Flank Steak

I've never made a flank steak before, but I was pretty happy with the way this one turned out. Flank is a pretty tough cut that needs to be marinated, cooked rare and thinly sliced.

I marinated mine in:

• 1c red wine
• 3 crushed garlic cloves
• 1/4 c balsamic vinegar
• shake of worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbs fresh rosemary

I left it all day and turned it once.

Then I fired up the grill and let it heat up until it was really hot. The steak only needed about 4 mins on each side. I definitely could have sliced it more thinly, but I was a happy camper.

Game Day Steak

My husband and I are avid Ice Hockey fans and it was an important game on the weekend. We decided it was necessary to eat a Man-Sized Steak.

We got a couple of strip steaks and cooked them using the Gordon Ramsay method:

This method produces really yummy steaks. We season it really, really well.

To go with it, we boiled some whole potatoes and then cut them up once they were cooked. We then sauteed them over high heat in some butter and olive oil. A sprig on rosemary is delish here!We prepare these before we start the steak as the steak doesn't take very long.

After the steak was done and was resting, I threw some asparagus, olive oil and salt and pepper into the still-hot pan. Once they were almost done, I squeezed some lemon juice onto them. Yum!

Ribs

OK. So that is supposed to be a really appealing pic of some ribs. They were really good (if I do say so myself). I did deviate from my usual recipe, but it was still yummily/sticklily good.

Ribz:

2-3 racks of pork ribs - back or side is ok.
1 bottle of beer or water

The Rub

• 1/8c ground cumin
• 1/8c garam masala
• 1/4c paprika
• 1/4c brown sugar
• 1T+ salt
• 2T black pepper (ground)

Mix together and rub (literally) into the ribs with your hands. This will be enough for both sides of 2-3 racks (depending on their size).

Now put the ribs into a baking dish and pour the beer/water in. Cover well and seal with foil and put into a 350F oven for 2 hours. 

The Sauce

I tend to wing this, tasting as I go. Here are my basic ratios and ingredients

• 1c ketchup
• 1/4c brown sugar
• 1/4c+ balsamic vinegar
• 1/4c soy sauce
• 1/8c Worcestershire sauce

That's my basic. Now you can add any/all of the following

• garlic
• grated ginger
• hot sauce
• 2-3 lemon slices

Bring to the boil, stirring. That's it.

Now brush this stuff over your tender ribs and either grill or whack them back into the oven until the sauce is cooked on. Serve with extra sauce on the side and a lot of paper towels!

My Best-Yet Chili

We went to a Chili cook-off last weekend and it was inspiring! And the result was probably the best Chili I have ever concocted!

Here's what I did:

Sauteed 2 onions and 6 cloves of garlic. Added 2 lbs (yes, it was a lot) of ground beef and chopped it around in the pot so it broke up. Once that was cooked, I added 1 canned chipotle or adobe pepper(can't remember - the can is long gone), about 1/4 cups paprika, 2 T Cumin, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 T oregano. I then cooked off the spices until they were super fragrant.

I added 2 large tins of San Marzano Tomatoes, about half a box of chicken broth (it was too thick) and then simmered it for an hour. At that point I added a drained tin each of Red Kidney beans and Black Eyed Peas. Simmered another hour, adding more stock when necessary. I then tasted it and added some salt and pepper.

The last step was to dump in about 3 cups (this was a LOT of chili) of frozen corn kernels and brought it back to the boil, by which time the corn was done!

I was out of cornmeal, so I just served it with sour cream, cilantro, lime and cheese. Yum!

Rosemary Garlic Roasted Pork Loin with Puy Lentils and Braised Red Cabbage

AKA: Possibly the most delicious meal I have ever cooked.

There. I've said it. I think that Saturday's meal was right up there. I don't know why it turned out so amazingly well - was is the pork itself? The creamy, dreamy gravy/pan sauce? The meltingly tender red cabbage with a kick of vinegar? The earthy lentils that Emmett ate 3 servings of? I dunno, but it was pretty darn good. Sorry, no humility here.

It was a bit involved but soooooo worth it. Reckon on it taking about 2 hours (though you can leave it alone for most of this time).


For the Pork Roast:
Preheat your oven to 450F

• 2kg pork loin roast. In Canada they don't sell it with the skin on. If you're lucky enough to live somewhere where they do, score the skin, rub it with oil and salt and it will turn in to a great crackling (if it's a bit flabby at the end of the cooking, re-crank the oven to 450F for about 10 mins to crackle it up)
• 4-6 cloves of garlic. I used 2 ginormo hardneck ones.
• 1 large sprig fresh Rosemary
• Salt and Pepper
• Zest of a lemon
• 1-2 cups crimini/portabellini mushrooms (the brown ones)

Take your garlic, chopped rosemary and zest and put it in a mortar and pestle and pound it. 

I don't know why I took a photo of it. Maybe it's because I love my huge mortar and pestle sooo much.

Now stick it in a bowl,add a good grind of pepper, quite a bit of salt and drizzle some olive oil in there to make a nice paste-y mess. Put a bit more oil in the bottom of a dish (you want it to fit the roast fairly well) and plonk your roast in there. Now rub that garlicky goodness all over it. If there are any cracks and crevices, make sure you fill those babies up. Then put it in the oven.

After 30 mins, turn the oven down to 350F. After another 30 mins - 1 hour total cooking time so far - chop up some mushrooms and put them in the dish around the roast. Around this time, start thinking about he lentils and cabbage. If it's dry on the bottom of the dish (probably won't be) add a cup of water. Once the roast has cooked for about 1.75 hrs, start taking its temperature. You want the internal reading to be 70 degrees Celsius. Mine took just over 2 hrs. Once it reaches that, take it out of the oven, tent it with foil and let it rest while you prepare the pan sauce.

