The Red Skirt

A new sandwich was created over Labor Day weekend!

Nice plate, huh?

It starts with marinated skirt steak:
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped1/4 cup grainy mustard
2 tblspns Dijon mustard2 tspns paprika
1/4 tspn kosher salt
1/4 tspn black pepper
1 tblspn soy sauce
2 tblspns white wine vinegar1 tblspn honey

Whisk all the ingredients together and allow skirt steak to marinate a couple of hours.

Next, on the grill, roast some red bell peppers. First, oil the peppers with olive oil and then place them right over the hottest part of the grill. When they are nice and blackened they are ready to come off.



Then place them in a bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let them sit for about 10 minutes and then peel the skin off of the peppers. Cut the peppers up into quarters.



Grill the skirt steak. When the steak is cooked take it off, remove the skewers and cut it across the grain into small pieces. Put some of the steak back onto the grill and drape with a piece of provolone cheese. Allow the cheese to melt. At the same time toast two pieces of sliced Italian bread on the grill. When the cheese has melted, scoop up the meat and place it on the toasted bread along with a piece of the roasted red pepper.

The Red Skirt Sandwich!

Habas a la rondena

It has been a long time since I have cooked any "Spanish" dishes and since it's the height of summer I decided it was about time. I was once in a second hand book store when I stumbled upon a book called "Spanish Cooking" by Pepita Aris.
With said book in hand, I went home and promptly set it on fire by turning on a burner while it was lying on the stove.

It rained all day Saturday and the grill was out of the question, so it was a good day to work in the kitchen, so i got the formerly mentioned charred tome down from the shelf.

The first recipe is called Habas a la rondena, or lima beans with ham, Ronda style. Aris writes, "So popular is this fresh bean dish all over Spain that it is sometimes called espanola instead." The book is broken out into regions and she has this recipe in the Andalusia region of Spain, which is also the birthplace of Flamenco music, a personal favorite.

2lb - Lima beans frozen
1 1/2 cups chopped Spanish onion
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup diced ham
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
salt, pepper
4 hard boiled eggs
1 red bell pepper diced

I sauteed the onion in the olive oil until it was quite well done and almost caramelized. I used a Vidalia onion instead of the red onion. Toss the ham in with the onion and fry for a minute or so. Add the frozen lima beans into the pan. Honestly, I think 2lbs was too much, I should have stopped after the first bag, which was a pound. I then covered the pan with a piece of foil and let it cook for about 10 minutes on med high. I chopped the boiled eggs while that was cooking. When the beans were done I transferred the pan to a large bowl added in the egg and bell pepper and tossed well.

It was very good warm, but it was even better today after being in the refrigerator overnight.

The second "Spanish" dish was also from Andalusia, pinchitos morunos, or small spicy Moorish kebabs. This is technically a tapa.







1 lb pork, (I used boneless ribs)
2 garlic cloves
2 tspn salt
1 tspn curry
1 tspn paprika
1/4 tspn dried thyme
black peper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lemon juiced

Crush the garlic with the salt in a mortar, then work in the other ingredients.

Cut the pork into bite sized pieces. Marinate the pork and allow let sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

I soaked the skewers for 20 minutes prior to adding the pork. Skewer the pork. Cook under the broiler about 3 minutes a side. Alternatively these would be perfect on the grill as well.

Last step: Open beer, play Paco de Lucia, eat...

I wasn't joking about setting the book on fire. You can clearly make out the rings of the burner...

Late night shish kebabs w/ the companions

"This highway runs from Paraguay
And I've just come all the way" Steely Dan

Well, I woke up late, hungry. The better half was off to bed. I was craving meat, so I went and got a steak and a bottle. And charcoal.

I bought a cheap steak, figuring that if i marinated it it would not matter. Not to mention the fact that carne is going through the roof lately.

So I began to dice up my cheap steak, with a little onion and portabello and green bell pepper.

I stoked up my chimney starter with newspaper and got it rolling as well.

I located the skewers in the back of the silverware drawer and began to load them up.

The Overlord let it be known they could be bribed tonight, so I doled out a couple of raw slices to them. (Tub included)

I had a pretty hot fire going, not very large. I gave two skewers ten minutes each, which seemed to be about just right.

A thunder storm passed over bringing a little bit of rain, but no more than a minor nuisance.

Oh yes, the companions. After I had eaten, I had a bit more steak left, so I made one more shish kebab. As I was pulling it off of the grill I noticed a bandito looking up at me from below the porch.

Since we have a bit of a relationship already, I offered a piece of kebob to my bandito amiga. It was a bit hot still. She, who is roughly twice as large as the Overlord, didn't know quite what to do with a piece of hot food. So she picked it up, rolled it around in her paws, then ran off to the creek to wash it off. No matter how much food they pick out of the garbage can they always make sure they wash it off before they eat it. You've got to admire that in an animal.

Who are the companions? Take a guess.

Cooking music: Random

spirits: Ravenswood Merlot