September 7 – September 13, 2026
Tuesday: Savory Rye Bread Pudding, Arugula with Feta and Lemon
Wednesday: Brats with Biyaldi (composed ratatouille)
Saturday: Pinks Dinner: Grilled Delmonico Steaks, Potato and Chickpea Salad
Sunday: Leftovers – and a Steelers victory
Farewell, Father Drew
We have lost a dear man, a great preacher and perhaps the most effervescent, multi-faceted personality I ever met: Father Drew Morgan, long-time Provost of the Pittsburgh Oratory, friend and fishing and traveling companion to countless others, sought-after Baptizer, Funeral Mass and Marriage Celebrant and dinner companion. Drew passed away too young, but what a lot of living he crammed into his time on the planet.
I never discovered anything that Father Drew could not do. He designed and oversaw the construction of the Oratory’s Building and Chapel in Oakland, as well as the unique building around the corner that houses the National Institute for Newman Studies. And Father Drew was the North American postulator for John Henry Newman’s case for sainthood – it worked, and Saint John Henry Newman was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2018 . Drew wrote – homilies, of course, but also Biblical history and screenplays, and Lord knows what else. He restored an old cabin, where he would relax the two half days a week allowed him, by restoring old paintings. When he was assigned to a parish southwest of Pittsburgh, he planned and oversaw the renovation of the Knights of Columbus building. He was also a theologian and Newman scholar and a teacher who created the program in American Catholicism for Duquesne University. He was a noted dog lover and every dog I ever saw him with, including our Rusty, reciprocated the feeling. There is more, as the many people who knew him better than I can tell you. But I’ll conclude by noting that his sermons inspired thousands of us. His main audience were the students at Pittsburgh colleges, but also hundreds, if not thousands of non-students, like us, attended the Oratory masses as well. And those sermons, from his bubbling, witty opening, through his biblical exegesis to his concluding suggestions, exhortations and prayers were magical. A mass said by Father Drew always ended too soon. We were blessed to know him.
And now, at the risk of creating whiplash, let me talk about something far less exalted:
Hello Delmonico
In my last post, I swore by the virtues of South American beef and butchery as epitomized by the cut known as the picanha steak. And in this following post, violating the general idea that you don’t write about the same food two weeks in a row, as well as the general assumption in favor of consistency, I’m going to tell you about my conversion to one of America’s first favorite and oldest fine-dining steaks, the Delmonico. Delmonico’s Restaurant started as a pastry shop and wine importer in 1837 in Manhattan but soon became the first fine-dining restaurant in the country. Every president from Abraham Lincoln onwards has dined there, along with Mark Twain – although, my New York friends tell me that they have never seen either Lincoln or Twain at the place.
Delmonico’s is credited with inventing Eggs Benedict and Baked Alaska. They were the first New York restaurant to allow women to dine without a male chaperone! and they invented the telephone and the airplane – but wait, those last two are incorrect. My AI seems to be developing a sense of humor similar to my own.
Above all, Delmonico’s is known for its steak, especially the thick, boneless rib-eye known as the Delmonico. Why am I telling you this? Have I just returned from a visit to New York? Well, no, but, once again, I have Willie’s Smokehouse to thank for reminding me of the Delmonico, my father’s favorite steak. Two weeks ago, I saw these beautiful steaks in Willie’s display case, bought them and have decided that there is no time in my life for strip steaks, or filet or even that South American beauty, the picanha. I mean, life is short, and at my age it is not wise to eat red meat that often and, when I do, I want it to be a Delmonico.
We served those beauties at a joyful dinner for the Pinks* and their spouses last week and everybody seemed quite pleased – of course, they had been drinking. I will also note, proudly, of our friends, that not one asked for something vegetarian or tofu.
*Who are the Pinks you may ask. Well, Barbara and her friends began spending a girls’ weekend skiing a long time ago and were dubbed the Pink Parkas. When they took up golf, more recently, they became the Pink Putters and at one time, on a trip to a ranch owned by one of their member’s brother in Idaho, they became, briefly, the Pink Palominos. Today, in the interest of brevity, they are simply known as the Pinks.
So, what I’m telling you is – hie thee to your local butcher, get a 1 ½” to 2” thick Delmonico and cook it as described below and you and your family or guests or just you alone will be happy.
Reverse Searing a Delmonico Steak
(foolproof steak cookery)
The basic idea here is to ensure that the meat cooks evenly inside and that it has a nice, dark brown crust on the outside. If you don’t cook steaks on a grill for a living, it’s difficult to get the inside of a thick cut cooked before the outside begins to burn. You would need to constantly move the steak close to and away from the hot part of the grill. The result can be either a raw interior or an overcooked piece of meat which, if you’ve bought a thick Delmonico, means you’ve wasted a lot of money.
A better idea is to par-cook the steak in a low oven (with thick cuts this can take 45 minutes or more) and then to finish on a grill to get that dark mahogany sear that screams steak-house.
Again – no recipe is necessary. Take the steaks out of the refrigerator an hour or so before cooking. Preheat your oven to 250 or 275 F (for 2” thick cuts, go with 275). Pat the steaks dry, salt and pepper on both sides and place on a rack set inside a sheet pan – you need the hot air to circulate around the steak. Delmonico before going into oven looks like this:
Cook for about 45 minutes and check the internal temperature – if it’s 110 F, you’re ready to go. If not, cook it some more, but no longer than 30 more minutes. You can rest the steak while you fire up the grill. Once the grill is very hot, sear the steak on each side for 2 – 3 minutes and for a minute or two on each edge.
You won’t need to let it rest, since the inside has already been cooking. Slice and serve and enjoy the steak that my Dad and all red-blooded Americans love.
NOTE: We are now current with this blog, and the next post will really be about the food we cooked last week, i.e. the week of September 13th.
whatwecookedlastweek 