Older Bolder Life

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the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Greek Marinated Grilled Flank Steak

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As I shared on Monday when chatting about our favorite tzatziki recipe here, my lovely wife and I came a bit late to enjoy Greek cuisine as much as we do today.

We both come from families who, from a home cooking and menu perspective, ate fairly routine American fare during our years at home decades ago; we both grew up in Texas so adventurous dining back in the day was typically either barbecue or Tex-Mex. Heck, I’m not even sure there was a Greek diner or restaurant in my panhandle home growing up…

Later my wife and I lived in Salt Lake City for years, which happens to host a surprisingly robust Greek community, and one of my former business partners and mentors introduced us to the wonders of cooking (reasonably) authentic Greek cuisine at home – and this wonderful Greek salad we’ve served for years (including again this past week!).

A couple of weeks ago we had occasion to eat at one of our favorite Greek eateries here in the DFW metro to celebrate a small but meaningful life victory, we enjoyed a dish we’d not savored in a while – a simple but incredibly delicious marinated and grilled flank steak.

I of course pestered the restaurant team for their recipe, and while they didn’t provide all the details, it was enough to guide my research, which included time on the phone with friend and Chef Libby in Austin.

After a bit of experimenting and tweaking, this is the recipe we’ve dialed in for this Greek Marinated Grilled Flank Steak.

Living in Texas as we do, I often reach for skirt or hanger steaks when preparing fajitas (which granted we enjoy often); it’s been a pleasure to cook with flank again as well – flank shares the same deep, beefy flavor as skirt (and hangers), the same robust tooth when cooked just so, and yet is delightfully tender when thinly sliced across the grain. And compared to some of the other cuts we’ve posted recipes for over the years, grass-fed flank can feel like a true bargain too.

Plan ahead for this one as you’ll really want to let the flank marinate for 24-hours, though 8 works in a pinch. And you can argue if you must, but this one begs to cooked to just medium, rested for 8 to 10 minutes, and thinly sliced across the grain.

2 to 3 lb flank steak
1 cup EVOO or avocado oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup coconut aminos or tamari
2 tbsp fresh chopped mint
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dill weed (dried)
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp salt

This one couldn’t be easier.

Whisk the marinade ingredients in a medium bowl, pour over the flank (I prefer to cut our flank into 3 to 4-inch wide pieces prior or marinating) and place in a resealable bag or your favorite non-plastic marinating container.

Marinate for preferably 24 hours, but at least 8, turning the flank occasionally to make sure all sides are well coated and exposed to the marinade.

Fire the grill, drain the flank while the grill is preheating, then grill to your desired finish – though flank begs to be cooked just medium rare, rested for 10 minutes, and then sliced thinly across the grain.

Great hot or cold, make sure you have tzatziki on hand for your Greek feast.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Sauce Monday: A Quick, Easy, and Delicious Home Tzatziki Sauce

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For reasons that I still can’t honesty account, my lovely wife and I came to appreciate Greek cuisine, relatively speaking, a bit later in life. It probably had something to do with us both growing up in the South during our formative years, and coming from families that simply weren’t the most adventurous when it came to exploring foods from other cultures and locales.

We’re huge fans of Greek cuisine these days, finding its spice array and emphasis on (for the most part) simple ingredients prepared very well deeply satisfying and delicious.

I’m sure that’s part of our long-standing appreciation of various Mediterranean cuisines, but there something about Greek flavors that my wife in particular just loves, with admittedly Tzatziki Sauce being right at the top of the list of her Greek favorites. Other faves include a slab of salty, fresh, Greek feta, drizzled in olive oil and sprinkled with fresh oregano, with a pile of Kalamata olives alongside and freshly prepared, olive oil-drizzled hummus too.

But a Greek meal just wouldn’t meet her standard without a tub of tzatziki sauce alongside. Tzatziki is a flavor-packed sauce based on Greek yogurt, bursting with vegetal and herbal notes from chopped or grated cucumber, garlic, dill, lemon juice (or vinegar), and occasionally mint.

