Bathing Beauty: Recipe

Thank goodness for marinades. I love them - I love the way meat soaks up the flavors of whatever it's bathing in and how several items can be mixed together to create a completely unique flavor-set. And when you can leave meat in its marinade for an extra long time, the result is out of this world. And thank goodness you can leave meat in a liquid bath for an extended time because otherwise I would have been serving pancakes for dinner tonight.  You know - it's Thursday and I shop for food on the weekends. I don't like to freeze meats because they develop a funny taste and then defrosting them can cause the meat to become too watery and too mushy.  So, I plan a meat for Sunday that I cook that day, a meat for Monday, a pasta and sauce of some kind for Tuesday but by Wednesday and Thursday, the week gets crazier and dinner can become a bit of a wild-card. I usually create a marinade on Tuesday night, place the meat in a zip bag and pour the liquid in.  I seal up the bag, place it in another bag, give it a good shake and place it in the fridge.  If I can make it (and "it" can be: chicken, pork, veal, beef or lamb in our house) on Wednesday great. If not, I don't stress because I know it will be cooked on Thursday and taste even better than it would have on Wednesday.

So all that to say: Dude! You Gotta Try this!! It was great! Delicious! Had everyone back for 3rds! And all finished within 15 minutes. I love dinner in a hurry - as long as I've thought it through. Otherwise, I'm staring into a near empty fridge wondering what on earth to do with five hungry people and no time.  But this - try it. You'll be convinced that marinading meat is a must-have in your dinner repertoire!

This should be cooked outside on the grill but we made it indoors tonight, instead.  Still a great choice for dinner.

Drunken Grilled Skirt Steak
1 1/4 lb. skirt steak
1/2 cup red wine (use whatever is open - this was made with a Merlot)
4 medium garlic cloves, peeled
Leaves from 2 medium sprigs of fresh Rosemary
Leaves from 4 medium sprigs of fresh Thyme
1 heaping tablespoon Dijon Mustard
2 tablespoons Kosher Salt

Combine all ingredients in a food processor, except for the beef. Puree well - unless garlic is completely minced. Place the steaks into a ziplock bag and pour the marinade into the bag. Seal, squeezing out the air.  Place bag into another zip bag and shake well. Place in the fridge, at least overnight and up to 48 hours.

Preheat the broiler and prepare the broiler pan (line bottom with foil and spray the grill grate with non-stick spray). Place the steaks on top of the pan and place in the broiler close to the heat - about 6 minutes per side for beef that is about 1" thick.  After 6 minutes, flip the meat and cook another 6 minutes.  Remove from the heat and allow beef to stand for 3-4 minutes before slicing.

Serve with anything you like - couscous, sauteed mushrooms, creamed spinach and sliced pink grapefruit with Kalamata Olives (sprinkled lightly with white sugar) were our choices for sides tonight.

Enjoy!