Orange Flank Steak

I love flank steak! It's a great cut for quick grilling or even slow braising. My Mother cooks a terrific stuffed flank steak. It's one of my go-to meats. You know, you have 30 minutes before having to run out and take the kids to softball practice or marching band and you need to throw something together in a hurry. Here is a favorite recipe that you start marinating before you leave for work and it can be quickly grilled or broiled in 15 minutes after work.

Marinade:

• Zest of one orange
• Juice of one orange
• 1/2 cup of orange juice concentrate
• 1/2 tsp of crushed oregano
• 1/8 cup of a mild vinegar, like rice wine or white wine vinegar
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• Several turns of black pepper

Whisk together all the ingredients and pour over a 1 1/2 lb flank steak in a Ziploc bag, try and remove as much air as possible. A vacuum system, like FoodSaver also works well for marinating. Place it in the fridge and head out for the day. If you are home, turn the bag over a couple of times. Once you get home from work, turn it over while it's still in the fridge, since it might be a while until you prepare it anyway.

Cook:

• Preheat the oven to 275F.
• Remove the flank steak from the marinade and rinse the surface marinade off, especially if you are grilling. The marinade will burn on a high heat. Pat dry.
• Set it in the oven for 15-20 minutes. This is to raise the temperature of the meat from the fridge. I know many folks just let it sit on the counter for 30 minutes or so, but a suggestion from America's Test Kitchen had me try this. After 30 minutes on the counter a flank steak goes from about 40F to 50F, not really enough to help avoid overcooking the outside while the inside is still cold. In the 275F oven the steak quickly goes from 40 to about nearer to room temperature and you get a much better sear.
• While the meat is in the oven, reduce the marinade to about 1/2 it's original volume, simmering over medium heat.
• Preheat a grill pan, preferably one with raised lines for good frill marks. I like a cast iron one for heat retention.
• Remove the steak from the oven and lay it on the hot grill. Cook for about 7 minutes on each side. Check the internal temp and you should be about 130F.
• Remove and let rest for several minutes under some aluminum foil.
• Add a tablespoon of butter to the marinade and whisk in. This gives it a creaminess and helps to thicken it.
• Get the side dishes ready, I usually like some mashed potatoes or basmati rice and a veg.
• Once everything is ready, slice the meat into no more than 1/4 inch slices going against the grain. You should also slice it on the bias to give each piece more of the seared exterior.
• Arrange the slices on a platter and either top with some of the reduced marinade or serve the marinade on the side.
  

Thanksgiving leftovers

So tired of turkey yet? Which is one reason we tend to have a ham at Christmas. But the annual question is what to do with the leftovers form Thanksgiving dinner. This year we had a pretty significant amount of turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing.

Of course the obvious is turkey sandwiches, which is an old standby. Turkey, mayo, salt, and pepper on potato bread is a classic for good reasons! A Hot Turkey Shot (an open-faced sandwich of bread, Mashed Potatoes or Stuffing, with Turkey and then gravy served hot) is another!

After a couple of days the desire for Turkey wanes as you consider options. Now last year I did a turkey hash that wasn't bad, but I need to dig up that recipe again. This year went with a turkey salad that even my granddaughter -- the ultimate of picky eaters -- liked. I did have to hold the onions until I made her sandwich. A little thyme when a long way to give this a distinctive taste.

Ingredients

• Turkey! White or dark meat, it really doesn't matter. I prefer a mix, but for some reason the white meat tends to get eaten on sandwiches first. Cut it up pretty small.
• 1 small onion diced fine.
• 2 celery stalks, also diced fine.
• Several sprigs of fresh thyme, very finely chopped.
• A bunch of cherry or grape tomatoes halved or quartered, or an avocado diced
• Mayo, about a cup. The amount really depends on the amount of turkey.
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

• toss the turkey, onion, celery, grapes/avocado, and thyme in a large bowl. Add a couple of tablespoons of mayo and mix well. Add more mayo until you get it coated. Do this in steps because it's easy to add more, hard to take it out.
• Taste and add salt and pepper if needed

Yes, it's simple, but pretty flexible. I have found that tomatoes along with the avocado tends to bring a bit too much moisture to the party. Other ingredients included in the past are sun-dried tomatoes, julienned carrots, sliced radishes, shredded lettuce, and even slipped in the occasional jalapeno. Some of what goes in depends on what you have handy in the house. I have also made it without the tomatoes or avocado, but I like the butterness of the avocado or the acidity of the tomatoes with the turkey.

