes.

Roasted shallots in sherry vinegar:

1.  Preheat your oven to 375.

2. Peel shallots and separate into individual ‘cloves.’ 

3.  Season with them with oil, salt, and pepper, then place in a roasting pan, baking dish or casserole seasoned with oil, salt and pepper.

4. Roast the shallots in the oven until they’ve begun to brown.  Then add about 3/4ths cup of sherry vinegar.

5.  Return to oven.  Check periodically to make sure the shallots and vinegar don’t burn, adding more vinegar as needed.   Each time give the pan a shake to help keep the shallots from sticking.  When they are about half-way cooked through give them a turn. When finished they should be very tender and glazed with a burgundy colored sherry vinegar reduction.

Sauteed mushrooms in butter and garlic:

1.  Hedgehogs are delicate, so rub the dirt off gently with your hands. If you prefer, water or a brush can be used, but you do risk damaging the mushrooms.

2.  Melt butter in a pan, add mushrooms, as much finely diced garlic as you prefer and a pinch of salt. Saute until mushrooms have softened and cook down. Right before finishing melt in the remaining butter to gloss up the mushrooms and add richness.

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New Zealand Striploin Beef Skewers, Hoisin Mayo, Carrot-Horseradish Slaw

The excellent quality New Zealand striploin is marinated in a mixture of pineapple juice, soy sauce, chillies, ginger, and sesame seeds, resulting in wonderful sweet, tangy, and spicy flavors. The hoisin mayo and carrot-horseradish slaw are a terrific accompaniment to these Asian fusion beef skewers.

Ingredients:

Hoisin Mayo
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/3 cup mayonnaise, preferably homemade (how to make mayonnaise)

Carrot-Horseradish Slaw
1 cup carrots, shredded
1/4 cup horseradish root, finely shredded
2 tablespoons red onions, minced
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
pinch salt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Skewers
1 1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon ginger, minced
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1/2 tablespoon crushed chillies
1 pound grassfed beef striploin, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 red onion, large slices

Directions:

Hoisin Mayo
1. In a small bowl, mix hoisin sauce and mayonnaise together.
2. Set aside until ready to serve the skewers.

Carrot-Horseradish Slaw

1. Combine shredded carrots, horseradish root, and red onions in a bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk rice vinegar, sugar, salt, and oil.

3. Pour over the carrot-horseradish and mix well. Refrigerate for at least an hour for the flavors to develop.

Skewers

1. In a large bowl, combine pineapple juice, soy sauce, ginger, sesame seeds and chilies.

2. Place the striploin cubes in the mixture, cover, and refrigerate to marinate for at least four hours.

3. Place the striploin cubes onto skewers, alternating with red onion slices. Grill on all sides.

4. Serve with Hoisin Mayo and Carrot-Horseradish Slaw.

Recipe Development & Photography by Natasha Price, 5 Star Foodie

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Kobe Beef Skewers with Pepper Marchand de Vin Sauce

Kobe beef makes great appetizer skewers because its beefy, buttery flavor is so intense that even one or two bites can satisfy.  Here small skewers are paired with a savory sauce made with red wine and demi-glace balanced with bell peppers and herbs.

Drink Pairing: Whatever red wine you use in the sauce.

Ingredients:                Makes Sixteen Small Bites
1lb Kobe Beef Kabob Meat
1/2 cup Red Wine
1 tbsp Shallot, finely minced
2 tbsp Red Bell Pepper, small diced
2 tbsp Orange Bell Pepper, small diced
1 tbsp Fresh Thyme, finely chopped
1 tsp Fresh Rosemary, finely chopped
1 1/2 oz Demi Glace Gold
Salt & Pepper
Olive Oil
Finely Minced Flat Leaf Parsley or Microgreens for Garnish

Directions:
1. Toss the kebab meat with salt, pepper, and oil.  Thread onto skewers.

2. Grill, pan roast, sear, etc the kebabs as you normally would.  We seared ours on all sides in a hot cast-iron skillet.

3. In a separate pan, combine the red wine, shallot & peppers.  Add the thyme & rosemary, then simmer until about 2 tbsp of liquid remains.

4. Add the demi glade base and 1/3 cup of water to the pan.  Continue to cook, stirring to combine.

5. Serve the skewers drizzled with the sauce & garnished with parsley or micro greens.

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