I really should be working on tomorrow’s sermon, but instead I’m still thinking about the delicious food from the previous week.  Don’t worry, the sermon for tomorrow has been written for about a month now; I just need to look over it and make whatever last minute changes need to be made.  I’ll get to it, eventually.  But for now, let’s think about food!

Fish Tacos:  Wednesday night my small group had a fish theme.  I just assumed everyone would bring a variation of salmon, so I decided not to go that route.  Instead I made fish tacos.  Usually my fish tacos feature halibut, but the halibut was $20.00 a pound!  I love my small group, but not that much!  So instead I opted for swordfish.  I’ve never cooked swordfish before, so that was fun.

The swordfish was nice and firm and cut into steaks.  All I had to do was trim the skin off the edges and then slice into thin taco appropriate sizes.  Then I cooked it for about four minutes in a hot skillet with about two tablespoons of olive oil.  While it cooked I sprinkled a bit of sea salt, pepper, and garlic.  After it finished cooking, I squeezed some lemon juice on top.  I was so pleasantly surprised at how tasty the swordfish was.  Why have I never used that before?

I served the fish with fresh cabbage and salsa.  The only regret I have is that I used corn tortillas.  I have come to the conclusion that I really do not like corn tortillas.  I am a flour tortilla man.

BTW–no one brought salmon to the group.  Instead, we had a spectacular array of fish and seafood that I legitimately think we could have charged $35 a plate.

Steak:  Mrs. Greenbean’s birthday was this week.  She didn’t want to go out for dinner, instead she wanted surf an turf at home.  The shrimp was easy and doesn’t require much thought.  I went to the local butcher (Farmer George) and had Mrs. Greenbean pick out her cut of beef.   She and I got a t-bone and we picked up some thick New York Strips for the girls.  I originally intended to grill these beauties (the steaks, not the girls) but I discovered that my grill is in bad shape and needs to be cleaned up from its winter hibernation.  Plan B–the cast iron skillet.  I learned/developed this technique about five years ago, but I don’t do it very often because I enjoy grilling outside.

Because the t-bones are so large, I had to use both of my cast iron skillets.  But don’t start with the skillet, start by putting the oven on custom broil–500 degrees.  Then, drizzle the bottom of the pan with my father’s special slather–butter, white vinegar, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  While the skillet is heating, brush it on the steaks and put more fresh cracked pepper on them.  If you really like that pepper crust feel, crack a lot of it into the skillet itself.  Once the skillet is sizzling hot, put the steaks in the skillet and cook for a minute and a half.  Then flip and cook the other side for the same amount of time.  Immediately take the whole skillet and put it into the oven–middle rack.  If you like your steak rare–leave it for 2 minutes.  If you like it medium, 4 minutes.  Well done should be left in for 6 minutes.  Of course, these times vary with the thickness of the steak.

Let the meat sit for about five minutes and then enjoy!