Diners Prefer More Medium In Their ‘Medium Rare’ Steaks

How would you like your meat cooked?

If the answer to this stock question is medium rare, that means different things in different kitchens.

I recently sent back an order of medium rare lamb chops because the first couple of bites were most definitely in medium territory. Just the week before at a restaurant in Seattle, my medium rare chops were served on the bloody side.

So, is medium rare really that hard to nail?

“Medium rare in Spokane is different than medium rare in other cities,” said Bob Aldred, executive chef at Clinkerdagger. “People expect it to be more medium.”

Technically, meat cooked medium rare has an internal temperature of 120 to 130 degrees. It’s two shades past blood rare, Aldred said.

Because meat cooks from the outside in, it’s common for the edges of steak or chops to be more well done than the center.

That was the case with the lamb chops. They might have been perfectly pink inside, but the first impression was that they were overdone.

Some customers will order medium rare, then add that they don’t want any pink.

At The Outback Steakhouse in Spokane, servers explain the way the meat is cooked to the guests.

“When someone asks, we tell them that medium rare is warm throughout and red in the center,” said Ray Jones, the kitchen manager at The Outback.

If a steak is sent back, the new version will be delivered to the table by a manager, who asks the customer to cut into it and make sure it’s cooked right.

Jones said most of the steaks that come back are returned because the diner says they’re underdone.

“Spokane likes its steaks medium well to well done,” Jones said.

I just wish there was some category in the netherland between medium-rare and rare. Maybe I’ll order my next steak”a-shade-closer-to-rare-than-medium-rare-but-not-still-moving?”

Midweek munchies at Beach House

Sandpoint reader and self-confessed foodie Teri Maurice wrote to rave about some weekly specials now offered at The Beach House.

On Tuesdays in the lounge, sushi is served. And on Wednesdays, it’s tapas night. (Tapas is the Spanish version of an appetizer.) Maurice said she was particularly impressed with a ceviche and the chicken empanada, a slightly spicy, bite-sized turnover. On Thursday, foods of the Mediterranean are featured.

The Beach House is currently being operated by a couple of veteran restaurateurs - Jim Lippi from Ivano’s and Barney Ballard, who once owned a place called The Cupboard.

These midweek specials will continue through December.

The restaurant is located at The Edgewater Resort in Sandpoint near City Beach Park. For reservations, call (208) 255-4947.

Tasting menu at Paprika

Everything sounds so good at Paprika, it’s almost impossible to decide what to order. Now you can sample more of the menu during seven-course “tasting” dinners.

Offering tasting menus is tres hot at chi-chi restaurants in New York and L.A. But this is a first for Spokane.

It will be offered on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays only through the holidays.

The premiere tasting menu goes like this: warm smoked trout and potato salad with salmon caviar, winter squash and crawfish soup, sea bass and scallop with a tomato-fennel sauce over polenta, a pasta pillow in a smokey broth, grilled quail with hazelnut and raisin stuffing, a salad with poached pears and gorgonzola cheese and (whew!) lemon curd with white chocolate mousse and blackberry sauce.

This sounds like a whole lotta food, but the size of each course is meant to be a taste.

Reservations are required for these special dinners, which cost $40 per person. To check it out, call 455-7545 to hold a table.

Mornings beyond muffins

My favorite drive-by coffee place - Walnut Street Perk - has just started offering tempting pastries made fresh daily.

The ever-changing selection could include mini loaves of almond poppy seed cake with an orange glaze, a lemon cream cheese coffee cake, banana-nut bread and a couple kinds of cookies. A nice alternative to the ubiquitous Costco muffins.

Wash those treats down with a cup of Illy espresso, the full-bodied, dark roast imported from Italy. Walnut Street Perk is the only place around offering Illy, though it costs extra and you have to request it.

This spot also offers several kinds of soup daily.

Find the Perk on the southwest corner of Walnut and West Fourth.

Dinner and a show

My pal, theater critic Jim Kershner, tries not to eat a big meal before going to a play so he doesn’t nod off. (It’s the full stomach, not the quality of the production, he insists.)

Maybe that explains why dinner theater has gone the way of the fondue pot.

Still, there’s much to recommend an evening of entertainment all in one venue.

The drama department at Spokane Community College has been drawing them in for years to its annual wine, dinner and a play, scheduled for Dec. 4.

This time around, the show is “I Take This Man” - a “G-rated comedy.”

The menu includes spinach salad, prime rib or chicken parmesan, scalloped potatoes, along with other accompaniments and chocolate rum cake.

A wine and cheese reception at 6:30 p.m. at the Lair-Student Center (building 6) precedes the meal.

Tickets are $25 apiece. To purchase them, call 533-7042.