The Pan Sauce
Once the meat is cooked, there will be some lovely liquid/mushrooms in the bottom of the dish. If your dish is metal, put it right on the burner for this next part. If it's not (mine wasn't), then scrape all the juices and the yummy brown-y bits into a frying pan. Now add a glug of booze. I used red wine. Marsala would have been my first choice. Anything will be fine. If you're using the metal pan, you'll then scrape the really caramel bits of the bottom of the dish (deglazing the pan). Now stick your  finger in there and taste the juices and assess what it needs. Mine tasted amazing and didn't need anything. Yours probably won't either because of the rub. Now put in about 1 cup of whipping/heavy cream and bring to the boil. You'll boil it a bit to reduce it/thicken it. That's it. Done.

The Lentils

• 1 cup Puy Lentils. These are the iny dark green lentils, not the regular green lentils. These don't fall apart when you cook them. They are sometimes called French Lentils.
• Chicken Stock - I used a tetra pack of organic stuff. Real homemade stock would be even better.
• an onion, chopped
• 2 diced carrots
• Worcestershire Sauce

Fry your onion and carrots in some olive oil until they start to soften. Add your lentils and about 2 cups of the stock. Season with salt and pepper, bearing in mind that commercial stock is quite salty. Bring to the boil and then simmer until the lentils are tender. If it looks too dry, add more liquid, but the aim to to get the lentils to absorb most of the stock. At some point (doesn't matter) shake in some Worcestershire Sauce. If you did add too much liquid, you can drain the lentils (that stock can be added to the pan sauce in moderation). But if you don't add enough you'll burn your lentils. Once they are cooked, you can put them aside and easily reheat them.

Braised Red Cabbage

This dish is a family fave of Peter's. It's a German-y kinda thang. I can't tell you how many times I ate this kind of dish in Germany. It was usually totally oversalted, so don't be too authentic!!

• 1/2 a red cabbage, shredded as finely as possible. I'm bad at this, so mine isn't very fine - it just takes longer to cook
• Red Wine Vinegar
• Caraway Seeds

Put the cabbage, 1/2 cup water and a good glug of vinegar in a pot with some salt and pepper. Bring it to a simmer and put a lid on it. Check periodically to make sure there is still some liquid in the pan. Taste the cabbage as you go to see what the vinegar balance is like. You want it a bit tangy but not like pickles! When you're almost done, add about 1 tsp of caraway seeds. The cabbage should be uber-tender and lightly tangy. Oh, and bright purple.

Serving the beast

OK. I know that was long. But it's not hard in reality.

On each plate, put a pile of lentils and then some red cabbage. Carve off a few slices of meat and arrange artistically on the top and then put a generous amount of the pan sauce and mushrooms on and around it.

This is the kind of dish that could woo a Mother-in-Law. Try it.

Pot Roast with Kale and Garlicky Sweet Potato Mash

Pot Roast. It's not something I grew up with (given that my parents were vegetarian!) but now I love it. I was particularly happy with the one I made the other night, especially as I didn't have any fancy ingredients (like homemade stock). We loved it and so did our kids. Plus I was happy because there are lots of veggies in there and because they are cooked in the one pot and not drained, we're not losing any nutrients.

Here's what you'll need:

• A pot roast. I used a Bottom Blade Roast, but any will do. Mine was about 3lbs, but it doesn't matter. This is a freewheelin' kinda recipe
• Celery - half a bunch, chopped (bunch? What do you call a celery plant?)
• Carrots - I used about 4 large ones, diced
• Onions - 2-3 chopped
• Garlic - As much as you want. I happened to have some lovely local hardneck stuff and the cloves are huge. I used 4 cloves, chopped
• Kale
• Mushrooms - about 2 cups, chopped
• Flavourings - I used Worcestershire Sauce, Soy Sauce and (don't freak out) anchovy paste. You could use:
• Wine
• Stock
• Apple Juice
• Bouillon Cube if desperate (not recommended)
• Soy
• Miso
• Vegemite or Marmite
• Anything else tasty and liquid (or something that will dissolve)
• Herbs - I used a sprig of rosemary, but bay, thyme or something else robust would be fine
• Sweet Potatoes - 3
• Regular Potatoes - 4ish
• More Garlic for the mash

Take your hunk-a meat and season it well on all sides with salt and pepper. Heat some oil in a large pot (I used a dutch oven) and brown it well on all sides. This will take about 5 mins per side, at least. Remember that browning = flavour. Take the meat out and put it somewhere to hang out while you do the rest (something with sides because it will drip juices).

Then put your onions, carrot and celery in the pot and cook over medium until soft. Add your garlic at the end.  Now you'll add your liquid. Put some wine, water or whatever you're using in the pan and scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Now put your mushrooms in and add back the meat and any juices that collected. Top up the liquid to almost cover the meat. Now I added a good slurp of soy sauce, Worcestershire and about 4 Tbs of anchovy paste. I know that sounds scary but it doesn't taste fishy at all. You won't know it's there, I promise (except that the finished dish will taste amazing). Now add your herbs.

Now put it over low heat and let it just simmer (no boiling!) for a few hours. Reckon on it taking about 3 hours. Turn the roast over ever hour or so. When the meat is almost ready (it's ready when you can pull it apart with a fork) add your chopped kale and taste the juice and correct the seasoning. Keep simmering until the kale is very tender.

After you add the kale, bring a pan of water to the boil and put in your peeled and chopped (big chunks) potato, sweet potato and peeled whole cloves of garlic. When they are tender, drain and mash and then add some butter (be generous) and some milk or cream. Season with salt and pepper.

Now take your tender meat out of the pot and slice it on the diagonal. Put a mound of mash on the plate and a few pieces of meat. Now spoon some veggies and lots of the yummy juices over the top.