Summer Staples : Mexican Marinated Flank Steak with Candied Jalapeno Chimichurri

Mexican Marinated Flank Steak with Candied Jalapeno Chimichurri 

We love any kind of steak. It has to be cooked perfectly and seasoned perfectly. I love any kinda cut of red meat, but each one needs to be treated accordingly. For flank or skirt steak, it is crucial that they are marinated overnight in either a heavy spice rub or a flavorful wet mixture. My go-to marinade involves soy sauce, lime juice, chipotle pepper in adobo, worcestershire, fresh garlic, and lots of herbs + spices. It's awesome. And something we utilize often, like weekly, in our house. Nothing is better than a perfectly grilled or charred flank steak that is cooked to the perfect temperature. We like it medium rare with the prettiest hot pink center. It's mouth-watering honestly. But, I know how we all work, and we don't just want any 'ole steak (though amazing on its' own), it's gotta go over-the-top. And that's where my Candied Jalapeno Chimichurri comes into play. It's the bomb y'all. It's herby, spicy, sweet, & the perfect compliment to some steak. I love the candied jalapeno component, butofcourse. I adds an unbelievable sweetness, but balances perfectly against the spice + herbs. The chimichurri is a MUST. Don't get it twisted and make this STAT. Enjoy :)

Candied Jalapeno Chimichurri 

For the Mexican Marinated Flank Steak:

1/3C Soy Sauce

½C Olive Oil

1/3C Fresh Lime Juice

2 Limes, Zested

1 Chipotle Pepper in Adobo

¼C Worcestershire Sauce

4 Cloves of Garlic, Minced

1T Garlic Powder

3T Dried Oregano

1 ½T Fresh Cilantro, Minced

1t Pepper + Ground Cumin

¼t Red Pepper Flakes

1 Large Flank Steak

For the Chimichurri Sauce:

1C Fresh Parsley, Minced

1C Fresh Cilantro, Minced

1-2T Dried Oregano

½t Red Pepper Flakes

1 Shallot, Minced

¼-½C Candied Jalapenos, Finely Chopped  

4 Cloves of Garlic, Minced

2T Roasted Red Pepper, Minced

Salt & Pepper, To Taste

Directions:

1. For the Mexican Marinated Flank Steak: Place the soy sauce, olive oil, lime juice, lime zest, Worcestershire sauce, minced garlic, and all of the seasonings in a blender. Blend on high speed for 30 seconds or until thoroughly mixed. Pour the marinade over the flank steak. Cover and refrigerate for 8-12 hours. Before cooking, remove the meat from the marinade and let it come to room temperature for an hour. Once it has come to room temperature, dry the marinated meat completely by wiping it with paper towels. Sprinkle the steak with salt and pepper. Heat a large pan or griddle over high heat and grease it with a little oil. Cook the meat for roughly 3 minutes on each side for a medium rare steak. Once it has cooked, remove it to a cutting board and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. After resting, slice the meat against the grain into thin slices.

2. For the Chimichurri Sauce: Finely chop the parsley, fresh cilantro, garlic, shallot, and candied jalapenos (or process in a food processor several pulses). Place in a small bowl. Stir in the olive oil, herbs, spices, vinegar, salt, pepper, minced red pepper, and red pepper flakes. Adjust seasonings. Serve immediately drizzled over the marinated steak.   

Date Night : Bibimbap with Asian Marinated Flank Steak, Kimchi Fried Rice, Sautéed Vegetables, & Sweet Gochujang Sauce

Wow, I'm just now realizing that I haven't posted a date night recipe in a while. That's sad. But hey, I'm posting one now, that counts for something. Do y'all love the whole Asian taco craze right now? We sure do. One of our favorite places to go that features this fusion is Hankook Taqueria in Atlanta. If y'all are ever in Atlanta for the weekend, I seriously recommend that you go there. Alton Brown actually featured it on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" on the Food Network. The tacos are great, but I personally prefer their Bulgogi nachos, sesame french fries, and Bibimbap. And for a while now, I've been itchin' to recreate one of their dishes at home. Well, we finally got inspired to make Bibimbap, which is pretty much a bowl of rice, vegetables, some kind of meat, and an egg. It really is up to you on how you make it, and that's why I like it. The first thing that I knew I wanted to make was Asian Marinated Flank Steak because that's just the perfect component. We like our steak seared to medium or medium-rare, but you can cook yours anyway you like. At the bottom of the bowl, we scooped a heaping amount of bacon-kimchi fried rice to serve as the base. This rice is super delish people. So, don't leave it out. Now, the vegetables, that's solely up to you. We used carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, and spinach. But, other popular choices are squash, bean sprouts, or onions. Just pick your favorites and cook 'em up! We topped our Bibimbap with a fried egg and a drizzle of sweet Gochujang sauce. These are important components, so don't leave them out. And if you don't know what Gochujang is, it's a Korean condiment that is similar to Ketchup, but somewhat spicy like Sriracha. I know this may seem like a crazy dish, but it all totally works. It's like a really fancy fried rice, yummmm!! Enjoy :)

Bibimbap with Asian Marinated Flank Steak 

Don't Forget the Fried Egg + Sweet Gochujang Sauce!

