Eating Words with Horseradish

bobby flay. oy. i am SO not into bobby flay. anyone who would listen to me would hear how much i didn't appreciate or get into bobby flay. although, like howard stern, i respected him for his passion (in his way) to his craft -- the grill, in this instance -- he wasn't my kinda personality.

that is still true. i used to watch his show back in the day when he had this girl, jackie, with him and some celebrity guests at his outside grill and a group of friends or something at his inside dealeeo. jackie was this great tempering agent with him, i thought, simply because i was SOOOO not into him. maybe she was really good, but she's no longer his right hand chickadoo, so who knows? i liked her, though. however, there was that moment when, of course, he hung with martha stewart for an episode of her show and he was like a cat on a hot tin roof, just wanting to cook, cook, COOK, DAMMIT! while martha was about "talking" to her audience while bobby was bouncing off the ceiling. i think bobby probably downed about a quart of mezcale that night or should have, cuz he was BUGGIN'! as much as i couldn't stand him, i was lovin' how his vibe was POURING out of the TV, his fire and intense Brooklyn-ness that has always been a big draw for me (can anyone say "Leader of the Pack" Syndrome?) and, in that one moment, i was on the same page with him. needless to say, by the end of the segment, i was back to being "oy, bobby flay."

but he is a god of the grill.

tonight, i wanted something simple, easy, quick that would still be wonderful. i had taken the last two days off of work so that i could get my head together, chill out in my house and focus on getting our living space situated in a way that would bring us pleasure not grief. please don't ask if i actually accomplished it. i'm really good at living as if i'm moving in two months, even if i'm somewhere for 4 years. don't ask me why. i think i have "the geepsy in my soul" as sid caeser says in CHEAP DETECTIVE (oh, yeah, i'm a HUGE movie freak -- i can quote all of THE GODFATHER, many portions of THE BIG CHILL, huge chunks of THE BREAKFAST CLUB and massive quantities of IN HER SHOES... as well as DIVA and the list goes on and on and on...). anyway, when brandon walked home from school, he opened the door with a big smile knowing i was here (talk about feeling loved?) and holding a new cookbook from my cookbook of the month club, THE GOOD COOK (if you want to be a freakazoid collector of cookbooks like me that your children will one day look through and shake their head in wonder at "how did she get like this?" sorrow, then do it). i opened it up and it was BOBBY FLAY'S MESA GRILL COOKBOOK by, well, Bobby Flay with a little help from his friends, Stephanie Banyas and Sally Jackson. i figured "ah, HA! grill stuff couldn't possibly take me forever, although that flavor step thing with meat can be quite the time consuming deal", went to my locker times 10 sized freezer, pulled out some beef, defrosted it and went about finding something to make that wouldn't make me hate bobby flay more nor take 8 hours longer than i had. i found SPICE CRUSTED NEW YORK STRIP STEAKS WITH MESA GRILL STEAK SAUCE, the said steak sauce recipe to follow.

i
am
a
stupid
girl

ingredients:
2 tbs ancho chile powder
1 tbs spanish paprika
1 tbs ground coriander
1 tbs dry mustard
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp chile de arbol
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
4 (12 ounce) New York strip steaks
2 tbs canola oil
Mesa Grill Steak Sauce (recipe in book)

1. make the spice rub, combine the ancho powder, paprika, coriander, dry mustard, oregano, cumin, chile de arbol, 1 tbs salt and 1 tbs pepper in a small bowl.
2. preheat the grill to medium-high or preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat. brush both sides of the steaks with the oil and season with salt and pepper. rub one side of each steak with about 2 tbs of the spice mixture.
3. grill the steaks, rub side down, until lightly charred and a crust has formed, 3 to 4 minutes. flip over the steaks and continue grilling for 5 to 6 minutes more for medium-rare; the steaks will be bright pink in the middle.
4. spoon some of the mesa grill stak sauce in the center of each of the 4 plates and top with the steaks.

here's what we did:

i used boneless short ribs i had in the freezer. i also substituted the canola oil with olive oil (i'm one lazy girl, sometimes. i did that because i was in the kitchen. the canola oil was in the garage. the olive oil was in the kitchen. so i used the olive oil). i made the sauce, i used the rub and i used my trusty, very well seasoned George Foreman grill.

and how'd it all work?

the Mesa Grill Steak Sauce is AWESOME. i'm not sharing it with you not because i'm being a hagatha and suddenly very protective, but because i'm exhausted. i shampooed the rugs, started cleaning out the garage, baked a loaf of bread, took the dog to the doggie daycare, blah, blah, blah and i'm tired. yep. so typing out a whole other recipe is SOOOO not what i want or can do right now.

buy the book.
i can NOT believe i'm saying this.
buy BOBBY FLAY'S book.
pardon me while i gag a bit.
there really are no simple recipes. a lot of layers of flavors going on and a serious look at what your pantry has to offer is in store with this. bobby flay trusts that you are as astute and amazing as he is, so his recipes reflect this.

yes, i just said bobby flay is amazing.

shut up.