Oregano Steak with Grilled Sweet Potatoes

Oregano has rocketed to the top of our favorite-herbs list... we love the tangy, slightly-spicy, and a-little-bit-bitter flavor it adds to savory dishes - both in fresh form (growing out on our deck) and in dried form. Obvious oregano uses are in sauces and on pizzas, but we decided to add a healthy amount of dried oregano to a dry rub on a big boneless top sirloin - to see how the flavor went with a grilled steak.

Along with a little olive oil and salt and pepper, we rubbed in a good deal of dried Mexican Oregano (less sweet, more spicy than Medditeranean Oregano) all over our steak, then wrapped it tightly in plastic wrap and let it hang out in the fridge for a couple of hours. The steak was then removed from the fridge to come close to room temperature, and we started the grill.

When the grill was good and REALLY hot, that steak went right in the middle and cooked for 4 minutes/side. We removed the steak to a cutting board to rest - and sprinkled some fresh oregano leaves over the top. The heat woke that fresh oregano up and - combined with the grilled oregano in the rub - it smelled fantastic.

Along with the steak we grilled some sweet potato wedges and mixed up an onion-and-chive dipping sauce to go with them: 1 cup low fat sour cream, 1/4 cup mayo, 1 tbs Penzey's Fox Point Seasoning, some white pepper, salt, and some garlic powder, and dried chives.

This sauce - and some sliced cukes - added to the Greek feel of the oregano steak, which was tangy and spicy and delicious! Now, where will we apply oregano next??

Shanghai Choy and Steak

Going to Super 88 - the Asian supermarkets in various locations around Boston - is always an adventure. They've got LIVE tilapia, catfish, eels and Dungeoness crabs - all of which they'll gladly make un-live for you. They've got neverending aisles of teas, sauces, and candies - as well as dried everything! In the meat section, you'll find jellyfish, rooster testicles, head-on poultry, entire roasted baby pigs, and just about every other part of any edible animal.

We love going there, especially for produce because you can find almost any veggie out there and usually you get better prices than at your supermarket. This time around, we picked up some nice sirloin strips for an unbeatable price, and then hunted for a sidedish.

I was immediately drawn to the choy section... near the Bok Choy which I was familiar with was something called Shanghai Choy - and it looked awful cute - so we took a bunch home and decided to look it up later. Apparently, Shanghai Choy is lighter green than Bok Choy and has less moisture, but to be honest I don't know if I could tell the difference. They key to cooking choy is rinsing it very well. I chopped off roughly 1 inch of the bottom of the bulb (I had 3 bulbs), thereby separating all the leaves. After several rinses and water changes, I spun them in my salad spinner and cut the leafy parts of the stems. I thinly sliced the stems, and coarsely chopped the leaves.



I started some olive oil in a large pan and sauteed some garlic with the stems for about 5 minutes after which I added about 1.5 cups of chopped portabello mushrooms to the pan with a few squirts of fish sauce, 1 dash of five spice, some squirts of Sriracha, and half a cup of veggie stock. After another 5 minutes, in went the leaves and a cup and a half of bean sprouts with a couple dashes of soy. I finished it off by cutting of little bits of Chinese chives into the pan (milder than run-of-the-mill chives in my opinion).


(can you tell we like this stuff?)

And that was it! I served it up with that steak that we had marinated in white wine, sriracha, and some red pepper flake and then quickly grilled. Wonderful flavors, very easy to make, and - as always - an adventure!

Mixed Grill Mole Enchiladas with Cucumber Salsa

We craved authentic Mexican food - the kind we'd get at La Paloma in Quincy or Salsa's in Southie... smooth textures, a little spiciness, cheesiness, and a hint of chocolate lingering in the background, mole-style. We thought we'd try a new one (for us) to satisfy this craving and make Baked Enchiladas.

We had to construct this one from the outside in - so here's what we knew: we wanted the filling to be comprised solely of beans and meat, we wanted some fresh green salsa-type topping to offset the meat and beans, we wanted to make our own enchilada sauce, and we wanted that sauce to be mole-style - with a little chocolate flavor mixed in with just a hint of spicy chipotle.

That left us with questions - firstly, what kind of meat? We knew we'd be making dinner with leftovers in mind (as usual) so we came to the conclusion - we got the room, why not TWO kinds of meat? Why not, indeed. So we picked up an inexpensive steak (top round, about 1lb) and a package of boneless/skinless chicken thighs that were on sale (also about a lb).

Second question - beans. We wanted to make our own refried beans because we know what texture and flavor we like in our beans. Refried beans aren't actually RE-fried - they are only "fried" once. So, what kind of beans? Ummmm.... how 'bout RED!

