Easy Steamed Artichokes

You'll need.

• 2 Artichokes

For the sauce

• Mayo 3/4 Cup
• Juice of 1 small Lemon
• Red wine vinegar 1 tbsp
• Hungarian paprika 1 tsp
• Onion Powder  1tsp
• salt and pepper to taste

So here is another easy recipe. Use it for appetizers for a group or a main dish for a small meal.

So first trim your artichoke however you like. This is not required but the stems they come with are sometimes pretty long and I like cutting off the tips.

So pretty.

Put them in your favorite steamer and let them go for an hour.

Meanwhile whip up the sauce by combining all the other ingredients and mixing with a whisk till everything is incorporated.
Done.

Now all you do is wait for the chokes to be done. You can tell by sampling the leaves till they reach your desired consistancy.


Enjoy.

Yum.

Marinated Flank Steak

So, you say what should I eat with that kale salad that you told me to make? Well here's an idea. Why not have some really lean juicy marinated flank steak.

What you'll need

• Flank steak
• Plastic Ziplock Bag
• Soy Sauce 1/4 cup
  
• Worcestershire Sauce 1/8 cup
  
• Pickapeppa Sauce 2 tbsp
  
• Hot Squeeze (or honey) 2 tbsp

It pretty easy after you've assembled all the ingredients.

Go ahead and trim all the scary bits off the steak with a really sharp knife. Really sharp because that's the only way to use knives that is enjoyable.

Mix all the ingredients and place in a plastic bag. Let that sit for at least 24 hours 48 is good too.

Heat your grill till it's blazing hot.

Remember the honey or hot squeeze? That heat will help with the caramelization and give you killer grill lines if you're into pretty food.












So I cook for about 2.5 minutes and turn to a fresh part of the grill to have the hottest iron touching the meat every time 2.5 more minutes and flip and repeat the process. Isn't that just soooo nice? I'm getting hungry again just writing about it.

As a matter of fact it's a strange spiritual rewind to go back and write about the stuff you ate a couple of days ago. Regardless, take that sucker off the heat and onto a cutting board where you cover it up!

Let it rest for 10 minutes. This is the hardest part. The waiting. But, it allows the proteins to continue to break down and release those juices Thanks to Tim... the juice gets pushed to the center of the meat and resting it give time for those juices to permeate back into the whole thing, which leads to our most basic instinct, oohing and ahhing over meat.

After that slice it thin (again with a VERY sharp knife) against the grain like so and enjoy as a main dish or on bread with some lettuce and mayo, or wrapped up in a tortilla with some cheese and pico de gallo. or with some horseradish sauce and a roll or however you want it. I'm telling you you won't regret it.





Yum.

It's been awhile since I've written, but as Basil gently questioned me the last time I saw him at JL's party about the blog. I guess it's time for another entry.

This recipe is out there on the net and I made it a long time ago while I was working in the prepared foods section of Whole Foods but not EVERYONE knows it yet so I'll post it here with my own little spin.

Oriental Kale Salad

So you'll need

• A couple bunches of Kale 2 or 3 (don't get it if it's limp)
• Carrots 2
  
• Red Onion 1/4
• Dressing
  
• Sesame oil 1/4 cup
• Honey 1/4 cip
• Soy Sauce 1/2 Cup
• Toasted Sesame Seeds 2 tbsp
  
• Flax Seeds 4tbsp

So for the kale separate the stems from the leaves about 2/3 of the way up and cut into 2-3 inch pieces. for the leaves a rough 1 1/2 - 2 inch chop is fine.

Throw the stems into a steamer and get them going.

While you're steaming these get an ice bath ready in a bowl so when they're ready you can stop the cooking process and keep that awsome crunch that keeps these greens from having grandmas collards texture. Not that there's anything wrong with that it's just not the texture I want for my salads. You can also take this opportunity to gather the ingredients for the dressing.

Oh and if anyone wants my old pots let me know. you can see them back on the right side of the picture. :)

Go ahead and combine the honey, soy, and sesame oil with the seeds and give it a whirl.


Now it should be about time to add the rest of the kale to the steamer on top of the stalks. 5 minutes or so or until just crispy enough and not too hard for you. Go ahead and try it, the stalks kind of taste like broccoli to me.

Cook the kale till it looks perfect.
like this.

Bright green and still crunchy. About 1.5 to 2 minutes.

Put it directly into the ice bath to cool it off then squeeze it some and put the drier stuff in another bowl. What this does is removes all the watery liquid so that you can replace it with all the tasty liquid that you have just so painstakingly out together. Like so.

Brrrrrrrr.

Anyway.

Thinly slice as many red onions and carrots as you want and add everything together and mix it up.

It tastes pretty good with a couple shakes of cayenne. Or if you have some chili's in your garden you can slice one of those up too. Otherwise you can eat it right away or refridgerate it. It tastes better after a day in the fridge, which is why I usually make enough for 3 or 4 days :)...

You can leave out the flax seeds but they're pretty and chock full of omega 3's. You could even toast them for more nutty goodness.

Yum.