ad hoc marinated strip steak

My husband, Sam, is a real meat-and-potatoes kind of guy. He knows what he likes to eat, and it usually involves traditional – and often southern – comfort food. I love this about him, but sometimes it’s frustrating. He gets nervous when I try a new recipe that has an ingredient in it that he’s less familiar with. Miso is a great example. When I made misoyaki roast chicken, he was a good sport, but I could see the fear – terror, really – in his eyes when he saw the ingredients.

One weekend recently, I asked Sam to decide what he wanted for our Saturday evening dinner. The weekends are my time to get in the kitchen and experiment, and that weekend I wasn’t feeling very inspired. So I let him pick. And, my meat-and-potato-loving husband chose steak. Of course.

On the upside, he chose a recipe from Ad Hoc at Home, one of my favorite cookbooks lately. Even though Sam played it safe with a steak recipe, he chose one by Thomas Keller — and I couldn’t argue with that logic.

The recipe is really about the marinade. Warming the marinade on the stove caused the flavors from the herbs to mingle together and blend harmoniously. The delightful aroma of the olive oil, garlic, and herbs filled the kitchen. Keller’s recipe calls for skirt steak, but since Sam couldn’t find it at our grocery, he bought strip steak instead. In reality, any cut of steak would be fine for this recipe. We marinated the steak for about 4 hours and, though we thought about grilling the steaks, I decided to follow Keller’s method of starting on the stovetop then finishing in the oven.

The verdict? Simple – it was a great steak. The meat was perfectly tender, and I could taste hints of rosemary, garlic, and thyme from the marinade. Next time, I might try marinating the steak for longer – just to see what the difference in flavor is – and I might have my husband grill the steaks instead. After all, if he chooses the recipe, he should do a bit of the work, right?

Ad Hoc Marinated Strip Steak

Only slightly tweaked from Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home recipe on page 53. Instead of skirt steak, I used strip steak. I also cut down the amount of steak from six servings to two servings.

Ingredients:

Ingredients for Marinade:

6 thyme sprigs
2 eight-inch rosemary sprigs
4 small bay leaves
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
5 garlic cloves, smashed, skin left on
2 cups extra virgin olive oil

Remaining Ingredients:

Two 8 ounce steaks [We used strip steak, but you can use whatever cut you like.]
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Canola oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 thyme sprigs
2 garlic cloves, smashed, skin left on

Directions:

Combine the thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, peppercorns, garlic, and oil in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from the heat and let the marinade cool to room temperature.

Trim steaks of any excess fat and discard. Cut the steaks crosswise into 2 to 3 equal pieces, depending on the size of the steaks. Put the steaks in a resealable plastic bag, add the marinade, and seal, squeezing out any excess air. Marinate for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours, in the refrigerator.

Remove the meat from the marinade and let sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before cooking. Discard the marinade. Dry the meat with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees; set a roasting rack in a roasting pan. (For this step I used a cooling rack like this one set in a half sheet pan.)

Heat some canola oil in a large frying pan over high heat. (Have a splatter screen ready.) When the oil shimmers, add half the meat and quickly brown the first side. Turn the meat and, working quickly, add 1 tablespoon of butter, 2 thyme sprigs, and 1 garlic clove, and brown the meat on the second side, basting constantly; the entire cooking process should only take about 1 1/2 minutes. Transfer the meat to the roasting rack and spoon the butter, garlic, and thyme over the top. Wipe the pan, and repeat with the remaining steaks.

Transfer the roasting rack and pan (or cooling rack and half sheet pan) to the oven and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the center of the meat registers 125 degrees. Remove from oven and let the meat rest on the rack in a warm place for about 10 minutes for medium-rare. (I cooked mine until a temperature of about 135 since I like my steak more on the medium side.) Serve, garnishing steaks with the garlic and thyme.

sweet summer corn and black bean salad

Summer may not officially start until June, but our local markets are filling up with traditional summer fruits and vegetables. Bins of grass green watermelons are slowly appearing in the produce section. The vendors at our farmers’ market are selling zucchini and yellow crookneck squash. My own little garden is producing its first cherry tomatoes, plum tomatoes, and summer squash. And, maybe best of all, fresh sweet corn is making its arrival.

About a week ago, I sent my husband to the grocery to pick up some fresh summer corn. We had decided to grill steaks on the gas grill for dinner, and when I think of grilling, I almost automatically think of corn on the cob. Wanting to mix things up a bit – because I’m wild and crazy like that – I did something a little different with the corn.

I sauteed the kernels just for a few minutes, added some black beans, a handful of cherry tomatoes, and some torn romaine lettuce. The salad was colorful, with a lovely sweetness from the corn and tomatoes. The beans provided a savory element in the salad, and all-in-all, the salad was light and refreshing.

It was a perfect summer, or almost summer, salad.

Yield: Serves 6.

Corn and Black Bean Salad

You can vary the amount of lettuce and tomatoes depending on your taste. Also, you can vary the salad dressing. I didn't bother making my own dressing this time but instead used a good bottle of light ranch dressing.

Ingredients:

2-3 cups fresh corn kernels (from about 4 ears corn)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 head of romaine lettuce, coarsely chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 to 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 to 1/2 cup ranch dressing, or other salad dressing of your choice

Directions:

Preheat large sauté pan on medium high heat, 2-3 minutes. Sauté corn kernels in the olive oil until tender, about 2-4 minutes. Transfer corn to large bowl.

Combine remaining ingredients - black beans, lettuce, tomatoes - and toss with salad dressing, adding more if needed. Serve.

    the pamplemousse cocktail

    My husband and I are having a party soon — all part of my commitment to myself to entertain more. One thing I realized during the planning process, though, is that if you call a party a cocktail party, you should probably serve a cocktail. And, let me preface this post by saying that I am much more of a wine person than a cocktail person. In fact, I’ve never made what could be considered a cocktail. I mean, mixing up some rum and Coke doesn’t really count, does it?

    So, the pressure is on to find a cocktail recipe that I can’t screw up.

    My husband has agreed to help me with the taste-testing — tough job, I know. So, last weekend I set out on a mission to find a cocktail recipe that didn’t have a ton of steps, used alcohol that we had on hand or could easily find, could be made in advance, and could  triple or quadruple for a crowd. And it had to taste fabulous, too. Can’t forget that.

    In my search for the perfect cocktail, I found a few candidates on Epicurious. One potential was the Pamplemousse Cocktail, from Bon Appétit. Since I’m really not comfortable with messing up expensive alcoholic beverages, I followed the recipe pretty much to the tee. The cocktail got great reviews online, so I decided not to mess with a good thing. A handful of weeks ago, the great folks at Pom Wonderful sent me some of their pomegranate juice to try, so I was able put it to excellent use in this cocktail.

    And, folks. We may have a winner.

    Yield: Serves 6.

    The Pamplemousse Cocktail

    Ingredients:

    7 tablespoons water
    5 tablespoons Pom Wonderful pomegranate juice
    1/4 cup sugar
    4 teaspoons honey
    1 1/2 cups vodka
    3/4 cup fresh grapefruit juice
    1/4 cup fresh lime juice
    18 fresh mint leaves, plus 6 sprigs for garnish
    ice cubes

    Directions:

    Make pomegranate simple syrup by bringing the first 4 ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cool. This step can be done one day ahead, covered, and refrigerated.

    Combine pomegranate simple syrup, vodka, grapefruit juice, lime juice, and mint leaves together in a large pitcher. Fill pitcher with ice cubes and stir vigorously. Strain drink into martini glasses. Garnish each glass with mint sprig and serve.