Real girls eat meat

For a Catholic gal who doesn't really eat all that much meat throughout the week, Lent poses an issue. See, I'm the type that lives very mildly during the week, and likes to "do it up" on the weekends- I'm talking big food, big drinks, and even bigger bad decisions. So, by the time Friday approaches, I'm usually hankering for a steak or roast or lamb or anything that has four limbs and lives on a farm (I'm not talking cats, dogs, donkeys or horses, ok people? This is America, not China. We don't eat our pets.) That means, during the pre-Easter season, that my carnal side is super whiny by the time Saturday comes around.

This year, Lent has posed me with yet another issue- two of my foodies have decided to give up meat all together. Oh yeah, and they don't tell me until we're already out. Such was the case of last weekend; Friday, I was informed at a Korean Steakhouse, (yes, Steakhouse) that my fellow diner (who is not even Christian, mind you) had given up meat for "season". Not the "Lenten Season", mind you. Oh no. The "training season." Yeah... I guess that means no Korean BBQ ribs, huh? Whatever. And then again on Saturday, while another friend of mine were walking through the WSM trying to decide what to cook that night; "Uh, oh yeah. I forgot to tell you, I gave up meat for Lent." Like seriously? Are the zoophagous gods spiting me or what? Ugh!

In both cases, it called for some serious culinary creativity. On Friday, we opted for Salted Cod (which was absolutely fantastic), a lobster omelet, and kimchi. Oh and this awesome rice-based sake stuff called Soju, which swiftly replaced sake as my favorite distilled spirit behind scotch. After that, we hit up a great little martini joint that's...gasp!...right across the street from me! It's called "The Fairmount" and it rivals my favorite Cleveland speakeasy, The Velvet Tango Room. I have to give Mark a shout-out for suggesting the pineapple-jalapeno shot which was surprisingly awesome.

The next night, was an even bigger hit than the one before. After a great smoked-salmon salad and clam chowder at the Cafe, Matteo and I attempted to come up with something oceanic to cook while perusing the rest of the West Side Market. The hardest part was trying to focus on seafood, when clearly all that both of us wanted was meat; it was like putting a T-rex in a zoo and telling him he gets a tofu-steak when you get home. What a cruel joke. Anywho, we were able to finally settle on oysters, mako shark, artichokes and squash. Wanna see what we did with 'em? Don't 'cha? Well, take a look!

Oysters on the half shell with Paprika Aoli
What you need:
a sharp knife, a strong boy, a towel, large bowl, small bowl, food processor

Ingredients:
10 large raw oysters

1. Fill large bowl with ice, sprinkle with salt, set aside
2.With towel ready in your weaker hand, and knife ready in your stronger one, attempt to pry open the shell of the oyster. It's difficult. It's prolly a better idea to make your strong boy do it. He should be ready and hungry.
3. Once they're opened, place them on top of the ice and put in the fridge.
4. Make Paprika Aoli:
    a) mix all ingredients in a food processor or magic bullet.
    b) drizzle on raw oysters and artichokes

Wine-braised Artichokes
Things you will need:
CAST IRON SKILLET, tongs, large sauce pot, measuring cup

Ingredients:
2 whole artichokes
white wine
1 sprig thyme
EVOO

1. cut artichokes in half
2. drizzle EVOO in CAST IRON SKILLET, place artichoke halves cut-side-down on skillet and sautee for 2-minutes.
3. place grilled artichoke halves in pot filled with 1/2 cup white wine and thyme sprigs, salt and pepper
4. cover and steam for 20 minutes to soften
5. remove, plate, and drizzle with aoli, salt and pepper


Mako Shark
Things you will need: 
CAST IRON SKILLET, tongs/spatula

Ingredients:
2 mako shark steaks
salt & pepper
EVOO

1. Set oven to 350*F.
2. Salt and pepper each side of the steak.
3. drizzle EVOO in bottom of CIS
4.sear each side for ~2min on each side.
5. stick entire thing in oven for 4-5 min, depending on thickness
**note: Matteo suggests you keep an eye on this while it's in the oven because it cooks through surprisingly fast!**
6. remove, plate, and cover with tin foil until ready to eat.

Brown Rice with squash
Things you will need:
microwave-safe bowl, saute pan, chopping knife and block


Ingredients:
instant brown rice
1 yellow squash
1 zucchini
2 Tblsp butter

1. make as much instant brown rice as necessary according to box
2. chop the squash and zucchini and saute in frying pan with butter
3. add cooked rice to zucchini and toss to mix.
4. serve.

   One of the reasons why it took Matteo and I so long (like 3 hours) in the WSM is because of these little beauties called blood oranges. Ever heard of them? They're these GORGEOUS (see pic) type of orange that was originally from Sicily. The interior, as you can see, is a garnet-red (like a darker ruby red grapefruit) due to a  unique pigment they contain called anthocyanin.Ok, so maybe anthocyanin isn't unique to things like berries, red flowers, and autumn leaves (my dad's japanese maple comes to mind), but it IS unique to citrus fruits. Anthocyanin's, which are also considered an antioxidant, provide the blood orange with a health-linked advantage over a traditional orange. As for their taste, which is sweeter than a traditional orange, is sortof like a clementine with a hint of raspberry. And this slightly sweet/tart taste goes AMAZINGLY with gin, which is how we chose to use these dramatic Italian fruit.

Blood Orange Bluecoat
Things you may need:
fork or citrus juicer, rocks glasses, martini shaker, strainer?

Ingredients: 
Bluecoat gin (I'm not one to tell you how much you should use. I guess it just depends on how hard of a day you had...)
2 blood oranges
Tonic (I prefer diet, but I'll take whatever)
ice

1.cut first blood orange in half, then slice one ring off both halves
2.using citrus juicer (if you're fancy) or a fork (if you're poor like me), juice a half an orange per drink being made (2 at a time in our case; NOT JUST BOTH FOR ME, might I add!)
3.  According to Matteo: NEVER pour all ingredients into a martini shaker! just leave it on the counter to look pretty or make something else in it instead, pour juice, then gin, then tonic over ice in a rocks glass
4. stir with a spoon
5. slice remaining rings from the cut halves into slices, twist, and garnish.
6. sip to savor; this isn't a well drink people.

** Don't be alarmed if your counter top looks like a murder scene. If anyone asks, just say you were just gutting a Sicilian fruit.**