Daily Dose of Optimism

How to Cook the Perfect Steak

A reader asked about my steak technique, whether there were any secrets. Great question. My present technique is far from perfect, but I'm getting there.

I cook filet mignon or porterhouse. I tried supermarket meat twice, and have decided that it's almost always worth paying a few bucks more for at a specialty market. I season the steak with a healthy amount of quality ground pepper, a little salt and some olive oil. I use a 12 inch non-stick pan, with a little olive oil, heated to the point where the oil is almost smoking. Depending on thickness, I cook the steak on the stove for 2-5 minutes on each side.

The secret, as far as I understand it, is a meat thermometer, so I don't have to cut the steak open to see if its done, and I don't have to guess. The thermometer in itself can almost overcome any errors in technique, no matter what professional chefs may say about losing the juice. A 140 degree steak should get a nice medium rare, but consult the FDA or your thermometer's manual, because I don't need any charges of food poisoning.

Now, I've done some reading on steak technique, and my current understanding is that the ideal method for steak preparation is a combination of stove-top searing and oven heating.

Here's the skinny: pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees, heat a cast-iron pan on the stove. Sear the steak for 2-3 minutes each side on the stove top, and then put the whole pan into the oven until the meat reaches your target temperature (10 to 15 minutes).

I personally like to pair steak with a big red wine, perferably a big California cabernet. Of course, properly decant your wine (3-7 hours).

The WSJ seems to be on the DIY-great-steak train as well. Check out this recipe for the perfectly cooked steak from superstar chef Laurent Tourondel, executive chef and partner of the NYC-based BLT (Bistro Laurent Tourondel) franchise. Notice how similar it is to the recipe I laid out above.

Cooking steak is simple, perhaps embarassingly so. It's almost not worth calling it cooking when it is this easy. Heat pan. Put steak in pan. Flip. Put in oven. Serve.

No man should be without this technique in his bag of tricks. Although I'll continue to enjoy great steakhouses, I'll probably never hold them in exactly the same esteem again. - Ed

Happy New Year, Google from 1960 and The Best Book on Investments?

(1) Allegedly, this is Sam Zell's holiday card: yieldsz

(2) The WayBack machine yields this gem: Google circa 1960

(3) I'm looking to see what people think was the best investing book ...of all time. My only stipulation being, of course, that you have actually read the book. That means, no voting for Graham-Dodd or Seth Klarman if you haven't actually read it. Also, feel free to suggest books I am missing. See: What is the Most Useful Book on Investments You Have Read? on Squidoo. - Ed

Feel Clever While Saving Money on Printing

About a year ago, I began using my laser printer to "time-shift" my online reading, so that instead of using quality weekend time, I can read in marginal periods like: commuting (taxi, subway), or after exercising, on a stationary bike or treadmill. Here's a recent tidbit on Chesapeake Energy's (CHK) CEO:

"Much of that reading occurs before dawn when Mr. McClendon works out in a four-story corporate gym on Chesapeake's campus. Near the racquetball courts is Mr. McClendon's workout machine. Attached to the wall is a plastic file holder marked "Aubrey's Reading File -- Please Do Not Disturb."

Printing is like a low-tech Tivo or Del.icio.us - but instead of relying on ever-complex digital devices to store information, I simply create a pile of paper that I can read, digest - and dispose of - in whatever manner is convenient at the time. This practice has become so common for me that I eat up toner at home like nobody's business.

After spending about $200 on toner cartridges in the span of a few months, none of which seemed to quite achieve the 2,000 pages per cartridge as advertised, I began looking into alternative solutions.

I took a chance on TonerRefillKits, a company that sells the equipment to refill a toner cartridge yourself. I have to say: I am a satisfied customer. This was a great way for me to save money on printing, and it also allowed me to feel clever for performing a simple mechanical procedure.

Here's how it works: You need to purchase a $13 kit from the company to perform the "operation." The core of the process is this re-purposed soldering iron, with a special head designed to melt a circular hole in the toner's plastic casing.

After heating the iron for about 3 minutes, you press the heated bit against the toner box, burning a hole like this:

As you probably already know, the smell of burning plastic ain't great, but it's a small sacrifice - just keep a window open. Then, take this bottle of laser toner (which is an exceptionally fine, black powder - and extremely messy in the event of an accident) and do your best to pour the toner neatly into the hole you made. Note the toner particles around the cap of this particular bottle - I had a bit of a spill myself.

Once you've filled the hole with toner, insert a specially sized cap into the hole (which they provide)...and you're ready to print again.

