The “New Normal” Or The Real Normal

Does anyone else hate the expression the New Normal? Yes, it is true that our lives have changed with the pandemic. And yes, our lives will be different for a while, and slightly different forever. But, if history has any lessons, things will return to a Real Normal eventually.

My friend Tuvi in Israel wrote me recently asking how things are going. He had probably noticed that my blogs based on socializing over a meal with friends had gone quiet. I gave Tuvi an update that reflected some of the challenges we are all facing. He responded with, in Israel we have an expression:

“We survived the Pharaoh, so this we can overcome!”

I could just hear my friend Tuvi’s voice and see the sly smile on his face. Tuvi has not been wrong about many things. On this one, he is certainly right.

We did get together with friends this week for appetizers and drinks. Yes, we met outside. The O’Connor’s have the perfect backyard. The well-spaced group included new and old friends. The menu called for appetizers and a visit to Costco dictated my offering. If you ever see PEACHES FROM CALIFORNIA at Costco you have to buy them. There is nothing better than the prefect peach and nothing worse than a bad peach. When Costco has peaches from California you are in for a treat.

My recipe for Steak and Peach Bites is always a hit when it combines the perfect peach and a nicely grilled steak. The sweet chili sauce is a wonderful complement.

Check out the recipe.

It was one of those evenings that went on a lot longer than planned. The company was great The food and wine were great. More than anything else, the evening reminded me that we all miss getting together with friends over a meal. We all miss the real normal. If 2020 has taught us anything, we have all learned that it is important to value how good we have it. That realization is the real normal

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.

The Rosemary Bush

Grill/Roasting a chicken on a bed of rosemary is one of our favorite dishes. Finding a sufficient supply of rosemary can be a problem. If you have to buy rosemary at the supermarket it can be expensive. If you know where to find an old bush of rosemary you are all set.

Grill Roasted Chicken Video

Here is the recipe

I wandered by my old office the other day and the rosemary that had once been part of a small herb garden is now a huge rosemary bush. The copious amount of rosemary is enough to roast a flock of chickens or skewer a truck load of appetizers.

The empty parking lot brought back a funny memory. One morning I pulled into the lot early and found a crane operator setting up his crane to lift a very large HVAC unit onto to the roof of the facility. Very close to the crane was the BMW Roadster that belonged to Andreas Schauffler our chief financial officer. Andreas was a native of Germany and not known for his sense of humor. Actually, he once admitted to me that his wife had accused him of not having one. Being a former finance guy, I always had sympathy for Andreas. I remember once walking into the office back in my early days at Maxwell House where I was a financial analyst with my boss Vince Summa the controller and him telling me: “You have to remember that we are the fiduciaries of the company and Fiduche to our friends”.

As I walked into KFI that morning with the crane and the BMW there I couldn’t help myself. I went to the crane operator and laughingly asked what it would cost me to have the BMW put on the roof as a joke. To which he replied with a smile: “A lot less than you might think”. As luck would have it, just as I was having this conversation, Nancy Webb, who worked for Herr Schauffler, pulled into the parking lot, and I asked her if she wanted to kick in $50 to have Andreas’s prized Roadster put on the roof. She explained to me, with a frightened look on her face, that it wasn’t a great idea and she wanted no part of it. Of course, I chickened out.

Fast forward to today and the good news is that I cut off a branch of rosemary to roast a chicken with tonight and If you are ever in Memphis and need rosemary, I can tell you where to go.

How To Grill The Perfect Steak.

A question I get asked all the time is: Can you teach my husband to grill a steak? He over-cook’s everything.

There are several things that I do for everything I grill:

Let the steak slack out to room temperature for 45 minutes
Pre-heat the grill on high for 15 minutes
Brush on a light coating of olive all and season liberally with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Place on the grill and cook side one until about 60% done. I don’t believe in flipping the steak. It is good to get a little char on side one. Side two should be less charred

In my method there are 3 ways to check for done-ness

Touch it. Every steak you have ever had st a restaurant has been touched. At KFI we trained salespeople to check for doneness. I call it the GOLDILOCKS METHOD. We had them touch a raw steak. It is too soft. We had them touch an overcooked steak. It is too hard. We had them touch a medium steak and it was in between hard and soft. It was just right. Touch takes practice. GOLDILOCKS KNEW HER STUFF!
Use an instant read thermometer. They work pretty well.Thermometers work better for roasts than they do for grilling. Sometimes the high heat of the grill throws off the reading. I cook it to 115 degrees. Pull it off the grill and let it sit. It will continue to cook up to 125 degrees which is the perfect medium rare(For the record, the really good chefs I have worked with, make fun of chefs that keep an instant read thermometers on their sleeve. Great chefs have a sense of touch that obsolesces thermometers)
Cut a little slice. This a taboo in most cookbooks as “they” say you are letting out the juices. I once saw one of the best chefs I have ever worked with cut a little slice. There is nothing like seeing the doneness to be sure.

The goal is medium rare. I have surveyed chefs that work in high end white table cloth restaurants and they say 85% of customers want medium rare. I have one friend that asks the waiter for his steaks “Medium rare plus”. I pity the poor server that goes back to tell the chef that a customer wants his steak medium rare plus. If the server is lucky the chef will laugh. A few chefs I know would explode.

The first question I get asked is how long should I cook the steak. My answer is that it depends on several factors:How hot is the grill. All grills vary:

How often you open the grill
How often you flip the steak (Only once recommended)
How thick is your steak

Time and temperature doesn’t work! Stick to the 3 doneness measures above and with a little practice you will get really good.

With the goal of medium rare. I cook to rare (warm red center) pull it off the grill, brush it with a compound butter (butter, garlic, shallot, herbs, salt and pepper) and let it sit for 15 minutes. Then slice and serve.

So what about steak for people that like their steak well-done? This is bad, but I avoid friends that like well done steaks. I love the line in Anthony Bourdain’s book where he claims that most chefs save the worst steak for dinners that ask for well done. If they want well done they don’t have a clue. Truth is that there will always be end pieces of meat for the well done guys