One Brisket, several meals

Apr 212012
 
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At the mere mention of brisket, my mouth waters. I do not buy it that often, but with the chill in the air this spring, I went shopping. You can’t buy a small amount of brisket. About the smallest size I could find was 5 lbs.  It is a lot of meat for the two of us, but it can be used in many different meals after being cooked. The tough cut of brisket requires it to be braised slowly, but it doesn’t mean that it is difficult to make or prep. I made this meal during the week and we sat down to eat together before baseball practice. I am constantly picking up and running to one function or another. I really understand how parents get caught in the drive thru or convenience food cycle, but here is a couple of ideas for meals that are unprocessed and cheaper then drive thru, not to mention we were able to sit down and have a meal together. It is something we make an effort to do everyday.

 

 

Start out with a 5 lb. trimmed piece of beef brisket in the slow-cooker in the morning before the run to the school bus.

 

 

Pretty simple ingredient list, but if you do not have mushrooms, no worries. Gabe and I ate all the mushrooms up before we ate anything while we were serving up our meat. Oops. Yum.
Onion, 1 thinly sliced
Garlic, 6 gloves
Tomato paste, 1 can
Beef bouillon powder, 1 tablespoon. I use Massel because I love the clean flavor.) Now for full disclosure, I work for Massel, but I work for them because I like their product a ton.)
Red wine

NOTE: The brisket will shrink quite a bit in size because it is so marbled. No worries.

 

 

Fill the wine up until the sides are covered with the wine. Cover and put on low for 8 hours. There is something sorta decadent about opening a bottle of wine at 7 in the morning, by the way.

 

When Gabe arrived home from school, I had veggies cut up for him to snack on while he is doing his homework at the kitchen table.  Cut up veggies are my son’s version of salad. I pulled the brisket out of the slow cooker and fished out the mushrooms. Yum. We devoured them all.  I poured all stuff left behind in a pitcher.  I start peeling potatoes and set them to boil. In fifteen minutes, the fat raised to the top of the pitcher, then I skimmed all that fat off.

 

 

Now for my favorite kitchen tool… my immersion blender a.k.a. the boat motor. Blend the de-greased gravy. Taste and adjust seasoning. This time, it needed a little fresh ground pepper. It is tasty just like this, but I added a surprise finish to this gravy. I used BLiS barrel aged fish sauce. Just a touch creates a perfect earthy unami tone to the sauce with no effort. Huge difference and is becoming one of my pantry must haves.

Then I drained and mashed the potatoes, sliced the brisket, and poured the gravy all over it. 10 minutes prep in the morning, 20 minutes prep in the evening and we had a fabulous meal before heading out for practice. We had dinner early, but my son did not fill up on junk and not eat his dinner later. I am trying not to eat close to bed time, so it has helped me as well. If Gabe is hungry after practice, he has an apple and is satisfied.  We have cut down on snacking a great deal. The next morning I placed heated up mashed potatoes and gravy in my son’s thermos for part of his lunch.

NOTE: My son is allergic to dairy, so I mash our potatoes with vegan butter and rice milk. It is the only kind of mashed potato that he can have and I have not missed the dairy, especially as I know that these potatoes have no cholesterol and fewer calories. I am trying to keep our meat servings at about 4 oz.

 

 

On our lazy Sunday morning, I roasted some sweet potatoes in the oven.  Sauteed sliced briskets with onion, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Tossed them together, you have one fabulous sweet potato hash. I topped mine with a poached egg and a couple squeezes of sriracha sauce with an endless cup of black coffee. Gabe had his two helpings straight up with a berry smoothie chaser. Now that is perfect Sunday morning.

 

 

We love taco night. No flour tortillas at our house. We like the small (4 in. diameter) corn ones. My son can’t have dairy, doesn’t like any cheese replacement, so he  goes cheese-less.

 

 

Brisket tacos…slice of avocado, cheese, onion, cilantro, and roasted chili salsa. Oh, yes, lots of lime.

Rethinking the way you use your leftovers or planning head of time what you will do with the extra food, you have less waste and you really stretch your food dollars. The average American household waste  $130-$175 a month on spoiled or discarded food.

