Hey there my Steemit friends. I've been living out of a backpack for the better part of 15 years now. Mostly in hotels all over the world. Now that doesn't mean I can't have any type of domestic life. I really enjoy being a homebody at times and even cooking my own meals.
If this means I've got to do it with a one burner electric stove, a pot, and wash my dishes in the bathroom sink; so be it. Sometimes the best meal you can get in a given area is the one you make yourself! For instance this awesome rib-eye steak I literally have not seen on any menu in Ecuador anywhere.
In this country they simply don't do meat like this. In fact they never even sold cuts of steak like this until recently. When I came back to Ecuador after a one year absence I suddenly found these "for export" steaks in the local western style supermarket "Super Maxi". I was thrilled! I had to have it!
Not only was the steak every bit as good quality as what I'd get back home in the United States, it was about one fourth the price! Only $3.50 a pound. When I was staying in Guayaquil Ecuador working on my blog for a month I stocked up on these guys. I was eating them about twice a week. I love a good quality steak, and these steaks are also my favorite cut! A thick fatty rib-eye!
I used to have a house, swimming pool, car, and much more in Orlando Florida. One of my favorite things to do was grill a thick steak along side the pool. Since I've chosen a different lifestyle, we're going to have to prepare it a little differently. Now let's learn how to cook this thing Travel Pro!
Here is one of my master piece finished products. With a side of sauteed zucchini, mushrooms, onions, and whole garlic cloves. Makes for a pretty nice cover photo; but it certainly takes some effort to get there. Let's see how it's done.
They are labeled "Tomahawk Steaks" for a fairly obvious reason. Also note the word "exportation" on the label. this is the first time Ecuadorians have seen this style of meat in their country. Almost hard to believe, but they always cut their meat thin and simply don't do thick American style steaks. Rare, medium? Only well done thin tough "carne de res" existed in Ecuador, until now!
Since this is what we travel with, we're cooking this thing in a pot! I don't ever use synthetic oils to cook with, so we grease the pan by throwing in a slice of bacon, a mini sausage, and a couple slices of salami on a medium heat! In the olden days they would often grease a pan with a chunk lard or pig fat so this is basically the same thing. It gives your food a great flavor and this oil also has a high smoke temperature. Much better than vegetable oil.
The steak fits perfectly in the pot once we remove the bone. We save the bone put in the freezer and a couple days later we bring it down to the old school market, have the butcher cut it up into two inch size pieces and we have a whole other meal. We make bone broth vegetable soup with it later on in the week.
So we've got some cooked bacon, salami, and sausage that we set a side and are left with this tasty fat perfect for frying this steak. The pork products will be sliced up and added to the vegetable side dish to give a wonderful hearty flavor, only if I can resist eating them in the mean time!
We had the steak out of the fridge for about an hour before cooking it to bring it down closer to room temperature, this way it cooks better and more evenly. We season it with some sea salt and into the pig fat it goes! Some other steaks I made I had some rosemary on hand; which is a fantastic addition to cook the steaks with.
After about 5 minutes we flip it over. Don't forget to have the heat way up high to give it a good sear.
As mentioned I made several of these all with different sides. At this time as long at as you keep good contact of the steak with the pan you can add some vegetables. Once it's gotten a good cooking on both sides to your preferred doneness you can tilt it on it's side and sear that thick steak all over. No reason not to add the mushrooms at this point!
Now we can take the steak out, but remember it's still cooking! Don't poke it, don't touch it, and especially don't cut into it! Just let it rest and keep it covered. This way it will be more tender and juicy. If you cut into it now a lot of the juices would come out, it would be tougher and drier. So we let it rest and finish cooking like this. A lot of it's own juices will come out anyway at this time and that is gold and not to be wasted!
While the steak is resting we throw in whatever vegetables we'd like to have as a side and get them sauteing in the porky beefy fat flavors that are in the pan. Don't forget to add the sliced up bacon, sausage, and salami at this time; unless you already ate it! Salt and pepper and whatever other herbs and spices you'd like to use and cook until tender, about 5-10 minutes. I really like onions and mushrooms with my steak. I think we've got oyster mushrooms, red onion, and some chopped asparagus in this side.
For the last minute or two cooking the vegetables. We take the resting juices of the steak and add that to the mix for a nice bold steaky flavor to the veg. That's pretty much it. Cook it a little more and plate it up.
Just how I like it! A nice medium to medium rare each time. This one is actually a T-Bone from the same brand, just to mix it up one night. I probably had a about six steaks during the month of January in that hotel. Definitely made the room smell like a kitchen but I don't mind. I actually got some compliments on the smell from the cleaning lady the next day! She said she walked past my room and got hungry!
That last photo is actually spinach with baby Swiss cheese and bacon as a side. Delicious! With my HDMI cord that I travel with, I hook it into the TV connected to my computer, and put on a program. I'm right at home anywhere in the world, with one fabulous TV dinner! Living out of a backpack in hotels isn't so bad if you know how to do it Travel Pro! Until next time- Dan "World Travel Pro!"
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With over 11 years of travel experience I answer travel and international lifestyle questions. Leave a question in the comments and I may make a Steemit post just for you!
