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Grilled Skirt Steak with Shiitake Mushroom Salsa

If a cookbook has a recipe that requires skirt steak, you can bet it's usually going to get cooked in this household. Skirt steak is an absolute favorite of ours and we try to stock up when we find it on sale. When I saw this recipe in the Cat Cora Cooking from the Hip cookbook, I knew that I had to try it. 

I never would have thought of a mushroom salsa before this recipe but it was really good. It went great with the skirt steak and I imagine it would go great with any kind of steak (the marinade too). I actually would have rather had more of the Shiitake Mushroom Salsa and will double the salsa recipe the next time I make this. (I'm sure you are only supposed to have a bit of salsa with each bite of steak but it was that good that I wanted more...I wanted to smother the steak with the salsa!).

The skirt steak with the mushroom salsa was very simple to make and quick to put together. Something easily done after work (marinate the steak in the morning before leaving for work). I only marinated the steak for two hours and thought it had wonderful flavor.  We also just broiled the steak instead of grilling it (this would work with an indoor stove top grill pan too).

Mr. L really liked the flavor combination of this dish as did I. I think we'll use the Shiitake Mushroom Salsa on many other cuts of meat in the future.

Sorry for the funky format of the recipe. Typepad changed something on me and I can't figure out now to NOT have double spacing on the ingredients!

GRILLED SKIRT STEAK WITH SHIITAKE MUSHROOM SALSA

MARINADE

4-5 garlic cloves, chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons peeled, grated fresh ginger

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon lime juice (from 2 large limes)

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons honey

2 tablespoons kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

SHIITAKE MUSHROOM SALSA

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 1/2 cups sliced shiitake mushrooms (about 1/2 pound)

2 large shallots, sliced into rings

1 small red chili, sliced into rings

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons chopped scallions

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 pounds skirt steak

For the marinade: In a large bowl, mix together the garlic, ginger, lime juice, soy sauce, olive oil, honey, salt and pepper to make a paste. Rub this mixture over the steak, place steak in a shallow dish, cover, and marinate for at least 1 hour, or preferably overnight in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before grilling.

Preheat the grill. Just before you put the steak on the grill, prepare the shiitake salsa.

For the Shiitake Mushroom Salsa: Pour the olive oil into a large skillet and turn the heat to high. When the oil is hot, add the mushrooms. Lower the heat to medium-high. Saute until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Add the shallots and chili and saute until the shallots just begin to turn golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the mushroom mixture to a bowl to cool. Add the cilantro, sesame oil, vinegar, scallions, salt, and pepper and toss lightly.

Remove the skirt steak from the marinade and place on the grill over medium-hot coals. Cook until the steak is crusted on all sides but still medium-rare inside, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove the steak from the grill and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Cut into 1-inch thick slices and serve with a spoonful of salsa on top. Serves 4

Note: Recipe says you can serve with warm tortillas. I didn't even cut the skirt steak into strips (like fajitas), I just put a slab of steak on the plate and put the salsa on top.

Note: I added a bit more garlic. I didn't have red chili so I used a jalapeno.

Note: I only marinated for two hours and then just broiled the steak until medium rare.

Seems like a lot of ingredients but they came together quickly. I can see whipping up the marinade and putting it on the steak the night before so all you have to do is take the meat out to get to room temp and make the salsa when you get home from work.

Korean Barbecued Beef

I admit, I picked this dish to make from Bittman's Kitchen Express because it used skirt steak (a favorite) and because it had pretty detailed instructions (well, as detailed as this book gets).

Mr. L and I love the taste of Korean Barbecue Beef and I was pleasantly surprised that this did remind me of those flavors. In fact, this tasted really good and is something that I will definitely make again. It was quick, easy, and I usually have all the ingredients on hand.

Now I did question the directions a bit. It said to cut the meat in "half inch pieces" before grilling. That just didn't compute with me so we just cut the skirt steak in four, roughly equal, pieces and grilled them on the stove in our cast iron grill pan. The directions also said to brush the beef while grilling to get that crispy Korean BBQ. But I was lazy. So all I did was marinate this for about half an hour and then grill. Still had a wonderful flavor. Yeah, we'll make this quite a bit (especially since we can use the cast iron grill now that summer is, sniff, almost over).

