Steak Birthday Dinner Party on the hottest day of the year
My Birthday landed on the hottest day of the year!
I love throwing my own birthday parties, usually in my own home in Portland or Provence. This year, I changed the venue at the last minute because it was 116 degrees in Portland!! Thank goodness for my friend Hadi offering his home with air-conditioning!
I also changed the menu because I didn’t want to heat the house, and I didn’t want to be outside for too long grilling.
Hanger Steak was the new Main Course
Resting the steak is the key component.
With the change of menu due to the weather, I purchased flank steak. I could grill it quickly for 6 to 10 minutes total!
Crazy enough, I took the meat outside while the grill was getting hot.. Yes, It was 116 degrees, so the meat was already on it’s way cooking during the 30 minutes before putting the meat on the grill.
Hadi has a Kamado Grill in which he got the tempuragure to 450 degrees (according the the thermometer on the lid). I then cooked the meat about 9-10 minutes and then let it rest for 30 minutes before I sliced them. See the method at bottom of this blog.
The Dinner was superb!
I focused on the table setting and the main dish. My guests did all of the rest! They are all “foodies” and love wine, so it was perfect!
The Main Course
There were 13 of us all together. I marinaded the steak with lime zest, red pepper flakes, black pepper, parsley, oil and of course salt. Hadi made a chimichurri to accompany it. When I picked up the meat at Sheridan’s Market, i couldn’t resist the lovely sea scallops on display. It was my birthday after all, so I grilled those too.
Appetizers
Well, my theme (as usual for me in the end of June) was lavender.. I have beaucoup de Lavande in my garden, and live amongst lavender fields in Provence in the summer.
I picked a bunch of lavender from my garden in Portland and made it the center piece of the table, as well as added lavender flowers in the napkin rings and in the appetizer.
I Found La Di Da Lavender Cheese from Rogue Creamery at Sheridan Fruit Market in Southeast Portland that I served with a honeycomb for when the guest first arrived.
Then we enjoyed this beautiful cold cucumber soup made by Hadi. It was lovely!
Salads - side dishes
All of my friends brought these lovely salads. A cool cucumber thai salad, a fragrant pea and herb salad, and a refreshing arugula nectarine avocado salad. Plus we had a lovely bread loaf served with Provence Olive Oil.
The evening was a delight!
We had so much fun! We drank, ate, laughed and celebrated life! I love the photo of Kevin below cutting the bread that he brought next to the velvety Provence olive oil in the little cups for us all. His laughter captures the mood of the night.
Hanger Steak Grilling Method
Marinade early in the day. My marinade consisted of:
olive oil
parsley
lime zest
red pepper
black pepper
bay leaves (that I removed before grilling)
plenty of kosher salt
Take out of refrigerator 2 hours before grilling
Prepare Grill to 450 to 500 degrees
Grill about 4 minutes per side for a total of about 8 to 9 minutes.
(the ones above were taken out of the refrigerator an hour inside the home, then I put them next to the grill for 30 minutes outside in 116 degree heat. The temperature gage on the lid of the Kamado was stable at 450. Because it was 450 and not 500, I cooked them for a total of 9 1/2 minutes turning a few times.)
Rest at room temperature for 30 minutes, then slice and enjoy!