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In a previous blog, I featured my recipe for a “Thai Grilled Steak.” This recipe is very similar to it. In fact, I was trying to recreate that recipe the other night so that I could marinate a beautiful cut of grass-fed beef flap I had, but I didn’t have all the ingredients in my pantry. So I improvised, and I think I made it just a little bit better!

I really love the flavors of this recipe, and the great thing is that you can use it as a marinade and a dipping sauce–not just for the beef flap–but a dipping sauce for grilled chicken, dumplings, anything. It’s that good.

Make more than you think you’ll need because you can keep it in the fridge for future dipping.

If you use gluten-free soy sauce, this recipe is GF. Chili garlic sauce can be found in the Asian foods section of most supermarkets.

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup sesame oil
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped salted pistachio nuts
2 scallions, minced
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce

 

 

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix them together well.

 

Whatever cut of beef you’re using, make sure it isn’t too thick, or the marinade won’t penetrate the meat.

I like to use beef flap because it’s full of flavor, and I slice it crosswise to make cuts of meat that are about 1/2″ thick.

I place the beef in a bowl, and pour just a little marinade in at a time. I don’t want the meat swimming in the marinade…just enough so that it makes contact with all the surfaces of the meat.

Place the unused marinade in a sealed container in the fridge.

If I’m cooking soon, I let the beef marinate at room temperature. But ideally, I want the beef to marinate in the fridge overnight–the longer the better–to really soak up the flavors of the marinade.

Before cooking, take the beef out of the fridge and let it come back to room temperature. Discard the marinade that was in the bowl with the beef.

If your beef flap is thin enough, tossing it onto a very hot cast iron skillet to sear it on both sides will bring the beef to a perfect medium-rare. Otherwise, you can sear it in a regular pan and then finish it in the oven–or–fire up the grill!

Use the remaining marinade for dipping.

If you’re marinating chicken, basically the same steps apply. Marinate the meat as long as possible before cooking, and use the remaining sauce for dipping. But with chicken, you have to be careful not to cross-contaminate. Any sauce that touches raw chicken should not be used for dipping later on!

 

 

Whether you use chicken breast or chicken thighs — I used both here— the flavor is outstanding, especially if you can finish it on the grill!

 

Here’s great hack for fresh ginger that I learned from Liz, the owner of Wishing Stone Farm, an organic farm in Little Compton, RI, where they grow their own ginger roots. Place your ginger root in a Ziploc bag and keep it in the freezer. Whenever a recipe calls for grated ginger, simply pull the frozen root out of the freezer and grate it, skin and all, while it’s frozen. Then simply place the root back in the Ziploc and back in the freezer until next time. No waste!

Beef Stroganoff is a classic dish that I remember from my childhood. It’s easy to make and really satisfying, and you can add or remove ingredients as you wish to make it your own.

 

This is a recipe that is easily changed to accommodate your personal tastes, so feel free to do so. For example, the classic recipe uses sliced white mushrooms. I had some dried porcini in my stash–much more intense in favor–but I like that, so I used them. Classic stroganoff uses egg noodles. I went with bucatini pasta. And the beef is usually a cut like flank steak, but I like using beef flap. Just be sure to slice the meat thinly and against the grain to keep it really tender.

This recipe makes a lot, so feel free to cut the ingredients in half for a smaller batch…

 

 

2 lbs. beef flap, trimmed and cut into thin strips
1 stick (4 oz.) unsalted butter
1 oz. dried porcini mushrooms
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
2 cups sour cream, at room temperature
salt and pepper

1 lb. egg noodles or pasta

 

Place the dried porcini in a sauce pan with about 1 1/2 cups of water. Set it on high heat and let it boil until the liquid has reduced to about 1/2 a cup. Set it aside. When it has cooled a bit, strain off the liquid into a glass and chop up the mushrooms on a cutting board.

 

Melt a couple of tablespoons of the butter in a large pan, and start browning the beef in small batches, placing the cooked beef in a bowl on the side while you add more beef to the pan. Don’t overcrowd the pan or the beef will steam and not brown. It may take a few batches to get all the beef cooked.

 

 

Once the beef is done, in the same pan, toss in the chopped onions with a little more of the butter and sauté until they’re translucent. You can add some of the mushroom liquid to the pan now, to deglaze it and remove some of the yummy bits stuck to the bottom.

 

 

Add what’s left of the butter to the pan, then add the mushrooms and the tarragon. Season well with salt and pepper and add the rest of the mushroom liquid, being careful not to pour out any grit that may have settled to the bottom of the glass. Cook until it has thickened a bit.

 

 

You can stop preparations at this point until you’re ready to serve your guests.

Place the pasta in a pot of salted boiling water and cook until al dente.

When the pasta is almost done, return the pan with the mushroom mixture to medium heat, and add the sour cream to it, mixing well. Add the beef and any juices that are in the bowl with it, mixing well.

 

 

 

Drain the pasta and serve the beef stroganoff immediately, seasoning with a finishing salt, like Maldon.

 

 

I don’t have many rules about food. But I do know what I like and what I don’t like. For example, a lobster roll should never have anything green in it: no bed of lettuce, no chopped celery. I think it takes away from the magnificent flavor and texture of the lobster. Butter and mayo? Yes, please.

So when it comes to potato salad, I’m a “with mayonnaise” fan. And I’m a “if it’s mayonnaise, it has to be Hellman’s” guy. Other than that, I think potato salad is up to individual interpretation.

Here’s my recipe…

2 pounds potatoes, cut into equal bite-sized pieces, skin on
2 tablespoons white vinegar
3 hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon capers
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped Vidalia onion

Wash and cut the potatoes into equal bite-sized pieces. Put them in a pot of cold water and cook them until they are fork tender. (Do not salt the water.)

Drain the potatoes and place them in a bowl. Add the 2 tablespoons of white vinegar and toss the potatoes until they have completely absorbed the vinegar.

Finely chop the three hard-boiled eggs and add them to the bowl with the potatoes.

In a separate bowl, combine the mayonnaise, capers, Dijon mustard, celery seed, salt and pepper, and the finely chopped Vidalia onion. Mix well.

Add the mayonnaise mix to the bowl with the potatoes and eggs and mix well.

Refrigerate the potato salad, covered, and re-season it with more salt and pepper, if necessary, before serving.