This past month we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
But you can’t get to the moon without fuel, and no, I’m not talking about rocket fuel. Astronauts, no matter how superhuman they may seem, still have to eat just like you and me.
And what they ate for breakfast on that July day in 1969 mimicked a breakfast consumed eight years prior before the first manned space mission ever taken on by NASA.
On May 5th, 1961, Alan Shepard was launched into space aboard Freedom 7 as part of Project Mercury. He was the first human in space for the United States, and although his flight duration was only 15 minutes and 22 seconds, his voyage was a stepping stone for manned space exploration.
In the early hours of that same morning Shepard was awakened by flight surgeon Bill Douglas, and after getting ready took in a breakfast of filet mignon, eggs, orange juice, and tea. This high-protein breakfast was designed in part to give Shepard the energy needed to complete his mission and to be low enough in fiber and grains that he wouldn’t need to relieve himself for some time: the perfect breakfast for an astronaut, and one that has been common for the NASA program in the decades since.
So when Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins ate their final breakfast on earth before shooting into space they chose a simple meal of steak and eggs — or as I like to call it, astronaut fuel.
On this episode of Cooking with Fire, we're having steak and eggs. Enjoy!
Steak & Eggs
Ingredients
- 1 t-bone steak
- Smoked salt
- Black pepper
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- Preheat your grill for high heat direct grilling (500ºF).
- Season the steak with the smoked salt and black pepper.
- Grill over direct heat until nicely seared. Flip and continue to cook until the internal temperature reaches 130ºF. Remove from the grill and rest.
- Preheat a cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat. Spray with pan spray.
- Crack the eggs into the skillet and cover with a lid. Cook just until the whites are set, but the yolks are still runny. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve the eggs over the steak.
