Mexican Marinated Flank Steak

This is chapter two for Meg's 21st birthday...what a great night it was and thanks to Meg for building a great menu for us all to enjoy!

Meg and Cherie on Meg's Big Day!!

If you haven't figured it out by now, Murph's a huge fan of flank steak.  Lean, tender beef that's easy to prepare and grills in minutes is the right recipe for our busy lifestyle and proclivity to entertain.  I  warn you that this is a really spicy marinade and you have to be really careful about not rubbing your eyes and standing back from the grill when you put the steaks on.

Here's the Beef!

Ingredients

2 Large Flank Steaks

1 Dos Equis Amber

Juice of 4 Limes

1/4 Cup Olive Oil

1/4 Cup Hot New Mexico Chile Powder

1/4 Cup Szegeo Hungarian Hot Paprika

1 tsp Cayenne Pepper

2 Tbsp Sea Salt

2 tsp White Pepper

2 Tbsp Granulated Garlic

2 Tbsp Mexican Oregano

2 Tbsp Cumin

Add all dry ingredients to a mixing bowl and blend well.  Squeeze limes into bowl with dry ingredients, add olive oil then slowly add the Dos Equis or your favorite Mexican beer.  Allow to settle for a few minutes and blend with a whisk until mixture is smooth.  Place steaks into a gallon Ziploc and slowly pour mixture into the bag. Squeeze the air out of the bag and make sure the steaks are fully coated. Place in refrigerator and marinate for at least 4 hours. Check the bag frequently  and make sure the mixture is well distributed and coating the meat thoroughly.  Remove steaks from frig about one hour prior to serving.  One of the keys to a great flank steak is not to pull it directly from the frig and put it on the grill.  A cold steak does not cook as evenly as one that has risen to room temp so make sure to follow this step every time you make any steak.

Slice Thinly...

Place steaks on a very hot grill and cook for  5 minutes per side for medium rare.  Place your marinade back in the original bowl  and  brush the meat with remaining liquid as the steaks cook.  

 Allow to sit for a few minutes, slice thinly on the bias and enjoy!

Buon Apetito!

Scrumptious and Spicy

White Gazpacho

Meg's Mega 21st Birthday with a Mexican Theme: White Gazpacho, Spicy Grilled Garlic Shrimp and Mexican Marinated Flank Steak


My kids get to pick their birthday dinner as is the case in many households but in Murph's Kitchen the discussions can begin weeks in advance as it did for Meg's 21st birthday which occurred last week.  Meg inherited her parents love of all things food related and is a great chef in her own right.  She has loved baking since she was a young girl and has branched out into full blown college foodie.  Murph's family and friends have come to expect Gazpacho all summer since Cherie started working her magic with fresh summer veggies in the early days of our marriage.  A few years ago Cherie came across a recipe for White Gazpacho which is now a regular item on our summer menus and a big hit every time we serve it to our guests.  This Gazpacho includes a refreshing and pungent summer salsa on top making it delectable and refreshing!  It can be kicked up and served formally for a nice dinner party or in a plastic cup for a barbecue.  Either way, your guests are sure to enjoy this one!

White Gazpacho
Serves 6-8 and this is one of the easiest recipes you'll ever make for a crowd.  Make this several hours ahead so the flavors in the salsa merge and the Gazpacho is well chilled.  The better the tomatoes, the better the salsa and a good sweet onion like a Vidalia or a Walla Walla really lend  great flavors to this dish.

Simple Salsa Garnish 
4 Well Ripened Medium Tomates
1/2 Yellow Onion, Finely chopped
3 Tbsp Rough Chopped Cilantro
2 Tbsp White Wine Vinegar
Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper

Remove top portion from tomatoes and roughly chop setting aside in a bowl big enough to hold all ingredients. Finely chop onions and cilantro and add the vinegar and sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.  Set aside and allow to chill in the frig for several hours prior to serving.



White Gazpacho
3 Large Seedless Cucumbers
2 Large Jalapenos, seeded and finely diced
2 Cloves pressed garlic
1 1/2 Cups Trader Joe's Organic Vegetable Broth (Chicken Broth will do)
2 Cups Plain, Non Fat Yogurt
White Pepper
Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Seed and finely chop cucumbers and place in blender.  Seed ,stem  and finely chop jalapenos, press two good size garlic cloves and add to blender.  I prefer Trader Joe's Organic Veggie broth but the Chicken Broth is just fine if your prefer.  Add the broth along with the non fat yogurt, sea salt and a dash or two or white pepper.  Blend well and taste for seasonings.  I always add the black pepper last just to ensure that the white pepper has not overpowered the gazpacho.  Refrigerate for at least two hours and serve well chilled with a tablespoon of the salsa on top.

Buon Apetito!

White Gazpacho Served simply in a Plastic Cup

Grilled Whole Beef Tenderloin with Twice Baked Potato Casserole

Filet Mignon Grilled M/R

Today is my son Patrick's birthday and he is turning 24 years of age.  He is, to say the least, a complete carnivore with a sincere and healthy disdain for almost all vegetables, particularly those of the green variety.  True to his Irish heritage, he loves potatoes, especially mashed and twice baked.   In honor of his birth and as a cover for my own addictions, formed at an early age, to every kind of rare and tender beef and potatoes of the mashed variety, I am  indulging us both and preparing a family favorite for all to enjoy.

