Why? Because I have gone my entire life without knowing how good a cilantro & basil pesto mixture is on top of a steak, and
this is
truly unforgivable! Someone knew of this, and failed to introduce it to me...you dirty bastards! This is a travesty! Evil walks among us! If I were a tyrannical ruler of an empire, someone would be losing their bulbous hat rack to a bloody basket over this! OFF WITH THEIR HEAD!!! But, since I'm not, I will just have to curse the unknown(s) for all eternity, vowing
never to be like them--guarding this knowledge like the culinary illuminati--instead, I choose to pay this forward, sharing with you, hoping you will not be forced to go another day without this delectable condiment. How many other hidden taste bud explosions are lurking out there??? I shudder to think about it...So simple, so easy, so delish...so why the hell am I just now discovering this?!?!?! UGH!
In all my years, I have met one person that does not like basil...insert full-on dog head-tilt here. The pathway from her tongue to her brain must have some sort of short-circuit, as I cannot even fathom how this is possible--it blows my mind. But, she's my friend and I accept her as is, even if she is an absolute weirdo--I have entire collection of them in my people stash. The point to this rambling side note is that I, personally, have an obsession with all things basil/pesto, another thing that was not introduced (knowingly) to my pallet until my late thirties, and I dished out a similar tirade as above.
Recently...I ordered some tacos at a little restaurant in Trophy Club, Texas called Cristina's Fine Mexican Restaurant right off HWY 114. I can't remember what they were called, but if you go, the cilantro pesto was mentioned in the menu description of said, unknown item, you can find it. It sounded interesting, and once I tasted it, I knew I had to replicate it ASAP!
When the Big Guy & I go out for eats, I hate ordering the same thing as him because I want just a bite of his to trade for just a bite of mine. It's a variety thing, or a people-with-a-vagina thing, as I've heard other dudes whine and bitch about it. Usually, when I offer a bite to him, he'll say, "no, it's yours, you eat it sweetie." Sounds super nice, right? It's all a front, he
knows I want a bite of his, he thinks this makes the expected trade agreement null. This time, I insisted,"you MUST try this, it's
uneffinbelievable!' I could go on, in explicit detail, but trust me, it's truly awesome, and he agreed.
Having this new little nugget of edible knowledge, I decided to try it on a steak, specifically, a lean rib-eye. I marinated them for several hours in some red wine and Canadian/Montreal steak seasoning. Tossing in an entire bunch of cilantro leaves with some fresh basil from the balcony, salt, olive oil and some store-bought out of the jar basil pesto, the food processor was a beautiful bright green slurry of fresh flavors! GIDDY! Store in fridge until ready to use, meld flavors, meld! Mmm!
When the steaks were done, I put them aside to rest with a thick layer of my pesto potion spread over them while I threw the asparagus on. Already, I could tell this was gonna be something to write home about, the aroma was out of this world! I could hardly wait to sink my teeth into it!
I don't like to eat steak or ribs in public because, well...I'm a bone-gnawer. Although this particular steak was boneless, I'm pretty sure I ate my entire meal with my hands, I'm not sure. Last thing I remember was the Big Guy standing over me, screaming my name with a Joker-esque green smile glistening across his face. "Are you okay?'
