Seared Mongolian Beef
Ingredients:
The beef:
- One 8 oz. NY Strip Steak
- .25 cup ground black pepper
- .5 cup ground cumin seed
- 1 tbs. ground allspice
- 1 tbs. ground cinnamon
- 2 tbs. ground white pepper
- 1 tbs. ground cayenne pepper
- .25 cup chili powder
- 2 tbs. garlic powder
- .5 cup salt kosher
- .25 cup chili garlic paste
- .25 cup honey
- 1 tbs. soy sauce
- 2 tbs. rice wine vinegar
- .5 cup water
- 1 tbs. grated ginger
- Mix rub together in bowl.
- Rub on meat and grill to mark.
- Continue to cook in 400F degree oven to medium rare.
- Allow to rest and cool before slicing.
- Garnish with cilantro sprigs, cucumber triangles, sliced red onion and chili oil.
Alexander's Steakhouse
10330 N. Wolfe Road
Cupertino, CA 95014
Phone: (408) 446-2222
Website: www.alexanderssteakhouse.com
About Chef Jeffrey Stout:
In the genesis of a chef's life, a typical timeline might comprise of cooking school, apprenticeship, working up through the ranks, owning a restaurant, and then perhaps oversee, consult and advise. Jeffrey Stout decided to switch those last two stages before finally confronting his new dream: executive chef and part-owner of Alexander's Steakhouse in Cupertino, California.
Growing up in the Bay Area, Chef Stout was exposed to flavors that spanned the Far East, across Europe (via his father's heritage) to his home in the California Bay Area. His mother, a Japanese immigrant, would produce homemade ravioli and manicotti at one dinner, and then serve broiled salted fish, Japanese pickles and rice the next.
Without knowing the difference, Jeff's palate and eventual cooking style developed in a way that reflected his home life: Continental cuisine mixed with Japanese.
"I would bet a year's wages that in a blind tasting, my partner, J.C. [Chen] would be able to pick my dish from among other chefs," says Jeff. "Visually and tastefully, it's signed."
And so the journey began. Jeff enrolled in the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco and graduated with high honors in 1988.
He trained under the tutelage of French-trained Japanese Chef Matsumoto Yoshida, who further emphasized the importance of melding classic French technique with one's own personal culinary influences.
Jeff continued his culinary pursuits at prestigious restaurants such as Wente Brothers Winery, The Fourth Street Grill in Berkeley, The Blackhawke Grille, La Folie and Domaine Chandon in the Napa Valley, working under Chef Phillipe Jeanty.
After a successful tenure as Executive Chef at the California Café in Palo Alto, Jeff was promoted West Coast Regional Corporate Chef and later Research and Development for the restaurant's umbrella company, Constellation Concepts Corporation. For the next four years, he oversaw ten restaurants, trained over 50 chefs and constantly honed the corporate menu so that it offered a broad range of cuisine, without making it too "fusion-y" as he calls it. It was also an excellent training ground on how to manage a staff.
"Getting excited over the way a staff member does something, the same way a parent excites over their child's dance recital or a touchdown is the best," he says. "Show your excitement and it will be reflected back."
And reflect back it has. Jeff says that he is not only rewarded by preparing excellent food, but seeing the young protégés he once trained go on to be successes themselves. From the California Café in Palo Alto to The Cliff House, Rubicon and Gary Danko's in San Francisco, many famous Bay Area restaurants boast former Jeff Stout trainees.
But Jeff feels it's time for the teacher to go back to school. After hooking up with another California Café employee, J.C. Chen, the two decided it was time to bring their love of pan-Asian cuisine and big, juicy steaks to the tables of Cupertino. As he prepares to open the doors of Alexander's, he feels his career has come full circle from his childhood kitchen where East met West on a nightly basis.
