“Never lick a steak knife.” ~Dave Barry
Very funny. And no, I didn’t lick a steak knife last week, but I was almost tempted because twice last week I ate a really delicious steak. Two juicy ribeyes, one cooked at home, and one at a local pub. I could have licked the knives, the forks, my fingers and the plates!
I do love a good steak, and always have. As a kid, we probably went to one of those local casual steakhouses at least twice a month (probably when my dad got paid, now that I think about it). Bonanza, Western Sizzlin, Steak and Ale…I think we also went to a place called Rustler up north when visiting my grandparents in St. Louis. I can remember going to Western Sizzlin quite a bit, and being very happy seeing my steak with that little plastic “well-done” stick (don’t judge, I was only a kid…although I wouldn’t grow out of well-done steaks for a while yet) along with a salad slathered in French dressing. Ah, the 70’s.
A lot of times, Western Sizzlin (and I think Bonanza did this, too) would have these coloring sheets for kids—black and white traced pictures of steers that you could color in, and if yours got picked as a winner, you’d get a free steak! I won quite a few times. And while it probably didn’t make that much of a difference to the tab at the end of the night (depending on the year, there were still four or five other people to feed and pay for, after all), I do think one freebie was a good excuse for us to go out as a family to get steaks.
Steakhouses were also the first places I remember being able to order an iced tea. With my own lemon. Not milk or juice, but an iced tea just like the adults. It’s also the first place I remember putting a napkin on my lap. I think I remember seeing someone do that at Ruth’s Chris in New Orleans. It was a real treat to see steaks come to the table sizzling in butter. I remember the meal was expensive, but my dad took us there anyway.
Last week, Peter (also known as my better half) and I decided to finally make it to Winchester here in San Antonio. It’s really a bar, an English-style pub; a place where I’d usually order fish and chips, but on Mondays, they have a half-price ribeye dinner if you live in a certain zip code. Our zip code! Not only was the steak excellent, but the Scotch eggs and pints of Guinness were also on point. I love pubs, and pub food, but this was not your usual fare. The steak was tender enough that I really didn’t even need my steak knife as I could just about cut the meat with the edge of my fork. It was so good, I would have paid full price. (Actually, Peter paid. Thanks, mi amor!)
Later in the week, we decided to grill some ribeyes of our own. Prime ribeyes from the grocery store, left out at room temperature with a little salt, seared on the grill for a few minutes on each side, and voila! You almost have God’s most perfect food. (I know. Dramatic. And I do say that about a lot of good things right after I eat them, but there is nothing quite like a perfect steak.) Both steaks last week were definitely the best things I ate within those seven days.
I worked with a girl once, Rena, who told me she was a vegetarian but every once in a while she liked to have steak cooked on the grill. It made perfect sense to me. Although for me, every once in a while for a steak is too long to wait. Twice a week is more like it, and something I could get used to.
Elda Eats XO
#eldaeats #eldaeatssteak #ribeyes #steakhouses #winchestersanantonio
