NIGHT ONE: GRILLED FLANK STEAK W/SWEET CHILI AND SOY AND SAUTEED ZUCCHINI (featuring Primarius Pinot Noir)

I’ve decided to be domestically proactive on my nights off.  And daring!   Meaning I stepped outside my few-recipe-repertoire and ventured out into uncharted territory: Meat.  I’ve made ground beef tacos, but that’s the extent of my red meat cooking at home.  I had a recipe for Flank Steak, so I thought I’d give it a go.  Grocery shopping was fun and challenging.  Walking past my usual chicken breasts, I found the scary, daunting meat section(did I mention I was a vegetarian in my mid-teens until I was 21? 8 years w/o red meat, 6 w/o meat at all).  I almost had to ask for help from the butcher, but I figured it out and  was on my way, armed with fresh produce and the rest of my ingredients.  I got the Flank Steak with Sweet Chili and Soy recipe in my cookbook The Little Black Apron-A SINGLE GIRL’S GUIDE TO COOKING WITH STYLE & GRACE.  Am I embarrassed about owning this book? No. I’m proud and it’s taught me a lot.  I popped my grill pan’s cherry that I got for Christmas and was on my way.  The sauce turned out great but I learned (the next day from my mom) that you’re supposed to marinate flank steak (Did I miss that part in the book?).  And up to 2-3 days.  Whoops.  I was wondering why it was a little chewy-I didn’t remember it tasting that way when my brother-in-law made it.  As if I premonitorily knew some of this, I put the extra half in a Lawry’s Teriyaki marinade for the next night.  My new standby side, sauteed zucchini, was delicious as always.  All in all, I was very proud of myself that the steak was well-cooked (med-rare: nailed it!) and pretty tasty.  And the wine made it all the better…

NIGHT TWO: TERIYAKI-MARINATED GRILLED FLANK STEAK TACOS W/GRILLED CORN AND SALAD (featuring Monticello Cabernet Franc)

Night Two I grilled my teriyaki-marinated steak and made it into soft tacos w/mango and some standard fixins.  It tasted really good but I probably overshot the amount of ingredients in the tacos and it kind-of took away from the taste of the meat.  That’s what I get from improvising a recipe(save it for the stage Megs).  They were still delicious, and I am still learning.  Surprise guest start-the corn was great! I put some lemon juice, sea salt and cayenne pepper on it.  I was inspired by how they do it at the NYC Street Fairs.  And the wine was yummy.  Then again, I rarely meet a red I don’t like…