Grilled Flank Steak with House Marinade

Please any beef lover with this Grilled Flank Steak in our House Marinade!


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We can't get through summer without a good grilled steak and some wonderful sides.  Beef is my choice of meat when grilling but MGG really likes to keep it light with fish or chicken most often with the occasional beef dish thrown in.  But today is all about the beef!  

My favorite cut of beef is a filet mignon for it's tenderness but today we are going to play around with another favorite, the flank steak.  Flank steak is a long flat, tougher cut of meat that sits along the belly of a cow. It has tons of intense beefy flavor and it's the perfect cut for marinating and grilling which increases the tenderness.  The results? A juicy tender cut of meat!  

Eat it thinly sliced and cut against the grain for maximum tenderness.

Two tips for grilling flank steak:

• Best when cooked to medium rare or medium.  If you cook this any longer the meat will not be as tender.
• Tough fibers all run in a single direction so it is imperative that you cut "across the grain" to ensure you get tender slices of beef. This allows you to sever those fibers and  makes the meat easier to chew.

About Marinating

Flanks steaks take well to marinades and they can help to tenderize the meat. We have a standard marinade for most of our beef recipes that we call our "house marinade".  It is made up of delicious ingredients such as balsamic vinegar,  mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and lots of garlic and herbs.  Yum!  This flavor bomb enhances the meat and gives you one heck of a tasty piece of steak!  Try it on other cuts of steaks too.

I find that the easiest way to marinade any piece of meat is to mix the marinade and put it in a ziploc bag along with the meat.  Seal it tight and slosh that marinade all over the meat making sure it's all coated.  Then pop it in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours turning it over every so often so coat all sides with the deliciousness.  

How to cook flank steak

High heat and quick cooking is the best way to cook flank steak.  It can be grilled, seared, braised or stuffed.  Today we are going to grill it.  You can use an outdoor grill or inside on a grill pan.  It cooks fairly quickly and you don't want to cook this above medium or it will become tough.  Medium rare is best.  

What side dishes go with it?

Just about anything from potatoes to corn go with steak.  Here are some of my favorites:

Indian Summer Fresh Corn Salad

Orzo Black Bean Salad

Fresh Sweet Corn with Lime Butter

Cajun Roasted Potatoes

Grilled Greek Potato Salad

Dill Garden Salad

Parmesan Peppercorn Dressing over a Garden Salad with Avocado

More flank steak? 

Grilled Cuban Flank Steak

Jack Daniel's Whiskey Marinated FlankMo Steak

Cilantro Lime Flank Steak with an Avocado Poblano Salsa

Herb Rubbed Flank Steak

Balsamic Flank Steak Salad with Parmesan

Grilled Flank Steak with House Marinade

2-3 pound flank steak
2 T balsamic vinegar
1 lemon, juiced
1 1/2 T Dijon mustard
1 T Worcestershire sauce
2 T finely minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp paprika
1/4 cup olive oil

Place the flank steak in a ziploc bag.  Mix the remainder of the ingredients in a measuring cup and mix well to blend.  Pour over the flank steak and seal the bag.  Rotate the bag so that the marinade covers all sides of the meat.  Place in the refrigerator and allow to marinate for 3-4 hours turning over every so often.  Remove the bag from the refrigerator and set it on the counter allowing the meat to come to room temperature for about 1 hour.

Preheat an outdoor grill with cover down to high heat.  Alternatively, you can preheat an indoor grill pan over high heat.  Once heated reduce temperature to medium high. Oil the grill grates so the meat does not stick.  Remove steak from the marinade and place on the grill.  Cook on the first side for 6 minutes.  Turn and cook on the second side until the temperature reaches 145 degrees for medium rare.  Remove from the grill and tent with foil allowing to rest for 5 minutes.

Cut meat across the grain into thin strips.  Serve.

Steak and Potato Kabobs with Chimichurri Sauce

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Isn't food on a stick more fun to eat?  Well if you put any kind of meat and vegetable on a skewer we call them kabobs!

Since is grilling season I think it's time to get out there and grill some delicious kabobs!  We love don't eat too much beef at our house although I totally love it.  So when we have it I want a great tasting steak.  So why not take my love for meat and potatoes and turn them into kabobs.