With the removable cap in place, you can easily refill the cartridge several times, without a need for the soldering iron. The cap fits snugly, and I am generally comfortable that it won't come out and leak toner all over the place.

How much did I save? The cost of additional toner from the company is about $25.00, and each bottle works for several refills (up to 3). Compare this cost with an entirely new toner, for about $70 (from the original manufacturer). For about 10,000 pages of printing, I figure the difference is (a) old method: 4 toner cartridges at $70 vs. (b) new method: 1 toner cartridge at $70 and 3 refills for $25 - total cost of $280 for toner vs. $95 for the toner+refill.

So, consider giving it a shot: save money, feel handy. A great combo! - Ed

I curse the casual brilliance of your life strategy!

Words to live by...courtesy of BusinessWeek

Some Friendly Advice for Jeff Skilling

To Jeff Skilling: When you appeal your guilty verdict in the Enron trial, try hiring Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer instead of Daniel Petrocelli. - Ed

 

Larry Ellison's Rising Sun, DDO Boat Porn, and Charlie Munger

I read an article this weekend about Larry Ellison's new yacht, the Rising Sun. Never mind what the article said - check out this boat:

The Rising Sun is the longest yacht in the world - 452 feet, versus Paul Allen's measley 414 foot Octopus yacht. Some key stats:

• Four diesel engines with an output of 50,000 hp
• Cruising speed of 28 knots
• 82 rooms on five stories with a total living area >8,000 square meters

Why a 452 foot yacht, you ask?

Here's Charlie Munger, from an excellent lecture on 24 cognitive biases:

Envy and jealousy made, what, two out of the ten commandments? Those of you who have raised siblings you know about envy, or tried to run a law firm or investment bank or even a faculty? I've heard Warren say a half a dozen times, "It's not greed that drives the world, but envy."

Here again, you go through the psychology survey courses, and you go to the index: envy / jealousy, 1,000-page book, it's blank. There's some blind spots in academia, but envy is an enormously powerful thing, and it operates to a considerable extent on a subconscious level. Anybody who doesn't understand [envy] is taking on defects he shouldn't have.

For some boat porn of Paul Allen's Octopus, see this slideshow. - Ed

Weekend DDO: Pinky The Cat

 

Weekend Viewing: Glengarry Glen Ross

In the first ever DDO video clip, I've posted a short excerpt from one of the great business movies of all time, Glengarry Glen Ross.

Best known for the "ABC: Always Be Closing" scene with Alec Baldwin (a scene that was copied and modified for Boiler Room) Glengarry Glen Ross looks at real estate salesmen in high pressure situations, and the questionable tactics employed out of greed and desperation.

One of my favorite scenes from the movie (among many) is this clip of Al Pacino as the smooth talking Ricky Roma, selling a piece of property to Jonathan Pryce, as the timid James Link.

If you haven't seen the movie the whole way through, rent it today, or just go ahead and buy it on Amazon. You won't be disappointed. - Ed

Please note: if you are offended by crude language, don't watch this clip.

The complete opening phrase is cut off in this clip. Here's the text:

"All train compartments smell vaguely of sh*t. It gets so you don't mind it. That's the worst thing I can confess. You know how long it took me to get there? A long time."

Video enabled by a cool new blog tool, Videoegg.

My favorite quotes, which basically occur in sequence:

Ricky Roma: "Great meals fade in reflection. Everything else gains. You know why? 'Cause it's only food. Just shit we put in us." [...]

"The great f*cks you may have had, what do remember about them? I don't know. For me, I'm saying what it is, it's probably not the orgasm. Some broad's forearm on your neck, something her eyes did, there was this sound she made. Or it's me and the, uh, I'm telling you; I'm in bed the next day; she brought me cafe au lait, gives me a cigarette. My balls feel like con-crete." [...]

"What I'm saying, what is our life? It's looking forward or it's looking back. That's it. That's our life. Where's the moment? And what is it that we're afraid of? Loss. What else?  The bank closes, we get sick, my wife died on a plane, the stock market collapsed. What of these happen? None of 'em; we worry anyway, why?"

Insert Caption Here:

"We're so excited to have new posts to read on DDO!"

Reuters: Americans Work More, Seem to Accomplish Less

"Workers completed two-thirds of their work in an average day last year, down from about three-quarters in a 1994 study, according to research conducted for Day-Timers Inc., an East Texas, Pennsylvania-based maker of organizational products." (Reuters)

1997 CW: Productivity gains through technology will set us free!

2006 CW: Endless web surfing, email and IM prevents us from getting anything done!