This Is My Life

I have a one pound beef loin steak sitting in my refrigerator and I'm looking for a recipe. I've made steak au poivre many times, and enjoy it, but something new would be good.

Give me your steak recipes!

Assume that I have all the general pantry items in stock, but nothing too outlandish.

And no, reverendfixxxer, "general pantry items" does not include grains of paradise. Other than that, I'm stocked.

I'm working on the crab cake recipe for the competition coming up next month, and while I've only cooked one batch so far I can tell you that I think I've got a potential winner. I have to come up with the proper measurements, write out a recipe, and tweak it here at home first, plus I'm planning on trying a few different variations come this Wednesday, but if I can get this to work properly then I think everything's going to turn out fantastic.

Now I just have to get the recipe on paper and submit it. Out of however many people enter, they're only picking eight finalists! That's not a very high number, and I'm concerned that my recipe may not sound fantastic on paper, but with a title like "Ooey, Gooey, Goodness," how can I possibly lose?

Now, I don't know if many of you know, but I've recently gone vegetarian, and along with weight goals, I've been recording the results.

It's been fantastic. I can honestly say that I barely miss meat, and usually I miss it most when I'm watching Food Network, especially Alton Brown. Et tu, Alton?

But then there's what happens when I cook at home. Inspiration strikes, and another meal hits the stove, quick, relatively easy, and very tasty. I haven't been disappointed with any of my vegetarian dishes yet, though I've desperately wanted to so that I could call it a failure and go back to eating things like king crab, or steak. I miss seafood the most, though I used to eat it less than any other meat. That's strange. Since this is a 30-day exercise I'm working on (the vegetarian thing), I'll probably add seafood back in afterwards, but not much other meat.

Tonight's meal came in a burst of inspiration. I made completely from scratch pasta sauce. Peeled some tomatoes, diced onion and garlic, threw them all together. Chiffonaded some basil (cut it into strips), added that, some salt and pepper, a little burgundy, and that's basically it.

I'm doing something you almost never see on Top Chef; actually tasting the food before it's done, and I've got to tell you, I am pleased.

If I keep cooking things like this, I might just stay vegetarian for a very long time.