That Food Guy
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
Double Musky – Birthday Dinner 2016
Cajun cooking, emphasizing steak & local seafood, in a roadhouse with Mardi Gras-style décor.
A Birthday Dinner Tradition
Mile .3 Crow Creek Road, Girdwood, AK 99587
The Double Musky is located in the Girdwood Valley, about an
hour’s drive south from Anchorage along the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet.
There is a world-famous ski resort there with a lavish resort hotel. It is a
very busy place during the winter ski season. It is still a mecca for the
Alaska visitor even in the summer although the pace is a bit more relaxed
during the warmer weather. The beauty of the Alaska wilderness surrounds and
seven glaciers in the surrounding Chugach Mountains can be seen from various
vantage points in the valley
On this occasion we would also have the pleasure introducing
another person to the Double Musky. Larry’s most charming and lovely companion,
Wasana, would be joining us for a night out with the boys. We had much to tell
her, much about why and how we came to this place and what this night was all
about. It took a bit of time to coordinate all of our schedules but we finally
got it all together October the eleventh. It was an overcast day with a raw
feel to the air, about 30 degrees. The Alaska fall weather was definitely here.
I did my home chores and a few local errands. In the afternoon I drove to
Anchorage’s Eastside to meet up with Larry and Wasana where we would carpool
for the hour drive to Girdwood. We didn’t want to leave too early because The
Double Musky is only open during dinner hours.
We arrived a few minutes before opening. There were already
several cars in the parking area. Our hectic schedules had delayed our birthday
get together for almost a month. The early cold weather had blighted the
usually verdant garden in front of the restaurant. On this occasion we would
miss the vibrancy of a floral garden. The building looked the same as always. The
doors were opened soon after and we were shown to a table by the window overlooking
the garden. We did look over the menu but at least Larry and I knew what we were
having.
Appetizer bread rolls are included. You have the option of salad
with dressing of choice. The entrée is served with your choice of baked potato
(with whatever fixings you choose) or vegetable of the day. All three of us
chose the salad. It was a mixture of lettuce and greens including spinach, some
shredded carrots and croutons. I chose 1000-Island for mine and a good grind of
fresh ground black pepper. Every one enjoyed their salads along with nicely buttered
pieces of the appetizer rolls.
The other Larry ordered the French pepper steak with the Burgundy
sauce on the side. His choice of a side was the baked potato with sour cream
and sliced onions. When ordering your steak, you select from the following menu
listed options: “Rare - cool red
center - Medium-rare - warm red center
Medium - hot pink center - Medium-well-well – Butterflied - takes time.” He ordered medium, grilled to a hot pink center. Usually Larry has a large chunk of the steak left over to take home. He was extra hungry this day and he happily finished off all of his French pepper steak and the baked potato, with lots of sour cream and sliced green onions, included. He thoroughly enjoyed his meal and was already thinking about the next time we would visit The Double Musky for our mutual birthday celebration.
The Double Musky Inn
In another reality Larry Tower and I would have been
brothers. As it is we share a common first name and share the birthday month,
September. Over the years we have developed a ritual, a tradition. We would splurge
a bit for our collective birthdays and go have a pepper steak dinner at the
famous Double Musky Restaurant in Girdwood, Alaska. See previous eating
adventure 2012 here.
It had been a long four years since we last were able to get together and share
a meal at the Double Musky. During this trip to Alaska, 2016, with joy we kept
the tradition alive.
The Double Musky is located in the Girdwood Valley, about an
hour’s drive south from Anchorage along the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet.
There is a world-famous ski resort there with a lavish resort hotel. It is a
very busy place during the winter ski season. It is still a mecca for the
Alaska visitor even in the summer although the pace is a bit more relaxed
during the warmer weather. The beauty of the Alaska wilderness surrounds and
seven glaciers in the surrounding Chugach Mountains can be seen from various
vantage points in the valley
On this occasion we would also have the pleasure introducing
another person to the Double Musky. Larry’s most charming and lovely companion,
Wasana, would be joining us for a night out with the boys. We had much to tell
her, much about why and how we came to this place and what this night was all
about. It took a bit of time to coordinate all of our schedules but we finally
got it all together October the eleventh. It was an overcast day with a raw
feel to the air, about 30 degrees. The Alaska fall weather was definitely here.