Neither of us were fortunate enough to have a Greek grandmother working magic in the kitchen to teach us the secrets of Greek cuisine, though after several years of fiddling, we’ve settled on this as a base recipe to work from when making tzatziki at home. My wife prefers the herbs and spices pretty much as written, though left to my own devices, I’d always add more garlic, dill, a bit of finely minced mint, and acid (preferably fresh lemon juice).

We just enjoyed a batch of fresh tzatziki with a Greek marinated flank steak I’ll be posting for this week’s Friday Feast…

1 medium cucumber, peeled, grated (or diced), salted, and drained
2 cups full fat Greek yogurt
1-2 garlic cloves, grated or minced
2-3 tbsp fresh minced dill (may include some mint)
1-2 tbsp EVOO
1-3 tsp lemon juice or vinegar of choice
1 tsp salt, divided

Peel and grate or dice the cucumber (I prefer to grate on the large holes of a box grater), then salt with 1/2 tsp of kosher salt and set in a colander for at least 15 minutes to drain. When ready to stir the sauce together, compress as much water as possible from the cucumber before combining.

Stir the remainder of the ingredients together, stir in the drained cucumber, and taste – adjust the seasonings to suit your palate, and add more EVOO or lemon juice to adjust the texture as well.

Will keep for several days in the fridge, covered of course, though we seem to never have any leftovers after a Greek feast at home.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Texas Coast Boiled Shrimp

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My parents both grew up along the Gulf Coast of Texas, in or near a little community by the name of Bay City. My maternal grandfather had a beach house very close to the mouth of the Colorado River where it empties into the Gulf, a rustic wood-framed cabin on the tiny spit of land there between East and West Matagorda Bays.

The Camp as it was called by everyone in the family save for my grandfather, who had christened it the Mason Rouge (it was painted a nifty barn red), was a key focal point for summers of my youth as we travelled down to fish, crab, laze in the blistering coastal Texas summer heat, comb the beaches, and just generally live the life of a miniature pirate back in the 60s.

The Camp was wiped out time and time again by a number of hurricanes, most notably by Carla, and each time Pa-Pa (paw paw) would rebuild it a little bit bigger.

Fresh seafood was the order of the day; we pulled crabs from the crab trap every few days, caught fish morning, afternoon, and night, and bought “table” shrimp from the little bay shrimper (his boat was Little Bob) whose ramshackle operation sprawled on the riverbank about half a city block away. We probably had to drive the furthest – about 10 minutes – to pick up a bushel of oysters dredged that morning when the oyster mood struck.

Some of my earliest memories of wanting to learn about the art and mystery of cooking came from standing at my grandmother Ma-Ma’s (maw maw) elbow as she created another masterpiece on the ancient (and dammit, I mean ancient) gas stove in the corner of the first floor “kitchen” at the Camp.

She was a masterful Southern cook, using something akin to alchemy to transform uber-fresh, simple ingredients into some of the best food I’ve ever tasted. Of course, those memories are buffered by time and the myopic, simplistic perspective of youth, but damn, her fish cakes, gumbo, fish, and shrimp were stunningly good.

Though I didn’t appreciate it as I should back then, it was she who taught me to relish the tasty simplicity of a perfectly boiled shrimp, most often back in the day pulled from the pot, iced down to cool quickly, and eaten in a simple shrimp salad or dipped into just-crafted cocktail sauce bursting with nasal-clearing horseradish and savory Worcestershire (the Cajun influence in that part of coastal Texas was welcome!).

Wild shrimp are one of nature’s most perfect nuggets of high-quality protein, essentially free of encumbering carbohydrates, and with very little fat baggage as well. Fresh shrimp might not readily accessible year-round for many of us, but high-quality frozen shrimp are (if you’ll do a bit of digging). (And while not the focus of this post today, here’s a few quick thoughts on sourcing quality seafood.)

As many of you have, we’ve played with various approaches to attaining the best home-boiled shrimp we can over the years.