Pull up a chair, Elizabeth

 

Pork Lover’s Tamale Pie

Apr 082012
 
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I try not to like Rachel Ray, but this tamale pie that I adapted from one of her recipes was fabulous. Rachel’s raspy chirp and kitsch phrases drive me a little crazy.  She is constantly praising how great her food is smelling, tasting, and looking.  Now that may be something that I might, possibly, be known to do myself.  Maybe, I am, most likely, irritated by her boundless energy.

Rachel has that thing that Oprah & Martha has with her own magazine, food products and kitchenware that drives me crazy.  Julia would of never of done those things. As I judgmentally type my disdain, please note that I made this recipe in a Rachel Ray pan that I bought on QVC. (Great pan, btw.) Okay, I have to give Ms. Ray a break. She does produce recipes with ingredients that are easily gotten at the local grocery store. They are loaded with flavor and are easy on the pocket book. I also just love this pan that I got.

Now let’s get to the tamale pie. It only took me about 15-20 minutes and was not difficult in the least bit. The spicy rich meat with the creamy sweet polenta and gooey sharp cheese on top made us all happy. There is not a lot of heat in the recipe, which made it kid-friendly. I put a spicy salsa and sriracha on the table, so everyone could add more heat if they wanted it.  It is super affordable to make. The leftovers were used at breakfast with an egg on top. If you do not have every ingredient in the list, do not think you can not make it. Use beans, skip the beer…whatever you have about. Recipes are about giving you an idea, an inspiration.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup milk or rice/soy milk
  • 1 cup cornmeal
  • 2 cups boiling water
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon corn oil or EVOO
  • 1/3 pound mexican chorizo (raw) or chopped spanish chorizo (cured)
  • 4 slices  bacon, finely chopped
  • 1 pound ground pork
  • 2 tablespoons fresh thyme, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1/2 tablespoon ground coriander (about 1/2 palmful)
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 3 – 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 cup beer
  • 1 14 1/2 ounce can  diced tomatoes with chiles, drained
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar or Mexican melting cheese
  • Cilantro leaves and sliced scallions, for garnishing

Directions

  1. In a medium saucepan, heat the milk. Whisk in the cornmeal, then whisk in the boiling water and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until very thick, 15 to 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in the butter and honey.
  2. Preheat the broiler. Meanwhile, in a large ovenproof skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until smoking. Add the chorizo and bacon and render the fat for 3 minutes. Stir in the pork and cook, crumbling the meat, until browned, about 8 minutes. Season with the thyme, chili powder, coriander, salt and pepper. Add the onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes to soften. Stir in the beer to deglaze for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes to heat through.
  3. Spoon the thick cornmeal over the pan and spread evenly. Top with the cheddar and brown under the broiler for 2 minutes. Serve from the skillet, garnished with the cilantro and scallions.

ENJOY! Pull up a chair, Elizabeth

Chicken Thighs, Sausage, and Kale Stew (slow-cooker recipe)

Nov 072011
 
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It is the time of year that calls for us to pull out our slowcookers and make hearty stews of tender meats and vegetables. I had a wonderful reader say what she loves about the growing season is that it starts and ends with greens. I couldn’t agree more. I don’t think that I even had kale until I was in my thirties, but I have grow to just love it. The heartiness in it’s texture calls for it to be cooked for a period of time. Outrageously good for you and super filling. I love incorporating it in our meals. My youngest son does not like spinach ever, but loves kale. He says that spinach makes him gag.  I still make him try it now and then.

This chicken, sausage & kale dish can feed an army for a reasonable price. I put everything into the slow cooker in the morning and then at dinner time cooked up some pasta to add in. It was done that easy. This is bowl of love and would not have any hesitation in serving this to my quests.

My favorite way to flavor kale is to add a piece of smokey meat and some wine while it simmers. I am lucky I have a super market close to me that always has smoked turkey legs and necks available at a great price. I like to use ham hocks as well, but use the turkey necks more often to reduce my cholesteral a bit. I am always shocked how much meat I get off the turkey necks. They add flavor and meat. Hearty, hearty goodness. YUM.

In the morning:

Brown the outer layer of six chicken thighs, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. I usually get skinless to cut the saturated fat. Remember browning adds flavor to any dish.

Brown the outer layer of six sausages of your choice.

