This Sunday is Father’s Day. If you shop at the Collingswood Farmers’ Market you can purchase everything needed to make a perfectly wonderful summer grill.
Our meat of choice for this grill is a bison rib eye steak. My husband is newly retired and is having a great time with his smoker and grill. He has discovered that all one really has to do to be successful is PAY ATTENTION. We both have fond and not so fond memories of our fathers burning nearly everything they cooked in the name of charcoal grilling.
To cook our bison rib eye steaks, my husband used a method called cold grate reverse sear. It requires a grill with a spinning grate, a meat thermometer, and for the cook to pay attention.
If you are interested you can learn the method used here: Cold Grate / Reverse Sear Rib Eye Steak . But I’m sure that your dad will love steak (or even burgers) cooked the way you usually do.
What makes this dish holiday special is the addition of (and discovery of) a NEW item from Hillacres Pride (purveyors of meat, poultry, and cheese)….Maitake fresh cheese. It is a soft spreadable cheese made by Judy that includes Maitake mushrooms from Davidson’s Mushrooms. Tasting was available and it was delicious. It would be wonderful on a cracker or grilled bread. It was great on that little plastic spoon! But it really cried out to be melted on grilled meat. A steak. A burger.
So grill your meat and plop a dollop of Maitake fresh mushroom cheese on right before serving.
Spring cauliflower is available now. And it is delicious. Much more delicate in flavor than the fall variety (which I also love). I cleaned and cut up a small head of cauliflower and dropped it into my steamer basket for about ten minutes. The cauliflower should be easily pierced with a knife, but it should not be mushy.
While steaming the cauliflower, melt butter in a large frying pan. When the butter is melted sprinkle in 1/4 to 1/2 cup of panko breadcrumbs. Stir around until the panko starts to color. Do not burn! Then place the cooked cauliflower into the skillet with the butter and panko and stir to coat and crisp. Again. Do not burn. Salt to taste.
In case your father is not a cauliflower fan…..
In a large skillet melt about two tablespoons of butter. Cut up a garlic scape (don’t use the knuckle) and a spring onion. Saute them lightly until the onion is translucent and the garlic scape is a bit limp. Next clean and cut up a zucchini, clean and half some sugar snap peas, and clean and cut up some mushrooms. Put all the vegetables in the skillet with the garlic, onion, and butter. Sprinkle lightly with salt and put a lid on the pan. Lower the heat under the pan to medium/low and let it cook until the zucchini is no longer crisp. About ten minutes. When the vegetables are done, scoop some Bacon Chive Cheddar spread from Cheese Etc. (they are at the market every other week). Put the lid back on to melt the spread. When read to serve, stir the vegetables and melted cheese together.
When I was a child, my father ate everything on the table. Whatever was there, he ate it all. After my mother passed away, I noticed my father didn’t eat cooked vegetables. I asked him about it. Perhaps I wasn’t making the ones he liked. He said that he preferred raw vegetables…indeed he ate carrots, broccoli, celery, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers…raw. He went on to say that he ate them when I was young because he was setting a good example. Indeed he did.
If your father is like mine…he probably won’t eat either of these vegetable dishes. He’ll eat the steak…with the Miatake fresh cheese melted on top. And he’ll eat the gorgeous fresh salad also prepared with fresh lettuces, cucumbers, hot house tomatoes. But I’m guessing he’ll simply enjoy having a meal with you…
There are lots of new things appearing at the market. Spring has sprung and summer it hot on its heels. Experiment. Take a stroll through the market. Try new things. You really can’t make a mistake.
Food purchased for this post:
Rib Eye Steak : Buck Wild Bison
Maitake Fresh Cheese, butter: Hillacres Pride
Cauliflower, oak leaf lettuce: Muth Family Organic Farm
Garlic Scapes: Savoie Organic Farm
Bacon Chive Cheddar cheese spread: Cheese Etc.
Zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers: AT Buzby Farm
Sugar snap peas : Viereck Farm
Spring onion: Formisano Farm
Mushrooms: Davidsons
yellow room upstairs 
2 thoughts on “Steak dinner for Dad!”