What kind of fresh salsa? Cuke-and-corn. How do you make enchilada sauce? With a roux, raw tomato sauce, and mucho gusto. What to drink with this enormous meal? Margaritas, of course! Plus we can use some tequila in our mixed grill marinade.

So we did just that - we allowed the chicken thighs and the steak to marinate in separate freezer bags consisting of some healthy splashes of tequila, some good-old American lager (these were some drunk meats), olive oil, cumin, chili powder, and salt. They stewed in their liquor for an hour or so before they were ready to meet the grill.

At the same time, we prepared our Cuke-and-Corn salsa in advance so it would be given time to settle in the fridge: into a bowl went an English cucumber partially peeled and chopped into quarters, two vine-ripe tomatoes cut into chunks, one 8oz can of corn (drained), the juice of 2 limes, 1 tbps olive oil, 2 tbsp chopped cilantro and a few pinches of salt. The salsa needed some heat, so we took out a jar of sliced jalapenos and added four minced little rings. After adding a couple of splashes of cider vinegar, it was ready to go in the fridge for a couple of hours.



Back to the meat - since we'll be shredding these and cooking them again in the oven, cooking times seemed less important - so all the meat went on a hot grill and got flipped and smoked and grilled for a while, we lost track of how long. When they appeared ready (and were tasting deliciously tangy and spicy), they came out for a rest - later to be chopped up into little pieces - and we soldiered on...

We were ready to start the final two componants - the sauce and the beans. We started a roux in one pan with a couple tbls of canola oil with a couple tbls of flour. When that was a nice tan, we added a bunch of chili powder and slowly mixed in one 8oz can of tomato sauce, then about a cup-and-a-half of water. That got to a great consistancy right away, so we added some cumin and a little salt and let that come up to a simmer.



In the other pan, we started sauteing some garlic and onion, and then we added two cans of drained red beans. Then Stacey got out her masher and went to work. After the mashing was complete, we added some liquid that we mixed from some of that enchilada sauce combined with water. When that liquid combined with the mashed beans achieved the texture we were looking for, we added some of those same old Mexican spices until the beans were the exact flavor we were looking for.



The final touch on the sauce - some semi-sweet chocolate chips (only about a dozen or so of them, a little goes a long way) and a few shakes of ground chipotle to LIVEN things up.

Oven to 400-degrees, we were ready to assemble. First, we spread a little enchilada sauce across the bottom of a glass baking dish. Then, wheat tortilla in hand, we spread some beans on the bottom and topped with the now-shredded meat, rolled the tortilla up, and placed seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat for a total of four times with chicken and four times with steak.


(we need a new camera)

Over that? All that mole enchilada sauce... poured over it and spread out so everything gets moist. And over that? What do you think - cheese! A good amount of shredded "Mexican" cheese.

Into the oven for ~25 minutes, the cheese on the top browned up nicely (we actually finished it by firing up the broiler for 5 minutes) and the bubbly concoction came out. We plated one steak and one chicken for each of us and topped with some healthy scoops the cool cuke salsa (cool? spicy!)...

Absolutely delicious - such a great texture and the tortilla edges had crisped up a little... just a hint of chocolate (you can smell it more than taste it) and a touch of spicy chipotle, all cooled down with the cuke and cilantro. Wonderfully authentic-tasting - and with two kinds of meat! We enjoyed these with a margarita and the Red Sox night game and thought about warmer summer temperatures to come.

A Very Special Steak

We were back in our old neighborhood - Boston's South End - on Saturday afternoon to see Sam the Barber at Blade Barber Shop (I just can't get the haircut I want in our new neighborhood!). We had a little time to kill after the haircut so we wandered into Lionette's Gourmet Shop on Tremont Street to inspect the meat case. Salivating over the thought of a steak on the grill, I asked if they had any aged beef. Sure enough, the grass-fed Vermont beef was all aged five months. The proprietor suggested a New York Strip steak and I had him cut me a large one-pound-plus cut of the wonderfully marbled beef. At $19/lb, this is a special occasion purchase for us - but what better occasion than the birth of our nation?

I wanted to get this right so I did a little research and focused on this article from the New York Metro that included input from the Executive Chef at Michael Jordan's Steakhouse in NYC. Seems like a good source to me! He described an easy, but new (to us) method that involved dipping the steak in a mixture of 1/2 clarified butter and 1/2 oil, then covering liberally with kosher salt and cracked black pepper. According to the chef, the oil and butter and salt and pepper coating hitting high heat will form a nice crust - achieving that desired crusty outside, buttery-textured inside when medium-rare. Brilliant!

