Spring Break 2016 Indian Buffetology: Part II

As promised, this is the follow up to "Spring Break 2016 Indian Buffetology: Part I" from earlier in the week. This time, I wasn't suffering from acute neomuscular atrophitis, so I went light on my breakfast. I had a single pouch of some of the best gummy-thingies in the world. 

I went light in preparation for the feast that was to be my lunch. I would be visiting yet another Indian buffet. This one had a much larger selection than the one earlier this week, so I largely followed the "sample then selection" ideology set forth in Basic Buffetology. I started off with some vegetable korma, methi chicken curry, tandoori chicken, and poori for Plate 1. For Plate 2, I loaded up a healthy serving of paneer naan with a sampling of Chicken 65.

Above is the plate with vegetable korma, methi chicken curry, poori, and tandoori chicken.

Above is the plate with the naan and chicken 65.

Once I had gone through those plates (except all the naan), I contemplated for a brief moment on what I should get for Round 2. My favorites included the methi chicken curry, chicken 65, and poori. I got some plain naan since they had just brought out a fresh batch.

After eating this actually quite large plate, I snacked on my remaining plate of paneer naan. All-in-all, I had more than 10 pieces of naan, some of which were used as sauce soaker uppers; the rest were eaten straight up.

Delighted that gulab jamun was on the buffet, I cheerfully got three to start off with. This is eerily similar to my Epic Buffet Battle with Andrew at Korma Sutra. But, seeing as there was no one present today with whom I could compete, I didn't feel the need to eat until the point of nausea.

I did, however, enjoy these gulab jamun so much that I simply could not stop at three. So I went back and got three more.

I will say that gulab jamun are so heavy and dense that they start wearing on you after about six or so. I could've eaten more, but I was satisfied. At least with the gulab jamun. There was still the ice cream that needed sampling.

The ice cream was of the soft serve variety and was mango flavored. It was actually quite good, but I prefer gulab jamun for dessert at Indian buffets and restaurants.

And it wouldn't be a trip to an Indian buffet without a cup of mango lassi. This mango and yogurt beverage is just so smooth and mango-y that it is impossible to resist.

Another reason I may have been the slightest bit conservative at this Indian buffet is because I knew that I couldn't be done eating for the day. I knew that later in the day, my parents and I would be cooking some special steaks. These incredibly thick prime rib cuts were slated for the cast iron skillet, and there is no way in the Bro Kingdom that I would miss the opportunity to eat that kind of meat candy.

Based on my Bro finger measurement technique, I estimate that these steaks were slightly more than 2 inches thick. That is quite thick.

We pan fried and baked these dudes in a cast iron skillet. First we heated the skillet up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Meanwhile, we salted the steaks and coated them in canola oil. Then, we placed the 500-degree skillet on the stove set on high for 5 minutes or so. We dropped two steaks in, and proceeded to fill our house with the greatest amount of smoke that I'm sure has ever been inside those walls. We cooked the steaks for 30 seconds each side, then popped them into the 500-degree oven to cook for an additional 3 minutes per side. This was the result:

The outside had a nice crust on it, but it wasn't "burned" at all. By that I mean that it tasted like steak and not like charred coal.

The inside was perfectly medium-rare. It wasn't still walking around like the filets of Valentine's Day, but they still tasted phenomenally delicious.

With my mom and dad and both Sidney and I, we ate two of the steaks, which was about 2 pounds total. So that left about half a pound for each of us. This is the most meat I've ever eaten, but it was enough, especially considering the lunch I had consumed only a few hours prior.

Just kidding. It's never enough. The third steak, still raw, was still sitting there on the counter, lonely. Not wanting to go through the whole smoke and mirrors (minus the mirrors) again, we opted to grill it on the grill. It still turned out fabulously, although perhaps slightly more done. But if it was at all more done, it was only barely so. All I know is that it tasted delicious as well. With my mom and Sidney not wanting to eat any more, this left a pound of meat to split between my dad and I.

So I ended up with about a pound of steak, and this was on top of the three plates of Indian food I ate for lunch. Needless to say, I fulfilled my goal of getting huge today.