I was actually surprised how easy this was, considering how afraid I was about not having a "standard" recipe. And I actually didn't really follow the instructions and it technically wasn't Korean Barbecue Beef, but it all made a wonderful marinade and tasted so good I'm ready to try more of the recipes in the book. I also think I'll actually follow the directions next time. But for now I have an awesome marinade in my repertoire.

The recipe says that this is traditionally eaten with white rice, wrapped in lettuce leaves. Did I mention I was lazy when I made this? We just ate it like steak.

KOREAN BARBECUED BEEF

Slice a flank (or better; skirt) steak into half-inch pieces. Mix together one teaspoon of sesame oil, one tablespoon of brown sugar; three tablespoons of soy sauce, one tablespoon of mirin (or a little honey mixed with water), two minced cloves of garlic, and a pinch of red chile flakes. Brush the meat with the sauce and grill until it begins to crisp, about two minutes per side, basting frequently. Serve the beef sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds and chopped scallions.

Note: As with all the recipes in the Kitchen Express cookbook, this meal serves 3-4.

Note: We used skirt steak. We used mirin. We left off the sesame seeds and chopped scallions not because I was lazy, but because I completely forgot.

Note: We grilled the steak in a cast iron grill pan on top of the stove.

Grilled California Avocado BLT Burgers with Caramelized Chipotle Onions

Yes, I ended up making the burger on the cover of the Build A Better Burger cookbook, but I honestly didn't realize that fact until afterward. Come on, you know I made it because it had bacon in it. This recipe was the grand prize winner in 2004 and was from Clint Stephenson of Texas.

This was really tasty.

This was also a heck of a lot of work for a burger.

The recipe was probably the first "gourmet" burger I've ever put together...where you  not only add ingredients to the meat mixture but you spend time fussing with toppings (since usually for me it's just a slice of cheese, mayo, pickles and tomatoes). Though the end product tasted pretty good, it was a bit of work for "just a burger". (Okay, why is it that I consider a burger something that should be quick and simple? This though, was not).

There were many parts to this recipe...the caramelized onions, the cheese spread, the meat mixture and the avocado slices. The caramelized onion mixture was great. It's something I'd make in a heartbeat to put on burgers in the future. I also really enjoyed the flavor of the patties. I didn't notice a big difference in basting the avocado slices with the vinegar and sprinkling them with seasoned salt. I'm sure in the big picture this made a difference but I probably wouldn't go through the trouble to make the avocados like that next time.

As for the Point Reyes Blue Cheese Spread, I have to admit, neither Mr. L nor I are fond of blue cheese. In fact, we are very not fond of it. But we tried it in the burger. And didn't like it. Next time I would just use more of the garlic and herb spread or add some other kind of cheese. We only prepped two burgers with the cheese mixture then threw the rest out. We used more of the Rondele garlic and herb mixture. Yes, I realize Point Reyes Blue fans are reeling in horror.

I realized this was a "contest" burger, which meant pretty precise measurements, but next time I don't think I'd be that precise about anything (I'd add more bacon of course and maybe just a tad of mayo and some salt).We also didn't grill the burger, I'm sure that would have upped the flavor quite a bit. I still think the recipe ended up making a damn good burger.

GRILLED CALIFORNIA AVOCADO BLT BURGERS
WITH CARAMELIZED CHIPOTLE ONIONS

CARAMELIZED CHIPOTLE ONIONS
1 large sweet onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon Tabasco Chipotle Pepper Sauce
1 tablespoon beef broth
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

POINT REYES BLUE CHEESE SPREAD
6 1/2 ounces light garlic-and-herbs spreadable cheese
4 ounces Point Reyes blue cheese or other favorite blue cheese, crumbled

PATTIES
1 pound ground chuck
1 pound ground sirloin
1/3 cup minced sweet onion
1/4 cup Zinfandel
3 tablespoons minced fresh oregano, thyme, and basil (any combination)
1 tablespoon Tabasco Chipotle Pepper Sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons spicy seasoned salt

Vegetable oil, for brushing on the grill rack
12 Hass avocado slices
Balsamic vinegar, for brushing on the avocado
Spicy seasoned salt, for sprinkling on the avocado slices
12 precooked bacon slices
6 (4 1/2-inch) soft Kaiser rolls, split
6 romaine lettuce leaves
6 (1/4-inch-thick) large tomato slices

Prepare a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill with a cover, or preheat a gas grill to medium-high.

