Bursting with Potential

I guess there must just something about the color green. When I was young, I asked my mom to paint my room that color. I've always liked green shirts. I have a big green blanket that I snuggle under on the couch. Most people would say my eyes are green (although Mom likes to needle me by saying that the few yellow-brown specks around my pupils make them hazel). One of my favorite things about Florida is the year-round green landscape. My kitchen is painted green. And this is my second post featuring a steak with a green sauce. 

The first post featured a brilliantly bright green, spicy, garlicky sauce to be used in small, potent quantities. This green sauce, however, is a whole different animal. It's a beautiful deep green, herbal, with a smooth flavor that can complement so many things. It's a Chimichurri. 

Chimichurri is a popular condiment, most often associated with Argentina. There are as many recipes as there are people, but it is always heavy on the herbs and mixed with garlic, salt, pepper, and oil. Typically it is used on grilled meats, which is how I paired it the night I made it, but since then, I have been using the leftovers on scrambled eggs. (Yes, I had green eggs and ham for breakfast yesterday.) I think it would be great not just on steaks, but on chicken, pork, pizza, as a dipping sauce for great bread, or drizzled on fresh tomatoes. The herbal freshness is just perfect for a hot Florida summer. 

Chimichurri

1 cup parsley leaves (pack into the cup to measure)

1/4 c shallot, very finely minced

4 medium garlic cloves, peeled

1/2 C olive oil

1/4 C red wine vinegar

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

2 Tb water

Place parsley and garlic in a food processor and process until finely minced, stopping as needed to scrape down the bowl. (You can also do this by hand. Just mince them together as finely as possible.) Remove from the food processor and whisk in the oil, vinegar, shallots, salt, and pepper. Thin with up to 2 Tb water as you see fit. Taste, adjust seasoning to your liking, and serve. 

Note: All of the pictures in this blog blow up to a larger size if you click on them. If you happen to do this with the photo in this post, you may notice a book in the corner of the photo. Lest you get the wrong idea about this household from the title, let me explain that is called "Porn for Women", and is a book of postcards featuring shirtless men doing things like vacuuming, ironing, and buying chocolate. Next time, I will check the photo more closely for unwanted props before diving in for dinner. 

Steak Mmmmm's

Happy Friday! 

I actually made this yesterday, but you'll forgive for not posting right after dinner, won't you? There was a lovely glass of wine that just begged me to keep it company, and then I had a date with Gil Grissom. 

The first time I made this dish was actually in January of this year, for a wine and tapas party that we hosted for friends. I followed the recipe, one of Emeril Lagasse's, exactly, and I must say it turned out wonderfully, and all of our guests enjoyed it. I'm not typically an enormous Emeril fan; the few recipes that I have tried have worked well, but I don't like that many include his branded seasoning. I'm sure it's delicious, but I prefer to work out my own. 

This time I took a few more liberties with the dish, and it turned out well. Less fancy than the original, fewer subtle touches, but for a meaty dinner on a weeknight, it's quick, easy, and incredibly flavorful. The original recipe called for a multi-ingredient overnight marinade, with ruby port as the main star. For my stripped-down version, I used balsamic vinegar. It still provided that added tang and sweetness, but at a fraction of the price. (This is not the time for that gorgeous thick nectar from Italy!) A simple medium-grade vinegar will do nicely. I just rubbed it into both sides of the steak and seasoned very well with sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper, and let it come to room temperature. The vinegar did a great job flavoring and created a nice little crust under the broiler, and the meat came out rare and tender. 

That gorgeously radioactive shade of green is the real breakout star of this dish, and of course I've waited to mention it until now. Did you think this was just about a little flank steak? The sauce is a lively blend of parsley, garlic, jalapeno, bell pepper, oil, and vinegar. I played with the proportions a bit this time around, as we are big garlic fans in this household. If you're not quite as enthralled with it as we are, start with a smaller amount, taste, and add until you reach a balance of flavor that you enjoy. Be conservative with the sauce; it's so delicious and fresh you'll immediately be thinking up other things to put it on, but it's powerful too, and you don't want to mask the flavor of that lovely rare steak, do you? 

Balsamic Flank Steak with Parsley Sauce

adapted from Emeril Lagasse

1 Flank steak, approx 1 1/2 lbs

4 Tb Balsamic vinegar

Salt 

Freshly cracked black pepper

Trim flank steak of any excess fat or silverskin. Drizzle 2 Tb of vinegar on one side, rub in, and season thoroughly with salt and pepper. Repeat on the other side, cover steak with plastic, and allow to come to room temperature. When the steak has come to room temperature, place it on a broiler pan and slide under the broiler. Keep a close eye, this is a thin piece of meat. I let this one have 3 minutes per side for rare, then removed it from the broiler and rested it for 10 minutes. If you do not let your steak come to room temperature, expect to add a few minutes per side of broiling time. After resting, slice the steak very thinly against the grain; this is the key to really tender flank steak. 

Parsley Sauce:

1 Tsp cumin seeds, toasted and crushed

1 C parsley, roughly chopped

2/3 C green bell pepper,  diced

1 1/2 Tb seeded jalapeno, diced

3 Tb garlic, chopped

1 Tsp Kosher salt

1/2 C extra virgin olive oil

3 Tb red wine vinegar

Toss the cumin, parsley, bell pepper, jalapeno, garlic, and salt into a blender, food processor, or stick blender cup. Pulse a few times to get it started, then puree on high speed until smooth. Gradually add in the oil and vinegar with the machine running, and process until well blended. Check for seasoning. 

We served this steak with some simply roasted cauliflower.