I did my home chores and a few local errands. In the afternoon I drove to
Anchorage’s Eastside to meet up with Larry and Wasana where we would carpool
for the hour drive to Girdwood. We didn’t want to leave too early because The
Double Musky is only open during dinner hours. 
We arrived a few minutes before opening. There were already
several cars in the parking area. Our hectic schedules had delayed our birthday
get together for almost a month. The early cold weather had blighted the
usually verdant garden in front of the restaurant. On this occasion we would
miss the vibrancy of a floral garden. The building looked the same as always. The
doors were opened soon after and we were shown to a table by the window overlooking
the garden. We did look over the menu but at least Larry and I knew what we were
having.
French Pepper Steak
($41.00 “Best steak in America,” says
Jill Cordes of the Food Network. A 16-20
ounce New York steak crusted with cracked pepper and covered with a spicy
burgundy sauce.)
Wasana read over the menu and had a lot of questions. You
can see the menu at the Double Musky
website. At long last she too knew
what she wanted to sample:
Crab Stuffed Halibut (Market Price, today $47.00 A delicious halibut steak, stuffed with
crab meat dressing which contains crab meat, mushrooms, shallots, chablis,
heavy cream, creole seasoning
and served with creole beurre blanc.)
and served with creole beurre blanc.)
Appetizer bread rolls are included. You have the option of salad
with dressing of choice. The entrée is served with your choice of baked potato
(with whatever fixings you choose) or vegetable of the day. All three of us
chose the salad. It was a mixture of lettuce and greens including spinach, some
shredded carrots and croutons. I chose 1000-Island for mine and a good grind of
fresh ground black pepper. Every one enjoyed their salads along with nicely buttered
pieces of the appetizer rolls.
Wasana’s selection, the crab stuffed halibut, was a large
halibut filet folded over the crab stuffing mixture and slathered with a thick delicious
lemon butter sauce and a sprig of parsley. Then accompanying baked potato had
ample sour cream and sliced scallions. It was a large portion but Wasana was up to
the task and there was little left to carry home in a takeout container. She
did enjoy her meal very much. The Creole seasoning was a bit different than she
is accustomed to but found it to be an enjoyable new encounter, one that she
would enjoy again in the future. Perhaps next year…
The other Larry ordered the French pepper steak with the Burgundy
sauce on the side. His choice of a side was the baked potato with sour cream
and sliced onions. When ordering your steak, you select from the following menu
listed options: “Rare - cool red
center - Medium-rare - warm red centerMedium - hot pink center - Medium-well-well – Butterflied - takes time.” He ordered medium, grilled to a hot pink center. Usually Larry has a large chunk of the steak left over to take home. He was extra hungry this day and he happily finished off all of his French pepper steak and the baked potato, with lots of sour cream and sliced green onions, included. He thoroughly enjoyed his meal and was already thinking about the next time we would visit The Double Musky for our mutual birthday celebration.
I ordered my French pepper steak medium as well, Burgundy
sauce over. My baked potato was with all the trimmings including the sour cream
and the sliced scallions. The steak, as is usual, cut easily with the knife and
was tender to chew. It meat was flavorful on its own, the Burgundy sauce delicious.
Some of the bites I took were plain, just a slight dash of salt. Some of the bites
were slathered in the sauce. I can’t really say which was better. I would have
been happy with that steak either way – I guess I just had the best of both
worlds that day. I finished my baked potato and would have eaten all of my
steak but I had a use for a bit of my pepper steak; more about that later.
At long last there was clink of forks being placed on the
plates for the last time. Everyone was sated, happy with full bellies, ready to
pay the bill and waddle home. That’s when our server arrived with a tray of
sample desserts. Larry and I had just eaten bread, a salad, a large baked
potato loaded with toppings and a one-pound steak with sauce. And now we were
being tempted with rich, luscious desserts! To coin a phrase, nothing succeeds
like excess. We decided to have dessert to finish off the meal. The other Larry
ordered a slice of banana cream pie. It was a nice large slice of pie, a tasty
pudding and banana filling, cream topping and toasted coconut; very tasty he
said.
It had been a big and filling meal. Wasana and I both
wanted something a bit lighter and we both chose the crème brûlée. The serving was a nice 4-ounce ramekin of velvety custard with a caramelized
crust. Very tasty, the sweetness was a nice counterpoint after the savory
meal. It all capped off the evening
nicely. I too look forward to the next visit with the other Larry to celebrate
our birthdays.