So we clarified a stick up butter - simply heat the butter in a saucepan over low heat. When it completely melts, you'll see the milk solids sink to the bottom leaving the clear butter at the top. Skim away the few white floaties at the top, then pour the clear butter off. Let that cool a little and then combine with an equal part oil (we used olive oil). Dip your room temperature steak in this mixture and allow as much excess drip off as possible. Then liberally coat each side with kosher salt and black pepper. As the chef says: "You can't have too much salt on a steak," says Walzog. "It makes a great crust."

That steak went on a searingly hot grill for 6 minutes, then flipped and went 4 minutes more. We had some sweet potato wedges grilling happily for 15 minutes over the lower burner in the back and when we pulled the steak off, we threw on some pre-par-boiled (about 3 minutes) asparagus spears and grilled them up for 5 minutes. Both sweet potatoes and asparagus had a thin coat of olive oil and salt and pepper.

The steak was delicious - it did, literally, melt in your mouth. The crust was perfect and the inside was very tender, but maybe on the grill 1-2 minutes too long. Next time we pull it off one minute earlier on both sides. Other than that, perfect.

Check out Lionette's if in the South End... bring your wallet! They had all-local pork and chicken (fresh every Thursday), sausages, steaks, etc... plus salads and spices and marinades and rubs...

Grilling

What did we eat this weekend that WASN'T grilled? Cereal for breakfast... that's about it. Everything else was grilled food - and we loved it!

Thursday night we pulled one of our 1-lb packs of sirloin steak tips out of the freezer to thaw overnight, knowing we'd be ready to enjoy the back deck in the evening on Cinco de Mayo (we used to go out all the time... what happened to us!?).

We ended up being sidetracked by our lovely neighbors ("Michael! Come over for a beer!" he yelled across the street), sitting on their front porch enjoying the evening sun and describing to our lawyer-neighbor the details of the recent murder trial on which BC#1 was a juror. She was very impressed by our legal terminology and gun knowledge ("do you shoot?").

So we were a little late grilling, but we still fired up the steak tips. Marinated in a quick mixture of salt, pepper, garlic powder, fresh-ground fennel, and soy sauce (and some cold water, of course - my new trick!), these had a nice, sweet flavor. Fired up the camper grill (still haven't bought our legit grill!) and these were done in 15 minutes. We enjoyed these grilled tips with a big salad made up of every vegetable we had in the house.

On a side note - are "steak tips" just a New England thing? My buddy who moved to Boulder, Colorado says he misses steak tips most of all... I guess it is a cut that is only around the Northeast. Whatever, good for us! It is my favorite cut - easy, just the right amount of marbled fat, not overly expensive, and delicious.

On Saturday we traveled down to BC#2's Dad's house on Cape Cod for lunch (and to do some basement rummaging for accoutrements and artwork to hang on the walls in our still-somewhat-new house) and his grill was hot the minute we walked through the door. Dad had asked "hot dogs ok with you guys?" the day before - I think he thinks we are flaky dieters who would poo-poo hot dogs. On the contrary, Big Papa Smurf, we love the occasional dog! Dad had those huge Pearl hot dogs grilled up in no time, BC#2 scarfed down two to BC#1's one... And we got some artwork for our walls out of the visit, what a deal!

While there we checked out a Consumer Reports comparison of gas grills - they rated the Weber Silver B (the one we were eyeing) lower than some less expensive models, including a Char-Broil one that was 1/2 the price. Hmmmm...

We arrived back Saturday in the late afternoon, and realized we had no food in the house for dinner. It was still so nice out that BC#1 ran out to the store to grab just what we'd need to grill some burgers for dinner (we really ate well this weekend, no? To the gym!). She came back with burger meat, lettuce, tomato, red onion, some whole-wheat buns, and a pint of tequila. Hello? We ended up celebrating Cinco de Mayo a day late (Seises de Mayo?) with a couple of Margaritas while watching the Kentucky Derby (Mint Julep, Margarita, whatever!) and firing up the grill. These burgers got the standard seasoning (salt and pepper, ground/dried onion and garlic, and a little ground fennel, a splash of water and a massage)... then, onto the grill!

The number 8 horse came in, just like ONE of us had predicted, and we ate our burgers and watched the Red Sox game (a 9-3 win over Baltimore) and had another margarita.

Sunday was all chores, all the time... but it was still a very nice weekend of food cooked outdoors. Looking forward for even better weather to come and for that big, new grill to show up on my deck...