Well, another weekend is gone nearly as fast as this evening’s dinner. Well both were quite good. Friday evening I went for a TreeWalk with my mother along the Hooch near Riverside Park in Roswell. A short way into our walk, I happened to notice a large snapping turtle on the side of the walk at the edge of the brush. She was about 12-13 inches from the front to back of her shell. As we approached I realized that she was digging a nest for her eggs.

This section of the river is home to quite a lot of turtles. They can often be spotted lining up along fallen trees in the water, dozens at a time. This is the first time I was able to watch one laying her eggs, quite awesome. Unfortunately, the camera was at home.

On Saturday I went to the Chattachoochee Nature Center for their grand opening celebration of their new Discovery Center. This was my first visit to the center and while it is a great interactive and educational facility for kids to learn more about nature and the new building is LEED certified (gets a great deal of my respect for that alone), it isn’t necessarily a great TreeWalking environment. I was particularly distressed with the Aviary displays. In these very small cages sit some of the great raptors, the kings and queens of the skies with scarcely enough room to stretch their wings and fly more than 15-20 feet from one side of their prison to the other. I have a great passion for Hawks, I love Hawks and it hurts to see them so confined. They also have a pair of Bald Eagles, the symbol of our nation, the symbol of Freedom. These awesome birds are fortunate enough to have a large compound to move about, though it is likely less than one hundred feet long. Some Freedom. These powerful, majestic birds are accustomed to soaring hundreds of feet in the air and watching over many square miles of land. I do understand it is for the intention of education and the goal to ultimately protect the species, but at such a price.

The weather was fabulous – fabulously HOT! that is. It was sunny, hot and humid at around 95 degrees f. The heavily shaded trails through the woods made it quite a bit more tolerable. I really don’t mind the heat that much, though it was bordering on the extreme for me. I just keep reminding myself that I could be back in New England with icy cold weather 6 months of the year and tons of snow (I’m not a winter person – never was in the 38 years I lived there).

Well onto this evenings culinary exploration. I was inspired by Martha Stuart on this one – somewhat. I had seen a recipe for beets with an orange vinaigrette and thought it sounded tasty. Of course, as always, the inspiration also serves as the springboard from which I leap into something quite different. I am using a cut of beef called Mock Chuck, also known as Mock Tender Steak, Chuck Eye, or Chuck Tender. Whatever you call it, it is generally a tougher cut of meat that is typically used for braising, roasting, or stewing. It is very flavorful, though often the toughness detracts from the flavor. Today is an exception. The cuts that I have gotten are very tender (once you trim them of their silver skin, cartilage, or grizzle) and full of flavor. I sliced it very thin and seared it quickly with a kitchen torch to a delightful rare.  Enjoy.

Beet-n-Beef Blossom Salad

ingredients:

1/2 lb Mock Chuck, Chuck Eye, or other tender and flavorful cut of beef

2 inch long section of an English cucumber

3 Tbls Sushi vinegar, or rice vinegar seasoned with sea salt and pepper

1 lb beets

2 large Belgian Endive

1 cup milk

1 orange

1 tsp sugar

2 Tbls rice vinegar

2 Tbls Extra Virgin Olive Oil

sea salt and fresh ground pepper to season

directions:

Using mandoline, slice cucumber into paper thin disks. Place in bowl and add 3 Tbls sushi vinegar and set aside in refrigerator. Clean and peel beets, then cut into thin slices using mandolin, rinse and set aside. Trim end from endive and detatch leaves, rinse and drain. Once endive is drained, place into large ziplock bag, or bowl and add cup of milk, let set for 1 hour.

Transfer endive and milk to medium size sauce pan and put on medium heat. Allow milk to heat, but not boil. Endive should be blanched in the milk, once hot, for about 10 minutes until slightly softened. Drain.

Slice the steak into thin strips and place on platter with no overlapping. Season beef with fresh ground pepper and sea salt. Using kitchen torch, or Creme Brulee torch, sear one side of beef until just lightly cooked. Set aside.

Zest the orange, then juice it. Whisk together 1 tsp orange zest, 2 Tbls orange juice along with the rice vinegar, olive oil, sugar, a pinch of sea salt and ground pepper. Place endive around large plate in shape of flower petals, on top of this add slices of beets. Mound the cucumbers in the center and drizzle 1-2 Tbls of orange vinaigrette over the salad. Add steak and garnish with additional orange zest. Serves 2.

In lieu of kitchen torch heat non-stick skillet or griddle over high heat and sear steak for  15-20 seconds.