To make the caramelized onions, combine the onion, pepper sauce, broth, vinegar, oil, garlic, and brown sugar in a 10-inch nonstick, fire-proof skillet, cover with a lid, and place on the grill rack. Cook the onion mixture for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are caramelized and most of the liquid is evaporated. Remove the pan from the grill and set aside.

To make the spread, combine the cheeses in a fire-proof saucepan, cover, and set aside.

To make the patties, combine the chuck, sirloin, onion, Zinfandel, herbs, pepper sauce, and seasoned salt in a large bowl. Handling the meat as little as possible to avoid compacting it, mix well. Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions and form the portions into patties to fit the rolls.

When the grill is ready, brush the grill rack with vegetable oil. Place the patties on the rack, cover, and cook, turning once, until done to preference, 5 to 7 minutes on each side for medium. Meanwhile, place the saucepan with the cheese spread on the outer edge of the rack to warm the cheese mixture just until it reaches a very soft, spreadable consistency. Remove the saucepan from the grill and set aside.

During the final minutes of grilling the patties, brush the avocado slices with balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with seasoned salt. Arrange on a rimmed nonstick perforated grilling pan coated lightly with oil and grill alongside the patties for 1 to 2 minutes, turning as necessary. During the final 30 seconds, add the bacon slices to the pan. When the avocados are nicely grilled and the bacon is crisp, remove from the grill. When the patties are cooked, remove from the grill, stacking to keep warm. Place the rolls, cut side down, on the outer edges of the grill rack to toast slightly.

To assemble the burgers, spread a generous amount of the cheese mixture over the cut sides of the rolls. On each roll bottom, place a lettuce leaf, a tomato slice, a patty, an equal portion of the caramelized onions, 2 avocado slices, and 2 bacon slices. Add the roll tops and serve. Makes 6 burgers.

Note: I used Point Reyes Blue Cheese, Rondele Garlic and Herb Cheese Spread, Oscar Meyer bacon (cuz that's what we had on hand, yeah, sad...better bacon would have been, well, better).

Note: I forgot to buy lettuce so I just left it out.

Note: We didn't grill this. We did everything on top of the stove (we used a cast iron grill pan).

Note: The recipe asked for "spicy seasoned salt". I'm sure the recipe required some specific blend, but I just kind of made my own with Lawry's and cayenne pepper.

Note: The patties were cooked closer to medium rare than medium.

This was a really good tasting burger. I can see myself doing a simpler version of this next time I have folks over for burgers and want to impress them (without the blue cheese of course).

Grandma Rosies Garbanzo Stew

I'm calling this 'Garbanzo Stew' so as not to confuse people, but honestly, in my family it's just called 'Garbanzo'. I'm sure we garnered some interesting looks when we went grocery shopping by saying  "Mom are we having Garbanzo for dinner?". People probably thought we were a bit crazy by getting excited about eating a bean for a meal, but Garbanzo's the only name I've ever known this dish as.

In wanting to find a dish to make for the Family Recipe event, I came across one mom had included in the Filipino recipes she has written down for the family. Except the directions were more like my mom and Grandma cook, not a lot of detail (she never uses recipes when cooking family dishes anymore).  While the original instructions had ingredients like "tomato sauce" or directions like "saute onions" I wanted a bit more information such as "how much tomato sauce" and "do I saute in oil and how cooked are the onions supposed to be?". I was on the phone several times with my mom while making this dish trying to clarify exactly what needed to be done. And I had to laugh when I took a sample to her to try and she mentioned that maybe I didn't add enough water to make soup. Water? There was no water listed!

