Beef – Page 8 – Writing With My Mouth Full

Roasted Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad

Adapted from Fergus Henderson of St. John, London

Ingredients:
several pieces of marrow bone
half a bunch of flat-leafed parsley, coarsely chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped
lemon juice
olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt all over bones. Roast in oven, about fifteen minutes each side.
2. Mix the rest of the ingredients together and serve on top of cooked bones.
3. Enjoy by scooping out the fatty goodness and spreading it on toast with the parsley salad.

Grilled Skirt Steak with Vietnamese Chimichurri

Adapted from The New York Times

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds skirt steak
1 tbsp nam pla (Thai fish sauce)
1 tsp sugar
1 small Thai chili, stemmed and seeded
2 tbsps fresh lime juice
2 tsps chopped garlic, or to taste
2 medium shallots, chopped
1/2 cup mint leaves, finely chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
leaves of Boston lettuce, washed and dried
salt and pepper

1. Combine fish sauce, pepper, sugar, chili, lime juice, garlic and shallots in a small glass bowl and mash with a pestle. Add mint and cilantro and mash some more. Taste and adjust seasonings as you like.
2. Sprinkle steak with salt and pepper and grill 4 minutes a side. Cut into strips, arrange over lettuce, and serve with sauce and roll up.

Note: Recipe calls for grilling. In my New York City kitchen, I simply cooked the steak in a skillet with very hot oil. I also used Romaine lettuce as a substitute.

Stuffed Flank Steak

I’ve watched the boy make this stuffed flank steak for me before. When I wanted to try it at home, I called him for the recipe. All I got was, “Stuff it, roll it, fry it.” Simple instructions for a meal that looks like a hundred bucks. I used everything I found in my fridge before I went away for the weekend. If the flank could have talked, it would have begged for me to stop.

Ingredients:
1 flank steak, butterflied and tenderized
small red bell pepper, julienned
small green bell pepper, julienned
1/2 pound of crimini mushrooms, sliced
several slices of prosciutto and soppresatta
4 cloves of garlic, crushed, finely chopped
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
a handful of parsley, finely chopped
salt, pepper, olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350Âº. In a hot skillet, heat olive oil and sautÃ© garlic and onions. Add peppers and mushrooms and cook for a few minutes until mushrooms are soft. Add parsley and season with salt and pepper.
2. Lay steak out flat and add a layer of prosciutto and soppresatta. Top with the bell pepper and mushroom mixture. Slowly roll the steak up like a big sushi roll, pulling at the ends so it’s not too thick in the middle. Tie with kitchen string to pack the stuffing in. Brush with oil.
3. In a hot skillet, heat more olive oil and brown all sides of the stuffed flank steak for some color. Do not over fry to avoid hardening the meat. Transfer to a shallow baking dish. Brush with more oil and bake until medium-rare. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Cut strings off. Slice into 3/4-inch pieces and serve.

Related post/s:
How about stuffed vegetables?

Swedish Meatballs

Adapted from Marcus Samuelsson, Aquavit Restaurant

Ingredients:
For the meatballs:
3/4 pound ground beef
3/4 pound ground pork
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 tbsps honey
1 egg
3 tbsps unsalted butter
salt, pepper, olive oil

For the sauce:
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup cranberry relish
2 tbsps juice from a jar of tiny gherkin pickles
salt, pepper

1. SautÃ© onions in hot skillet with olive oil until softened. Let cool and set aside.
2. Make meatballs. In a bowl, mix ground beef and pork with honey, egg, bread crumbs and cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Melt butter in the same skillet. Brown meatballs and cook for about 7 minutes. Transfer to a clean plate. Keep skillet on heat and discard the remaining oil and juice except for 1 tablespoon.
4. Make sauce by whisking stock, cream, cranberry and pickle juice in the skillet over medium heat. Simmer and add salt and pepper to taste. Add meatballs and simmer for an extra 5 minutes and until sauce is slightly thickened.
5. Serve with tiny gherkins and top with more cranberry relish.

Homemade Meatballs

This is my basic recipe for making meatballs at home using either ground pork, beef or lamb. Depending on the dish I am using the meatballs for, I add breadcrumbs and an egg to make sure they remain intact when added. For more tagine and stew dishes, I skip both, substitute the nutmeg for cumin and usually add some mint.

Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground meat
1/4 cup of parsley, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp plain dried breadcrumbs
1 large egg
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
salt, pepper

1. Combine and mix all the ingredients in a large bowl. Form golf-sized balls with your hands using some breadcrumbs to help them stick together.
2. Arrange on a baking sheet and freeze for an hour. Once frozen, transfer to a re-sealable bag.