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Blog Archives
Flat Iron Fajitas
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These were awesome! I Googled around looking for grilling tips for the flat iron steaks we love so well and found plenty of recipes for marinades. I combined a few of the more interesting ones and came up with a marinade that worked fine for me today. Naturally, I didn’t write anything down because that’s no fun, but here goes off the top of my head: Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, chili powder (I used ancho powder), ground cumin, minced garlic, black pepper, and salt.
Let the meat marinate for at least an hour, then toss it onto a hot grill – this one got about 6 minutes a side, turn the heat from medium high to medium on the turn. Let the steak rest while you stir fry the onions and peppers. I sprinkled a little fajita seasoning over them for a touch of flavor.
Slice the steak across the grain, and serve over a lightly fried tortilla with the cooked veggies. I made a topping from sour cream and chipotle chili powder with three or four cloves of crushed and minced garlic.![DSC_5930 [1600x1200]](http://whats4dinnersolutions.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/dsc_5930-1600x1200.jpg)
Gyros
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Still using Alton Brown’s recipes for these. Mrs J has been on a mint eradication jihad in her front garden and has had some success, enough that I couldn’t find any to garnish the plate tonight. She also dug out an old gnarly rose bush that the mint was growing up through. ![DSC_5769 [1600x1200]](http://whats4dinnersolutions.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/dsc_5769-1600x1200.jpg)
I did alter his method a bit, informed by my reading from the Serious Eats web site. I kept the lamb cold for the processing, it was nearly so cold that the paste was stiff enough that my machine had all it wanted to spin. I have no idea if the “leakage” of liquids from the loaf was affected for good or ill. I cooked it in a 300 oven until the thermometer reached 165 which was higher than the second fellow recommended. I did do the slicing and broiling trick to get a bit of crisp on the meat.![DSC_5771 [1600x1200]](http://whats4dinnersolutions.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/dsc_5771-1600x1200.jpg)
And I did add some mayo to the tzatziki, again influenced a bit by the Serious Eats discussion, but it otherwise was Alton’s recipe. I can’t say it helped any and I’ll leave it out of the next batch but YMMV, as the kids say these days. I will note that his Food Lab blog is the place that taught me how to do French fries right. Enjoy!![DSC_5777 [1600x1200]](http://whats4dinnersolutions.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/dsc_5777-1600x1200.jpg)
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Penne with Beef and Onions
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Leftover beef is handy for all sorts of dinners. I passed over the usual beef stew and nearly went with a version of Italian beef that always works well for me and settled on the pasta. My first look through the pasta bin was for wide egg noodles but there weren’t any. Rice was another option but the penne was going to be a little quicker. I caramelized an onion in a sauce pan, added broth and reduced that before adding the leftovers from the crockpot roast. I’m happy with the dish.