These kabobs scream summer and call for dining alfresco.  Tender pieces of lean sirloin are cut into chunks and threaded on skewers.  Wonderful meaty chunks of beef that pack a lot of flavor and come out juicy and tender.  The potatoes are grilled right along side the beef and turn out tender and flavorful from grilling.  

The kicker to the whole dish is a variation on a chimichurri sauce.  This is a uncooked green sauce from Argentina.  Typically made with parsley, garlic, red wine vinegar, and olive oil this version bumps it up a notch with the addition of mint and sumac.   Sumac is found in many Middle Eastern dishes and have a wonderfully tangy lemon flavor.  If you don't have sumac or can't find it you can substitute lemon zest in the sauce and have similar results.  What ever you do don't skip this sauce!!  The flavor is out of this world!!!!  You can make it easily in a food processor and it takes only minutes to pull together.

Tender steak and potato kabobs doused with a refreshing chimichurri sauce is just what the doctor ordered for summertime grilling!  Perfect for a party or the upcoming 4th of July holiday.  

Get outside and grill! This dinner will be on the table in under 30 minutes and is so easy to through together you'll wonder why you haven't made this before.








Steak and Potato Kabobs with Chimichurri Sauce

serves 4

FOR THE CHIMICHURRI, PURÉE: 

2 cups fresh mint leaves 
1 cup fresh parsley leaves 
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil 
2 cloves garlic 
2 Tbsp. each red wine vinegar and fresh lemon juice 
1 ½ tsp. ground sumac 
1 shallot 
1 tsp. red pepper flakes 
Salt and black pepper to taste

FOR THE KABOBS: 

6 yellow new potatoes, halved, and sliced into 1/2" disks
4 Tbsp. olive oil, divided 
1 ¼ lb. top sirloin, cut into 2-inch chunks

Preheat grill for two-zone grilling, heating one side to medium and the other to medium-high. Brush grill grate with oil.

For the chimichurri, purée mint, parsley, 1 ⁄2 cup oil, garlic, vinegar, lemon juice, sumac, shallot, and pepper flakes in a food processor; season with salt and black pepper. 

For the kebabs, toss potatoes with 2 Tbsp. oil; thread potato slices onto each of four skewers so potatoes lay flat. Toss beef with 2 Tbsp. oil. 

Evenly divide and thread beef onto each of four skewers. Season kebabs with salt and black pepper. 

Grill potatoes over medium heat, covered, until brown and soft, about 7 minutes per side. Add beef kebabs to grill; cook over medium-high heat, covered, to desired doneness (about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare). 

Let kebabs rest 5 minutes. While resting, brush kabobs chimichurri sauce. Serve remaining chimichurri on the side.


source:  Cuisine at home

11 Best Dishes of 2018

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Happy New Year!

2018 was a year full of highs and lows but it seems that it went so fast that it was a blur.  The food we made was a full of variety.  The most popular dishes seem to have a comfort food theme with a little bit of restaurant flair thrown in.   

I've gathered the eleven most popular dishes (there was a tie for 10th place that I couldn't break) from 2018 in one spot for you to reference and enjoy!

Enjoy all the precious moments that 2019 will bring.  We only live once!

11 TOP RECIPES OF 2018

In no particular order...

Cajun Roasted Potatoes

Chili Lime Salmon with Roasted Vegetables

Baked Honey Soy Chicken Legs

Spicy Turkey Chili 

Garlic and Parmesan Crispy Oven Fried Chicken

Grilled Balsamic Chicken with Mediterranean Rice

Slow Cooker Italian Chicken Stew

Middle Eastern Chickpea Salad

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Easy Cinnamon Peach Cobbler - Family Sized

Sheet Pan Beef Fajitas

There are plenty of dishes to come in 2019.  Lots of comfort food, weeknight meals, stir frys, southern dishes, and easy restaurant style meals.  Enjoy a prosperous holiday and I am so grateful for all of my followers.  I wish you the best to come in 2019 and will be talking to you in the new year!

Grilled Veggie Naan Pizza

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The last day of summer is here and we're celebrating in style with grilled pizza!

We love pizza and have it often.  I've used so many different bases for pizzas such as Zucchini and Sausage Flatbread Pizza, The BEST Pizza Dough, and this French Bread Pizza..but today we are going to use Naan bread, AND we are going to fire up the grill while we still can!

