Flank Attack

Following five long days of snow, ice and general debauchery in our charming city not used to adverse weather, we were tickled pink and over the moon to have a weekend of sunshine. Though I will say, snuggling under blankets while its painted white outside is quite enchanting. The once beautiful snow slowly began to melt and transformed itself into marvelous albeit manageable slush. Our street was not plowed, suited me fine, but come Friday morning I was trapped. My car was stuck in the ice that covered our driveway and our efforts proved fruitless. Talk about burning rubber. My now poor and balding tires.

After an exchange of some 'be mine' kicks for him and stunning flowers for me, Uber enabled us to venture out Friday evening to celebrate Valentine’s Day. A glorious time was had by us both never mind that sometime during dinner, we discovered that our waiter and Matthew both are not fans of sea urchin. Win some, lose some. Come Saturday, we enjoyed a movable feast of small plates with close friends at our favorite foodie spot in town. Our place has a handful of new features on the menu, which made for some very happy campers. Dinner turned into after hour libations next door followed by nachos for Africa circa midnight at ours. Sadly, they were all I could muster from our fridge worth eating in the wee hours. I served them up hot with shredded romaine, cheddar cheese, sour cream and jalapeños galore. They were delicious. Our bosom pal helped me eat them. See below. Geepers cats. Winter Storm Pax completely robbed me of self control.

Come Sunday, we knew a healthy meal and in turn, grill session was in the books never mind that Matthew had to pull out his duck boots and shovel as our back porch was quite under the weather. No pun intended. There is still a boatload on our deck serving as a reminder, to be precise. Once the snow was scooped, he fired up the grill and did his thing. Last week, I posted a recipe for a salad comprised of grilled green cabbage and an onion medley. Post Pax, these were the remains of the day in my kitchen (along with some other erroneous vegetables that needed eating) so we threw them on the grill again. Once nicely charred, I made a few adjustments to the original recipe and mixed with one chopped apple (skins on please), the juice of two limes, a tablespoon of sesame oil and a cup of chopped cilantro. The charred salad concoction goes wonderfully with most everything. In fact, the next time I make my pork carnitas; this will be included in the taco bar lineup. 

I let this combination sit while we grilled one pound of flank steak that marinated a pair of hours in a delectable concoction. The marinade lent some serious zing and in my book, made this meal. Use it to give life to pork tenderloin, beef or chicken. A pair of days prior, I also made a Green Goddess dressing to serve with two giant bags of greens I picked up before the blizzard. The recipe yielded a lot more than expected so this would fit the bill for lunch nicely. I love leftovers and recipe arriving soon. I brought a small pot to boil on the stove and threw in some brown rice. Once fluffed, I added some toasted sesame seeds to keep things interesting. In no time at all, we had everything pulled together for our respective plans of attack. Matthew requested warmed corn tortillas. Mexican for him and a Korean inspired bowl for me. Weather in our neck of the woods is to reach the 70s this week so fire up your grills and get cracking. We most certainly will.

Marinade of All Marinades 

Ingredients

1 lb flank steak

¼ cup of balsamic vinegar

¼ cup of soy sauce

¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil

1 TBS sesame oil

3 - 4 TBS honey

Juice of 1 lemon

3 cloves of garlic – finely chopped

2 inch knob of ginger – finely chopped

1 tsp star anise

1-2 tsp red pepper flakes

4 green onions – chopped

To Do

1. Mix everything in a small bowl. Now add the marinade to a big Ziploc bag along with the flank steak (or chicken, pork tenderloin, etc.) You can then put it in the fridge and let it sit overnight or for a few hours. We were restless so ours marinated for approximately two hours.

2. Fire up a grill, pull out the meat, discard of the remaining marinade and do your thing.

3. We cut the meat against the grain and as outlined, served said with this charred salad, brown rice with sesame seeds and tortillas. Lest we not forget the beloved Green Goddess dressing. A bit of this and a bit of that. We were both very satisfied, happy campers. Do your thing.