The Barrel Fairy: Chapter 4, The Main Dish

Bourbon Cream Steak

 OAK KING!!! BARREL FAIRY!!! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!! I want my life back!!!
I stormed around the house yelling at the air. I stomped my feet and looked around and waited.
There was nothing but silence. There wasn't even the now familiar buzzing around and objects being hurled at me or crashing to the floor. There was total stillness.
I sighed and sat down. How long was I there talking to an apparently invisible Oak King. However long it was, it was long enough for others to notice. I'm sure this was going to be pretty much impossible to explain away. What could I tell everyone? That I was practicing for a future career as an actress? I was filming for a practical joke TV show being aired in the near future? Tell them my bourbon was possessed by a fairy and the only way to exorcise it was by feeding the Oak King and that's who I was talking to? Or the most obvious, I was losing my mind...
I stretched out on the couch, once again....the main dish was next on the list. What kind of main dishes used bourbon, I mused. The most common bourbon dishes were BBQ. Yumm, smoked meats, BBQ sauce, my mind wandered through mental pictures and flavors of the past. Then the realization hit me, a lot of BBQ recipes use wood. I thought better of making BBQ. A dish that may require incinerating and smoking pieces of wood may not be pleasing to a guy who was king of the trees.
But, he did like the bourbon bacon, (or rather found it acceptable) so why not try steak? I could still cook over flame but use a propane flame instead. I've had a bourbon cream sauce before and it was pretty darn good. Was it good enough for a king? I would find out tomorrow.





A quick trip to the grocery store and I gathered what I needed:

• 2 Very Nice Porterhouse Steaks  (Of course I had to make sure the dish was good enough for a king. I'd suffer and be the Guinea pig.)
• An 8 0z Pkg of Cremini Mushrooms, sliced
• 1 Onion, Sliced
• 1 Garlic Clove, minced
• 1/4 Cup Bourbon
• 1 Cup Heavy Cream
• Balsamic Vinegar

I left the steaks out until they were room temperature, seasoning them with salt and pepper.

I gathered my mushrooms.

and began to slice them when the fairy finally showed back up. "Where have you been?" I asked.
 She giggled. "You'll find out." her voiced whispered as she flew off, disappearing once again.

So I finished preparing the ingredients, ignoring the fairy's comment and went on with the recipe.

The grill was on high and I left my cast iron pan over the flames until it was nice and hot.
I had a tiny little slip cover for the handle because touching the pan right now would result in very bad things, namely a trip to the ER for severe burns.

I seared both sides for just a couple of minutes on each side to get the meaty flavor in the sauce. I then finished the steaks on the grill to my desired doneness. My favorite is medium rare so that was what the oak king was getting too. It's not like I could ask him although I had no doubt he was somewhere nearby waiting and watching.

Medium rare: 130-135 degrees, about 3 minutes per side over high heat,

I placed the onions in the now empty pan and melted a couple pats of butter with it until they began to brown.

I added the mushrooms and let them cook for about 5 minutes.

I finished the steaks and set them aside to keep them warm.

The mushrooms had reduced nicely and were beginning to brown. I let them caramelize slightly.

I added the bourbon, very carefully lit a match and let the alcohol burn off. It was beautiful.
(I also threw some asparagus lightly brushed with olive oil and salt and pepper on the grill for a few minutes. I used a fish cage to keep them all together but skewers would have worked too or any number of grill gadgets available)

I (very carefully) removed the pan from the heat after the flame burned out and added the cream.

I stirred. I tasted and added salt and freshly ground pepper. I drizzled a tablespoon or two of balsamic vinegar in the sauce and stirred. It was ready.

I left it over low heat.
(Meanwhile, I boiled a few red potatoes until soft, skins on but thoroughly washed.
 I drained the water, put the potatoes back over the heat and salted them while the water cooked out, smashing them with a potato masher.
I added a little butter and some leftover cream for the steaks, salted again after tasting it and potatoes were done.)

I reduced some of the balsamic vinegar until it became thick and sweet and syrupy and drizzled it over the asparagus.

It made a beautiful plate, one fit for a king.

My mouth watered and as I turned to get my steak knife I felt a familiar breeze traveling through the apartment. The woodsy musky scent was back and I could feel a presence behind me.

It made every hair I had stand on end.

I turned to face the King and make it known I was not happy about the previous night.

I inhaled sharply, ready to exhale all of my displeasure in one breath.

But the king was gone, the steaks were gone and I stood there staring at two empty plates.

My words deflated and my hunger grew, as well as my anger.

This was not fair...

A crazy fairy, a rude king and a hungry psychotic.  What do all of these things have in common? Bourbon!

And I was going to make use of that bottle and it wasn't going to be for any king, either!

I remembered the warning the lady at the distillery gave me but suddenly, I didn't care. I wanted this to be over with. There wasn't much left in the bottle anyways...I was drinking it! I would finish this tonight! (or at least the bottle)

I felt something buzz by as I sipped. The scent of a forest after a rain drowned my senses. Leaves rustled and a velvety moss blanketed a fall I didn't know I was taking...

I was drifting off to sleep in a world I didn't awake in.

All content and rights reserved. ©2013 Thyme After Time 33