Eat

Family Meal: Hanger Steak

Photos by Valerie

family meal

Hanger steak with pickled radishes

My favorite meal of the week is our Sunday family dinner. It’s a day where we’re usually home and carry out that time-honored tradition of sitting down at the table together for an early supper, most of the time with close friends or family joining us, too. I love to make a one-pot meal or something that I can start early in the day and quickly finish-up before we sit down to eat. The beauty of this long day at home is there is time to braise, marinate, stew or simmer. I try to come-up with simple, nice meals (believe or not, I can get a little carried away in the kitchen) that let’s the family be the focus, but still tastes great.

Hanger Steak

Adapted from Momofuku

Serves 4

 

This is a great recipe because you make the marinade in the morning and let the meat soak all day. Then at dinnertime, it’s a quick fire-up of the grill. Hanger steak is a cheap cut of meat that if cooked incorrectly can be tough and tasteless. This tasty marinade keeps the steak moist and brings out the flavor of the meat.

 

1 pound hanger steak cut into two pieces

For the marinade:

2 cups fresh squeezed orange juice

1/2 cup light soy sauce

1/2  yellow or red onion, sliced

6 garlic cloves, sliced

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon Sambal Oelek (ground fresh chili paste)

 

Mix the marinade in a large plastic bag, add steaks and squeeze the air out of the bag and seal.  Place the bag in a pie plate as a precaution against any spills and refrigerate for 8-24 hours (the longer the better).  Before cooking, discard marinade and set your grill to a medium-high temperature.

 

First, salt and papper both sides of the steaks and sear them on one side for about 2 minutes and then flip and continue to cook for another 2 minutes.  Then flip them again and cook for about 2- 3 more minutes and then repeat on the other side. Total time on the grill for medium rare with be about 6-10 minutes.

 

Remove from grill to a cutting board and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. Slice thin and fan over some nice greens. Drizzle with great quality olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt and fresh ground pepper. I also made a quick garnish of pickled radishes which was so tasty,  but some fresh seasonal herbs would be great too.

Val’s Goat Gouda Dip

Photos by Valerie

This cheese dip, (if you can call it that, it seems a little too refined to share a title with cheddar and beer dip) got rave reviews at a recent party, with multiple recipe requests. It’s been a recipe that I have been tinkering with for sometime. It’s cold, crumbly, zesty and perfect with pita chips and a chaser of Sauvignon Blanc.

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I tried it with a number of cheeses, but the goat Gouda is clearly the best. Goat Gouda is a recent and Continue reading…

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Healthy Cookies, Really

Photos by Valerie

My girls are addicted to bars—no, not the Friday night happy hour variety, more like granola bars, Zbars, and even the old-school Tiger Bars. I’ve been on the hunt to find something that allows them a sweet fix, is healthy and also is an easy take and go snack.

In walks this healthy cookie recipe. Normally, I feel if you’re gonna eat a cookie, then eat a cookie — one that is sinfully delicious. However, this one is yummy and completely healthy. Not yummy for a healthy

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Easy Entertaining: Mussels, Fennel and Chorizo

Photos by Valerie

When entertaining at home, I often find that my favorite meals are the ones that are easy to pull together with just a few ingredients. The heart of this simple recipe is local shellfish (our Santa Barbara mussels are delicious), fennel from my garden and some tasty chorizo.

This is a straightforward, beautiful and easy meal. It’s great for entertaining because the raw components can be prepped ahead of time, it comes together so quickly and is fresh and flavorful (did I mention it’s easy?). Continue reading…

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Cold Remedy: Homemade Chicken Soup

Photos by Valerie

This past week it’s been rainy and my little one has been home with a cold. Which translates to staying home, cuddling up and making a batch of our house chicken soup. It’s warm, comforting, clean and delicious and always hits the spot.

Especially on sick days, I know it’s easy to reach for the canned soup— I get it, it’s quick and flavorful. But this homemade soup is so tasty and fresh; you won’t believe the difference and your family will love you for Continue reading…

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