I headed out to Sam's Club this morning and bought a whole beef tenderloin in the vacuum seal pack.  Don't let the need to trim a whole tenderloin intimidate you as it is truly to simplest cut of beef to prepare in your kitchen.  If fear prevails simply ask your butcher to do the job and most likely he will oblige.  If you involve the butcher, make sure you ask him to grind the trimmings into hamburger meat for a future endeavor.  Some of our best burger's involve tenderloin,as one of the key ingredients.  All you need to do this job at home is a couple of sharp knives, a large cutting board and the ever important Sharpening Steel, or as my grandfather used to call it; a butcher's steel.  I like to use a filet knife that I bought at a local restaurant supply store where I buy many of the tools I grew accustomed to while in the restaurant business.

 Feel free to go to Williams Sonoma and spend the big bucks but remember, there are always less expensive alternatives that work just as well.  Cooking, butchering, carving, baking  and all culinary endeavors for that matter, are about enjoying what your are doing and investing yourself in an outcome you can share with others.

Sunday nights are about family dinners here at Murph's Kitchen and  I can't say this tradition came from my Mom like most of my other kitchen habits.  Cherie and I developed this tradition over the years as a way to place  a time stamp on the week while honoring what we love most: our family and our friends.

Twice Baked Potato Casserole

10-12 Large Russet Potatoes
1 Cup Sour Cream
1/2 Cup Butter
1 1/2 Sticks Butter
Pepper
Salt
1 Pound Crispy Bacon Finely Chopped
1/2 Pound Irish Cheddar cut into small cubes
3/4 Pound Shredded American Cheddar
One small can(7 oz.) chopped Green Chiles (Optional)
One Bunch Chopped Green Onions(green part only)
3 Eggs Beaten


Preheat oven to 400 degrees 
Scrub Potatoes and poke a small hole in the top of each one 
Place potatoes  in oven and bake for one hour.
Remove from oven and let cool for at least 30-45 minutes 
Cut cooled potatoes in half lengthwise and remove  flesh from skins placing in large mixing bowl
Add one stick butter, sour cream, heavy cream, salt, pepper and mash thoroughly with a hand masher with the final result a mixture of smooth and chunky
Add crumbled bacon, green chiles if you have opted in, beaten eggs, green onions and about half the cheese reserving the rest in the frig until later.
Butter a large casserole dish, at least 9x13 but I prefer larger and reduce oven temp to 375 degrees.


Place the mashed potato mixture in casserole dish and top with remaining cheese.
Bake for 35-40 minutes until bubbly, oozing and the cheese is a light golden bronze color.


Our family loves to cover this dish with lots of our favorite hot sauce either Trappey's Hot Sauce or Castillo "Salsa Haberno."


Grilled Whole Beef Tenderloin


One of our favorite "special" dinners invariably includes either Prime Rib or Tenderloin.  Patrick picked the whole tenderloin aka Filet Mignon.  This is a no fail,  you can only mess it up one way dish.  Do not overcook!  This means investing in a less than $10 instant read thermometer to make sure that the center of this somewhat long, skinny cut of meat should read about 125 degrees when removed from the oven or grill and should be allowed to rest for about 5 minutes prior to slicing which will raise the temp roughly another 5 degrees.

Ingredients

Whole Beef Tenderloin
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper

After removing the beef from the vacuum pack drain the meat and pat dry.  Place the whole loin on a large cutting board and have a couple of your best and thinnest knives nearby along with your sharpening steel.  The part of the loin you will cook is the center most portion of the filet.  


You will need to trim the larger chunks away from the thicker end of the filet and will have to remove all the silver skin attached to the center of the loin.  

Disregard the bald head and carry on...

Removing the silver skin is mandatory

I've included a few pictures but there are plenty of YouTube videos explaining how to do this in exhaustive and precise detail.  Don't be too hard on yourself the first couple of times attempting this technique.  


You may over trim the meat a bit but it can easily be ground into "chopped meat" as my Mom used to call it and you can do it in minutes in your food processor and add to store bought hamburger for burgers or meat loaf.  After a couple of tries you will get the hang of it and the time required to get the job done becomes quite short.  Not to mention you'll be saving big bucks vs. buying pre-cut filet's from the butcher or grocery store.


Once the meat is trimmed coat with olive oil completely.  Next, sprinkle a generous amount of kosher salt over both sides and finally grind an equally generous amount of black pepper over the entire filet.  Let sit for at least one hour prior to cooking on the grill.  


Get your grill really, really hot. I get mine up around 600 degrees  prior to placing the meat on the grill.  Place the filet on the  hottest portion of your grill and sear on both sides for 3-5 minutes each.  As you can see from this picture a some good grill marks are a sign you're on the right track.  

Once the meat is well seared, turn off a burner or two and move your beef to a section of the grill away from the flame.  The heat should reduce to roughly 400 degrees and the meat should cook another 30 minutes or so.  This is where your instant read meat thermometer comes handy.  Open the grill at about 15 minutes and check the temp.  If the meat is 125 degrees- take it off and let it rest.  If not, keep the lid closed and check again at 20 minutes.  Repeat the process until your thermometer reads just about 125 degrees in the center of the filet.  You can take several readings along the loin to ensure an even doneness but the most important reading will be in the center of your roast.  Once you reach an even 125 degrees remove from the flame and let sit for five minutes before slicing thinly and serving with your baked potato casserole.  We also like sliced tomatoes or a good Caesar Salad to accompany this dish.  You will be amazed once you get the hang of trimming this cut at how inexpensively you can feed a crowd to their utter enjoyment.  I served 11 hearty eaters and the Tenderloin cost about $60 at Sam's Club.

Buon Apetito