Monday, March 15, 2010

Skirt steak ain't just for fajitas

I'm going to do my best writing this. At the moment, my husband and kids are upstairs playing Band Hero or something and it's blaring Nickelback. Uggggh. Can'tStandNICKELBACK!!!! I hope this is coherent with my left eye twitching...

It's spring break here. Today we went to the dollar theater to see Planet 51. It was $.75 ticket day. We got 3 tickets for $2.25. Once inside, we got our snacks. One small cherry icee, one small sprite, one bottle of water and two boxes of whoppers. Grand total? $17.25. Next time we'll be smuggling our snacks.

So, I slacked off last week and didn't try a new recipe. I say slacked off, but if you saw my previous post, it wasn't as if I was on vacation. It was quite the beating.

Tonight is a new night though, and a new recipe. I get a daily push text message through my iPhone from Everyday Food from Martha Stewart. You can get it from the app store or by clicking here. Every day at around 2:00 I get a little text from Martha with an easy recipe. Today I tried Balsamic Skirt Steak with Polenta and Roasted Tomatoes. It was excellent.

Balsamic Skirt Steak with Polenta and Roasted Tomatoes

Ingredients

Serves 4

  • 2 pints grape tomatoes
  • 6 scallions, white and green parts separated and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • Coarse salt and ground pepper
  • 1 cup yellow cornmeal
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan
  • 1 1/2 pounds skirt steak (cut into 2 or more pieces, if necessary, to fit in skillet)
  • 1 cup balsamic vinegar

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large saucepan, set 4 cups water to boil. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss tomatoes with scallion whites and 1 tablespoon oil; season with salt and pepper. Roast until tomatoes are tender and some skins have split, 12 to 15 minutes; toss with scallion greens.
  2. Meanwhile, add 1 teaspoon salt to boiling water; gradually whisk in cornmeal. Simmer very gently over low heat, whisking occasionally, until polenta is thickened and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Whisk in butter and Parmesan, and keep warm over very low heat (whisk in some water just before serving if polenta becomes too thick).
  3. Heat remaining tablespoon oil in a large skillet over high. Season steak with salt and pepper; add to skillet. Cook, turning once, 6 to 8 minutes total for medium-rare. Transfer to a plate, cover loosely with aluminum foil, and let rest, 5 to 10 minutes (reserve skillet).
  4. Add vinegar to skillet, and boil over high until reduced to 1/2 cup, 5 to 7 minutes; stir in any juices from resting steak. Slice steak, and serve with vinegar sauce, polenta, and tomatoes.

2 comments:

Megan said...

That recipe looks great! I will be trying that next week when I start cooking again. It was great to sit and talk your head off the other night. I feel like I monopolized all of your night though! It was fun!
p.s. I also hate Nickleback.

Julie said...

I'd suffer through nickelback to get to eat some of this...yum :)