STS Bar and Grill: Speedgoat Hail Mary

 

It’s six o’clock Friday afternoon. Your kid’s been sick all week, your sleep deprived, work-stressed wife has a headache, and supper-time is about to expire with you down 0-3. Time to settle for a box of mac and cheese, and kiss tomorrow morning’s fishing excursion goodbye, right? Not so fast! Go deep with a batch of Speedgoat Hail Mary and the weekend is saved. It only takes 20 minutes, and you’ll come off looking like the Doug Flutie of dinner.

What you’ll need…

½ # Wild Meat – I used antelope round steak but any venison steak cut will do

1 Onion, sliced

½ # Mushrooms, sliced (and apparently invisible)

Capers, 4 Tablespoons, drained and pressed dry

Peanut oil

Butter

Mixed Peppercorn Blend (red, white, green and black), freshly ground

Kosher salt

1 # Spaghetti – If you’re Gluten-free like E and I, try  Jovial. If not, congratulations. Enjoy a beer for me.

¼ Cup Parmesan Cheese – I used pre-grated. If you have an actual block of parm in the fridge, better yet.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Cheap stuff for cooking and good stuff for dressing pasta.

Step 1: Melt a few pats of butter over high heat in a cast iron skillet or dutch-oven. Just as it starts to brown, cut in an equal volume of olive oil and swirl to combine. Add mushrooms and onions and sauté, stirring frequently. 

Step 2:The mushrooms and onions will take a few minutes. A hefty pinch or two of kosher salt, added directly to the pan, will help speed them along. While they’re doing their thing, get the pasta going, and press the drained capers dry with paper towels. You can also use this time to cut and pepper the meat liberally. Bigger than bight-sized chunks of meat annoy me when served in a mixed dish. I enjoy carving into a steak, chop, or roast at the table, but who wants to saw away at their their risotto or chili? Eating pasta should require nothing but a fork.  Do the knifework on the front-end and it’ll serve-up much better. Plus each antelope morsel will get more thoroughly browned.  

Step 3: When the onions and mushrooms form an orange-brown caramelized crust , pull them from the pan and set them aside. Add the capers to pan and let them sizzle-up for a couple quick minutes until crisp. Set aside in their own small bowl.

Step 4: Re-oil your now extremely hot pan, this time with peanut oil. Just as the oil and pan begin to smoke, toss in the meat, leaving a little elbow room between pieces, so that each gets maximum pan contact. With small pieces you can cook 90% of the way through without stirring or flipping, scoring you a major browning bonus. Browning is your friend… your rich, savory friend.

Step 5: When the meat is cooked to your tastes, remove the heat and add mushroom, onions and capers. Toss to combine.

Step 6: Plate cooked pasta and drizzle lightly with high quality olive oil. Top oiled pasta with meat, mushrooms,onions and capers. Garnish with Parmesan.

Serve with a chilled dry white, and don’t forget to pack your terrestrials for tomorrow. It’s summer after all.

STS Hail Mary Speedgoat

½ # Wild Meat

1 Onion

½ # Mushrooms

Capers

Peanut oil

Butter

Mixed Pepper Blend

Kosher salt

1 # Spaghetti

¼ Cup Parmesan Cheese –

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1. Saute mushrooms and onions. Remove from pan and set aside when done.

2. Toast capers in pan until crispy and fragrant. Set aside.

3. Saute seasoned antelope over high heat. Return mushrooms, onions and capers to pan and remove from heat. Toss to combine.

4. Dress cooked pasta lightly with extra virgin olive oil. Top pasta with meat and shrooms mixture. Serve with grated Parmesan.