Well tonight's dinner was made on a whim because one of the restaurants I work at was closed tonight at the last minute. I was craving some grilled beef for a while but, I'm not allowed to grill on the balcony at my appartment......until now. I decided to to be a rebel with a cause (I'm hungry and needed to eat after all) and decided to bring my BBQ out of retirement. It turned out beautifully! First i went to Hunington meets at the LA Farmer's Market on Fairfax and 3rd here in LA....I love these guys here. They have the best prices for high quality product...I decided to get their USDA Prime Bone-in Ribeye
. It was a pound and a half of beefy goodness and at $10.98 a pound it is a steal. Forget going to Whole Foods and buying their overpriced crap make the journey to the Grove and get quality meat. Now that I had my protein, I had to figure out what else was to go with it.....So I went with the season and thought corn, and tomatoes and made a salad. When I was at the store (unfortunately it was Whole Foods.....I wasn't able to make it to the Santa Monica Farmers Market earlier. The prices weren't as bad today though) I saw some nice mangos for $1 so I grabbed one. I also grab a habanero, arugula, and a jalapeno. I made a cilantro-lime vinegrette to dress it. At home, I fired up my grill, put the steak that I coated with salt and chili powder on the grill. Then I made my simple dressing of cilantro, lime, habanero and oil. It only takes around 10-15 minutes to grill a ribeye beautifully so just crack a beer and relax near the grill and don't forget about it.....but since it is a ribeye with pleanty of nice fat its still nice and juicy at med-well. I plated the salad and cut my meat and topped it w/ an on the fly chipotle butter. It was a nice summer meal enjoyed outside with an ice cold beer.The SALAD:
1 bunch of Arugula
2 Ears of Corn, Shucked, Silked and Grilled and Cut off the cob
1 Hot House Tomatoe, diced
1 Mango, diced
1 Jalapeno, deseeded if desired, and cut into half moons.
2 Tablespoons of Cilantro-Lime dressing, more if desired
Toss everything together and season w/ salt. feel free to add extras if you like...Avocado and jicima would be amazing in here
Cilantro-Lime Dressing:
1 Bunch of Cilantro, you can leave the stems on
1 Habanero
1 Lime
1 Cup of grapeseed or vegetable oil
First remove the zest from the lime with a peeler or zester. Next remove the white pith from the lime so that all you have is a nice clean lime. After you do that everything is simple....toss the cilantro, habanero and lime with the zest and toss in a blender. You will have to push the cilantro down with a spatula but be careful not to hit the blade. After it become a puree, Slowly add your oil so it doesn't break. It will become a nice thick emulsion. i have also done this with sour cream for a nice creamy dressing. This goes well as a dipping sauce for steak and almost everything that you want to add a nice clean, citrussy kick to.
