Steak Chimichurri

This post originally started.... the weather has FINALLY cooled around here, but the little icon in the corner of my screen says it will be 90 AGAIN today! (Well it did it will be 60 today... Fall arrived sometime between when I wrote this post and today).  Will someone please hand mother nature her medication and can we move on?  Maybe it's the heat, or the hormones, or the sore back, but as I scrolled through my favorite food blogs today I found myself wanting to delete all the links with perfectly staged photos of gorgeous food, with intricate topped minature tarts, and perfectly lit baked goods against sickenly cute antique spoons and linens.  Normally I adore those shot and aspired to some day have the time, energy, and talent to do such things.  However, today, and at this stage in my life it is not happening... and I'm fairly certain it's not happening tomorrow, or next week, or anytime in the next few years to be honest. It is time to accept that the choices I have made to expand our family with little munchkins, to allow little furry children to roam around with the human children, to go back to school yet again while working, and to do all of this thousands of miles from all family means.... I will not be a sophisticated blogger anytime soon.  And I've come to the realization that I don't really care, it's who I am at the moment.  I blog for my friends to show them that they can cook simple easy stuff for their families without stressing, and that is not going to come through with perfect lines of macaroons, and other such things.  The times when I get the most feedback/texts/and emails saying... I am making your (insert food here) today.  Are the times when I make stuff that can be thrown together and is not scary or daunting in the slightest.  The times when people look at the recipe and think... I can do that.

So today I am in love with the new bloggers out there, that don't have fancy cameras, or tricks up their sleeves.  The ones that squeeze in a dish between walking their dog, having tea parties with their children, or working the two jobs required to pay off their over-inflated school loans.  My favorites today are the off-centered photos with the off-set colors because not only do they not know how to use photoshop, they don't own it!  Bloggers that don't have 3 days to make 100 bite-sized tartletts for a friend's baby shower, or their own cookbooks... people who just want to eat something that tastes good and doesn't come wrapped in a wax coated piece of paper.  People that want to feed their families, clean up after dinner, and still have time to read Where the Wild Things Are for the 50th night in a row because they love to hear their 2 year old jump out of bed, and tell the wild Wild Things... BE STILL... complete with minature stomp and stop in the name of love pose.  People like me really.  And so if you are in an exhausted funk, and it's the end of the season where you live and you want to clear out your herb garden, make a good dinner, and have time for family and friends..... I give you.... the fastest meal this side of the SUMMER CONSTRUCTION HELL.  Ta Daaaaaaa.

Throw it all in a food processor or blender...... and it doesn't even require the cooperation of one evil oven, if you should have an oven that a) never works properly under the best conditions and b) has given up the ghost once and for all as you refuse to spend another dollar fixing something you despise!

Flank Steak with Chimichurri

Adapted from Gourmet

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds trimmed flank steak
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 large garlic clove
1 1/2 cups fresh cilantro
1 1/2 cups fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Method

Preheat broiler. (or grill if you're oven has died like mine)

Pat steak dry. Stir together 1 teaspoon salt, cumin, coriander, and pepper in a small bowl and rub mixture onto both sides of steak. Broil steak on a broiler pan about 4 inches from heat 6 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer to a cutting board and let stand 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, with motor running, add garlic to a food processor and finely chop. Add cilantro, parsley, vinegar, oil, cayenne, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, then pulse until herbs are finely chopped.

Holding a knife at a 45-degree angle, thinly slice steak. Serve with sauce.

Steak Panini with Horseradish Mayo

What a boring photo.... really... this doesn't do it justice, I mean by the looks of this photo the cheese and horseradish mayo doesn't even look like the melty, gooey, amazing, mess they were.  Geesh... someone better tell this photographer to get off her bum and take a food styling, or photo class pronto.  What's that?  Oh she said she would get right on that after changing her two year olds daycare, helping her teenager, and creating a new baby in unbearable heat, while finishing her Masters degree.  Sorry... did that sound like I am feeling sorry for myself?  It did?  Oh good just the sentiment I was trying to portray. 