For the Asian Marinated Flank Steak:

½C Soy Sauce

½C Cooking Sherry

4T Honey

2T Sesame Oil

2T Fresh Ginger, Minced

3 Cloves Fresh Garlic, Minced

½t Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

1 Whole Flank Steak

Hoisin Sauce, For Glazing

For the Kimchi Fried Rice:

1t Sesame Oil

1T Vegetable Oil

1T Chili-Garlic Sriracha

3 Slices of Thick Cut Bacon, Cut into Small Pieces & Fried until Crispy

2 Cloves of Garlic, Minced

3 Green Onions, Thinly Sliced

2T Soy Sauce

¾C Kimchi, Chopped

3C Leftover White Rice

For the Sweet Gochujang Sauce:

1T Gochujang & Rice Wine Vinegar

1T Honey

1t Soy Sauce, Brown Sugar, Sesame Oil

1t Toasted Sesame Seeds

For the Bibimbap:

Prepared Kimchi Fried Rice

Asian Marinated Flank Steak, Thinly Sliced

Sautéed Carrots, Zucchini, Fried Spinach Bean Sprouts, & Mushrooms

Fried Eggs

Fresh Minced Chives or Green Onions, For Garnishing

Prepared Sweet Gochujang Sauce, For Drizzling

Directions:

1. To Marinate the Asian Flank Steak: Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk until incorporated. Remove the flank steak from the package and rinse it off. Place the meat into a plastic big and pour the marinade over the meat. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight preferably. Remove the steak from the marinade and place on a plate, and let it come to room temperature, about 1 hour.
2. To Cook the Asian Flank Steak: Heat a grill pan on high heat. When the pan is extremely hot, place the steak on a slight angle. Cook without touching for about 2 minutes. Rotate the meat about 45 degrees, keeping it on the same side, and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Flip the meat over and cook it using the same method used previously, and for a total cook time of 5-8 minutes for medium-rare. Glaze the meat with the hoisin sauce while the meat is cooking. Remove the meat to a cutting board and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Once it has rested, thinly slice the meat against the grain. Keep it warm until ready to serve.
3. To Make the Kimchi Fried Rice: In a medium bowl, combine the rice and chili-garlic sauce. Mix until the rice is evenly covered in the sauce, set aside. In a large fry pan or wok, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and green onions until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the rice and mix everything together well. Use a spatula to flatten the rice against the pan, and keep still for about 3 - 5 minutes to let the rice get crispy. Repeat until the rice is evenly crispy. Next, add the soy sauce and sesame oil, adding more to taste, stir well. Mix in the crumbled bacon and chopped Kimchi. Keep warm until ready to serve.
4. To Make the Gochujang Sauce: Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl until smooth and incorporated. Refrigerate until ready to use.
5. For the Bibimbap: Scoop some of the Kimchi fried rice into a large bowl. Top the rice with all of the sautéed vegetables & sliced flank steak around the bowl, leaving a spot in the middle. Place the crispy soft poached egg in the center. Garnish with a drizzle of the Gochujang sauce on top of all the components.  Serve warm.

Pok Pok Crispy Chicken Wings

I have heard about these wings for a while. They are apparently the best wings ever from a restaurant in Portland. They are juicy, crispy, sticky, sweet, & spicy. I mean pretty much everything you can ask for when makin' some wings. These wings were awesome. One of my favorite wings to date. And we love wings. We make a different type of wing every week for tailgates. We made them extremely spicy, but you can reduce the spice to your liking. Definitely make these the next chance you get... like tonight before the Falcons game :) Enjoy!

Pok Pok Crispy Chicken Wings

For the Marinade:

3lbs Chicken Wings, Split at the Drumettes

1C Hot Water

2 Cloves of Garlic, Crushed & Roughly Chopped

Kosher Salt

½C Fish Sauce

½C Soy Sauce

1C Sugar

For the Crispy Wings:

1Q Vegetable Oil, For Frying

Marinated Chicken Wings, Removed from the Liquid & Patted Completely Dry

1C Cornstarch

To Make the Spicy Vietnamese Caramel:

2 Cloves of Garlic, Minced

2T Vegetable Oil

¼C Fish Sauce

¼C Soy Sauce 

¼C Sugar

¼C Honey

¼-½C Chili-Garlic Sauce (depending on how spicy you want it)