Our routine these days is simple and easy to reproduce tie and time again for consistent and tasty results. Note that we lean to the Texas Coast style for our shrimp boil – which means the inclusion of some form of Cajun spice into the pot. And next time you’re planning a shrimp meal, consider boiling up 2 or 3 pounds at a time – shrimp hold well for several days in the fridge, and make a great second meal a day or two down the road, a wonderful lunch, or tasty shrimp salad too.

Here’s how we get a shrimp boil done at home, as noted typically 2-3 pounds at a time for my wife and I. Ma-Ma would heartily approve by the way.

Into your shrimp pot goes water to cover the shrimp by at least 3 inches, along with half a (scrubbed) lemon and either a packet of Zatarains’s Shrimp and Crab boil or several teaspoons of their liquid boil mix, though the bagged spices produce a better result with a deeper, more interesting flavor.

Bring the water to a rolling boil, add the shrimp, and maintain high heat until the pot just beings to boil again. Cover, remove from the heat, and let steep for at least 5 minutes.

There’s a school of thought that argues you should let boiled shrimp steep for as long as 20-30 minutes, though my most talented shrimp mentor argues that you should add some ice to the pot if you’re steeping more than 5 minutes to cool the water so as not to overcook the shrimp.

I typically don’t steep for more than 6 or 7 minutes, then drain the shrimp, ice them down for at least several minutes, and either serve warm right then, or chill them down for several hours in the fridge. We like to peel them right at service (read as we eat them).

This routine is really child’s play in the kitchen, simple enough that anyone can do it with ease, and yielding perfect results every time.

See you at the shrimp counter this weekend.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Miso Curry Chicken and Snap Pea Stir Fry

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Even though the interval between the feast of Thanksgiving and the revelry of the Christmas and New Years week is shorter this year, that’s no reason to not keep slinging some varied and interesting dishes out of your kitchen the next few weeks.

One of my fly fishing buddies sent in a version of this Miso Curry Chicken and Snap Pea Stir Fry a few weeks ago, the week before Thanksgiving in fact, and we’ve just gotten around to fiddling with the recipe this past week here in our own kitchen.

While I’m a big curry fan, my wife typically isn’t, objecting to some curry dishes’ overpowering curry-ness (to the point sometimes of being bitter). The addition of a bit of miso and fresh ginger here seems to soften the curry a bit, and makes for a very interesting, almost subtle, and damned tasty variation that we’d never enjoyed at home before.

Fresh sugar snap peas happened to be piled high in the bin as I shopped a few days back, though this dish plays very well with snow peas or haricots verts (the thin French-style green beans) too.

Don’t skimp on the garlic or ginger, and I think this one’s better with a little more heat as well…

3 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
2 and 1/2 tbsp tamari
2 tbsp white miso
1 tbsp good fresh curry powder
2-3 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated
1-2 tsp red pepper flakes, optional
4 tbsp avocado oil, divided
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or mixed with thighs) in 1/2-inch slices
Kosher salt, see notes
3/4 pound prepped and trimmed sugar snap peas, snow peas, or green beans
1/2 cup frozen or fresh (not canned) baby peas
3 green onions, thinly sliced

Combine together the garlic, tamari, miso, curry powder, ginger, red pepper flakes if using, and 2 tbsp oil in a small bowl and set aside.

Heat a tbsp or so oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and then sauté the chicken in a single layer until browned, turn and cook for another minute. You just want the second side of the chicken to become opaque; it won’t be cooked all the way through but remove to a plate anyway-there’s more cooking to come.

Now add the final tbsp of oil to the pan and cook the prepped beans (still on medium-high heat) until they brighten in color and begin to char in spots, 2-3 minutes. Remove to the plate with the chicken.

Reduce the heat to medium, and pour the curry-miso mixture into the same pan, and cook for another couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Look for the garlic to soften a bit and the curry to darken in color. Now add the peas and 1/2 cup of water, then return the chicken and beans to the skillet and toss to coat.

