Karaage may be more popular than sushi in Japan and it’s slowly gaining popularity here in America. Japanese fried chicken (more…)
Month: May 2012
Flank Steak Recipe – Marinated, Grilled and DELICIOUS
It’s grilling season y’all!…well in the south its almost always grilling season, especially this past winter which was really no winter at all, but I digress. Yesterday we put the grill to good use by cooking up some flank steak and some squash ( yes, squash again. When I told you yesterday that there was a ton of squash at the farmers market I was not kidding).
The flank steak was marinated for two days in the fridge, which was overkill but we had a huge electrical storm roll through on the original day I was going to cook it. The extra day didn’t hurt it at all, but I wouldn’t go longer than that. You don’t want your meat to break down in the marinade before you cook it. Here’s the recipe:
Marinated Flank Steak
1 flank steak
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup canola ( or vegetable) oil
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Score the flank steak on both sides. Put all the other ingredients into a ziplock bag and mix. Put the flank steak into the bag. Seal and refrigerate for 4 to 8 hours.
Remove the flank steak from the fridge and get your grill going. Build the fire to one side of the grill creating a hot zone and a cool zone. Remove the flank steak from the marinade a pat the steak dry. Cook the flank steak on the cool side of the grill for about five miunites on each side. The time depends on how hot your grill is so just watch it so it doesn’t over cook. This will slowly bring your meat to the desired temperature. I like my flank steak cooked to medium, so when it gets close to medium I move it to the hot side of the grill, directly over the fire an let it brown for just a minute on each side.
I sliced the flank steak thin, made a quick guacamole and served it as an open faced little sandwich with some serrano pepper, cilantro, red onion and sour cream. The flank steak would be great in a lettuce wrap with white rice or as a taco with some slaw….I’m gettin’ hungry again just thinkin’ about it.
When the flank steak was done the fire was still roaring so why let it go to waste. I took some of the squash from the farmer’s market, sliced it about 1/3 inch thick, drizzled it with olive oil and seasoned it with salt, pepper and fresh thyme. Over direct heat it only takes a few minutes for it to soften and it was delicious.
Squashed
I love this simple vegetarian dish, I’m using patty pan squash ( I don’t know the specific varieties) that I bought from the farmers market this weekend. They were so beautiful that I almost couldn’t bring myself to cook them….actually I didn’t cook one of them, it’s just too pretty. When you make this, cut the squash so that you show off the beautiful flower shape.
Seared Patty Pan Squash Steaks
2 Patty Pan Squash (about 2 1/2 inches in diameter)
1 teaspoon of canola or olive oil ( I used canola oil for it’s mild flavor)
1 Tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Slice the squash into 1/3 inch steaks ( see the picture attached to this note for an example)
Coat the patty pan squash slices in oil and season with thyme, salt and pepper
Let this stand (or sit) at room temperature for about 5 minutes
Heat a frying pan over high heat…let the pan get really hot. Sear the patty pan squash slice quickly over high heat for about 1-2 minutes per side..until beautifully browned
“Krab”
I’m a sucker for “krab”. I love it. I love it in fake krab sushi, in krab salad with cucumber and carrot,spicy krab dip, as a krab appetizer stuffed into tiny tomatoes, krab and pasta, krab in coleslaw (that’s what’s in the picture over there krab with shredded cabbage, carrot, cucumber, sriracha, mayo, rice wine vinegar and sweetfish roe) ….KRAB I love it. Well, I only love one brand, the one from Sam’s Club. It’s a little dryer with a firm, flaky texture that I prefer to what I find in the regular grocery store. All of the other brands I’ve tried seem very mushy to me.
OK, it is a processed item, ground up fish meat and such, probably some MSG, and it doesn’t really taste like crab (crab is a miracle from God and can not be duplicated) but it is sweet and fishy and tasty.
That’s it really. I just wanted to tell you that I love Krab.
Thanks for listening