Fried, Minced Garlic, For Garnish

Fresh Cilantro, Minced

Directions:

1. To Marinade the Wings: In a small bowl, steep the crushed garlic and salt with the hot water for roughly 5 minutes. After waiting, whisk in the fish sauce, soy sauce, and sugar until all of it is completely mixed and the sugar has dissolved. Let this mixture cool completely before marinating the wings (I let mine chill in the refrigerator until cold). Once the marinade is cold, place the wings into a plastic bag (or large container) and pour the cold marinade over the chicken, tossing to coat completely. Marinate the wings for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight to enhance the flavor and juiciness (making sure you toss the wings occasionally throughout the process, so that they are evenly covered). Once the wings have marinated for your desired time, remove the chicken wings from the liquid and completely pat them dry of any excess liquid. These must be as dry as possible for them to be extremely crispy.
2. To Make the Crispy Wings: In your deep fryer, heat the vegetable oil to 350 degrees. While your oil heats, coat your wings. Put the cornstarch in a shallow bowl and add the marinated, dried wings turning & flipping them to coat. Shake off the excess cornstarch and fry the wings in batches until golden brown and cooked through, roughly about 8-10 minutes. Drain them on paper towels until ready to coat them with the sauce.
3. To Make the Spicy Vietnamese Caramel: In a wok, heat the 2T to medium heat and add in the minced garlic, cooking them until golden brown without burning them, about 2-3 minutes (keep a close eye because burnt garlic tastes awful). Remove the fried garlic from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain it on a paper towel, while you make the caramel. In the oiled wok, bring the pan to medium heat and add in the fish sauce, soy sauce, and sugar. As the sugar begins to melt, the mixture will start to thicken up into a syrupy consistency, about 5 minutes. Once it starts to thicken, whisk in the honey and Sriracha until smooth and thick (don’t let the sauce unattended because it will burn). Add in the fried wings and toss in the sauce until they are coated and sticky.
4. To Serve the Pok Pok Wings: Once the wings are covered in the sauce, transfer them to a bowl or serving plate and garnish with the fried garlic and minced cilantro. Serve immediately and enjoy.

source: pok pok chicken wings. ike's vietnamese fish sauce wings.

Marinated Chicken & Steak Kabobs with Buffalo Chicken Mac

Whenever my friends and I have a party, birthday, or tailgate to cook for, we always cook burgers and hot dogs. Mainly because they are really easy to make, and pretty much everyone likes them, and if you don't, I'm pretty sure you're not an American. Anyway, we were trying to think of something different to make for Sam's birthday dinner, and we decided on chicken & steak kabobs that we would marinate then string them on to skewers with red, orange, yellow, and green peppers & red onions. They were so yummy, and we had enough to feed a freakin' army (so definitely half this recipe for a smaller party, we had 8 people, but we could've fed 12). With our kabobs, Sam requested my Cajun Bacon Mac (which is her favorite & she always wants that, so no surprise there), but I was determined to make something new & different. Another favorite of Sam's is my Buffalo Chicken Dip, so I decided I would make Buffalo Chicken Mac as a side. I loved this mac n' cheese. The cheese sauce was made with this Buffalo Wing Cheese that I found at Fresh Market, as well as cheddar cheese, velveeta, and lots of buffalo sauce. We mixed the macaroni into the cheese sauce and layered it (almost like lasagna) with the creamy ranch rotisserie chicken layers. It's so cheesy & gooey, while being spicy & creamy, it's just so yummy. I want it again... now. So below is a picture of our entire birthday celebration meal for Sam. We also grilled some corn with cajun seasoning as another side. Enjoy all of this yumminess :)

Making the Kabobs

Marinated Kabobs with Buffalo Chicken Mac & Grilled Cajun Corn

For the Marinade:

½C Soy Sauce

½C Balsamic Vinegar

½C Worcestershire

¼C Brown Sugar 

4T Garlic, Chopped

4T Olive Oil

1t Fresh Rosemary, Chopped

1t Garlic Salt

1T Montreal Steak Seasoning

Salt & Pepper, To Taste  

For the Kabobs:

Wooden Skewers, Soaked in Water for 10-15 minutes

4 Ribeye Steaks, Cubed

4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, Cubed

2 Red Peppers, Cut into Squares

2 Orange Peppers, Cut into Squares

2 Yellow Peppers, Cut into Squares

2 Green Peppers, Cut into Squares

4 Red Onions, Cut into Squares

For the Buffalo Chicken Mac:

1lb Pasta

4T Butter

¼C Flour

2t Dry Mustard

2 ½C Half & Half

½C Buffalo Sauce

1 ½C Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Shredded

½lb Velveeta, Cubed

2 ½C + 1C Buffalo Wing Cheese, Shredded

1C + ½C Ranch Dressing

8oz Cream Cheese, Softened

3C Shredded Rotisserie Chicken

1C Panko

Salt & Pepper, To Taste

Directions:

1. To Marinate the Chicken & Steak: whisk all of the ingredients in a bowl until well combined. Meanwhile, separate the cubed chicken and steak into two different gallon plastic bags and pour half of the marinade over each protein. Place the bags into the refrigerator and marinate over night (preferably longer), and make sure to squeeze the bag and move the chicken and steak around so that it is equally distributed.

