Skirt Steak and Broccoli Rabe

I really like Skirt Steaks. My brother-in-law Tommy got me into them years ago but I don't make them that often. They tend to be fatty but the fat is visible and easy to trim. Steve didn't think he liked them so I shied away for them for a long time. Since I've been in the spirit of getting "The Boss" to try more things I like I decided to give them a shot. To my surprise, he actually approved of them. I love when I am able to get him to try (and like) new things. We have both been able to do this for each other. Steve got me into Sushi, Guacamole and Egg Drop soup! The soup is actually a funny/cute story. On one of our first few dates Steve and I decided to do Chinese Take-Out and a movie. When Steve took out the menu for his favorite Chinese Restaurant he went right to the Egg Drop - Wonton Mix soup and said that we have to get this because it's so good. I never had Egg Drop soup. One of my coworkers used to call it Phlegm Drop Soup and that's all I could think of. "Do you like that?" he asked. "Yes, yes, it's fine." I told him. I didn't want to seem like I was difficult. When the food came I was hesitant to try it but didn't let him know. So, I tasted it and LOVED it! From that moment on it's been my favorite thing to order at a Chinese Restaurant. I'll never order plain Wonton Soup again! Sometimes I'll even get just plain egg drop!

Wow, I certainly went off topic. Anyway, I came up with this marinade after looking at a few marinade recipes in my Weber cookbook. None of them jumped out at me so I used some of their ideas in combination with what I had in my pantry and spice cabinet. I was very happy with the result. It was a little on the salty side so don't add any salt to this at all. Marinate the steaks for an hour or longer. I have a nifty marinator from Tupperware that can be flipped over without leaking. It's great for steaks. A good tip whenever you are using a thick saucy marinade is to pat the meat dry before you grill it, especially if you are using a grill pan like I did. This prevents the sauce from burning and causing smoke which will set off the smoke alarm. Yes, I am talking from experience. It happens to the best of us, right? So besides the marinade there really isn't a recipe because we all like our steaks cooked differently. I cooked these for about 8 minutes on each side and they were nice and red in the center. Leftovers are great for fajitas the next day (as long as you don't overcook them on day one)!


Marinade

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp cumin
t tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp terriyaki sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp honey

Bakespace Challenge 3 - French Onion Salisbury Steak

It looks like we have a new favorite salisbury steak recipe!!!

Things worked out very well for me and challenge number 3. The idea was to find a recipe that was popular the year you were born or around the year you were born. I looked it up on the internet and I found that Nouveau cuisine was popular. Not something I was too keen on recreating. Then I found a website that mentioned meatloaf and I started to think about some American dishes my mom made when I was growing up in the 80's. Salisbury steak was one that popped up in my mind. It was great for us kids because it was like eating a hamburger with gravy and it was easy for my mom to make when she came home from work. The recipe I found is very different from the traditional salisbury steak I've made or my mom has made. I found it while looking through some old cooking magazines. This is from the April 2005 edition of Cuisine at Home. Great magazine by the way. I should probably renew my subscription.

French Onion Salisbury Steak

Makes 4 Steaks; Total Time: 45 Minutes

1 1/4 lb. ground chuck
1/4 c. fresh minced parsley
2 TBS. scallion, minced
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 TBS. all-purpose flour
2 TBS. olive oil
2 cups onions, sliced
1 tsp. sugar
1 TBS. garlic, minced
1 TBS. tomato paste
2 cups beef broth
1/4 cup dry red wine
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
4 tsp. minced, fresh parsley
4 tsp. Parmesan cheese, shredded

Cheese Toasts
4 slices French bread or baguette, cut diagonally (1/2" thick)
2 TBS. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp. garlic, minced
Pinch of paprika
1/4 cup Swiss cheese, grated
1 TBS. Parmesan cheese, grated

Combine chuck, parsley, scallion, salt and pepper. Divide evenly into 4 portions and shape each into 3/4"-1" thick oval patties. Place 2 TBS. flour in a shallow dish; dredge each patty in flour. Reserve 1 tsp. flour.

Heat 1 TBS. oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add patties and saute 3 minutes on each side, or until browned. Remove from pan.

Add onions and sugar to pan; saute 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and tomato paste; saute 1 minute, or until paste begins to brown. Sprinkle onions with reserved flour; cook 1 minute. Stir in broth and wine, then add the salt and thyme.

Return meat to pan and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer 20 minutes.

Serve steaks on Cheese Toasts with onion soup ladled over. Garnish with parsley and Parmesan.

For the Cheese Toasts

Preheat oven to 400º F.

Place bread on baking sheet.

Combine butter, garlic and paprika and spread on one side of each slice of bread. Combine cheeses and sprinkle evenly over butter. Bake until bread is crisp and cheese is bubbly, 10-15 minutes.

This was the recipe as printed in the magazine. I made a few slight changes. I had to buy two packages of ground beef so that gave me a little over 1 1/2 pounds of meat and I got 5 patties out of it. The scallions at shoprite have been looking pretty funky lately so I substituted red onion. I don't think it changed the flavor at all though. The only other change I made was that I used shredded mozzarella instead of the swiss. I've had french onion soup with both types of cheese so either is good for me! Everything else I did the same and I was very happy with the results. Steve really liked it as well. There are only two slight changes I would make in the future. First I would drain the fat from the patties after they are browned. I usually do this with my ground beef but I thought that the flour would absorb more. Turned out to be a little more greasy than I would have liked. The other thing is that I would use half the amount of dried thyme. It is very strong and too much can be very overpowering. I had to add a little water to try to dilute that. Other than that this recipe was great and I would definitely recommend it!



I forgot to take a picture of the meat mixture so I took a picture of the patty instead.



Patties dredged in flour.



Patties in my favorite all clad pan. (I'm such a kitchen label whore! lol)



Sliced onions and tomato paste.



Broth and patties returned to the pan.



Voila! Doesn't that look yummy?

It's not too late to join in the latest bakespace challenge! I believe it runs until August 15th! If you don't want to do the challenge but you are curious about bakespace come check it out at www.bakespace.com. You will find me there in the forums!