Start layering in slow-cooker:

chicken thighs
one bunch of kale, cleaned, de-stemmed & finely chopped
1/2 an onion, chopped
6 gloves of garlic
smoked turkey neck
1 t. red pepper flakes
second bunch of kale, cleaned, de-stemmed & finely chopped
sausages
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken broth

Cover and set slow-cooker for 6 hours or longer.

20 minutes before eating:

Bring a pan of water to boil to cook pasta. Make sure to have plenty of salt in the water. This is the only time your pasta can get seasoned. Cook 1 lb. of pasta to al dente.

While cooking pasta, stir kale in the slow-cooker. Taste and adjust seasonings while pulling out the smoky necks on a plate. The smoky necks do add an amount of sodium, so I like to only add at this stage, if necessary. Let necks cool for a bit and then pull meat off the bones and return the meat to the slow-cooker.

After you drain noodles, stir into the slow-cooker. Then serve. This is also great to set up on a buffet as well and let people help themselves.

Pull out your slow-cooker or pull up a chair, Elizabeth

 

CSA recipe 3:Meatball and Swiss Chard soup

Oct 022011
 
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Ingredient used:

Rainbow Swiss chard

I have to admit I make meatballs and greens soup quite often in the fall/winter/spring. My son just inhales it. It could be either turkey, pork, beef or lamb meatballs and it could be one type or  a variety of greens, such as kale, arugula, or spinach, but it is all basically the same recipe. He inhales it every time, no matter what. Now if I put a pile of greens on his plate to eat, he does not want anything to do with it. Ahh, the power of soup.

I usually let the meat and the greens dictate the spices and broth used. If I have lamb meat, I may make it with Greek or Moroccan spices in a beef broth. If I have turkey meat, then I use turkey or chicken broth. One unique thing I do is use instant tapioca instead of eggs, milk and bread crumbs in the meatballs to make them tender, because of my son’s allergies. This is a great trick. Tapioca is gluten free as well.

1/4 lb. ground beef
1/4 lb. ground pork
1/4 cup instant tapioca
3 big dashes worcestershire sauce
1/4 t. red pepper flakes
1/2 t. salt
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Mix all the ingredients listed above together and make little meatballs. You can cook them in the soup or brown them off first on a sheet tray in the oven. It depends on what texture you want out of your meatball in the end. This time I baked them off in the oven first. I made them small, so one can fit in a spoon.

I usually have broth in my freezer, but I do not hesitate to use a bouillon to create my soup either. I have started working for Massel bouillon and have found it a quick and easy solution to have on hand. If I have some broth in the freezer, I will even add some bouillon to add another flavor profile to the soup. Today I used beef broth and added a couple tablespoons of tomato paste to liven up the broth.

4 cups beef broth
2 T. tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup sliced carrots
1 bunch of rainbow Swiss chard finely chopped (even stems)
1/4 cup onions, sliced or chopped

I heated up the broth and with all of the ingredients listed above until tender, then I added the cooked meatballs. If I was adding the meatballs raw, I would put them in the pot all at the same time. Cook until everything is tender and the meat is cooked. It usually simmers for about 15-20 minutes.

Served up warm with crusty bread is our favorite way to eat this up. I love how easy this is to prepare. I love that how healthy it is for my family and I love foefilling it is to eat soup with meatballs.

Can’t wait for you to pull up a chair, Elizabeth

CSA challenge 1: Asian Beef & Tofu Wrap

Sep 272011
 
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Ingredients used:

Romaine lettuce
Scallions
Purple Basil

When I first saw the beautiful lettuce, I knew that I was going to make a wrap. The crisp fresh taste of the lettuce wrapped around something sweet and spicy. I love the texture and tastes, but I love how easy it is to pull together. My son eats them up, lettuce and all. I add sriracha to mine and I eat them up, lettuce and all.

Clean lettuce and set aside.

Serves 2 generously.

1/3 pound beef or pork
1 t. corn oil

Heat a wok or skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil and heat until hot, about 30 seconds. Add meat, breaking up any lumps and cook until pink is gone. Drain on paper towel or in a colander. Wipe out wok. Reheat.

1 t. corn oil
3 T. scallions thinly sliced
1/2 cup sliced pea pods or cabbage
1 1/2 T. minced ginger
2 gloves garlic, minced
1 to 2 t. soy sauce
1 T. hoisin sauce
3 oz. firm tofu, cut into 1/4 inch cubes. (Ideally, wrapped in paper towel and weighted for 30 min, but I rarely have time for this.)

