Hello again Steemians!

Today was a nice Sunday and I had some extra time so I decided to cook up a feast for my wife and children. They always request my BBQ-grilled chicken and I always please them, but I'll spare you a walk-through on that part since I always do it the same way and already described the process in my Easter post here: https://steemit.com/food/@nofiat/mouth-watering-eat-like-a-king-on-easter-lobster-grilled-chicken-and-beni-hana-style-salad-yum.

Today's post will focus on the skirt steak, Chimichurri sauce, Chickpeas and Saffron rice, and improvements to my Lobster roll. For thumbnail's sake, here is the finished plate:

Start Here:

Chimichurri Sauce

This sauce is actually best when you can eat it the following day after preparation. I try to plan for this, but it never works out. If you're like me, and decided to make this last-minute, you'll want to make this first, and let it sit for a while at room temperature before putting it in the refrigerator. It will still be better the next day though.

If you're not already familiar with this tasty steak sauce, go speak to your local Argentinian. I am not Argentine, but I'll tell you, those people know their steak! There are many variations, but two constants are Cilantro and Parsley. These are the ingredients I used for mine today:

-Entire bunch of Cilantro
-3/4 of the bunch of Italian curly parsley (any will do but I prefer Italian curly for this)
-2-3 cloves of garlic
-slightly less than half an onion (I like some bite, so I used red)
-less than half of a red pepper (this was experimental for me today, but it worked well!)
-some salt
-some heat (crushed red hot pepper)
-a bit of lemon juice
-olive oil (you'll want enough to form a base once you blend/puree it all. Not too watery and not too thick)
-red wine vinegar (less than the olive oil; don't overdo it)

My immersion blender doubles as a food processor with the right attachment. I love this thing!

I like to place everything in the container EXCEPT the olive oil and red wine vinegar first, then "eye" the amount of liquid I put in based on how full it is.

After you blend/puree, it should look something like this:

Go ahead. Stick a finger in there and give it a taste! It will be strong, but remember this is for your steak and the flavors haven't melded quite yet. Trust your instincts and make adjustments as needed.

The Saffron Rice

I get tired of plain-old rice and I really enjoy Saffron so I used it.

I use an old rice-cooker and don't do anything fancy except that I've changed my method a bit to bring out this ingredient:

1. Measure out 2 cups of rice and put it in the rice cooker, warm setting.
2. Measure out slightly under 2 cups of water (water absorption depends on type of rice, FYI) and bring to boil on stove.
3. Toss a bit of Olive oil, garlic powder, salt, and onion powder in with your rice and make sure each grain is covered.
4. Put a bit of Saffron in your measuring cup and transfer the just-boiled water into the measuring cup.
5. After some minutes, you'll have a beautiful amber-colored and fragrant water. Add this to the rice in your cooker and start the cook cycle.

Here was my result after completion of the cook cycle and some stirring:

Let that hang for a bit.

Chickpeas aka Garbanzo beans

I had a suspicion these beans would go well with Saffron flavor. I love being right!

1. Chop up some red pepper
2. Chop up half a yellow onion
3. Crush a garlic clove, maybe two
4. Ready a dash of powdered Bay Leaf (emphasis on this being a small amount)
5. Grab a good-quality can of Garbanzo beans (yeah, I used a can. judge me if you want to!)
6. Dump everything except the beans into a pot with available lid (the lid lets you control the rate of moisture escape)
7. Add some olive oil and cook this down until softened and fragrant, then add the entire can, water included, in the pot

Quick Note:

You might save yourself some time by making the beans a separate option. In that case, they can remain a little bit "wet". I wanted to incorporate them into my rice side dish. If you want to do the same, you'll need to cook out all the moisture until you have them at the right consistency for your rice. One bonus is you get to hide rice-to-water ratio mistakes this way. If your rice is too dry, keep your beans wet. If you're rice is to wet, you're still screwed, but you can fix the overall texture by adding a dryer bean.

Skirt Steak

"A good cut of meat doesn't need much else". Agreed!

Here's all I added:

1. Moisten all sides with EVOO
2. Generously season both sides with onion powder and an even-hand of garlic powder.
3. Salt both sides lightly
4. Cover and let it hang in the fridge until go-time!

Notice how I stretch out the steaks for seasoning, but afterwards compress a bit for marinating and flavor absorption in the fridge. It might all be in my head, but it works for me.

Lobster Roll!

Preparing lobster is a bit of a pain in the ass. Speaking of asses, it is very important that you remove the "shit-testinal tract" from the lobster. Most people don't properly clean their lobster and because I do, I now am very sensitive to the difference in flavor. Do everyone a favor and clean your fucking shellfish. These creatures truly are the cockroaches of the sea, so think on that.

Do this:

1. Turn upside down and use kitchen shears to cut just under the exoskeleton, without cutting the tail meat, all the way down to the lobsters anus. (If you've read this far, know I'm laughing here because I did not expect to write "anus" in this post, lol)
2. Use your fingers and thumbs to crack open along the cut you just made. Be warned, if you're doing it correctly, it will hurt a little.
3. Carefully remove the meat from exoskeleton - Notice the lobster is built like a tube of meat.
4. Your goal is to remove the shit from inside the tube. Use a sharp knife to cut through the first "layer" only, then open it up and rinse out all the gunk under running water.

See Below:

Grill-Time!

You need a really hot grill to cook a steak, period.

Don't over-cook and err on the side of caution. Let it rest a bit...

For the lobster, you'll need:

1. stick of butter
2. little bit of Parsley
3. fair amount of Tarragon
4. crushed garlic, at least two cloves
5. chopped Lobstah - overcooking is a cardinal sin!

I had this bread laying around:

So, I scooped out some of the bread and ladled in a bit of the yummy butter sauce and then Lobster - friggin' delicious!

I waited all day to eat this amazing meal, and the lobster roll was my "appetizer". I finished with the Steak and Saffron Garbanzo rice. So darn good!

If you follow me, then you know I normally post under #steemsilvergold and write about related topics. On that note, you may have noticed an extra-shiny spoon in some of the pics. Well, that spoon was generously gifted to me by @fishyculture out of the kindness of her heart. She is a dear member of our community and she mentioned accumulating several silver utensils throughout the years. It seems all the ladies in her family had some and as they passed on or relocated, various silver utensils made their way to @fishyculture. I offered to pay for one but she refused and sent a spoon over! It warms my heart to know that I may be using a spoon that once belonged to a close family member, and that is what it is all about friends, family! I will ensure this silver spoon is in every food-related post I make from now on!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY @FISHYCULTURE!

If you've enjoyed this post, kindly give it a strong up-vote and feel free to resteem and share! Let me know what you think, I'd love your feedback! God Bless!