Dinner and Drinking

I have nothing profound to write about today, although news is plentiful if an idle person decides to look.  One story I enjoyed is available at the Antique Naval Flight Officer's blog, where our noble host celebrates a significant victory of a small but honest and trustworthy family owned business over the evil group of POS (perpetually offended snowflakes) that run Oberlin University, and who whipped the student body into a self-righteous knickers-twisted fury, when... go read it for yourself.



I had dinner at Big Mike's last night. We enjoyed a steak dinner with trimmings, and cocktails, and cognac. Big Mike knows how to pour a drink, let me tell you.

The Good Beginning

This is a nice red wine, which was served with dinner.  The cocktail of the evening was something I'd never had before, but I intend to have again.  Here it is:

Bitters and Smoke
1.00 oz. blanco tequila
1.00 oz. Cynar
0.50 oz. Fernet-Branca
0.50 oz. mezcal

Method: stirred with ice; strained

Glass: chilled cocktail

If you decide to make this, the best results are to allow it to sit for five minutes or so.  This will let the bitterness of the mezcal get tempered by the other ingredients and the ice water.

Waiting for the Steaks

Mike was originally going to fire up the grill, but the weather wouldn't cooperate.  So the steaks were done in the old cast iron skillet with a splatter screen on top.

Greens, Slightly Scorched

These, believe it or else, are the green portion of the dinner.  The greens were scorched in the toaster oven, and yes it was actually done that way on purpose.  They were delicious.

Sautéed Mushrooms

My favorite, next to the dead animal itself, are the mushrooms.  Something about mushrooms really sets off the taste of the steak.

Steak, Medium Rare, with Mushrooms

Perfectly done!  This is a good cut of beef, high quality, and was not overcooked.  This is a perfect dinner.

We finished off with coffee and VSOP cognac.  I've noticed that in the liquor store down the street from me, they keep the cognac locked up with an anti-theft device on the bottle.  I guess that cognac is a very popular item with certain people, and they'll steal it.  Two or three create a distraction at the register with the accomplice walks out the door with a few bottles, then runs like hell away.

I can believe it.  I had someone try to steal my liquor in the checkout line at the local Kroger's.  Both the cashier and I caught him; he dropped the bottle and hurried away.

As I write this, it is now 2:55 PM and I'm still feeling like five miles of bad road, thanks to the aftereffects of Big Mike's hospitality.