Hee hee, very nice indeed .

I like game birds when they're roasted with all sorts of nice aromatic stuff inside, do you go for that too? A few nice fresh herbs and a couple of big juicy clumps of garlic go great in chicken, some lemon shells and juice in the basting juices too, mmmm!

So, would you stick anything inside your turkey (if that's not a personal question )? My mother actually puts slices of bacon on the top whilst it cooks, to keep it moist. I know it's nice with some cloves of garlic pushed into the skin. Anyways, that sound good to you? Or is there something else nice to do with turkey? We don't have thanksgiving turkey over in the UK, so I won't be having any for a while, however, but perhaps I shall have a go at it next christmas...

Monk
xxxxx

Wow, I thought you were joking about being a master chef. Proved me wrong, sounds delicious adam.

PS
"So, would you stick anything inside your turkey (if that's not a personal question )"
That was hilarious.

My style, my whole belief system for cooking (and life) is not to do anything, that cannot be taken back.

No tattoes, no piercings.

For food, I do not put hardly ANYthing into the food, but offer a vast selection of things, for each person, to add.

Example: for turkey, I'd serve two types of gravey, maybe an orange or peach sauce, sauteed onions , garlic butter, etc.

Same with mashed potatoes

NO GARLIC! but, I'd serve: butter, gravey sour cream low fat sour cream chives, real bacon bits . . . . .salsa AND fresh-pressed garlic

ON THE SIDE.


ha ha, I'm the only chef in the world, who considers Potatoe salad, to be a PREPARED to order. Item.

million combinations here. celery, or no celery eggs, or no eggs onion, or no onion soft or Al Dente, potatoes, small piece, or large . You get the point.


Liked your ideas, though


Thanks for responding.

ha ha, I'm not a MASTER chef, but I could be if I actually went to a school.

The amazing thing about ATE, is that he's self-taught.

I got a couple points in poker, from others mosts is all from my own experiences.


Adam

We have the best butcher i've been to in the village where I live in yorkshire. The speciallty is pork, you can get the tastiest yorkshire sausages, terrific chops and the sweetest, juiciest pork joints to roast with the crispy skin. Serious stuff. My favourite though is the steak. It ain't cheap but they do fillet steak, ask for it specially and they bring it out of the back, not for the regular "punters", a large, ripe joint of meat they'll cut in thick juicy slices for you, deep red and with marbled white flecks running through it. Tasty as anything and melts in the mouth. I prefer sirloin usually, the best sirloin mind you, crap steak tastes yucky, but this poncy fillet stuff is damn good. I know you americans go for steak on the bone, usually, t-bones and the like, we don't get that here so much, going more for the boneless cuts, rump, sirloin, fillets etc.

I had a t-bone steak in mississippi in a famous steak house, huge 2 1/2 lb job with fries and delicious bread, in this little place that looked like someone's front room. Meat was incredible though. Some of the other steak I had over there was crap though, like anything else I guess you get what you pay for, some isn't good enough to eat on its own and you need some bread and stronnnng mustard or maybe some casserole type dish with gravy to make it vaguely palatable. At it's best it's a rare treat though.

So what's Adam's thoughts on steak? Best cuts, best way to cook it, do you go rare, medium, blue, well-done? I'm a medium man myself... Bit of sauce or just how it comes?

Monk
xxxxx

Mmmmmmmmmmm. Cow meat..... Gooooooood....

I had a bleu T-bone in Dubai once and I couldn't eat it all, it made me feel slightly ill to be honest - I'm not sure T-bone should be done that way..

I do like pretty damned rare steak though. I only want a searing, so that the texture is a bit like raw tuna in the middle. YUM.

I can't be doing with casseroles and all that - just give me the (nearly) raw product in all its finery (er, depending on the cut, obviously).

And now for a silly game.

http://www.mistupid.com/food/butcher.htm

Steak is a gift form the gods. I prefer my steak medium rare. I like to sear it in a hot pan and then cook it in the oven to finish it off. As for sauces i like to fry some shallots and garlic, then add some red wine and butter to make a simple but good sauce.

Take a good rib eye steak and just add Mesquite. Cook to no more then meduim rare.