Add all the ingredients from above in the wok except the tofu. Let cook for about a minute until the flavor of the sauce come together. Then add meat and tofu. Toss in sauce and then serve in lettuce leaf.

Rice or not to rice? In your wrap or on the side? I like wraps both ways, but do not think that you have to serve rice. I had some leftover, so I heated it up and it worked perfectly on this night. My son likes to eat his rice on the side. Me, in the wrap.

Garnishing with herbs and sriracha is vital to me. I put one leaf of cilantro and chiffonade of the sweet purple basil on mine. Gabriel just put basil on his. I love how I can make a wrap spicy enough for me, but in a flavor that my young son’s taste buds enjoy.

Okay tomorrow…another recipe. Sneak preview. I am using the turnips and the cucumber together…umm.

Pull up a chair, Elizabeth

 

 

Prepping for Baconfest Amateur Finals

Apr 092011
 
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The toast squares are toasting as I drop a quick update to you all. I am off to Baconfest today. I am one of six finalist because of you all voted me in with the recipe: Bacon Country Meatloaf. Yippee. I am so excited to meet 53 fabulous chefs and eat their creation from bacon.

We have to arrive fifteen minutes early with 20 tasting size portions of my recipe. There will be only 1 microwave as a heating element for us to present our dishes. So basically, there is no way to heat up the food. So I am really glad that I submitted my meatloaf recipe because it tastes good chilled or served at room temperature.

So how to make it the best mouthful of meatloaf possible? This is what I have come up with…start with making white bread, then toast squares from there.

Then I made a quince and roasted garlic aioli to have a tender sweet creamy element added to the perfect tasting bite. I actually have no idea where this came from, but when I made this in my head first, then when I prepared it and then it tasted just like I had imagined it would in my head. That was fun to make happen.

Now for the meatloaf…I had to shape it different then I normally would shape it. I wanted to make it 2 inches in diameter so all that I had to do was slice it for the toast and you would see bacon all around. My dilemma was I knew the meat would be done why before the bacon was cooked in the oven. I decided to boil the bacon so that it was partially cooked. Let it cool, then wrap the meatloaf with it. It worked great. Then my brother, Jon, had a inspired idea. A perfect idea.

Jon said, “Too bad you do not have one of those creme brulee torches. You could heat up the bacon edges of your meatloaf while you are serving up your tasting plates.”

Well, I’ll be damned. I have one of those suckers that run on butane in my pantry. Fabulous idea.

Pickled onions on top to the bite makes it perfectly balanced.

So I head out today prepared, organized and excited to see what everyone else prepared to share with us. My niece, Jenna, is going to be my sidekick today. Friends, and my niece, Kaitlin, are helping me take care of Gabriel so I do not have to worry about him. Ready to go..

I will tweet and facebook throughout the day. I will include recipes in my next post. I am ready to bring home the bacon.

Home Brined Corn Beef

Mar 012011
 
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If you would of said to me not so long ago, “You should make your own corn beef.” I would of thought you were crazy. That just seemed like too much, but then I got seduced into it by Mrs. Wheelbarrow and The YummyMummy. Those clever ladies started a blog contest called “Charcutepalooza” . Doesn’t the name alone make you want to participate? Foodies are always up for a party or celebration. You have a new challenge very month  from the bible of cured meats, Charcuterie, by Micheal Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn, over a course of a year and the best recipes made from the cured meats from a participating blogger gets a trip to Italy.

Now you would think that would get me to sign up. No. I thought that it is a huge commitment. Gabriel has so many sports, home work, whine, whine, plus I didn’t think that I had the money for buying a good piece of meat and f#%&! it up. Which I knew I was capable of. It would of made  me sick to waste a good piece of meat, so I decided not to sign up.

Then I find out over 200 blogger signed up. What? That is crazy. These people are all nuts. It has gone viral. OMG, I am now feeling left out. One thing a foodie hates is to miss the party! I told myself that my reasons are still sound for not joining, but now I should push myself a bit.