Oh, and that bit of steak I took home in a
doggie bag? Ah, yes – the next morning I fried up some potatoes, onion and the
meat cut into little pieces. In the end I added some peas and carrots to make a
big batch of Double Musky French pepper steak hash that would help top feed me
well over several breakfasts. Each of
those breakfasts brought back memories of a wonderful evening spent with Larry
and Wasana at The Double Musky Restaurant in Girdwood, Alaska.
Labels: Alaska, baked potato, banana cream pie, burgundy sauce, crème brûlée, Double Musky, French, Inn, pepper, salad, scallions, sour cream, steak
¶ 6:00 PM 0 Comments
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Pressure Cooker Pot Roast
The downside of having two households, especially if they’re far apart, is that you need almost two of everything. We have a very nice electric pressure cooker in our Alaska household. When we wanted to make a nice pressure cooker pot roast at our Florida household we found that we needed to go out and get another pressure cooker. A little window shopping on the Internet and we soon found a very nice sized pressure cooker for reasonable price. We now had two of everything.
When used properly the modern pressure cooker is a safe and efficient means of cooking your food. Be sure to read your instruction manual thoroughly so that you can use your pressure cooker in a safe and prescribed manner.
The very nice feature of the pressure cooker is that you can use less-expensive cuts of meat to make delicious and savory meals. Cuts of meat like seven bone roasts are an excellent choice for this kind of meal. However, after searching through three supermarkets, we could not find a seven bone roast. It is just one of those things that we frequently find that what you want is not immediately available. We still had a desire to have a pot roast so we selected an alternative cut of meat. In this case it was a London broil which is nothing more than a very thick cut of round steak.
We used a little salt and pepper, onion powder, paprika and a sprinkle of MSG to season to meat and then browned it on both sides over medium high heat in a little bit of olive oil. We then emptied a package of dry onion soup mix over the top of the meat. To have enough water to make adequate steam we added 2 cups of water and a bay leaf. We covered the cooker and locked the lid in place, heating over high heat until the rocker began to jiggle. We reduced the heat to maintain a slow, rhythmic rocking and cooked for 15 minutes. Then we placed the cooker in the sink and cooled it under running water.
While the meat was cooking we prepared the vegetables. We peeled and quartered six potatoes peeled and cut six carrots into 1 inch pieces trimmed in stringed six stalks of celery and cut them into 1 inch pieces, peeled 10 Pearl onions. After the cooker was cooled, we opened it and added a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup, one additional cup of water and the vegetables. We recovered the cooker and locked the lid in place and heated over high heat until the rocker jiggled. We reduced heat to just maintain the rhythmic jiggle and cooked for 3 minutes. Again, we went directly to the sink and cooled the cooker under running water.
When the cooker had cooled enough to open we removed the meat and vegetables leaving the juices behind. WE put the uncovered pot back on the stove over medium high heat. We made a slurry of 2 tablespoons of flour and a bit of cold water and added it to the cooking juices. We heated the mixture, constantly stirring, until the broth thickened to a nice consistency. We also added a tablespoon of Kitchen Bouquet®. It all made for delicious gravy.
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The vegetables were tender, had vibrant color and were delicious. The meat was very tender, the strands of meat falling away to the lightest touch of the fork. It was a delicious meal lasted us a couple of days.
Although it sounds complicated with a lot of steps, the preparation of the meal took way less than an hour and gave is a pot roast it was as good as one prepared on the stovetop over the course of several hours. We were very happy with our first meal prepared in the new pressure cooker. I’m thumbing through the cookbook now wondering what we’ll make next…
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| London Broil Pot Roast |
Pressure Cooker
Pot Roast
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| Seasoned |
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| Browning the meat |
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| Browning the other side |
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| Soup mix and spices |
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| Adding the vegetables |
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The vegetables were tender, had vibrant color and were delicious. The meat was very tender, the strands of meat falling away to the lightest touch of the fork. It was a delicious meal lasted us a couple of days.
Although it sounds complicated with a lot of steps, the preparation of the meal took way less than an hour and gave is a pot roast it was as good as one prepared on the stovetop over the course of several hours. We were very happy with our first meal prepared in the new pressure cooker. I’m thumbing through the cookbook now wondering what we’ll make next…
Labels: carrots, celery, London broil, MSG, olive oil, onion soup mix, onions, paprika, pepper, pot roast, potatoes, pressure cooker, salt
¶ 12:03 PM 0 Comments