While it makes great sandwiches or wraps, you can also serve it on a small salad bed of arugula, which adds a nice bitterness. Or on endive leaves as some finger food.

Thanksgiving -- Success for the most part!

This year my wife had a number of other things to do -- all involved with her jewelry business and opening a flower shop next month. So guess who had to handle cooking Thanksgiving dinner? Yup, me! The good news is everyone survived! The bad news? Well there wasn't any, not really, although one recipe wasn't as well received as I would have liked, but brining the turkey and the changes to the stuffing went well. Here are the recipes, if you are interested. The menu was turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans almondine, fresh Tuscan bread, glazed carrots, and salad. Oh and we can't forget my granddaughters favorite nibble, large black olives. She likes to put them on her fingers and wave at Aunt Jen. Yes, she's all of 6 so it's cute. Now if she it still doing it as 16, we might need to talk.

Turkey Brine:

• 16 cups of water
• 1 cup of kosher salt
• 16 oz of chicken stock
• A good handful of cracked black peppercorns (give peppercorn a crack with a rolling pin or meat mallet. Don't crush, just crack them.
• Two cinnamon sticks

Preparation and brining:

• Boil the water and add the salt.
• Once the salt is dissolved, add the other ingredients and let steep for 10-15 minutes. Don't boil, just keep a low flame under it and the water will absorbe some of the flavors from the other ingredients. I plan on looking for some more interesting recipes for Brine for next year.
• Pour into a large bowl, add about an equal amount of ice to cool it down quickly. It must be cool, preferably cold, when it hits the bird. Warm or hot brine might actually start cooking the turkey.
• Clean the turkey and remove the giblets, neck and other pieces and parts.
• Prep a large container, either a brining bag or even a bucket.
• Place the bird in breast side down and add the brine to cover the bird
• If you need more liquid, dissolve more salt into water and add. If you don't add more salt, the solution may not be salty enough, depending on how much liquid you need to add.
• Brine for 4-6 hours before cooking in the fridge or a cooler packed with ice. You can brine for longer, but remember to keep it below 40 degrees. I prefer the fridge. If you are going to brine overnight, turn the bird once in a while.

Now to cook the bird:

• Pre-heat oven to 350.
• Remove the bird from the brine and rinse completely.
• Stuff the front and rear cavities loosely if desired.
• If not stuffing, place a quartered apple, a quartered onion, several sprigs or thyme and rosemary. This helps keep it moist and adds aromatics.
• Tuck the wings under the body and place in a roasting pan. A raised rack helps as well, but I haven't noticed much difference in the turkey, just in getting it out of the pan.
• Coat the skin in vegetable oil, then salt and pepper the outside.
• Cook for 2 1/2 hours. About each 30 minutes baste with liquid from the bottom of the roasting pan, or melted butter.
• It's done when the breast is at 160F. I also check the stuffing and want to make sure it reaches 150F.
• Let rest for 20 minutes before removing the stuffing and slicing. Carryover raises the breast to about 180F and the stuffing to 165F.

I actually had two problems.

• Even after nearly 80 hours in the fridge, my bird was still frozen. I couldn't remove the plastic bag with the giblets or even get to the neck. I ended up setting the bird in the sink, covered in cold water for an hour (changing the water ever 15 minutes) to get it defrosted enough. It did cut an hour off the brining time, but the bird still came out incredibly moist.
  
• The brining bag was way to big for my 13 lb bird and I ended up doing to innovative knotwork to tie up the bottom corners with the top of the bag. if not, I would have needed to quadruple my brining solution. I might try a bucket next year.

OK, that was the turkey and much to my surprise, even the refrigerated leftovers were still moist today. As you can guess, you know what I had for lunch? A turkey sandwich -- just turkey, mayo, salt and pepper!

While the bird was brining, I whipped up the stuffing. I used some of it in the bird, and cooked the rest while the turkey was resting. Then, as a cheat, I mix the stuffing from the bird with the baked stuffing and it all ends up tasting like it had cooked in the bird.