That's right.... this photo looks  uninspired, becasue it's hard to be inspired when you feel SICK ALL THE TIME.  Actually maybe I could pull off that my life is drab in the withering heat as it turns everything from green to brown so I left out the green as a symbolism of something or other.  No?  Okay fine, let's move on.

So today is the first day it hasn't been in the high 90s in the remeberable (is that a word?) past but it's so humid I feel like I must bring an oxygen tank to walk to my car.  Really... I'm a Northern girl, I can't wait for August to be done so I can go outside for longer than the time it takes me to sprint from one air conditioned place to the next.  Until then... we will continue to turn out quick and easy meals that require little skill, little heat, and are PERFECT for my core audience that "doesn't cook", or as is more likely doesn't have time to cook.  However, if you happen to be a talented food blogger or chef and have wandered onto this site somehow this is going to taste really, really, good.  Promise.

If you are lucky (like me) you have a father who loves food as much as you do.... and feels really sorry for you and your exiled status in middle American and lack of good ingredients.  Sorry enough that he gave you a jar of this!

Home canned fresh (can you say fresh if it's been canned?)  horseradish!  Oh yeah... that'll open the sinuses on a clouy day.  Or you can used freshly grated horseradish if you are so lucky as to have some available.  I used half this and half that prepared cream horseradish stuff from the grocery store.

Flank Steak Sandwiches
from the binder of recipes with no known origin in my kitchen
Ingredients

1 recipe Horseradish Sauce (see recipe below)
1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano, crushed
1-1/2 teaspoons ground coriander 
1 teaspoon salt (I used freshly ground)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 large sweet onions, such as Texas 1015 or Vidalia, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 4 cups)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 pounds beef flank steak or boneless beef top sirloin steak, cut 1-inch thick
6 purchased bakery sourdough rolls or 12 slices sourdough bread, toasted if you're  not going to squish it
OR... a loaf of ciabatta

Method

Prepare Horseradish Sauce; cover and chill. In a small bowl combine oregano, coriander, salt, and pepper; set aside. In a 12-inch nonstick or cast iron skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add onions, garlic, and half (about 2 teaspoons) of the spice mixture. Cook, covered, for 13 to 15 minutes until onions are tender, stirring occasionally. Uncover; cook and stir over medium-high heat for 5 to 8 minutes more or until onions are golden. Remove from skillet; set aside. Wipe skillet clean, or not, I didn't bother.

If using flank steak (I used sirloin this time because I was hoping it would make for a less messy sandwich... I was wrong), score meat on both sides by making shallow cuts at 1-inch intervals diagonally across steak in a diamond pattern. Rub steak on both sides with the remaining half of the spice mixture. Heat the same skillet over medium-high heat until very hot. Add steak. Cook, uncovered, for 12 to 16 minutes or until meat is medium-rare (145 degree F), turning once. Remove meat from skillet to cutting board; cover with foil and let stand 10 minutes.

Thinly slice steak across the grain.

I have started slicing these a whole lot thinner since this photo was taken

To serve give both sides of cibatta a good smear of horseradish sauce, arrange steak on bottoms of rolls, top with cheese of your choice if you want then onions.  Add roll tops.  Squish in Panini grill if available to melt the cheesy goodness or serve as is.   Makes 6 sandwiches, or 3 sandwiches and enough steak for your child that eats it as steak with a side of bread.  

Horseradish Sauce: In a small bowl stir together 3/4 cup mayonnaise, 1 to 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish, 1 tablespoon lime juice, and 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed.

Marinated Skirt Steak

Hey look at me making two posts in one week.  I feel all productive and stuff.  However you will notice that the picture is focused only on the meat.  That is because in the background you will see some sad grocery store mashed potatoes and a bagged salad.  I would like to feel guilty about that but I can't.  It's Monday to start with, my meeting went over by about 20 minutes (I had to leave early to pick up the baby) and I had to pick up the husband, and I had to stop at the store.  I am happy that I made dinner at all after the crazy months day I had.  So I would like to feel guilty, but  I don't.  Not even a little.  It's still potatoes and veggies... even if I didn't make the lovely parmesan potato wedges, and grilled asparagus as planned.  If I had it, it would have looked more like this.  Pretty... something that looks appetizing, photo-worthy.  Oh well maybe tomorrow.