But a recipe like this is exactly why I want to participate in the Family Recipes: Memories of Family, Food and Fun. I want to be able to not only make old family dishes, but be able to pass the directions on to far flung family that might not be local enough to learn at my mom's side (my Grandma Rosie passed away many years ago). I did ask my mom to give me some background regarding this dish and this is what she wrote:

"I don't  know when I started eating garbanzos cooked this way.  Probably before WW II.  But my memories when going back that far are so dim now.  When we got to the states Grandma Wing started cooking it.  Everybody loves this dish in my family.  It is so easy to make....your Grandma Rosie learned by watching Grandma Wing cook it.  She wrote down the ingredients and that was it.  And, that was how I learned to cook it too.  Over the years I have tweaked this recipe to suit my taste.  Such as the different spiced stewed tomatoes and not just plain canned tomatoes and tomato sauce as Grandma Rosie cooked it.  I left out the raisins that my aunt puts in hers because I did not like it.  I put more sauce than some.  Some cook it the way you did - not much sauce.  But I just know we have always eaten this dish in our family as far back as my memory goes."

This is one of those dishes that can be tweaked quite easily to fit individual tastes. Add tomato paste for a more pronounced tomato flavor, use different types of stewed tomatoes (I happen to like the Muir Glen Fire Roasted), add raisins, more potatoes, extra garlic etc. This is also one of those recipes that is inexpensive and you can double or triple the ingredients to feed a crowd.

GRANDMA ROSIES GARBANZO STEW

2 Tablespoons bacon grease
1 large onion, diced
1 pound ground beef
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 14.5-oz can diced stewed tomatoes (any variety)
1 15.5-oz can garbanzo's (with juice)
Salt
Pepper
Cooked Rice

Melt bacon grease over medium heat. Add onions and saute until soft. Add garlic and stir for a minute being careful not to burn.

Add ground beef and cook until no longer pink. Add potatoes, garbanzos (with juice from can), stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer.

Cover and cook until potatoes are soft and garbanzos are tender (time on this depends on how big you dice your potatoes, mine took a little over half an hour). Salt and pepper to taste. Serve over Rice.

Note: My mom likes hers a bit soupy. She adds some water, about 8-oz or so (or use beef broth etc) when she adds the potatoes (this would probably help the potatoes cook faster).

Note: This dish always seems to need a lot of salt for me after cooking. I may have to try adding a bit during the cooking process next time.

Note: We serve this over medium grain rice.

Ropa Vieja

Though it was a pretty hot day here today, it's been a pretty chilly summer so far. Big cuts of meat in the crock pot are a welcome meal to come home to, especially when we are busy after work.

This recipe comes from the January 2009 issue of Good Housekeeping. Traditionally shredded flank steak in a tomato sauce base, this was an easy version of the dish that translates into "old clothes" in Spanish. I liked the added kick the pickled jalapeno chilies added (though the dish wasn't hot at all).

This recipe calls for stirring the cooking liquid back into the beef after it's shredded, putting the mixture into a bowl and serving with tortillas. We had a bunch of leftover tortillas that we decided to use to make Ropa Vieja burritos. Adding the liquid back into the shredded beef would have made the mixture too soupy. In fact, we had to drain the beef quite a bit before serving in tortillas just to have something that wasn't too messy to eat. Next time we'll put the mixture in a bowl and serve it more like a stew as intended.  The extra cooking liquid though, worked great over rice.

ROPA VIEJA

1/2 c. drained sliced pickled jalapeno chiles
3 red, orange, and/or yellow peppers, cut into 1/4-in-wide slices
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 lg. onion (12 oz.) cut in half and sliced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 bay leaf
Salt
2 beef flank steaks (3 1/2 lbs. total)
1 can (14.5 oz.) whole tomatoes in juice
Warm tortillas or rice (optional)

In a 6 to 6 1/2 quart slow cooker bowl, stir together jalapenos, peppers, garlic, onion, cumin, oregano, bay leaf, and 1 teaspoon salt. Top with flank steaks, cutting steaks if necessary to fit in slow cooker bowl. With kitchen shears, coarsely cut up tomatoes in can. Pour tomatoes with their juice over steaks in slow cooker; do not stir. Cover slow cooker with lid, and cook as manufacturer directs on low setting 9 hours.