Stuffing ingredients:

• 1 Large onion, small dice
• 2 large celery stalks, small dice
• 1 large Granny Smith apple, small dice
• Several rosemary sprigs, stripped off the hard stalks and finely chopped
• A handful of flat leaf parsley finely chopped
• One stick of unsalted butter, melted
• 1 bag of herbed Pettridge Farm Stuffing
• 1 cup of chicken stock

Prep and cooking the Stuffing:

• Mix all the ingredients -- EXCEPT for the stock -- and reserve until you stuff the bird
• After stuffing the bird loosely, place the rest of the mixture in a baking dish, 1 1/2 quart is usually perfect.
• Add 1 cup of chicken stock, cover and place in the fridge.
• Once the bird comes out, put the baking dish in a 400F oven uncovered.
• If the top browns to much before it's hot enough, cover.
• Once it's done. mix with the stuffing removed from the bird. I check the temp, looking for 155F. It usually sits covered for 5-10 minutes so carryover works there as well.

I liked it, as did most everyone at dinner. My wife suggested a sweeter apple, so I might try that next time.

Giada DeLaurentis inspired Mashed Potatoes:
I caught most of this recipe on the food channel show on Thanksgiving. It looked interesting, so I figured why not! I liked it, but thought one ingredient was a bit overwhelming, so I made a few small changes.

Mashed potato ingredients:

• 4 lbs Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 cup of mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 ounces of prosciutto, diced, with fat rendered.
• A handful of Italian flat leaf parsley, finely chopped.
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup of Panko breadcrumbs
  

Preparation and cooking:

• Boil the potatoes in heavily salted water, about 15-20 minutes, until a fork slips in easily.
• Drain and then return the potatoes to the hot pan. Stir around for a few minutes. This helps get rid of any lingering moisture.
• Mash while adding the butter and milk.
• Once smooth, add the prosciutto, mozzarella, Parmesan, and parsley.
• Place in a baking dish, 2 1/2 quart worked well.
  
• Cover with the Panko breadcrumbs
• Once the turkey is done, you can pop this in the oven for 20 minutes, uncovered at 400F. This can go in at the same time as the stuffing.
• It's done once it's hot and the topping is nicely brown.

The original recipe called for more prosciutto and Parmesan, but we found then to be a bit overwhelming, especially the Parmesan. leftovers made great potato pancakes with the addition of beaten eggs.

Glazed Baby Carrots:

• Steam a couple of cups of baby carrots until just about done. They should have softened slightly, but not too soft.
• The carrots can also be set aside until the turkey is resting.
  
• Add a tablespoon of butter in a saute pan along with 1/4 cup of light brown sugar.
• Once the brown sugar has dissolved in the butter, add the carrots.
• Toss until thoroughly coated and heated all the way through.
• Top in the serving bowl with some chopped Italian flat leaf parsley.

A pretty easy side dish. The glaze is simply sweet and goes well with the carrots. My final recipe is actually the simplest of all.

Green Beans Almodine (which is a fancy way of saying green beans with sliced almonds):

• About 1 1/2 lbs of green beans
• Sliced almonds
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Prep and cooking the green beans:

• Trim the ends of the beans, remove any strings.
• If they are large and thick beans, you need to blanch them (place in boiling for 2-3 minutes and then shock them with ice water to stop the cooking and retain the green color. If they are thin (less than 1/2 inch thick), you do not need to blanch them.
• Toss in a bowl with olive oil and salt
  
• You can cover them in plastic wrap and hold them for several hours in the fridge.
• Once the turkey is resting, heat up a little olive oil in a saute pan on med-high.
• Saute the green beans until heated. They can show a little color, but not too much.
• Place in a serving bowl and top with a handful of sliced almonds.

As you can see it's one of the easiest recipes. I usually save this for last. They are best fresh from the pan. Hot, still have a snap to them, great taste. The almonds add a compliment rather than taking things over. I've tried walnuts in the past, but the flavors didn't work for me. Pecan's weren't bad. Blanched pastachios are an option I want to try ever since I saw a chef on Top Chef blanch them. I had never thought to blanch them before. Anyone know how they go with green beans?