Anyway, back to tonight's dinner.  Today I made my maiden voyage from the dream boat that is ad hoc. 

If you have never heard of the cookbook (then I know you don't read my blog because I was just talking about it 3 days ago).  I highly suggest you look into it.  It is a huge book of home style recipes, and has various techniques from how to truss a chicken to how to prepare a roast using a blow torch.  Aside from the blow torch recipe, and who knows maybe you have a blow torch you want to put to good use, most of them are perfect for people who always say "I don't cook."  Which normally translates into... "I am afraid to try to cook for fear it will end up a charred mess and my family will never let me live it down."  Don't you just love family?  I do, which is why I cook for them.  Otherwise I would just throw some chicken nuggets at them and call it a day (not that that little scenario doesn't happen around here as well). 

I am in love with this cook book and have mapped out about 30 recipes in this book that I am dying to make.  Take that 5 recipes per cookbook statistic!

Marinated Skirt Steak

adapted from ad hoc (I only made about 1.5 pounds so I could have halved everything)

Ingredients

6 thyme sprigs, (they store didn't have fresh time so I used 1 tsp of dried)

2 long sprigs rosemary

4 small bay leaves

1 tablespoons whole peppercorns

4 large garlic cloves, smashed, skin left on

2 cups extra-virgin olive oil (I used vegetable oil because... that is a whole lot of oil)  If you're making a smaller amount of meat like I did you could probably halve all the ingredients

Six 8-ounce trimmed outer skirt steaks (or flank steaks)

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Canola oil (here I used olive oil)

2 tablespoon unsalted butter

4 thyme sprigs (I skipped this entirely during this step)

2 garlic cloves, smashed skin left on (I removed the skin and cut them up into slivers)

Method

Combine the thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, peppercorns, garlic, and oil in a medium suacepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat (I left it simmering until I could smell the herbs releasing their scent).  Remove from the heat and let the marinade cool to room temperature.

Pull away any excess fat from the skirt steak and discard.  Trim the steak of any silverskin.  Cut rosswise into 6 equal portions.  Put in a dish or a resealable plastic bag, add the marinade, and cover the dish or seal the bag, squeezing out excess air.  Marinate for at least 4 hours, or up to a day, in the refrigerator.

Remove teh meat from the marinade and let sit at roo temperature for about 30 minutes before cooking; discard the marinade.  Dry the meat with paper towels.  Season with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 350.  Set a roasting rack in a roasting pan (I still do not have one that fits our micro oven.  I used a baking rack over a cookie sheet... hey it worked). 

Heat some canola oil in a large frying pan over hih heat.  When it shimmers, add half the meat and quickly brown the first side.  Turn the meat and, working quickly, add 1 tablespoon of the butter, 2 thyme sprigs, and 1 garlic clove and brown the meat on the seasoned side, basting constantly (this may look easy as professional chefs brown one side of their meat while throwing hot oil over the top side with a spoon but I found it a little more challenging, maybe my pan was too hot... or more likely I just haven't done that before and it's not as easy as it looks).

The entire cooking process should take about 90 seconds (that's how hot that pan should be).  Transfer your meat to the baking (er hum) roasting rack.  Spoon the butter, arlic and thyme over the top (oops missed this step until just this second).  Wipe the pan clean and repeat with the remaining steaks

Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and cook for 8 to 10 minutes (I did 10 minutes and it was perfect) or until the centers register 125 degrees F.  Remove from the oven and let the meat rest on the rack in a warm place for about 10 minutes for medium-rare (my piece was medium-rare, but Gregg's was rare).

Arrange the steaks on a serving platter, or slice each piece against th egrain, cutting straight down, and arrrange on the platter.  Garnish with the garlic and thyme.