Cook another 3-4 minutes until the sauce has reduced by about half and thickens, tossing occasionally to coat the chicken and beans. Serve hot sprinkled with the chopped green onions/scallions.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Vegetable Tuesday: Crispy Baked Sweet Potatoes with Hot Sauce Butter

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Chatting with Chef Libby in Austin this week after Thanksgiving, she happened to ask if we’d ever tried her Crispy Baked Sweet Potatoes with Hot Sauce Butter and Pepitas before.

I couldn’t remember ever preparing this easy and damned interesting side before, which incorporates healthy sweet potatoes for those who occasionally incorporate the tuber into their eating plan, along with a big dollop of wonderful grass-fed butter spiced up with the hot sauce of your choice. Granted, not a keto-oriented dish you’d eat every night, but what a great way to add a bit of healthier carb into your rotation for those who need it.

This recipe really couldn’t be simpler, you’re just baking halved (small) sweet potatoes cut-side down on a baking pan until crispy, and slathering with a compound butter you’ve mashed together earlier. The butter does need to be at room temperature to incorporate the hot sauce well, and while Libby’s recipe includes a tablespoon of good honey, it’s not essential given the sweetness of the spuds.

The spiced, light sprinkle of pepitas adds another layer of taste and texture, and the burst of acidity from the lime takes this one over the top.

6 small sweet potatoes, scrubbed clean, halved lengthwise
1/3 cup avocado or extra-virgin olive oil
Liberal sprinkle of kosher salt

1/4 cup unsalted, grass-fed butter, room temperature
2-3 tbsp hot sauce of your choice (we like it with Valentina)
1-2 tsp fresh lime zest
1 tbsp good honey (optional)

1/4 cup raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
2 tsp ground cumin OR 1 tbsp ground coriander
Another sprinkle of good salt (a flaky sea salt shines here)
Lime wedges for serving

Preheat your trusty oven to 425; toss the prepared sweet potatoes onto a baking sheet, drizzle with 1/4 cup of your oil of choice, and rub to coat all sides. Sprinkle liberally with kosher salt. Align the sweet potatoes cut side down on the baking sheet, and bake for 28-30 minutes (test by inserting a sharp knife – it should slide in easily, and you want some crispy color on the cut sides).

While the spuds are in the oven, mash the hot sauce into the butter one tablespoon at a time (use a fork) until evenly incorporated; now mash in the lime zest and honey if using, and season to taste with more salt. Set aside.

Heat the remaining oil in small saucepan over medium heat and toast the pepitas until crispy and brown (3-5 minutes); keep them moving so they don’t burn. Remove from the heat, season with the cumin or coriander and a sprinkle of kosher salt.

When the sweet potatoes are done, artfully arrange on a platter, slather with the spicy butter, spoon the toasted pepitas over, and salt to taste. Serve with lime wedges on the side – the little bit of citrus acidity really plays well here.

Enjoy.

the (Pre) Thanksgiving Friday Feast: The Ultimate Adobo Turkey

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Years ago (and by that I actually mean several decades ago) there was a small quarterly magazine featuring spicy foods of the American Southwest published out of Albuquerque that we subscribed to.

It was simply titled Chile, in all honestly wasn’t that professionally done, but was packed with great recipes, tips and tricks for growing chiles of all sorts, and a smattering of advertising for all things chile-heads loved back in that day. Sadly, and I’m guessing in part given their laser-sharp focus on spicy foods of the Southwest, the magazine vanished in 2006 or 2007, leaving behind little or no trace of their prior work.

We folded a number of their recipes into our family food lexicon, including one for what they called a recado turkey, which was a turkey rubbed with a vinegar and olive oil based rub, actually more like a slather, rich with toasted and coarsely ground peppers and other big, vibrant spices.

Truth be told, it wasn’t my wife’s favorite turkey preparation – the flavors were pretty bold and could be almost astringent at times – but the kids and I loved it, enough that we’d often do two turkeys (especially if entertaining), one a classic brined and roasted bird, and then our special recado turkey.

Much to my chagrin the back issue of Chile which holds the magic recado recipe is packed in storage in another state right now, and several friends and I have been chatting this past week about different ways to spice up the menu for Thanksgiving next week.