Naan is an Indian style flatbread and is the perfect base for a quick pizza.  It's sturdy enough to hold up against hearty toppings yet soft enough for a nice bite.

It's all about the GRILLED VEGGIES!  Yes, today's pizza is bursting with flavors from the addition of grilled vegetables for the toppings.  Just forage in your frig for your favorite veggies that will hold up on the grill and get going.  We used red onion, zucchini, tomatoes, and summer squash.

Grilling brings on the FLAVOR!  When grilling vegetables make sure to douse them in oil and season them with a little Italian herbs for extra flavor.  Get some good grill marks on your veggies too, cause that's where the flavor is!

Show your pizza a little love!  Top your naan bread with your favorite pizza sauce, then sprinkle on a seasoning mix to give it some more flavor.  Pile on the grilled and chopped veggies then add a little Parmesan cheese.  Pop it back on the grill to heat it all up then add a sprinkle of fresh basil and a douse of good olive oil!

Try this recipe out this weekend while the weather still allow for grilling.  You will be surprised by how easy this is to make, but you won't be surprised at how GOOD it tastes!

Enjoy!





Grilled Veggie Naan Pizza

serves 1

1 medium sized Naan flatbread (I used Stonefire's)
1 zucchini, sliced into planks
1 summer squash, sliced into planks
1 tomato sliced
1 red onion, sliced and left in whole slices
olive oil
1 tsp Italian seasoning
pizza sauce
pizza seasoning
shaved Parmesan cheese
basil, chopped

Preheat your grill over medium heat.  Drizzle olive oil on the sliced vegetables, both sides, and sprinkle with the Italian seasoning.  Place on grill and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.  Turning when necessary.

Remove vegetables to a cutting board and chop into bite sized pieces.  Set aside.

To assemble pizza take your Naan flatbread and add some pizza sauce to the bottom.  Sprinkle with some pizza seasoning.  Add your grilled, chopped vegetables and place back on the grill.  Cook, covered, for about 7-8 minutes until warmed through.  Remove and sprinkle with Parmesan, douse with a little olive oil, and sprinkle chopped basil on top.  Cut and serve.

Mediterranean Chicken Kabobs

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Summer, oh Summer, don't leave me yet.....!

I'm in love with summer and I'm going to grill until the rain comes!  Even though the evenings are shorter now I still find that we love to grill and eat al fresco every chance we get.

Our go to meal this summer has been this extremely tasty grilled chicken dish, but MGG's love of kabobs is the inspiration for today's recipe.  When shopping for food the other day he said "Let's make chicken kabobs, but not Persian ones, something with a different flair."  Taking that lead I knew that we had enough vegetables to make a Mediterranean meal, so we grabbed some chicken and a lemon and off we went.

Mediterranean Chicken Kabobs

What are kabobs?  They are varieties of meat that are cooked on skewers or a spit.  Typically from the middle east, but many countries have a version of a kabob (kebab).  They've been adapted in American to fit any type of meat and vegetable mix with any flavor profile.  I've made Jamaican Jerk Chicken Kabobs, Lemon Garlic Beef Kabobs, Moorish Pork Kabobs, and Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs to name a few.  Anything goes!

It's all about the flavor! 

Mediterranean Chicken Kabobs

serves 4

2 tsp Spanish paprika
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
4 clove minced garlic
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup lemon juice - 1 lemon
1/2 cup blood orange olive oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
1 large zucchini, halved and cut into large chunks
1 large yellow squash, halved and cut into large chunks

wooden skewers

In a re-sealable bag add the cubed chicken along with the spices, salt and pepper to taste, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. Toss to coat. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

If using wooden skewers place them in water and soak for 30 minutes.

Place sliced vegetables in a medium bowl and toss with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Pre-heat a gas grill to medium heat. Thread the chicken cubes, zucchini, and yellow squash onto wood skewers. 

Lightly oil the grill grate. Place the kabobs on the grate and cover, turning occasionally for 12-15 minutes, or until the chicken juices run clear. Remove and serve immediately.

Summer's BEST: Latin Grilled Chicken

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California cuisine is all about eating fresh.  Since our state is full of agriculture, local ingredients are treasured and are in abundance and often paired with lean meats or seafood.  Regional cultures are also a big influence in the dishes.

