Splurging on meat

This past weekend while looking through a heap of paper on the dining room table, I came across an ad for Safeway, where I get everything that I can't usually get at Trader Joe's. I flipped through it, not expecting to find anything good, but discovered an ad for steak.

Now, I don't normally eat a whole lot of meat. I've been meaning to because, as an athlete, I need to keep a healthy dosage of protein. And it's pretty common knowledge that most red meats have quite a bit of protein in them.

It's not usually on my cooking agenda because the stuff is hard to prepare and can be very touchy. Meat is far more unforgiving if you cook it wrong. Not only can it cause a night of cuddling with the toilet, but the tab is often a hefty one.

Regardless, I figured I'd give it a shot. Let's just say I was feeling dangerous. The price was what sealed the deal. Safeway had a variety of steaks on sale, from New York to T-bone. I don't really know a whole lot about each one to determine a taste difference, so I settled on a type that seemed to be moderately priced and sized. The price for two good sized steaks ended up being around $6.00.

In thinking of the side dishes for a meat of such stature, asparagus popped into my head. Now, during the summer time, my roommate went on a BBQ spree and probably grilled everything that could possibly be grilled. She came up with a fancy little number which consisted of asparagus wrapped prosciutto, which is a very thinly sliced Italian ham.

The stuff is to die for, but prosciutto will put a dent in the grocery budget. It had cost about the same as the steak for about eight slices of this salty goodness. It's tucked away near all the fancy cheeses and meats which usually have a home by the deli.

But, since I seemed to be on a haughty, carnivorous feeding frenzy, I splurged and bought it all.

Friday night rolled around and I fired up the grill.

Steak preparation seemed to be easier then I thought. I was cooking at a friend's house and rubbed the slabs of meat in what is formally known as "steak rub". Steak rub can be bought at pretty much any grocery store and is basically just a bunch of herbs and spices thrown together in a bottle and then rubbed on the outside of steak to give it some punch.

To prepare the asparagus, I washed it off and broke the stems off the bottom. The best way to know where to break the stem is to start a bit up from the bottom and just start bending it and moving up the stalk until it actually snaps. This is to ensure that the tender part of the asparagus is not wasted.

Then, just open up the prosciutto and wrap it around the spear.


Grill this up until the prosciutto looks crispy.

To check the steak, just get a knife and cut a little slit in the middle and take a peak inside. It's done when most of the pink on the inside is gone, but then again it depends on how well you like your steak to be cooked.

Here's a website with an index to help you decide:
http://www.redmeatandnutrition.com.au/Recipe/CookingTechniques/BBQ/

The meal over all was absolutely delicious. It was a little on the salty side, but that can all depend on what kind of steak rub one's using. Those are always up in the air.