2. To make the Kabobs: remove the marinated chicken and steak from the refrigerator and start stringing on the different colored peppers and onion between the pieces of meat, leaving some space at the bottom, for easier turning on the grill. Let the kabobs sit at room temperature for an hour, so that the proteins will achieve better grill marks. Grill the kabobs for 2-3 minutes on each side (or longer depending on how you like your steak cooked, but make sure the chicken feels firm), making sure the peppers & onions are charred nicely. Take the kabobs off the grill and let them rest for 5-10 minutes before eating. 

3. To Make the Buffalo Chicken Mac: preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray a 9x13-baking dish with Pam, then set aside. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, then add the pasta and cook it according to the directions on the box. Strain the pasta and set aside. 

4. To Make the Creamy Ranch Chicken: in a medium-mixing bowl, mix together the ranch dressing and softened cream cheese, then fold in the shredded rotisserie chicken until completely covered, then set aside.

5. To Make the Buffalo Cheese Sauce: melt 2T of butter in a saucepan over medium high heat, then whisk in the flour and dry mustard. Slowly whisk in the half & half, then whisk in the buffalo sauce, whisking until the mixture becomes thick, about 2 minutes. Next, whisk in 1 ½C sharp cheddar cheese, ½lb Velveeta cubes, and 1 ½C buffalo wing cheese until smooth. Add salt & pepper to taste. Pour the prepared cheese sauce over the cooked pasta, and mix until the pasta is completely covered in the cheese sauce. 

6. To Layer the Mac n' Cheese: pour half of the macaroni into the prepared pan, then layer the creamy ranch chicken on top of the pasta, then top with the remaining macaroni. Finish the dish by topping it with the remaining ½C of Shredded Buffalo Wing Cheese and Panko breadcrumbs. Melt the other 2T of butter and drizzle over the Panko. 

7. Bake the dish for 30 minutes until the cheese is starting to bubble & melt. Serve immediately. 

Healthy Teriyaki Chicken with Asian-Style Brown Fried Rice

If you didn't know already, I have a mild obsession with Teriyaki Chicken. Okay, maybe not mild, maybe a major obsession with it. So I came across a recipe, and I altered it some so it would be a little more figure friendly. I like to use chicken thighs because they stay so moist. This is one of our favorite easy and cheap meals we like to eat! Enjoy :)

Healthy Teriyaki Chicken with Asian-Style Brown Fried Rice & Sauteed Broccoli

For the Chicken:

6 Chicken Thighs, Boneless & Skinless

¼C Low-Sodium Soy Sauce

2T Splenda Brown Sugar (or regular brown sugar)

1T Honey, Optional

2T Low-Sodium, Fat-Free Chicken Stock

2T Rice Wine Vinegar

½t Sesame Oil

1T Garlic, Chopped

1t Ginger, Grated

¼t Red Pepper Flakes

Sesame Seeds, For Garnish

Salt, To Taste 

Directions:

1.  The day before: Wash and dry the chicken thighs and place them in a gallon freezer bag. In a mixing bowl, mix together soy sauce, Splenda, honey, chicken stock, vinegar, oil, garlic, ginger, salt, and red pepper flakes. Pour this mixture over the chicken and marinate for at least 4 hours; however, overnight would be preferable.

2. The day of: Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature for about an hour. This will help the chicken grill and not steam.

3. To cook the chicken: Heat a grill pan (I use my George Foreman) to medium-high heat and spray with Pam. Dry the marinated chicken thighs, so that there is no excess sauce. Grill each thigh for 2-3 minutes on each side, just so that they are starting to caramelize. Remove the grilled thighs and place on tin foil in a baking dish and bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes.

4. If you would like your teriyaki chicken to be a little saucier, make another batch of the marinade, and bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to low-medium heat for 10-15 minutes (making sure you whisk constantly) until it is thick and syrupy. With 10 minutes left of the baking process, glaze the thighs with the sauce. Also, glaze once again when the thighs are done.

5. Sprinkle the thighs with sesame seeds for garnish.

6. Serve immediately with the Asian-Style Brown Fried Rice and sauteed broccoli.

source: teriyaki chicken