Wood Fired Steak Toscano

It seems as though the evolution of cooking meat has gone backwards. We started out grunting over a wood fire as our fatty wooly mammoth roast sizzled. This progressed through outdoor gas BBQs and now we have cooking shows demonstrating how to apply grill marks on tasteless lean tenderloins from an aluminum pan, over an electric range.  We have sacrificed taste for convenience.

My daughter gave me this book for christmas. To be honest I had forgotten how good sizzling meat over a wood fire smells. Deep in my reptilian brain, synapses fired and I was soon salivating over something Neanderthals would have related to. 

I don't consider myself a chef, but I do enjoy cooking. This was the best thing I have ever cooked, and probably in the top 10 of things I have ever eaten. That says a lot, because I have enjoyed a diversity of food.

Basically this is a butterflied flank steak , that is stuffed with savory herbs and roasted peppers, cooked over a wood fire then finished in the oven. I served this over Hogie's Tomato Sauce. The addition of few gnocchi would have nocked this out of the park. Part of the beauty is that I was not a slave to the kitchen, and because it can be finished in the oven, it has wonderful party potential. Not to mention flank steak will not break the bank.

Process
Butterfly a 2-3 pound flank steak.
Season the inside with kosher salt and cracked pepper.
Fill with Gremolata and roasted red peppers. Roll up, and tie.
Grill over a wood fire for 10-20 minutes.
Finish in oven until internal temperature reaches 130 F.
Slice into 1 inch slices, and plate over Hogie's Tomato Sauce.
Top with more stuffing

Ingredients
2-3 pound Flank Steak
Kosher Salt
Cracked Pepper
Roasted Red Peppers
Gremolata Stuffing
Hogies Tomato Sauce

Roasted Red Pepper 
Wash 3 Red Peppers. Place In oven until all sides are charred. Let cool, remove skin and slice into 1 inch wide slices. You might as well do more, and just save the ones you don't use.

Gremolata Stuffing 
1 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup chopped basil
6 crushed garlic cloves
Zest of 1 Lemon
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs (looks like grated parmesan)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt
1/3 cup olive oil
Mix all ingredients

Hogies Tomato Sauce
1/3 cup sliced greek olives
4 anchovy fillets (don't worry, it won't taste like fish)
4 crushed garlic cloves
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup good red wine
28 oz Contadina Crushed Tomatoes (with Italian Herbs)
1 cup stale bread pieces

Saute olives, anchovies, garlic in olive oil. Add wine, reduce for a few minutes. Add tomatoes, bread. Let simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, until bread has dissolved. The sauce may be cooked more to thicken or add more wine to thin.


The book is a great ressource. I look forward to many more wood fired items. The original recipe called for cheese and spinach. 

.88

At $8.99 a bottle, this is hard to beat. I've come to the conclusion that all wine reviews are crap (except this one of course). My father introduced me to Los Vascos years ago, and he was seduced by the low cost and the relation to Lafite. For a quick history lesson of great wines go here.

Osso Buco (.8, .9, .9)

Osso Buco is braised veal shanks. Lots of meat that just falls off the bone. I followed this recipe. The meat was very good. I did not like the saffron flavored rice. I was thinking this was peasant food until I had to actually buy it. Veal shanks are $9 a pound. 3 servings was $20. Safron was $14 for a container that I will probably get 4 dinners out of. By the way if you do the math saffron is like $1000 a pound.

Wegman's Turkey Chili (.85, .6, 9)

I thought I would concentrate this week's menu to Wegman's dishes from their latest Menu magazine. The Turkey Chili was a let down. It was more like warm gazpacho with some meat product. For the full recipe go here

I guess if I made these small changes as one reader suggested, it would have been better

My turkey chili is similar to this except I use white kidney beans and no bell peppers. I use jalapeno, anaheim, & fresno chilies. I like my chili on the spicy side and use my own blend of cayenne and cumin. It is similar to most of the commercial "mexican style" chili powder. The other difference is that I smoke my ground turkey with mesquite before I use it in the chili and I do my beans in a separate pot and ladle the chili over the beans before topping with some grated Smoked Chihuahua cheese. My recipe also uses smoked dried tomatoes so I get the intensity of flavor with less sugar.

Wegman