Flank Steak Tacos

Don't fear the flank steak! I had to talk my bro into buying this inexpensive cut of meat for fajitas a couple of years ago... But it was a friend of mine (Katherine, sup girl!) who started me buying it. Lots of people think it's gonna be a stringy piece of meat. But if you cut it the right way, you won't have to spend extra time with the Waterpik because it won't stick in your teeth. (Promise).



Marinate the steak overnight (or for a few hours) in a gallon Ziploc bag with soy sauce and olive oil... You can add chopped garlic if you like. That's it! Then grill it for a few minutes on each side, according to how done you would like it. Let me say, however, that not letting it get past medium insures that it will be the most tender. Then let it rest for about ten minutes on your cutting board. (If you don't let it rest, the final product will be drier because the juices will run out.) Then, it's all about the cut. Slice the meat thinly, and at a 45 degree angle. Most importantly, make your cuts with your knife perpendicular to the fibers in the meat. In other words, cut across the grain. At this point, if the meat is much rarer than you would like, you can put the slices in a pan and the thin pieces will cook further rather quickly. (However, try and get it right on the grill, because it will be more juicy if you don't have to do this.)

Since I was putting these into tacos, I cut the slices into smaller pieces so no one had to gnaw as they went on a long slice. The hard part for us is making sure the meat makes it into the tacos, because we tend to eat it as we slice it!

Asian Meatball Soup

I've been way into soup lately, especially with noodles. (By the way, I think you should enter that as a sexy response on your next singles' website chat: "So, like, what are you into?" "Soup.") And I happened to read somewhere that you can use a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter in place of the egg to bind meatballs. So I thought that would lend itself nicely to an asian-inspired meatball soup.

I mixed the meatballs with frozen spinach (thawed and squeezed dry), some Chinese five-spice seasoning (go easy, it has clove in it), seasoning and a little ginger. I used ground turkey meat as usual. Then I sautéed carrot, onion, garlic and celery, and added the broth and the meatballs, then noodles. I simmered it until the meatballs were cooked and the noodles were done, then I garnished with some chive and red bell pepper.



I had my buddies Katie and Marshall over, and served them this soup. Katie said it tasted like soup she'd had as a kid in Singapore, which flattered me... Must be the five-spice. It also helps to serve dinner around 9 pm after everyone has had several beers.