Recipe- Marinated Skirt Steak
After reading Nicks last entry of “go-to” Steak Nites it reminded me of one of my favorites- skirt steak marinated in salsa verde served with pasta carbonara. I recently served this to some friends of ours for their first Steak Nite (the two newest members of the Steak Nite family) . The meal has such huge flavors with the tanginess of the marinated steak and the richness of the pasta, that I usually offer two totally different varietals of wine…one to try and hold up against the steak and another to refresh the palette. In this last meeting we chose a very nice Reisling from Washington state which was a great quencher next to the salsa, while our friends brought a perfectly suitable Malbec from Argentina that held up great to the juiciness of the steak. Tasty combination’s contributing to a memorable evening definitely makes this one of my go-to Steak Nites, and will hopefully help continue the Steak Nite tradition…
Salsa Verde Marinated Skirt Steak:
2 pound skirt steak
Salsa Verde:
1/4 cup fresh italian parsley
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
4 cloves garlic
2 shallots
1 lemon juiced
1 lime juiced
2 tbls sherry vinegar
EVOO
salt and pepper
combine ingredients of salsa verde into food processor and drizzle olive oil until desired consistency. reserving about half of salsa for garnish, marinade steak in ziplock bag with remaining salsa for up to 12 hours. scrape all excess salsa from steak and cook on hot grill. serve sliced with salsa verde as garnish
Chef Joseph Bastianich’s: Linguine alla Carbonara
6 ounces slab bacon
2 tbls EVOO
2 large yellow onions
3 egg yolks
1 c grated parmigiano-reggiano
ground black pepper
1 1/2 c hot chicken stock
cut bacon into large pieces and brown in tbls of EVOO, leaving outside crispy and center moist, remove bacon from pan. cook diced onions in bacon drippings and extra oil, if needed, until onions are still crunchy and transparent. add stock, bring to boil and adjust heat to simmer, cooking liquid til reduced by half.
meanwhile, stir fresh linguini into boiling salted water and cook til al dente. drain pasta, reserving cup of water, and return to pot. stir sauce into pasta reducing heat to medium. remove from heat and add egg yolks one at a time mixing to prevent overcooking of yolks. add cheese and fresh craked pepper, serve imediately.
Your main dish this week sounds amazing. I will definitely give it a try. This week we had a perfectly cooked and seasoned Filet served with a 2005 Dutcher’s Crossing Cabernet. One of the best Cabernets we have had in a long time. The bouquet is rich as rich as the flavor is intense, aged in medium-toasted oak for more than two years this is a wine that could lie down for much longer. Simply beautiful and smooth with a lasting finish.