With slotted spoon, transfer steak and vegetables to large bowl. Discard bay leaf. With 2 forks, shred steak, with the grain, into fine strips. Skim and discard fat from cooking liquid. Stir cooking liquid into steak mixture. Spoon into serving bowls, and serve with warm tortillas if you like. Makes about 10 cups (10 main-dish servings). 300 calories a serving.

Note: We drained the liquid from the meat mixture and made burritos. We also added some sour cream and shredded cheese to this. Completely takes away any authenticity of this being a Ropa Vieja but it made great burritos. And the remaining liquid did work great over rice.

Knock-Your-Socks-Off Chipotle Chili Soup

Many years ago I received a subscription to Chile Pepper magazine from my cousin. Though I never cooked anything out of the issues I did collect quite a stack of recipes to try.

Since then, here and there, I've picked up an issue with good intentions to try at least one recipe. When I went through the November 2008 issue I realized it was time to get up off my duff and make something instead of just tearing out a recipe and filing it away.

Tons of things sounded good. Spicy Crisped Chickpeas, Hungarian Goulash, Stuffed Jalapenos (which resulted in my habanero debacle). But since it was cold and rainy outside I figured the first dish to try was this chili soup. And yes, I have since bought more issues of Chile Pepper magazine. If you have a taste for anything hot and spicy, it's worth it.

It's definitely more of a soup than a thick chili. I really liked the spiciness of the dish though Mr. L found it a bit too spicy for him (the magazine rates the 'zest level' for this dish at medium). It wasn't really hot (as in burn your insides to your knees) just spicy. The cilantro cream worked really well with this soup. The jalapeno I used wasn't very hot at all and it gave the cream a nice flavor. I actually mixed a bit more cream than probably suggested into my chili soup. This also heated up great the next day...a bit spicier and the flavors had a chance to meld a bit.

This went together fairly quickly. I made the Cilantro Cream (included below) while the soup was simmering for an hour.

The Chile Pepper magazine recipe was adapted from a Robert Rose recipe. The magazine suggests serving the chili soup with warm tortilla chips on the side (I think it would work over rice too).

KNOCK-YOUR-SOCKS-OFF CHIPOTLE CHILI SOUP

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 (14-oz) can crushed tomatoes with added puree or diced tomatoes with juice
6 cups beef stock
3 tablespoons minced chipotle chiles in adobo
2 (15-oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
Cilantro Cream (see recipe below)
Corn Tortilla Chips (optional)

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add ground beef and saute, breaking up with the back of a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Drain any excess fat. Add garlic and onions; cook until softened, about 6 minutes. Add chili powder, salt and pepper; saute for 2 minutes.

Add tomatoes, stock and chiles; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. Add beans, and simmer for 10 minutes. Taste, and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

Ladle into heated bowls, and top each with a dollop of cilantro cream. Stick a few chips upright into the cream. Serves 6 to 8.

Note: I used ground chuck. I used Muir Glen Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes. I used S&W canned black beans.

Note: I actually didn't use all of the two onions I cut up. I considered the onions to be medium size but after chopping them up, it just seemed like to much onion so I only put in about 3/4 of what I had.

CILANTRO CREAM

1 cup packed cilantro sprigs, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
salt

In a small bowl, stir together cilantro, jalapeno, sour cream, lime juice, and salt to taste.

Note: This was very tasty and I can see using it with other soups, stews, on baked potatoes, in an omelet....

American Chop Suey

Though I had heard of American Chop Suey before, I had never ordered it. To me, Chop Suey is a Chinese dish that consists of meats (usually chicken, beef, shrimp or pork), made with vegetables such as bean sprouts, cabbage or celery and mixed with a sauce. I guess it's typically served with rice but can become the "Chinese-American" form of chow mein when deep fried noodles are added. Though I'm not against ordering Chop Suey, it's not something I crave when I want Chinese food.