Weekend cooking plans -- Flat Iron Steak

I think a Flat Iron streak is a great idea for tomorrow. If the weather doesn't let me grill outdoors, I have a nice cast iron stovetop grill -- as long as I don't smoke up the house to bad.

Ingredients

• 2 lb Flat Iron steak. If you haven't tried this cut, you should. It's from the chuck, very flavorful, quick cooking.
• Salt and pepper
• Garlic salt

Preparation

• Pull the steak out of the package, my meat counter has them hermetically sealed.
• Rinse, dry and salt and pepper.
• Let sit for about 30 minutes under plastic. This lets the salt work and raises the temperature of the meat. I hate putting ice cold meat on the grill.
• Heat up the grill, medium-high heat on either the grill or stovetop griddle.
• Hit it with some garlic salt. I know this sounds like a lot of salt, but the first salting does little for flavor and more for the surface texture of the meat.
  
• Cook approximately 6-8 minutes per side to an internal temp of 130F. The exact cooking time is based on the thickness of the steak.
• Rest under foil for 15 - 20 minutes.

Slice in 1/4 inch slices across the grain to serve.

This goes incredible with a loaf of fresh bread, some sauteed onions and corn on the cob, in season. This time of year I think the onions and bread will work, maybe with a salad.

As leftovers, those rare occasions when there are leftovers. Cold thin slices on a salad make a great lunch!

Not sure what I want to do on Sunday. Might need to wander through the meat department and see what strikes my fancy.

Potato Lasagna

I am always looking ways to work on side dishes, especially potatoes and other starches. Here is one I haven't made in a while, but I am thinking of doing it for Thanksgiving. Actually since my wife has another project for Turkeyday morning, I get to do the whole dinner!

Ingredients

• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled ·
• 2 large Idaho baking potatoes, peeled ·
• 2 large red skinned potatoes, skin on ·
• 1/2 cup olive oil, in a bottle, for drizzling. or to taste ·
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped garlic ·
• 1 cup grated Cheddar cheese (preferably yellow) ·
• 1 cup shredded Mozzarella ·
• Salt and black pepper
  

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
   
2. Oil bottom of an 8x10-inch baking dish.
   
3. Using a vegetable slicer or very sharp knife, slice sweet potatoes as thin as possible.
   
4. Slice baking and red skin potatoes as you need them, to prevent browning.
   
5. Cover bottom of dish with a layer of Idaho potato slices, slightly overlapping.
   
6. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with garlic and cheeses and season with salt and pepper.
   
7. Top with sweet potatoes, then red skin potatoes, seasoning and sprinkling each layer.
   
8. Continue layers until all potatoes are used up, reserving enough cheese to fully cover top layer.
   
9. Cover with foil and bake until potatoes are fork tender. Remove and let sit before cutting.

I can't remember where I got this recipe, looks like something from the Food Network for some reason. In any event I plan on building it the night before so I'll let you know how it turns out.

Chicken breast braised in OJ

Wanted something quick for dinner, and I had a pack of chicken breasts in the frig. But the challenge is cooking large breasts and adding anything resembling flavor. So I swiped another technique I saw on America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Country.

• Pat dried three chicken breasts.
• Salt, pepper, thyme, and a little hot Hungarian paprika on each side.
• Heated up a little olive oil in a large frying pan (one with a lid).
• Browned each side of the three breasts for about 3 minutes per side.
• Added 2 cups of OJ and brought up to a simmer.
• Covered.
• Flipped the breasts after about 8 minutes.
• At 16 minutes checked the temp (165)
• Went another 2 minutes and temp at 170.
• Rested 10 minutes under aluminum foil while prepping the side dishes.

Came out moist, tender, with a slight orange tang and a touch of spice from the thyme and paprika. Good stuff!

I did want some carbs on the side, but still haven't picked up an onion to do basmati rice the way I like -- and tired of potatoes. So I tore up several flour tortillas, hit one side with a little olive oil and salt. Put on a cookie sheet until crisp (350F oven). Worked well. A touch of lime would have made it perfect. Maybe next time.

Chili and more Chili

One of my favorite dishes is Chili. Now I make two versions, depending on my audience. I have a mild -- well mild for me -- that most folks seems to like. The other has been nicknames 'Uranus Buster' and 'Chili from Hell'. Here is the recipe I got off of America's Test Kitchen and made a few tweaks. It's my mild recipe and I am planning to make it next weekend to take into the office for no special reason.

