Blizzard

So I was "lucky" enough to have to fly through one of this year's snow storms.  Not only that, my flight was one of the only flights to land in Charlotte during the great cancelfest, as well as even depart for Austin, with only a deicing delay.  I wouldn't be surprised if my flight was the only flight that day to do so.  Here are a few pics.

Just pulling into the gate.  Just prior to landing we were under our landing minimums, so we held for a bit, and nearly had to divert to Knoxville.

An Airbus A330 covered in snow.

Thick flakes at Charlotte-Douglas.

Approaching white-out conditions.

I was one of the few, lucky, unaffected flights to arrive and leave.  SAV - CLT - AUS - PHX with minimal delays, and light loads too.  And Phoenix was sunny and warm, as always.  The airport was a ghost town because of the inbound cancellations.

At one of the deicing bays.  All the planes were dripping with green glycol.

A few more from the deicing bay.

Finally our turn.  It was freezing rain at this point, so whatever fell that was wet instantly froze to the plane, so deicing was thick and took half an hour per plane.

A US Airways A319 gets the glycol treatment.

Deicing an A321.

Apparently Charlotte ran out of glycol the next day, meaning the entire airport was shut down.

How to cook a steak, and other gastronomic concoctions

So aside from travelling, coffee, and all of the other things I've written about, I seem to have an interest in cooking as well.  It started with trial and error when I was young, with an emphasis on error.  I would cook and throw in whatever spices I had, eventually learning which flavors went together, by learning more often than not which flavors didn't.  Bachelor cooking is easy once you know the basics, and have a few basic supplies; a good chef's knife, cutting board, heavy duty wok, small saucepan, large pot, and a few basic seasonings and herbs.  Sea or kosher salt, peppercorns, garlic and onion powder, etc.  With only a few ingredients and knowing which flavors and herbs go together, you can mix and match for weeks with only a few ingredients.  I rarely cook the same thing twice, and I almost never cook it the same way.  Every meal is a learning experience, and the next always has a few tweaks.  I rarely use recipes, instead I draw on past experience.  I've also found that presentation is key.  You can take a gas station taquito from the rollers that sit all day (which are a guilty pleasure,) cut at an angle, spoon a cream sauce on the side, and it looks like a $10 appetizer.  Like my $3 TJ's terriyaki burrito.  Plating matters.  Below are some of the things I've made recently, with an approximation of ingredients and cooking methods.

South African Smoke Chicken and Rice.

Smoked Paprika Chicken and Rice.  Aka last night's thrown together dinner.  Wok simmer two boneless chicken thighs (way underrated and better than breasts.)  Shred when tender.  For the rice, cook in a separate pot (one shot glass basmati rice to two shot glasses water, salt, seasoning, and a few drops of oil.)  Once the rice is done, combine, sprinkle on whatever seasoning you want.  It can be curry, peanut sauce, cajun, asian, anything.  Chicken and rice is an empty canvas.  I used Trader Joe's South African Smoke.  Wok simmer on high heat for a few minutes and there you have it.  Here's the same recipe, only I didn't shred the chicken, and served it with a peanut sauce I picked up from the local Asian market instead of the other.

This morning I had Gordon Ramsay style scrambled eggs, over a toasted whole grain pita, slice of ham, and a homemade béchamel (technically mornay) sauce made with Havarti.  I substituted coconut oil for butter with everything, because, you know, cholesterol.

Crispy Shrimp Tacos.

Crispy Shrimp Tacos.  Battered fried shrimp, peeled and de-veined, wok tossed with Thai sweet chili sauce, served in a pan toasted corn tortilla with shredded cabbage.  Super simple.

Cran-apple sage pork steaks.

Cran-apple sage pork steaks.  Apple goes great with pork, and cranberry goes great with apple, and sage goes great with pork too.  It would make sense to throw these ingredients together.  For the steaks, I used two very thick pork steaks, boneless.  I seasoned with salt, pepper, and liberally with dried sage.  Then I cooked those just like I cook a beef steak (see below.)  Start with high heat in a skillet, preferably cast-iron, and throw the steaks in to sear over smoking high heat with a little oil.  It's important to let the steaks rest to room temperature before cooking.  Cook until both sides look like the picture.  Serve with cran-apple compote.  Apple slices (I think I used honeycrisp,) dried cranberries, a dash of honey, pinch of cinnamon, pinch of sea salt, and a pat of butter.  Simmer with a little water until soft.  Serve steaks on top, or thin slice the steaks, and pour compote over.  I forgot to mention, after cooking, always let steaks, whether it be beef or pork rest.  They will continue to cook.  If you slice too early you'll lose juices.  It also lets them break down a bit and become more tender.

Vietnamese fried rice.  Not pictured.  This is another recipe I discovered by accident.  I call it Vietnamese because it tastes just like pho.  Cook white rice, and sauteé it over very high heat with Chinese five spice, fish sauce, and any meat or vegetable you choose.  Adding a cooked egg works well too.  The texture and feel of fried rice, with the aroma and flavor of pho.

I don't want to bore you all with a crazy long update, and I've got tons more pictures and recipes to share, so I'll save them for another update, but not before how to cook a steak.

How to cook a steak.  When I cook a steak, I usually go for a NY strip, cut really thick.  The first thing your have to do is let the steak sit, for at least an hour, until it's room temperature.  If the steak is sitting in juices, take it out (I'm talking about un-marinated steaks.)  Get a skillet, preferably cast-iron, and get it smoking hot, with a high flash point oil.  The pan should be very hot because you want to sear the steak.  I season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.  I season with the salt right before cooking, but apply the other seasonings when the heat isn't as high, or they'll burn.

Right, so the pan is smoking and ready, now using tongs, sear the edges of the steak.  I tilt the pan towards the handle to move the oil to the edge, and hold the steak upright, searing all four corners.  Next, throw on the steak.  Since the pan is so hot, it doesn't take very long to sear.  How long?  No clue.  I always guesstimate.  Then I turn down the heat just a but.  Once that side it done, I take the steak off, crank the pan up to full blast again, and throw it on the other side, and repeat.  That's it.  You MUST let the steak sit for at least ten minutes before cutting or serving, for reasons mentioned above.  That's enough time to make creamed spinach from scratch.  If you're wondering, the sauce is milk, AP flour, garlic powder, and onion powder.  I keep some in my fridge for thickening stuff.

Room temperature steak, seared on all sides, on a pan that's hotter than the surface of the sun.  If the smoke detector doesn't go off, you're doing it wrong.

Smoky and seared on the outside, but...

Oh yeah, let it rest.

...but tender and juicy on the inside.

Served with a little homemade creamed spinach (that I screwed up,) and drizzled with whatever sauce you please.  This, by the way, was a FOUR DOLLAR steak from Basha's.  It doesn't need to be expensive to be prepared well.

Enjoy the food porn I have given you, but be careful.