Since chop suey in Chinese supposedly means "mixed pieces" I can see where American Chop Suey got it's name. I've actually been eating versions of this all my life...Gorp. Glop. Mac and Tomato. American Mix. I've just never called it American Chop Suey. I swear there was a version of this you used to be able to make with a box of Hamburger Helper. And yes, I usually add cheese to the mix.

This recipe came from the Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives book by Guy Fieri. It's adapted from a dish they serve at the Red Arrow Diner in Manchester, New Hampshire. This is the "blue plate special" they serve on Wednesdays.

This was good. Not fancy, but good. Quick. Easy. Stick to the ribs comfort food. Terrific reheated the next day. I needed more salt (but then when don't I want to salt something within an inch of it's life). I also thought that a full pound of macaroni was too much for just the pound of meat but it really didn't seem to matter. And I wanted cheese. But it probably wouldn't have been American Chop Suey if I'd filled it with cheese. I can totally see this filling up some hungry teens...or a few hungry adults.

AMERICAN CHOP SUEY

3 tablespoons butter
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Kosher salt
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (14.5 ounce) can tomato sauce
1/4 cup tomato paste
2/3 cup tomato juice
Pinch of sugar
1 pound elbow macaroni

Heat the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Then add the ground beef and continue to cook, stirring and breaking up the chunks of meat with a spoon. Cook until the meat is no longer pink, about 7 minutes. Sprinkle the herbs and pepper over the meat, add salt to taste, and mix in well.

Add the canned tomatoes with their juices, the tomato sauce, paste, and juice. Add sugar to taste. Simmer while you cook the pasta.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the macaroni and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain. Mix the macaroni into the chop suey. Serve hot. Serves 8 (eight not hungry people in my book)

Note: I added a few more cloves of garlic. The tomato sauce was in a 15 ounce can so I just threw the entire amount in.

Note: I needed to cook the onions a bit longer than specified though they were fine when I microwaved leftovers the next day.

Note: I served this with grated Parmesan on the top...sorry, I just had to add the cheese!

I had wanted to make this for the 34th Weekend Cookbook Challenge. Alas I messed up on the dates and didn't get this in on time. To check out the entries for the "diner food" challenge go here.

Grilled T-Bone Steaks with Garlic-Chili Oil

I realize that grilling for some at this point might be a little strange...considering it's the middle of November. Please note that today's temperature was a nice 82 degrees where I live, I spent the day in shorts and we had the air conditioner on.  Needless to say it was an absolutely gorgeous day here.

There were many different steak recipes from the Bobby Flay Grilling for Life cookbook that I wanted to try. We chose this recipe for two reasons: we hadn't had a t-bone steak in ages and they were on sale at the grocery store. A combo that worked for me.

I was afraid at first that this would taste too garlicky for me but it didn't. The sauce did add some flavor to the steak but I kept thinking "is there more"? This is a Bobby Flay recipe so I expect the flavor to be quite bold. Maybe it was all a bit subtle for me? Of course one does get tired of just plain old steaks (okay, maybe most people, but honestly, not me) so this wasn't a bad way to make the steak a bit different. We didn't cut the steak into strips which the recipe called for...we just put the whole t-bone on our plates and poured the sauce over. Maybe if we had sliced the meat like it said it would have made a difference? But then again, how the heck do you slice a t-bone steak with a big bone in it? It still tasted great but I'm not sure how much of that was the sauce or how much was just that we had an awesome t-bone.

Not sure if the sauce was supposed to be strained? I would have liked the garlic to be smaller. It was oil with garlic pieces in it and I kept wondering if it should be more mixed than it was. Again, it wasn't that it was bad, I just thought it should have been more.

The instructions say to "not play with your food"...let it sit and form a crust while grilling and only turn it once. Also be sure to let the steak rest for at least five minutes before cutting (both of which we did).

