Churrasco, baby!

Hey, it's Mr. J here again, the mystery chef (or shall I say guest chef in this blog.. hehehe). One day I felt like making a special dinner for my gorgeous wife, so I thought to myself there's no better way to show my love than to grill up some churrasco, baby...MMMMMM! I love to cook a tasty piece of meat, especially when its got that fat slightly marbled throughout the cut. When grilling, this type of meat is not as easily dried-out by the heat and delivers, in my opinion, a better flavor than super-lean cuts of meat. Follow closely as we cook up some awesome steak and side dishes that will have you smacking your lips!

Spice Rubbed Skirt Steak With Apple-Glazed Sweet Potato
1-1/4 lbs skirt steak (churrasco)
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt

Ready, Set ... Remove Churrasco meat from refrigerator to let it come to room temperature. Rub lightly with olive oil, and coat evenly, (on both sides) with the spices: Cumin, ground black pepper, sea salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and some chili powder. Rub well into meat. Now, most recipes I've seen ask you to make a special rub for the meat beforehand by combining a long list of ingredients (not that there's anything wrong with that...LOL), but for me I know what I like and when I am being lazy I can do it this way and still know that I am going to get a good flavor from my steak and seasoning without all of the fuss.

After seasoning, let the meat stand for about 30-45 minutes before heading off to the grill. This gives you ample time to get started on those sweet potatoes. Actually, you should've had them in the oven 15 minutes ago... :O)

Apple Glazed Sweet Potato
2 pcs good sized sweet potato
2 pcs large apple (Macintosh/Golden Delicious), diced
3/4 stick butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon

I upgraded this dish to almost like a dessert. For starters, get those potatoes cleaned up and dried. Take some butter and coat the outside and wrap in foil before placing them into the oven for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

To make the glaze, I melted the butter in a pan over medium heat, then added the sugar and cinnamon to it. When the sugar has melted, I added the apples and just stirred them in to be coated with sweet butter-cinnamon mixture. I didn't let it stay long under the heat though because the apples are diced, red and delicious,but still not as firm as say a granny smith's apple -- So, it cooks pretty quick. Set the glaze aside until later.


When you have about 15 minutes left on your potatoes, get the grill going and start cooking your meat, after all its all about timing. Churrasco time! Go ahead and cook your meat about 4-6 minutes on each side over medium heat, for medium doneness. Don't forget to get the nice grill marks before flipping! The olive oil will help out with that since it has a lower burning temperature than regular oils. Focus on cooking the steak how you like it, because your potatoes will be ok until you get to them.

Once the meat is cooked set it off to the side and grab your sweet potatoes. Plate them first, pop 'em open, and add the glazed apples to the top of them. Start cutting into that churrasco and get some of that on your plate.

If you have some chimichurri sauce laying around go ahead and add that to your steak for more kick! If not, don't worry the steak will be great all on its own. We also had a mini-salad with our meal, nothing too special; simply a spring salad mix with tomatoes, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

It doesnt take a lot to have a special meal, just good timing! Enjoy!

Flank Steak With Five Spice Rub & Chile Relish

One of the challenges of cooking in the middle of the week is making something that is simple, quick and yet packs a lot of flavor. And for us, grilling - steak in particular - is the way to go.

My hubby's most favorite cut of steak is rib-eye, but this time, I ventured into something that we don't usually do - flank steak. I was aware that doing this particular cut would be a challenge as this cut yields a tougher meat, but I really wanted to get acquainted with this part of the cow...hahaha.

My inspiration came, once again from Cooking Light magazine. I was intrigued by the chile relish and so I decided to try this recipe. And we were not disappointed. The flavors of this dish are so good. Though if you ask me, I'd rather use the skirt steak (churrasco) than the flank...there I said it... I am now convinced that flank is better used for stewing/braising, but not for grilling.

So if you try this recipe (which I hope you would), get the skirt steak. This dish is very good - simple enough for a weeknight dinner but yet, very tasty that you can even entertain with it.

Steak
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp five-spice powder
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 (2-lb) flank steak, trimmed
cooking spray

1. Prepare grill
2. To prepare steak, combine sugar and next 4 ingredients (thru ginger) in a small bowl. Sprinkle steak with sugar mixture.
3. Place steak on a grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill 6 mins. on each side or until desired degree of doneness.
4. Cut steak across grain into thin slices.
5. Serve with relish and toasted pita.

Relish
2 poblano chiles
1 orange bell-pepper
1-1/2 tbsp chopped dry-roasted peanuts
1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 tbsp seasoned rice wine vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced

1. Pre-heat broiler.
2. To prepare relish, cut chiles and bell pepper in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membranes.
3. Place halves, skin side up, on a foil-lined baking sheet, flatten with hand.
4. Broil 15 mins or until blackened.
5. Place in a zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand for 15 mins.
6. Peel and chop.
7. Combine chiles, bell pepper and next 6 ingredients (thru garlic) in a small bowl; toss well. Set aside till steak is ready. Serve with steak.