Today's recipe is influenced by all the Mexican culture around us in Los Angeles.  Bold savory spices mixed with bright citrus flavors hit all the right flavor notes when mixed together.  Since it's summer and we want to keep the heat out of the kitchen we are going to do some grilling outdoors.  Our go to meat is usually chicken, but this recipe would work well with fish or pork too.  To impart the most flavor in the chicken it is important to marinate it in a mixture of spice, acid, and oil.  Then the chicken is left to soak up all the flavors and produce a succulent and flavorful piece of meat.

Let's talk ingredients.  When cooking on a weeknight simple is best.  Cumin (a wonderful spice used in many Latin dishes) is used for the spice (salt & pepper to taste) along with lime juice as the acid, and a good olive oil.  This makes the BEST Latin flavored marinade.  This is all you need!  Trust me, this packs such a flavor punch that you won't believe it. 

It's all about the marinade!  You also want a quick marinade time for weeknight cooking.  So take out your chicken and place it along with the marinade in a sealable bag and leave it on the counter to come to room temperature about 30-45 minutes before grilling.  This will give it a quick, but powerful marinating time to seal in the flavors in the chicken.  A good marinade is the basis for flavoring your meat!

So did I mention that this dish is EASY to make?  It practically makes itself!  Really, this will become a go to recipe in your house this summer.  It's great during the week or on the weekend for entertaining.  This dish does it all!  

Enjoy!










Latin Grilled Chicken

Serves 4

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 lime juice, fresh squeezed
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
salt & pepper
4 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless

In a large re-sealable bag add the ingredients for the chicken marinade and the chicken breasts.  Close tightly and toss to coat all the pieces.  Place the chicken mixture on the counter for 30-45 minutes allowing the chicken to come to room temperature.

Preheat a gas grill to medium high heat.  Remove the chicken from marinade (discard marinade) and grill, turning once, until the center is no longer pink and reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees.  About 8- 10 minutes depending upon the thickness and size of the chicken breasts.  Transfer chicken to a platter and allow to rest 10 minutes.  Serve.

9 Summer Grilling Favorites 2018

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Summer is well under way and everyone is trying to beat the kitchen heat by grilling outdoors!

I have an array of some of my favorite grilling dishes that I think you will just love.  So look through them below and pick a few to try when you are planning your next meal on the grill!

9 Summer Grilling Favorites 2018



Let start off with something light and healthy like my Weeknight Balsamic Steak Salad.  This has such bold flavors that will leave you craving more.. Don't forget the Blue Cheese on this one, it's a definite must for those complex flavors!

For a great chicken dish you'll just love my Grilled Balsamic Chicken with Mediterranean Rice.  Again as with the steak dish above Balsamic is the primary flavor and it's just makes this chicken pop!  We love Mediterranean flavors and this dish is a winner!

For those who like fish or seafood you have to try my Lemon Herb Grilled Shrimp and Scallops.  It is so light and delectable that it will just knock your socks off!

You certainly can't get through summer without having a burger.  And if you choose any burger it better be my Butter Burgers.  Man oh man are these the juiciest burgers you will have anywhere!  An absolute must in my book.

Oh this salad!  The marinade which is also the salad dressing is to die for.  This salad is worth eating just for that marinade.  Grilled Lemon Herb Mediterranean Chicken Salad with leave you feeling like you are sitting on a small island somewhere drinking Chianti and savoring the sea breeze! 

Let not forget the side dishes that are perfect for grilling.  Try The BEST Grilled Corn Ever and you will know what I mean.  Savory with chives and then there's the butter.  Need I say more?

What's better than a side of grilled vegetables?  Not much.  Grilling brings out the sweetness in the vegetables, and that char...oh that char!  Flavors are waiting.  Try my version of Grilled Vegetables with a balsamic marinade...they are truly perfection!

For something fun and different on the grill try Grilled Pita Pizzas.  They are a quick weeknight meal or can be a great appetizer.  They're easy to throw together and taste superb on the grill!

Let's not forget about dessert!  You gotta try a dessert on the grill.  Yes, grilled peaches and nectarines are tasty, but let's go a step further and have my Grilled Lemon Pound Cake with Strawberries and Vanilla Ice Cream!  Oh boy, oh boy!  I'll take the dessert over the meal when this is served!

Have a wonderful "grillful" summer!