Fantastic Friday!

It was already 73 degrees F. when I went home for lunch on Friday and it's supposed to get up to 82 degrees later. It's also windy, so it would have been a perfect day to play hooky and fly a kite (I still have an unopened one in my closet).

I took a picture of the lilac for you at lunch. After posting it, I cut off three blooms and put them in a glass of water in my bedroom. That smell always reminds me of my childhood for my Mother had many huge lilacs on the farm.

I filled up the birdbath and feeder while I was at it.

When I got back to work, Sam (the mechanic) had called. When I called him back, he said the turbo had come in, but the exhaust gasket was on back order. They told him it would either be in late today or tomorrow (groan).

When I left work it was 80 degrees! I swear I could smell those lilacs in the garage. The whole house is filled with the scent.

Now, my birdbath is small, but when I glanced out the kitchen window, there were two big mourning doves sitting (or trying to sit) in it. I snuck in for the camera, but just as I turned it on, they flew off. Damn! That would have been a cool shot.

I changed clothes and got out the steak I'd thawed. I set it on the counter after taking the butcher paper off, to let it come up to room temperature. With weather like this, I gotta use the 'que!

But, work before pleasure. I gassed up the push mower, checked the oil and started walking around the perimeter of the front, side and back lawn (a long walk, BTW). I need to cut the areas that get missed with the wide turn radius of the lawn tractor.

I finished that up at 7:15 PM. Then I got out a one pound bag of parsnips and a five pound bag of Yukon Gold potatoes. I peeled and cut up the parsnip, then peeled and diced two pounds of the Yukon Gold potatoes. I put them in the Dutch oven, covered them with cold water and brought them to a boil.

Meanwhile, I dragged out the grille and filled the charcoal lighter chimney with coals. I put two sheets of newspaper under it and lit it up.

Back inside, I seasoned the steak with just salt and pepper, checked the parsnips and potatoes (they're done) and mashed them. I used butter and some heavy cream, cut with water (you were supposed to use half-and-half, but I don't have any). I put the lid on the Dutch oven to keep it warm and went out to grill the steak.

Now, I'm trying to learn a cooking technique I've long been envious of: determining the doneness of a steak by touch. While using a meat thermometer is all well and good in say, a roast, you don't want to poke holes in a steak and lose the juices. Most chefs do it by touch, but until now I've relied on time, instead. Tonight, the lesson begins!

So, I've seen several different approaches to learning this, but this one seems the easiest to me.

Open the palm of your hand. Relax the hand. Take the index finger of your other hand and push on the fleshy area between the thumb and the base of the palm. Make sure your hand is relaxed. This is what raw meat feels like. (Check this out the next time you have a raw steak to cook.)

Now gently press the tip of your pinky and your thumb together. Again feel the fleshy area below the thumb. It should feel quite firm. This is what well done meat feels like when you press on it. (Check this out the next time you overcook a piece of meat.)

Press the tip of your ring finger and your thumb together. The flesh beneath the thumb should give a little more. This is what meat cooked to a medium doneness feels like.

Gently press the tip of your middle finger to the tip of your thumb. This is medium rare.

Press the tip of your index finger to the tip of your thumb. The fleshy area below the thumb should give quite a bit. This is what meat cooked to rare feels like. Open up your palm again and compare raw to rare.

Simple, right?

Well, I cooked that beautiful Porterhouse steak to what felt to me like medium rare (the only way I like meat), plated it, shut the garage door and went back inside. I added a big scoop of the parsnips and mashed potatoes and went in to see what the TV had to offer.

The parsnips and mashed potatoes were excellent. It took a bit longer to mash the parsnips but it was well worth it. Definitely a keeper if you like parsnips!

The steak, however, was a HUGE disappointment. It was definitely well done (and I hate that). Don't get me wrong, I ate it, but I didn't like it. I gotta work on that...