Chef Stuart Brioza, from San Francisco's Rubicon restaurant, has a secret to the fantastic pesto he serves with steak: He adds an ice cube to the blanched arugula while pureeing it to keep it fresh-tasting and bright green. More Steak Recipes
Heat a medium cast-iron skillet until hot. Lightly rub the steak with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Add the steak to the hot skillet and cook over moderate heat until browned on the bottom, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic cloves, herb sprigs and butter to the skillet. Turn the steak and cook for 5 minutes. Using kitchen tongs, turn the steak on each side and cook until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Lay the steak flat, baste it with the butter in the skillet and turn the garlic cloves. Continue to cook the steak for about 5 minutes longer, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center registers 125° for medium-rare. Transfer the steak and garlic cloves to a cutting board and let rest.
Meanwhile, bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Add all but 1 cup of the arugula and cook for 10 seconds, then drain and cool under running water. Squeeze out the excess water and transfer the blanched arugula to a mini food processor. Add the ice cube, 3 tablespoons of the pine nuts, the Parmesan and the 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Process to a fine paste. Season the pesto with salt and pepper.
Spoon the pesto onto 2 plates. Thinly slice the steak and arrange on the pesto. Mound the remaining 1 cup of arugula on the steak and drizzle with any steak juices. Garnish with the remaining 1 tablespoon of pine nuts and the garlic cloves and serve.
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With weather conditions impacting the operations of some companies last week, the organisers of the prestigious Meat Management Industry Awards have announced an extension to the deadline for product nominations.
Manufacturers, butchers and retailers now have until Thursday 8th March to nominate their products for entry, with all products to be delivered to the Regional Food Academy at Harper Adams University by 13th March.
Entry is free and simple, just visit www.meatmanagement.com/product-entry and fill out the online form.
Products will be cooked, tasted and judged by industry experts over three days at the university, overseen by chief judge and Institute of Meat chief executive, Keith Fisher.
Awards organiser Emma Cash said: “We’ve received an excellent response to this year’s Meat Management Industry Awards but, with the heavy snowfall, some companies still looking to put their products forward have expressed concerns about nominating their products in time.
“We’ve listened to this and are delighted to be able to offer an extension to the original deadline (5th March). The awards are the biggest in the UK meat industry and this is certainly reflected in the volume, range and quality of product nominations we have received so far. Don’t miss your opportunity to enter this fantastic event and if you have any queries about the deadline please do not hesitate to get in touch.”
The winners of the 2018 awards will be revealed at a sparkling black dinner at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole on 24th May. Tickets are available now.
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, with a tight-fitting lid, place the eggs and cover with cold water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Cover the eggs, remove from the heat, and set aside for 8 minutes.
Drain the water from the pan and cool the eggs in the pan under cold running water. Peel the eggs and cut into sixths.
In a large bowl, mix together the onion, celery, mayonnaise, dill, mustard, lemon juice and salt. Add the eggs to the mayonnaise mixture and gently mix them together. Season with pepper to taste. Use in sandwiches, with lettuce and tomatoes, or in a salad.
In an attempt at addition by subtraction, Wisconsin-based bank Marshall & Ilsley (NYSE:MI) will soon spin off its data-service segment, Metavante, to shareholders. Time will tell whether each segment can perform better alone, but I like their chances.
I recently highlighted that M&I's ownership in Metavante offered downside protection to the cyclical credit cycle most banks endure. Metavante offers technology support to financial services firms, and it's recently pursued more lucrative payment-transaction business. In theory, this exposure offers a viable offset to potential industry woes, such as an inverted yield curve, subprime mortgage concerns, or slowing deposit growth -- all of which are worrying investors right now.
However, M&I didn't appear to be receiving proper credit for Metavante, so it's decided to set its subsidiary free. This makes sense: Metavante isn't considered an industry leader, but it could trade at higher P/E multiples than regional banks have recently seen. M&I is trading at about 14 times forward earnings, while peers such as National City (NYSE:NCC) and Comerica (NYSE:CMA) are closer to 13 times.
Financial-transaction and data-service peers such as Jack Henry & Associates (NASDAQ:JKHY) trade for more than 20 times forward earnings, and payment processor leader First Data (NYSE:FDC) will be bought out at about 28 times, as announced April 2. As it happens, M&I announced its Metavante spinoff plans the next day, after which the subsidiary could become a potential acquisition target of its own.
M&I could also be an easier acquisition target once Metavante is sent packing. It currently qualifies as a top 20 domestic bank, but it's still much smaller than US Bancorp (NYSE:USB) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), which maintain headquarters one state away from Wisconsin.
Shares of M&I jumped more than 10% after announcing the intended spinoff, but recently gave up some gains after yesterday's announcement of a decent but unspectacular first quarter. I'll wait to see what Metavante looks like as an independent firm; M&I could be worth a look as well, once it returns to traditional banking and investment-management businesses.
US Bancorp and JPMorgan are Income Investor recommendations. First Data is an Inside Value pick: try it free for 30 days.
Fool contributor Ryan Fuhrmann is long shares of First Data but has no financial interest in any company mentioned. Feel free to email him with feedback or to discuss any companies mentioned further. The Fool has an ironclad disclosure policy.