First of all, Monk: do you ever sleep. Are you in some third demention, where you have 29 hours in a day. Ha ha, you just seem to have so much time to answer EVERYTHING.

Ok, I like the answers already given. Hofstra can cook steak for ate, anytime.

Ok, my view on this: The art of steak, depends on what type of equipment you have.

Not everyone has access to every possible type of cooking method. My first job cooking, was with portable burners, and hand equipment. I had to make do with what was there. Yet, in the infineate creativity of ATE, I was able to make things like veal stew, and I even made great SHAKES, with a plastic bucket and a potatoe masher!

Anyway, here is ATE's prefered method: First of all, you MUST start with the right steak. 100% corn-fed USDA PRIME from Iowa or Texas. There are ranches, who will ship you steaks. Yes, they are an expensive as a heart and lung transplant, but we are talking STEAKS here.

Go to a person selling firewood, and pick up some Hickory and Oak logs. Have them run them through a woodchipper, and obtain fresh, naturral oak and hickory chips

In a Hibachi type grill, you must make a fire, WITHOUT, I repeat WITHOUT ANY type of accelerent. We do NOT want the wonderful flavor of a 25 dollar steak, RUINED by some sort of starter fluid. When the fire is going good, it's time to cook. I myself would only cook to medium rare, but the ESSENCE of ATE cullinary style, is that EVERYONE gets EXACTLY what they want. Don't argue with someone CRAZY enough to want a well-done steak . . . . GIVE IT TO 'em!!

Personnaly, to ATE booze is booze, and steak is STEAK. The fundemental rule of fine cooking (at least when it comes to STEAK) is this: Any cut of steak, that you need to flavor . . . . . . Should never have been selected in the first place. This is kind of like in poker, DON'T try telling ATE a bad beat story that begins with. Ok, I had a Queen five suited in first position . . . . . . . . . . If you lose on this buddy, YOU WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO BE THERE IN THE FIRST PLAce!!

nEXT ISSUE: Forget about the old adage that you cook, turn, cook serve. AAAAAAANNNNNNKKKK!!! Wrong answer! ATE turns CONSTANTLY. And, use a SPATULA, don't DON"T spear the steaks with a fork or knife. ATE likes to turn steaks, about every two minutes or so. This is to insure that one part of the steak, doesn't get over cooked.

Now, as I said with the turkey, offer your guests MANY options to CHOOSE to add on top of THEIR steak, but don't FORCE them into YOUR tastes, by adding anything TO the steak. (or anything else)

Maitre' de l'hotel butter, garlic sautee'd oninons, mushroom, steak sauce (UG!) Maidera sauce (ATE has his receipe for steak sauce, that makes A1 seem like WATER in comparison, but will NEVER give the secret, unless some major company wants to LISCENSE it. there are 36 ingrediants, and it takes 20 days to be ready)


Ok, so this is the BEST way. But, not everyone is going to have access to all that.

At home, ATE likes to STEAK like this: With no access to fire grilled. I use a combination, of either roasting until half done, then broiling or pan-frying in butter.

Decadent as all HECK, but surrrrre tastes good.

Another consideration, is what TYPE of steak. Boneless steaks, such as top sirloin, ribyeye and Filet Mignon, are likly to be sauteed in butter and red wine,

Bone in steaks, are likely to be pan fried or pan broiled (when fire-grilled is not available)

When you can get WHOLE rib eye or fillets (that have not been sliced) Sometimes ATE likes to just ROAST these, as you would a prime rib. It's always a nice touch, for the host to actually CARVE the meat.

Grilling enthusiasists, DON"T knock this, till you tried it. Especially with the Fillet mignon.

To ATE, this steak tastes better, roasted, I do NOT like a filet, that has been cooked on the fire.

Make a good presentation, by serving at least three different veggies, arranged nicely around the edges of the plate, with the STEAK in the center.

It's a nice touch, to serve the baked potatoe on a SEPERATE place. This way, you don't mess the presentation, and avoid cross-contamination of getting butter and sour cream, on your steak. (or steak sauce on your potatoe)

It really is a nice touch. AND if you've serving the TEXAS sized steaks that you should be, THERE Ain't room on the plate for a potatoe ANYWAY.