Cooking Club: Kick It Up A Notch
You can probably guess by the post title what the theme of our last cooking club was…yup, you got it – Emeril inspired recipes. Brian and Jill hosted and chose a menu that was diverse, including Pecan Crusted Chicken Tenders, Cheddar and Beer Soup with Tempura Broccoli Florets, Wert’s Creole Caesar Salad, baked vegetables, and Bourbon-Chocolate Pecan Pie.
All the food was tasty, as you can imagine, given Emeril’s tendency to spice things up, but the stand out of the meal was the main entree: Matambre, or rolled stuffed flank steak.
The Matambre starts with flank steak, seasoned with Emeril’s Essence, a blend of paprika, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, oregano and thyme. If you’re not familiar with Emeril’s cooking, this is his staple seasoning in the kitchen; most recipes start with it. Once the flank steak is seasoned, then layer on top: garlic, spinach leaves, carrots, hard boiled egg, and cayenne. This this rolled up and tied before it’s browned and then braised in red wine and beef stock until tender.
The presentation was perfect and we were all excited to dig in. As was expected, it was a bit of a salty dish but very flavorful and rich in texture. I was surprised by how much I liked the texture of the hard boiled egg rolled inside. It was certainly a fun main course and made for a pretty platter to present for a party. I’ll definitely keep this in mind when cool weather sets in again and I’m cooking for a crowd.
Tags: cooking club, Food
