Blargh – random ramblings

I wanted to grill out again today, and I had a perfectly fine flank steak in the fridge that I took out from the freezer yesterday. I had just finished watching another episode of Bobby Flay’s “Grill It” where he marinated some beef in Creme de Cassis and Red wine. It certainly sounded good to me, so I knew what to do with the flank steak.

• 2 lb flank steak
• 2/3 cup red wine
• 1/2 cup creme de cassis
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• fresh ground pepper
• pinch of kosher salt
• oregano

Remove the sinew and extra fat on the flank steak. Cut in some 1/4″ deep cross marks on the flank steak and sprinkle generously with the kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and oregano. Put the remaining ingredients in a zip lock bag and put the flank steak in the marinade. Refrigerate for an hour before letting it come to room temperature to get ready for the grill.

I also had a pork tenderloin in the fridge that I wanted to grill at the same time.

• 1.5 lb pork tenderloin
• sprig fresh thyme
• sprig fresh oregano
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1 1/2 cup of fresh grated asiago & romano cheese
• 4 cloves chopped garlic
• fresh ground pepper
• kosher salt

Remove the fat, sinew, and silver skin from the pork tenderloin. Butterfly the tenderloin into a 1/2″ thick flat piece. Sprinkle the seasonings and cheese mix on top of the tenderloin and roll it up tightly. I used some butcher twine to keep the roll together for cooking. It’s fairly easy to tie a few butcher’s knots to keep it together.

The tenderloin needed a little longer cooking time than the flank steak. The flank steak had a nice char to it and was perfect medium rare in the thicker part. The Creme de Cassis really came through in the final product. The pork tenderloin was also perfectly done although a little on the dry side. Also had some nice grill marks on the outside. Next time the pork tenderloin should really have some kind of gravy to compliment it.

I wanted to grill some vegetables and had a roll of polenta from Trader Joe’s that I wanted to grill up too.

• Roll of organic polenta from Trader Joe’s
• 1 large sweet potato
• 1 cup fresh grated asiago & romano cheese
• oregano
• fresh ground pepper
• kosher salt
• 1 clove chopped garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Peel the sweet potato and cut it into about 6 equal sized slices. Brush olive oil on each side and sprinkle with ground pepper and kosher salt. Open the roll of polenta and cut them into even sized slices (about 1/2″ thick). Brush both sides with olive oil and sprinkle fresh ground pepper and kosher salt on them. Mix the cheese with the chopped garlic, oregano, and fresh ground pepper.

Put the all the slices over a medium hot fire. The polenta will stick pretty bad even with the olive oil. Leave them for a few minutes – enough to get some grill marks. Once you flip them over sprinkle with the cheese and herb mixture on top – it will lightly melt as the residual radiates up to through the cheese. Even with the sticking it turned the polenta turned out pretty tasty and almost creamy.  The salty cheese mixture on top worked well with it too.