Brown Sugar Flank Steak and Creamed Spinach

I kinda lost my posting enthusiasm for a while. I have been working on my personal chef business.  My first job went well.

A request from my family was for STEAK last weekend. I tried a new marinade for the flank steak that I will be using with my cheffing clients. The Husband kinda poo - pooed the idea of flank steak at first. He said I only make it because my family had it a lot when we were growing up. He changed his mind after trying it! We all thought it was really tasty. Even had a guest taster that night. A friend of My Oldest. The thumbs up from her too. I marinaded the steak for about 4 hours. You could even marinade overnight for more flavor. Could even try the recipe with a pork tenderloin. I served it with a side of creamed spinach and smashed cheesy potatoes. I bought one of those ginormous bags of spinach from Costco and had to figure out how to use it up. I had already made a gallon of spinach dip and we were all sick of it. A real meat and potatoes meal. And it made great leftovers for the next day.

Fire up the grill and make it beef tonight.

Brown Sugar Flank Steak

serves 5

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 - 2 lbs flank steak

Combine marinade ingredients and mix well. Put into a large resealable bag with the steak and marinate in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours or up to 30 minutes at room temperature. Heat grill to medium high and grill steak on each side for about 6 - 9 minutes. Cook to medium rare. The steak will get too tough otherwise. Let the steak sit for about 10 minutes before slicing it. Slice it thinly on an angle.


Creamed Spinach

This recipe is adapted from one in the The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook It is full of great basic and not so basic recipes. I usually read it just for fun. I'm weird that way.

3 bags (10 ounces each) of baby spinach
2 tablespoons butter
3 shallots, finely chopped
salt
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
nutmeg
1/2 cup half and half
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat a large stockpot to medium high and add the butter. When the butter has melted and just begins to sizzle,  add the spinach and cook for about 3 - 4 minutes. Stir occasionally to redistribute the cooked and uncooked spinach. Add the shallots, salt, garlic, and pinch of nutmeg. Cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in the half and half and Parmesan cheese and cook for a minute to thicken the sauce. Sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese if desired.