Steak teriyaki with pickled pear

Steaks Japanese cuisine

Can I just say I'm annoyed? No, let me be honest, I'm p***ed. At myself, I might add, and isn't that just the worst? I'm really annoyed and have nowhere to aim that energy, except to throw it out like a boomerang to come back squarely on my doorstep. I've been posting recipes here for, oh I don't know, maybe going on 2 years?? And for some reason I thought midnight TONIGHT was the deadline for this week's contest. So I dilly-dallied around and thought gee, I'll just post that Teriyaki recipe with the Pickled Pear on Friday. Paw-lenty of time. Sigh. So, in the spirit of better late than never, here's a great recipe I've been playing with on-and-off for about a year or more now. I first had something similar at the home of a good friend who is a lawyer by day in Washington DC, and an amazing chef at night for his lovely wife and friends lucky enough to be invited. He pounded some beautiful steak into thin pancakes and rolled them up with pears in the middle. He sautèed or grilled the whole thing and then put a great teriyaki sauce over it all. To die for. I practiced those rolls over and over but the pears kept sliding out all over the place so I ultimately abandoned the rolls to better chefs than I. The approach I took was to do either smaller rolls using a bok choy leaf for rolling cooked steak and pear, or do lettuce cups with Bibb lettuce (Boston head lettuce). Both work great and I've posted photos of both. I made my own teriyaki sauce after MUCH trial and error and it's a little spicier than my friend's and adds ginger and grated orange; I added sautèed whole scallions; and I switched to Asian pears and lightly pickled them. Asian pears have a slightly crunchy texture but are really juicy - and the flavor works much better with this than say, a Bartlett pear, which is too sweet for the approach I took. This can be a great heavy appetizer for an appetizer party as cooler weather sets in, or part of an entree selection. And I serve Sapporo bear with these - perfect pairing IMHO.