My parents sent six Omaha steaks for my birthday, and Todd and I had a little bonfire on Saturday night while making them. We had thawed two bacon-wrapped filet mignon, seasoned them, then put them on a piece of foil on the broiler pan. When it was nearly time to turn them over, I went to the kitchen and saw flames shooting up from the steaks. I yell, turn off the broiler and start to pull the broiler pan from the oven. Todd comes in and wants to douse it with baking soda, but he doesn't know where I keep it, or put a pan lid over the flames, but all the lids are stored in the bottom drawer under the oven so we can't get to them with the oven open (besides, I read recently that you're not supposed to do that). Slapping the fire once with a wet oven mitt only made the flames get momentarily bigger (it wasn't really a very big fire). As we argued about what to do, the flames got smaller and smaller until they went out. All the fuel (the melted bacon fat) had been consumed. We're convinced it happened because we lined the top of the broiler pan with foil, which collected a pool of ignitable fat. The thing that disturbs me now is that neither of us thought to use the fire extinguisher, which is in a very convenient spot in a side cabinet.

Of course, if we had we wouldn't have been able to eat the steaks, which were really tender. Someone at work had said that Omaha steaks tend not to have much flavor, but the bacon wrapped around these made them flavorful, too. And perfectly cooked, believe it or not, pink in the center and juicy and tender all over. Also roasted potatoes seasoned with a new spice rub (another gift) and some Brussels sprouts (which Todd decided really aren't that bad).