As we often do when we’re searching out novel preparations for creative and spicy foods featuring the melting pot cuisine of Texas and the Southwest, I reached out to Chef Libby in Austin and she suggested we give her Ultimate Adobo Turkey a spin. She described it as a pretty classic spin on adobo, built around two acids for tartness (cider vinegar and freshly squeezed orange juice), an impressive handful of toasted guajillo and ancho chiles along with fresh garlic, and a well-balanced spice array.

I was easily convinced to give the recipe a spin, and decided to incorporate the cooking method that the team at Bon Appetite is pushing this year – cutting up your turkey into several more manageable pieces pre-roasting, almost akin to spatchcocking, but with two distinct advantages. One, with the legs and wings removed, it’s much easy to slather everything with the adobo. And two, the cut-up turkey cooks much faster, with both sides browning well when using the rack. The turkey pictured was a smaller one (about eleven pounds), but I think we’ll be using this method for years to come no matter how big the bird.

The adobo is outrageously good; Libby folds at least half a cup into her favorite gravy recipe when serving on her own table or for catering gigs, and a couple of tablespoons folded into your homemade avocado oil mayo recipe will change your leftover turkey sandwiches forever.

You’ll want to try this one – it’s hands down the best turkey prep we’ve ever enjoyed.

8 dried guajillo chiles
6 dried ancho chiles
8 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp + 1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp dried Mexican oregano
1 tbsp dried thyme leaves
1 inch of cinnamon stick, smashed
4 whole allspice
2 cloves
2/3 cup ACV
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp fresh orange juice
1/4 cup avocado or olive oil
1 tbsp good salt

Wipe the chiles clean, then stem, seed, and toast in a large skillet (cast iron wins here) over medium-high heat until fragrant, pliable, and slightly changed in color.

Place the toasted chiles in a large bowl and cover with boiling water and soak until softened (20-25 minutes). Drain the soaking liquid when softened.

While the chiles are soaking, toast the spices over medium-low heat until fragrant; keep them moving in the pan so they don’t burn (this should only take 2-3 minutes).

Into your trusty blender goes the ACV, orange juice, oil, toasted spices, garlic, salt, and the soaked – and drained – chiles; puree until very smooth. Be patient here, the mixture will likely be thick (add more orange juice if liquid is needed to get it moving), and you want to be sure and break up the whole spices.

Prep your turkey (see the discussion above), pat it dry, the coat all the turkey pieces with the adobo, reaching as far under the skin as you can. Place the rubbed turkey/turkey pieces on a rack in a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and throw in the fridge for at least 8 hours and up to a day.

When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 425, and line a clean baking sheet with three layers of foil, top with a clean rack, and then arrange the turkey/turkey pieces atop the rack. Add 1 cup of water to the baking sheet. Roast the turkey for 30 minutes at this temperature, rotating the rack front to back at 15 minutes.

Reduce the oven to 300, add water to the pan if needed, and continue to roast until the breast temp reads 150 and the thighs 170 on an instant read thermometer, adding water every to the roasting pan every thirty minutes or so as needed. Total cooking time depends on your turkey size, but should be somewhere around 75-90 minutes.

When done, tent (loosely) with foil and let rest at least 30 minutes before carving (60 is better).

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Salad Monday: Curry Vinaigrette

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We’re always on the lookout for interesting and flavorful vinaigrettes, not only for the obvious use as salad dressing, but as a quick dip or drizzle for proteins and vegetables, and even for folding into homemade avocado oil mayo to fancy things in the spirit of a high-brow, flavored aioli.

I’ve shared recently that we’ve also been on something of a curry blitz of late now that the weather has finally cooled off here in North Texas, and this Curry Vinaigrette has caught my wife’s eye in particular.

Admittedly the tablespoon (or a tad less) of curry powder sounds like a lot – it is – but the acids (vinegar of your choice below and the lemon juice) really balance this dressing out nicely, as do the garlic and dijon mustard notes. By the way, I’ve made this using a coarse-grind Creole type mustard and it was delicious as well.

Given the use of fresh garlic this dressing should be used within a week of making it; ours is always gone within a day or two!

