Fast and Fit to Fry

photo by L. Gatto-White

Today’s restaurants, in keeping with our subdued economic climate and the ‘waste not’ ecology of the environmentally enlightened, have been transforming their up-scale premises into wallet- friendly bistros with a homey neighborhood feel (never mind that in Paris three-thousand such beloved mom and pop enterprises have recently closed their doors). It isn’t just the retro décor and communal seating that’s new, it’s the menu too; bistro fare is very hearty tasty food, derived from humble ingredients and served fast, hence the name bistro, a word entering the French lexicon with the 1815 Russian occupation of Paris during which impatient Cossacks would shout “Bystro!” at their French servers urging them to hurry-up (truc, don’t try this now).

Bistro cuisine is mounds of tender mussels steamed in wine and herbs with sides of golden shoestring frits and gobs of luscious garlic aioli, hearty savoury deep-brown daubes made from shanks, shoulders or anything close to muscle and bone which reveals its sumptuous finger-licking goodness when braised slowly in wine with aromatic herbs and root vegetables. Bistro food is also the often over-looked cuts like the flank steak (also called London broil), skirt and hangar steaks or inside round which are lean, prominently grained and best marinated then pan-fried fast no more than medium- rare, then sliced on an angle across the lengthwise grain.

 These cuts gaining in popularity are inexpensive, tender and delicious if prepared, cooked and served properly. The flank steak is one of my favourites and is the classic choice for steak fajitas. It is a piece always bought whole, cut from the area between the hip and ribs near the diaphragm, it is a thin, long piece tapered at one end, its size and weight varying with the age and breed of cattle.

 Marinated in a piquant rub, these flank steaks are fast to fry, then dress in a fresh, tart chimichurri sauce, wrap in a soft floury tortilla and accompany with a side of smoky, savoury Spanish rice; so ‘bystro’ to the table before they get cold!

Flank Steak Fajitas

(Serves four)

Ingredients:

• 2 flank steaks approx. ¾-1 lb. each
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• ½ tbsp. butter
• ½ sweet red onion thickly sliced
• 2 red or green cubanelle peppers cut in thick strips

Marinade:

• 2 tbsp. each: olive oil red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp. each:  dry chili flakes, oregano, coarsely ground pepper, garlic powder
• 2 tsp. each:  soy sauce and honey

To serve: 4-8 medium or large flour tortillas (depending on appetites)  

Method:

• With a sharp knife, cut very shallow diagonal lines in a criss-cross pattern  across both sides of each steak to tenderize and allow the marinade to penetrate well
• Whisk together all of the marinade ingredients
• Smear both sides of the scored steaks and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight
• In a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat warm ½  tbsp. olive oil
• Remove steaks from refrigerator to bring to room temperature
• Fry the onion and peppers strips until soft and brown on the edges, remove from pan and set aside
• Add the remaining ½ tbsp. oil and the  butter to warm pan, when foaming, add the steaks
• Cook on each side for 3 -5 minutes depending upon thickness, you just want to get a good carmelization, the centre should only be slightly firm , turn only once
• Remove steaks from pan and rest covered on a rack for a few minutes,
• To cut cut: hold your knife on an angle, slice the steaks widthwise, across the grain in thin strips

                                                Chimichurri Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 cups arugula
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1  cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic chopped
• ¼ cup grated parmesan
• 1 tsp. capers
• ½ jalapeno chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp. lemon or lime juice

Method:

• Cook arugula and basil in boiling salted water for 3 seconds, then immediately plunge into cold water
• Dry greens well and process in a blender until smooth with rest of ingredients, except citrus juice, salt and pepper
• Stir-in citrus juice, add salt and pepper to taste before serving

Simple Summer Pleasures

photo by L. Gatto-White

Summer is the time for barefeet, serendipitous travel and the enjoyment of simple pleasures like the shimmer of a dragonfly’s gossamer wings as it darts across a lily pond, the cozy refuge of a wicker lounge on a shady porch, the staccato chorus of invisible cicadas at dusk, and the creamy, sweet goodness of a warm bowl of hodge-podge, brimming with the tenderest of summer vegetables.

Hodge-podge is an enduring Maritime tradition that evolved in an era when most homes had a kitchen garden from which the very first or last of the summer’s vegetables were harvested then cooked together adding cream, sometimes salt pork and a few simple herbs like chives or dill to create a sweet and delicious vegetable stew.

 The term hodge-podge is derived from the French hochepot, a compound word comprised of hochier – to shake, and pot – a pot , which could either mean that the stew-pot was gently shaken during cooking or that the variable ingredients, harvested together into a basket, were shaken- out into the pot. Ultimately, hodge-podge is derived from a people’s regard for whatever the season and their land gives them, it’s up to the cook’s skill and creativity to make it tasty and interesting, perhaps taking the same elements and  preparing them in a new way.

 I find that oven-steaming all the vegetables in a tightly lidded casserole dish together in a little water and butter,  then adding the cream to finish their cooking, retains all of the tasty vegetable juices and flavours as well as their nutrients.  Before serving, I add a sprig of mint and a little dollop of chive butter which is stirred into the warm dish adding a freshness that lifts and highlights the flavours of the vegetables.

 Serve hodge-podge with a plate of warm, buttered home-made biscuits and you’ll be comforted and satisfied with this wholesome and simple seasonal pleasure. Bon appétit !

Hodge-Podge with Herb Butter

Serves four

Ingredients:

·         8-10  baby carrots

·         raw kernels from 2 corn cobs (optional)

·         1 cup of fresh shelled peas

·         2 medium bunch- onions (white bulbs only) or leeks

·         12  very small new potatoes

·         ¼ lb. each of small green beans and yellow beans

·         4 sprigs of dill

·         1 cup water

·         1 small bunch of watercress or mint

·         small bunch of chives

·         8 tbsp. butter

·         3 tsp. cornstarch

·         2 ½   cups 18% cream

Method:

·         Peel the carrots and potatoes, cut carrots diagonally in ½” pieces and quarter the potatoes

·          remove blossom end  and string from the beans, cut each diagonally in half

·         Trim the onions, cut them into eighths

·         Preheat oven to 400

·         Add the water, vegetables and dill to a medium-sized, deep- sided casserole dish with a tight-fitting lid, sprinkle the vegetables lightly with salt and pepper, cut 4 tablespoons butter in small pieces and distribute over the vegetables. Cover tightly and cook on middle rack for approx. 20 mins.

·         Meanwhile, reserve 4 tbsp. cream and simmer the rest in a small saucepan, do not boil, dissolve the cornstarch in the reserved cream, whisk it into the warm cream to thicken. Remove from heat and cover

·         Remove vegetables from oven and stir-in thickened cream, cover and continue to cook until vegetables are just tender, approx. 10 mins.

·         Cut chives in small pieces and combine, with a fork, into remaining butter

·          ladle into serving bowls and garnish with a little dollop of chive butter  and sprig of mint