Ingredients

• 4 strips of bacon
• 2-3 lb chuck roast -- I like chuck because of the flavor and marbling. It's perfect for low and slow.
• One 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes.
• 1 can Chipotles in Adobo Sauce
• 1 medium Onion
• 4 Jalapenos
• 3 tsp Chili Powder
• 1 1/2 tsp of Cumin
• 1/2 tsp of Dried Oregano
• 4 gloves of garlic
• 4 cups of water
• 1 tbs of dark brown sugar
• Masa flour or corn starch for thickening
  

Prep work

• Cut Chuck Roast into 1 inch pieces. Make sure you remove any hard pieces of fat or very large fat deposits.
• Small dice the onion
• Core and seed the jalapenos, then finely dice.
• Seed the chipotles
• Run the tomatoes and chipotles with the adobo sauce together through the food processor until smooth.
  

OK, time to build your chili

• Cut the bacon into 1 inch pieces
• Crisp the bacon in a dutch oven, rendering all the fat.
• Remove the bacon to a paper-towel lined plate and the fat to a bowl.
• Add back a tablespoon of the fat
• Brown the meat in 2 or three batches, adding more bacon fat as necessary. It's critical for taste to brown. If you overcrowd the pan, the meat will just steam.
• Once the meat is done, set it aside
• Add another tablespoon of bacon fat and then the onion. Cook until softened.
• Add the jalapenos, cook until you can smell them
• Add chili powder, cumin, oregano, and garlic. By doing this in a relatively dry pan, you can bloom the spices and release the oils.
• When that is fragrant, add about a cup of water and de-glaze the pan (scrape up any bit from the bottom of the pan, those equal flavor!
• Add the rest of the water and the tomato/chipotle mixture
• Return the crisp bacon, beef and any drippings back to the pan.
• Also add the brown sugar
• Bring to a simmer and simmer covered for an hour.
• Then uncover and simmer for another 30 minutes. (Whether or not you need more depends on the meat. At this point it should be ready to fall apart. If it's still tough, give it another 15-30 minutes as an uncovered simmer.
• Toward the end of cooking (about 5 minutes before you are done), add 2 tablespoons of Masa Harina Flour, or 2 teaspoons of corn starch to a small bowl. I prefer Masa because of the corn taste.
• Mix in a small amount of cooking liquid and whisk together. This lets you add a thickener without getting any lumps.
• Mix into the simmering chili and cook for 5 more minutes. You should notice a thickening of the sauce.

That's it, a hearty, meaty chili prepped and cooked in about two hours. I have also done this in a crock pot and cooked on low for about 8 hours. The only thing to be careful of is getting all the goodness from the pan you brown the meat in! Next time I plan my hotter chili, I'll post the recipe. For a teaser it used Spicy Italian Sausage and habanero peppers!

One alternative to Masa or corn starch is crumbled up tortilla chips (corn variety) or corn muffin mix. I haven't tried the crushed tortilla chips, but it was in an episode of Good Eats and might be a fun change. I would watch the salt level on that one. With the corn muffin mix, mix 2 tablespoons in a bowl with a couple of ladle fulls of the cooking liquid to remove the lumps. Whisk until well blended, the microwave for 1 minute. Then stir this into your pot and simmer for another 5 or so minutes. You should see it thickening. I have tried the corn muffin mix and it worked well. Whatever you do, avoid corn meal. It's like sand and not in a good way.

One other note. I have found it's nearly impossible to know just how hot your jalapenos will be. I have had some as spicy as okra and others that I swear rivaled habaneros. So if you are worried about something being too spicy. Add two and see how the liquid tastes after about 30 minutes. You can add more then. If you wait too long, the jalapenos won't break down and add their goodness to the whole pot. That's not a bad thing, because the little bit of raw jalapeno can come across like a garnish.

As for additions. I usually don't add any. But I have used some chopped fresh onion, cilantro, cheese, and even sour cream. Usually one at a time. They can add a little something, but I find it isn't really needed. Crackers are a matter of choice, and I do prefer oyster crackers over saltines. They hold their shape where the saltines dissolve like glue.