1/2 cup avocado or good olive oil
1 tbsp (scant) good fresh curry powder

3 tbsp apple cider vinegar, white wine vinegar, your choice
2 garlic cloves, minced or grated
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp good Dijon mustard
A grind or two of fresh ground pepper
Good salt to taste

To get started, bring the curry powder and your oil of choice to a gentle simmer over medium heat in a small saucepan, then remove from heat and cool.

When the oil has cooled, combine your vinegar of choice, the lemon juice, the prepped garlic, and the Dijon in your trusty blender, then stream in the curry oil (with the motor running of course) to make a smooth, thick emulsion. Add the salt and pepper, adjust to taste, and go to it.

Will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Texican Skirt Steak Stir Fry

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This past week I’ve been chatting now and again with new friend Lucia about some of the great fusion cuisine we’ve both enjoyed lately down here in Texas.

Lucia hails originally from the Northeast, though recently lived in Houston while attending Rice University and she grew to love the amazing food culture in Houston during her years there. Her stories of enjoying some of the hole in the wall places serving up Korean and Tex Mex fusion dishes particularly resonated with my wife and I, as we’ve spent time in Houston as well enjoying some of the same foods. To be perfectly honest, my wife and I have enjoyed the Asian influence on Texas cuisine for years now, including the Vietnamese and Thai influences that have been simmering under the Long Star for decades.

That said, we’re big fans of skirt steak, given its deep beefy flavor, quick cook whether grilled or sautéed, attractive price point, and the fact it is most often used to make the classic fajita / taco of choice in these parts.

We’ve been playing around with several quick stir fries using skirt, and have finally settled this one, weaving together an Asian-inspired spice and seasoning array with classic Texas-styled fajitas, including sweet onions (1015s in these parts), poblanos, and a couple of red jalapeños for pop and color.

Slicing the skirt (against the grain of course) thinly makes for a quick cook; use high heat, cook quickly, and get a nice sear on the skirt before removing it to give the vegetables time to soften and gain some color.

As always, consider this a base recipe to work from, and throw in whatever suits you – red bells or Mediterraneo Dulce peppers for instance – and there’s plenty of room to adjust the spices as well, though the combination below is amazingly tasty.

1 and 1/2 lb. skirt steak, trimmed, sliced across the grain into 1/4-inch (or less) thick strips
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 and 1/2 tsp + 1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1 and 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 and 1/2 tsp granulated sugar (optional)

2 medium sweet onions, trimmed, sliced into 1/2-inch thick rounds
1-2 medium poblanos, stemmed, seeded, sliced into 1/2-inch thick rounds
1-2 jalapeños, stemmed, seeded, sliced into 1/4-inch thick rounds (optional)
3-inch piece of ginger, peeled, sliced into thin rounds

1 tbsp avocado oil (perhaps just a bit more)
2-4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
3 tbsp grass-fed unsalted butter (in several pieces
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Combine the sliced skirt steak with the sesame oil, 1.5 tsp tamari or soy sauce, salt, and sugar; stir to combine well, cover and set aside for 30 minutes or so (if longer, throw it in the fridge).

Meanwhile, prep the vegetables and gather (mise en place) the rest of the ingredients.

Heat your large skillet over high heat, add the oil, then spread the marinated meat in a single layer and sauté undisturbed (DON’T turn the meat!) for 2-3 minutes until it begins to brown around the edges. Now stir the steak, turning to brown the uncooked side for another minutes. Now remove the steak to a plate.

Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the sliced onions and poblanos, tossing now and again until they being to soften (5-6 minutes or more); add the sliced jalapeños and ginger and cook another 2 minutes.

Now return the meat to the pan, add 1/3 cup water and the fresh ground pepper, stir well, and cook another 2-3 minutes until the vegetables are as soft as you’d like and the ingredients have a glossy coating.

Remove from the heat, stir in the butter pieces, lemon juice, and remaining tamari or soy sauce until all ingredients are well-coated. Taste and adjust for salt, then serve hot and go to it.

Enjoy.