So, the biggest news about brining beef is that it is super easy. Shockingly easy. I have to say the taste was great. My corn beef was tender and had a great depth of flavor. I made this corn beef for about $4.95 a lb. By the way, Katz famous deli in NYC sells their corn beef online for $19.95 a lb. I know that they have been doing it a long time, but I can not believe that corn beef is that much better then mine. Maybe they think everyone wants to reenact the famous Katz deli scene with Meg Ryan in “Harry met Sally”.

This is my interpetation of the recipe from Charcuterie read over the phone to me from my brother, who lives in LA and uses the book religiously. So it is basically how I heard it. I have since ordered the book. You all just need to buy the book.

Recipe:

7 lb. Brisket (can vary in size)
1 gallon water
1 cup kosher salt
1 oz. pink salt (curing salt. Not Himalayan pink salt)
3 garlic cloves
2 T. pickling spice

Pickling Spice:

2 T. black peppercorns
2 T. mustard seeds
2T. coriander seeds
2 T. hot pepper flakes
2 T. allspice berries
2 T. whole cloves
1 T. ground mace
1 T. ground ginger
2 small cinnamon sticks
24 bay leaves, crumbled

Place the water into a large 6 to 8 quart stockpot along with salt, sugar, pink salt and half of the pickling spice. Place brisket into water make sure that is submerged. I put a plate on the top of the meat to make sure it is submerged. Place in the refrigerator for 5 days. Check daily to make sure the beef is completely submerged and stir the brine.

After 5 days, remove from the brine and rinse well under cool water. Place the brisket into a pot just large enough to cover with water by 1-inch. Place the remaining pickling spice. Set over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and gently simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until the meat is fork tender. Remove from the pot and thinly slice across the grain.

 Now for what I was waiting for… a sandwich. I love, love, love sandwiches. A reuben is one of my favorites. I love corn beef on pumpernickel or rye. I need lots of swiss cheese. I take sauerkraut and rinse it really well and saute’ it in some fresh cabbage, then place that on the sandwich. Finally press it as I grill it. Like a panini. When it is hot and melty goodness I serve it with mustard & homemade thousand island dressing.  Some bites I put a little mustard on, then other I use thousand island. OMG. Now I want to re-enact the Meg Ryan scene in Katz Deli. You will be so glad that you made your own corn beef.

But wait there is more….

Homemade cornbeef hash. Man, this is good. I always make extra baked potatoes when I bake them because they can be used in so many different ways. This is one of  them. I cut up one big baked potato into small pieces. Throw in a handful of green onions and lots of garlic. Cut up a slice of corn beef into small pieces. Mix it all together. Place in heated saute’ pan with olive oil and butter melted in it. Keep over medium heat until browned. Season with salt and pepper. I like a few squeezes of Sriracha as well.

My son devoured this up with berry smoothie for our Sunday breakfast. I had mine with an egg and cup of coffee. It was fabulous.

In the end, just push yourself a little out of your comfort zone and make something that you have never made before. Even if it is not perfect, you learned from it and you will do better next time. I seem to be relearning that lesson over and over.

Pull up a chair, Elizabeth

Bacon Country Meatloaf

Mar 142010
 
Jan'10 261

This sure is not your mother’s meatloaf. This recipe has cumin and coriander from Latin America. It has allspice from Jamaica. It has pistachios from Africa. Then I wrap the whole thing in bacon. Yum. When finished it reminds me of a terrine from France, though there is not much French about it. Thus, the name… Bacon Country Meatloaf.

This version of meatloaf tastes great served piping hot served with Jamaican jerk sauce, instead of the classic ketchup. When cold, I like to treat it like a country pate’ and serve it with a baguette, raw onion, pickles,and some mustard. My one rule about meatloaf is that is must taste delicious chilled as it does coming out of the oven. In the end, it is always about the sandwich.

Pull out the bacon and start making some meatloaf. I made this recipe small with only a pound of meat, but it is easily doubled, and tripled for more people. One pound of meat is plenty for the two of us with leftovers. I have also made this with pork and veal. It is equally delicious and more then delicate.

Serves 2-3
  • 1/2 pound ground beef
  • 1/2 pound ground pork
  • 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 2 gloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1-2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup panko crumbs
  • 5 dashes worcestershire sauce
  • 1 egg
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons heavy creme
  • 2 tablespoons freshly grated pecorino romano
  • 1/4 cup shelled whole pistachios
  • 4-6 strips of bacon

  1. I usually start with my ground meat first and make a well in the middle of the meat, then I start adding each ingredient one by one. Add all the ingredients on list, stopping at pistachios and bacon. Just a note: This time I used pecorino romano cheese, but I generally use what ever hard cheese I have on hand. It tastes great with parmesan cheese as well.