GRILLED T-BONE STEAKS WITH GARLIC-CHILI OIL

1/4 cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 T-bone steaks, 1 pound each
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Whisk together the oil, garlic, thyme, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl; set aside.

Heat grill to high.

Season both sides of the steaks with the salt and pepper. Place the steaks on the grill and grill until golden brown and slightly charred, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn the steaks over, lower the heat to medium, close the lid, and continue cooking for 6 to 7 minutes for medium-rare.

Remove the steaks from the grill and transfer to a cutting board. Let rest for 5 minutes, then cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Transfer to platter and drizzle with the chile oil. Serves 6

Note: Our T-bones were probably a bit less than a pound each.

Note: This probably served 4 for us, just cuz we like our red meat.

Note: Calories listed for each serving were 395

Grilled Marinated Flank Steak ala Simply Recipes

With life so busy these days I'm afraid that most of the cooking I'm doing is of the quick and easy kind. No really involved recipes. No ingredients I have to hunt for. Getting dinner on the table in as little time as possible. And I'm finding I'm relying on food blogs for lots of these meals.

I had bought a flank steak on sale at the local market and looked in my list of "blogger recipes" hoping to find something that didn't take a lot of prep and would get a meal on the table quick. I should have known that Simply Recipes would come to my rescue.

For the marinated flank steak I pretty much followed her recipe. The marinade was easy to throw together in the morning before I left for work and I marinated the flank steak during the day (about 10 hours).  I scored the surface as requested which I think resulted in the marinade getting into the steak better. The flavor of the steak was wonderful and worked really well served with some creamed spinach. I've never been disappointed in one of Simply Recipes recipes! For her recipe check out her blog here. Oh and did you know that you can get Simply Recipes for your iPhone? Score! Check that out here.

GRILLED MARINATED FLANK STEAK

Note: I used agave nectar instead of honey

Note: I broiled the steak in the oven to medium rare.

Quail Eggs and Karubi

Mr. L and I are sushi lovers, though he more than I. He tends to order strange things like Tobiko with Quail Eggs. I tend to stick to things like Super Albacore or San Diego Rolls. But as much as possible we head to our local sushi joints for a meal.

Since  the place I get my nails done is in San Jose's Japantown (I go to the Sakura Nail Bar, a great place to get a mani-pedi), Mr. L and I have lots of places to choose from when it comes to Japanese food. We've also become fond of the little Japanese grocery store that's in the area. The Nijiya Market is barely bigger than my living room but it's packed full of all sorts of interesting items. I love going in and walking down each isle looking at the wonderful fresh sashimi, strange shaped vegetables, fresh noodles and boxed goods. I could get lost in the candy isle since the boxes they are packaged in have such vibrant colors and cool designs.

Our last trip to the market resulted in our buying a little carton of fresh quail eggs. Since Mr. L had just had some Tobiko with Quail Egg for dinner we thought we might try to fry up some little eggs for the next days breakfast. We also picked up a package of 'beef prime short ribs karubi". I think the beef is normally put on skewers and grilled but it had great marbling and a sort of "steak and egg" breakfast came to mind.

Cracking open the quail eggs and getting them into the pan wasn't the easiest thing to accomplish. The first couple just kinda broke into the pan (which didn't bother me much since I like my eggs cooked over-hard anyway), but Mr. L wanted his eggs over easy. I ran to my computer and tried to find something online about frying up these little eggs but it seems most folks either hard boil or poach them (which I want to try sometime). I did read that if you used a sharp heavy knife and gave the little eggs a quick whack in the middle, it might help open them a bit better and it seemed to work okay when Mr. L tried this. As you can see by the photo he was able to perfect his "over-easy" technique. The eggs tasted great...they were so tiny and cute on the plate. I think of them like little silver dollar pancakes, little disks you just put in your mouth hole. I envision a breakfast at some point with quail eggs, silver dollar pancakes, tiny english muffins, a mini-muffin tin sized serving of hash browns and...well...do they even make tiny bacon????

The quail eggs and the wonderful Karubi (the meat was very tender) made for an interesting and tasty weekend breakfast!