Steak with Friends
At Home, with Rick Tramonto
by Rick Tramonto
Price: $35.00
ISBN-13: 978-0-7407-9257-1
ISBN-10: 0-7407-9257-1
Format: Hardcover
Size: 8 1/2 x 10 1/2 in.
Page Count: 304 pages

“This is a great, fun-to-read cookbook for anyone who enjoys entertaining or just wants to perfect his or her steak cooking skills.” ––2 The Advocate http://bit.ly/bWWykf
“[Steak with Friends] is a fine one with far more than steak recipes and while instructive, it’s not a how-to-grill book. Tramonto chose steak as the centerpiece because it’s a hallmark of Chicago and it represents an indulgence. He wants you to know how to cook it perfectly to your taste because “if you overcook it, there’s no going back.” The grilled steak section includes numerous cuts with tomahawk (aka Cowboy cut – a bone-on ribeye), flatiron, skirt and hanger among the lot, and then he moves to classics like Steak Diane, Beef Wellington, and Filet Oscar. There are 150 recipes and the variety beyond beef is superb (fewer than 30 recipes are actually “steak”) including Peekytoe crab salad, cioppino, garlic sausage, lemongrass duck, even the ubiquitous mac & cheese. Desserts like Killer Chocolate Pudding and Key Lime Brûlées are mouthwatering. The headnotes are charming, informative, and insightful and you’ll find the sidebars and tips useful. Don’t overlook the Sources section to learn where the pros buy when local isn’t available.” ––Pen and Fork http://bit.ly/dqKnbk
“A great book for steak lovers and anyone looking for simple, elegant food. ” ––Today http://www.today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38678442
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From Steak with Friends: At Home, with Rick Tramonto by Rick Tramonto with Mary Goodbody
Anything with the flavor of citrus is satisfying after a rich, filling steak dinner and anyone who knows me knows how much I appreciate that particular flavor. These little crème brûlées are elegant and impressive and yet very easy to make ahead of time. The tang of key limes gives them just enough of a jolt.
I have always been a fan of the flavor of key limes, but if you can’t find them, use the more common limes. This recipe demonstrates what I learned from Gale Gand, who has been my culinary partner for years and who is one of the best pastry chefs in the business.
Serves 6
2 cups heavy cream
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon grated key lime or lime zest
½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise
5 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed key lime or lime juice
¼ cup raw sugar
1 pint fresh raspberries
Preheat the oven to 300°F.
In a saucepan over medium heat, heat the heavy cream, granulated sugar, zest, and vanilla bean for about 5 minutes, or until small bubbles appear around the edges of the pan. Set aside to steep for 10 minutes. Remove and discard the vanilla bean or reserve it for another use.
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Welcome to celebrated chef Rick Tramonto’s home; pull up a chair, pour a glass of wine, and enjoy the delicious food he shares with his good friends and family (including his dog, Luke).
Steak with Friends: At Home, with Rick Tramonto is big and juicy, just like a steak dinner with all the trimmings. It showcases a dazzling array of steak and seafood recipes along with delicious accompaniments ranging from appetizers to desserts. Sophisticated, yet easy to prepare, these dishes will delight readers who love great beef cooked to perfection. Rick teaches the secrets to choosing and preparing the best steak, suggests music to listen to while cooking mussels, and recommends some of his favorite drink pairings. In this cookbook, Rick shows cooks how to reproduce the delicious flavors of his great steak house food at home.
What I like most about the recipes in this chapter is that they are all about relaxed celebrations. Most can be served on a big platter so that everyone can graze, pick and choose what they want, and decide how much they want to eat. These appetizers are perfect for sharing with good friends and family while enjoying a cold beer or a glass of wine.
After an hour or so of appetizers, I fire up the grill for the steaks, or whatever food I am cooking that evening, and most people drift toward the grilling action. This is the second phase of the party, followed by the main meal when we sit down and enjoy what’s on our plates and on our minds. But without the very first part of the evening, when we casually and happily share cold appetizers, the rest of the meal would not be as successful. It’s a natural progression, a train of good eats and conversation that first leaves the station with these delights, gaining speed as it moves through the party.
I thought long and hard about what recipes to include here—just as I did with every chapter in the book—and kept coming back to how well these dishes could be shared. I also relied on my own affection for “surf and turf.” Ever since I first discovered the marriage of seafood and beef, I have been an enthusiastic fan. I have even been known to stop at a sushi restaurant for a few bites before going on to a steak house. This explains why I have included the Spicy Tuna Roll, the Spicy Shrimp in Lettuce Wraps, and the RT Hamachi Sashimi with Pineapple. All are perfect before a steak meal.
I also like to start off a steak dinner with another meat, as evidenced by the charcuterie plate and the steak tartar. Both are sensational and both are updated with some tasty twists, such as the violet mustard with the tartar and the pickled onions on the charcuterie plate.
If you prefer appetizers with no seafood or meat, try the beets. I have never put out platters of these and had a single leftover! They are that good. And the spring rolls hark back to my fondness for Asian-style foods before the main course.
These are easy, light dishes for the most part, meant to be enjoyed with friends. They are great at a cocktail party, but can also be enjoyed on their own for a very casual meal.