  2. Mix together well. I like to mix my meatloaf in a wide shallow bowl. My mom does it right on the chopping block. I can not imagine mixing meatloaf without getting my hands right into it. I have also made this meatloaf with ground veal and pork combination with great success.

  3. After meat mixture is mixed well, add in the pastachios and blend through out.

  4. Form into a loaf shape and place in baking dish.

  5. Wrap loaf with strips of bacon. Sometimes I like them to completely cover the loaf and other times I like to leave some space in between so that I can see the meatloaf. It depends on my mood and how much bacon I have.  

  6. Place in a 350F preheated oven for about 40 minutes. Sometimes, I like to crisp up the bacon more by sticking under the broiler for a minute. Other times, it does not feel necessary.

Flank steak with a chilled Oberon…I wish I had some again.

Aug 242009
 
food 2 019

food 2 019

Flank steak is one of my favorites cuts of beef there is because it is fast, lower calorie then other meats and super versatitle.  This whole meal took thirty minutes. Actually I could probably win a Top Chef quick fire round with this dish. LOL!

You have probably figured out by now that my approach to cooking dinner is to first look at what are my ingredients on hand and what is in season and try to build from there. It helps use up what you have. I try never to waste food. I just hate it.

What I have: Oberon (by Bell’s. A microbrew from Michigan) No matter what I cook, I was having one of those. Maybe I should open one right now… it may help me think.

Flank steak: 3 lbs.

Haricot Verts:  smaller, delicate flavored green beans. Fresh

Roma tomatoes: soft, but still good. Not good for eating raw. Need to use in something

Blue cheese: could use later, but it goes so well with beef. Need to figure out how to use it. I love love love blue cheese.

You can marinate flank steak for hours or minutes. I love it grilled and I am just going to keep it simple. Rub worchestershire in to the meat, then salt and sprinkle with creole seasoning( which I buy at the grocery store and use it in everything) and let it sit a room tempurature.  The meat will take about 4 minutes per side for medium rare and it will need to sit 10 minutes before slicing. I want to be done in thirty, so I will start grilling in ten.(Note: I use the oven timer to remind me of each step. When to turn, how long to rest, etc. As I am doing everything else, I would never remember without it and my meat would for sure be over cooked.)

Blue cheese: So I have some nice homemade bread crumbs… I know what I will do. I take vidalia onions that I have in my pantry and cut them in half and place on a baking sheet. I mix bread crumbs, blue cheese, pepper, and butter in a bowl and blend. Then I just packed in on top of the halved onions and stuck in a hot oven at 425F. I will take the entire thirty minutes to get tender.

Roma tomatoes: Cooked down they make a nice pasta sauce. Start some salted water to boil. Then I start a saute’ pan heating over med-high.  I finely chop onions and garlic and the the tomatoes. These are all thrown in the pan with some olive oil and cooked down. You will probably need to turn it down to medium at this point. Water is boiling, so I am throwing in some orzo pasta.  Oh, I have some nice kalamata olives. They are chopped up and thrown in the pan with some fresh basil, salt, and pepper. Simmer while pasta is cooking.

Twenty minutes into the process, pull flank steak from grill. Let rest on cutting surface. Letting meat rest is just really important. If you slice too soon, all the juices run out and you have dry meat. We all have done it.

I use a grill pan for the flank steak, so at this point it has all this nice stuff from the steak. I heat it up over medium heat and throw in the harcot verts. If you grilled your flank steak on the grill, just heat up a pan with some olive oil. Toss them around and cook them until tender. This should take about five- six minutes. At the end, I toss in some balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.

My pasta is done, drained and tossed in the tomato sauce. Meat is sliced. (Make sure to go opposite the grain of the meat.) Onions are pulled from the oven. Everything is put on platter and served.

The meal was quick to prepare, but we lingered over the table enjoying the beer and the food for hours. Good conversation is most important ingredient for a successful dinner. This meal I shared with my favorite people… my sons.