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BBB in the PPP…

BBB in the PPP…

By Josh Steiner

Welcome back hungry readers, to my sporadic blog of food porn, kindly hosted by the PPP. Today we speak Spanish value; the theory of BBB, take a rest and create a pan sauce in the key of B…

The theory of 3 B’s…

It’s a brave new world… An amazing time to be witness to, computer technology is rapidly taking us to the time of science fiction. With the advent of amazon.com and smart phones, you can buy anything you want, the world over without leaving your bathtub. But, although this practice is wicked convenient, it is also something I rarely do.

Until recently I never understood why, but I’ve never been comfortable ordering stuff online. Then the other day, a thought suddenly slipped into my head while I attempted some tedious chore; BBBs. Three B’s, or more technically tres B’s, the idea behind tres B’s in Spain is; when contemplating a purchase the desired object must meet the three B criteria. Bueno (good), Bonito (pretty), Borato (cheap) or in other words tres b’s is actually a measure of value…

That readers, is what makes me so hesitant to buy stuff online, it is difficult to put objects you can’t see or touch to the tres B’s test. Essentially a guideline one adheres to in order to avoid buyer’s remorse. Sage advice, indeed and it also applies to food, who doesn’t examine their produce before buying, and I’m sure you factor in cost and quantity as well?

Not now I’m resting…

So in honor of the theory of tres B’s I’m going to share with you a pan sauce that not only follows the guidelines of tres B’s, but shares the same initials. Brandy, Butter, and Bleu sauce is delightfully easy, tasty and redonkulously quick to make, done in less than the amount of time that it takes to rest your steak. You do rest your steak don’t you?

While cooking a steak, the juices concentrate to the center as the cooking constricts the outer muscle because of heat contact. When you rest a steak for as little as five minutes after cooking, these constricted muscle fibers begin to relax and after 10 minutes most of the juices will have redistributed throughout the steak. Which like I said is more than enough time to make our three B pan sauce and will keep your steak and not your cutting board juicy.

You will need:

¼ cup brandy 3 oz’s bleu cheese 3 Tblspns butter 1 pan freshly used to sear steak (ie. drippings)

You will do:

Okay, so you just got done expertly searing a liberally salted, steak, 3-5 minutes a side (depending on size) to a perfect 135 degree medium rare or 155 degree med well. Or perhaps you prefer, shoe leather, well done to 160 degrees if so, you are the person who will benefit the most from this sauce.

Now your steak is resting and you are ready to make the sauce, start by cooling down your steak pan for a minute, then off of the heat pour your brandy over the pan and whisk mightily. This will pull up and liquefy all the little bits of flavor left in the pan. Allow to reduce for about 30 seconds, add the bleu cheese continue to whisk for another 30 seconds. Lastly whisk in the butter one tablespoon at a time and allow flavors to condense (a French technique used to refine sauces called monter au beurre).

After resting your steak pour this tasty three b sauce over your steak and embrace the theory of three B’s. You’ll find that not only does this sauce, include the guidelines of the original three B’s theory but also brings valuable tastes and smells to the three B’s equation. Bueno, Bonito, Borato… Brilliant!

 

Questions or comments steinerjoshppp@gmail.com

*Joshua Steiner is a restaurant industry veteran and food obsessed paper pusher/email sorter. While waiting for his revised bank password from the Nigerian Prince he’s bringing his tips, tricks and travels to The High Plains Reader and @thepeoplespressproject.org for you to use in YOUR kitchen. Or, wherever…

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