| You can serve the steak atop the salad… |
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| Or make the salad all by itself…either way, these dishes are terrific! |
If there is a first for everything, today’s Chewing the Fat qualifies. The first in this case was my discovery that one of my go-to heroes of the kitchen seriously let me down. I went to his well-thumbed cookbook. I found a chicken recipe that had a lot going for it –combining lemons and curry. It looked relatively easy, involved a quick yogurt marinade and a simple roast in the oven. It was awful. A dreadful color, it took ‘tangy’ to a place I couldn’t get away from fast enough. But lo and behold, what was under the chicken was fantastic! A wonderful rice salad with crunchy cashews, fresh mint, ripe mango and crisp haricots verts folded into fragrant basmati rice was a total winner. So for the first time ever, I decided to share the salad with you and forget all about the chicken. What to serve with the rice salad was a no-brainer. I’ve collected any number of steak recipes and it seemed to me that a recipe for Asian inflected Flank Steak would be a perfect accompaniment to my hero’s terrific rice salad.
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| I highly recommend my new Made-in-America Chef’s Design stovetop grill pan and griddle from Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry in Manitowoc WI. |
At first I wondered if this dish wasn’t best kept for a summer meal. I am sure the steak would be terrific on the grill and the mango and rice salad would be an ideal side dish. Even though I served it in January, I thought about writing it up and saving it for later this year. But I have a surprisingly large following in Australia, a friend in California who is expecting 80 degree temperatures to continue this week and lots of readers in Florida. And today, as the temperature in New York reached 60 for the second time this week, I thought, what are you waiting for? It’s practically summer! So I brought out my new made in America stovetop grill, put the steak in a quick marinade for a half hour, and made the rice salad while the steak sat basting in Asian flavors.
A lot of people have a lot of drama surrounding their rice cooking. I find both Jasmine and Basmati rices much more forgiving than Carolina or Uncle Ben’s. Almost like couscous, they are pulled off the heat the minute the water boils and just sit on the stove absorbing the water. Depending on how much water you use, you can make your rice stickier with more, or fluffier with less. In this case, you want a ‘drier’ rice which you spread on a baking sheet pan and let cool to room temperature. While the rice is cooking, make perfect haricots verts by using lots and lots of salt in the water pot and the moment they’re done, drain them and put them in an ice water bath. This will let them keep their bright green color. Finally, put the remaining ingredients through a rough chop. Combine all the ingredients in a big bowl, make a very simple olive oil and lemon dressing and add that and the mango at the last minute. Flawless! The steak takes 6 minutes a side and a gets a nice 10 minute rest before being sliced and served atop the salad. Here are the recipes:
Recipe for Basmati Rice and Mango Salad adapted from a Chef whose identity will not be revealed.
1 cup basmati rice
1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and smashed with the flat side of a large knife
Kosher salt
½ lb. tender green beans, trimmed
½ small red onion
¼ cup cashews
¼ cup fresh mint leaves
1 fresh mango, peeled, pitted and chopped
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of ½ lemon
Freshly ground black pepperPut the rice in a saucepan with the ginger, 2 cups of water, and 1 ½ tsp. salt and bring to a boil over medium heat. Give the rice a stir, take the rice off the stove, cover, and let sit for 15-20 minutes without lifting the lid. Spread the cooked rice out on a baking sheet and let it cool to room temperature. Discard the ginger.Bring a large pot of highly salted water to a boil for the beans. Fill a large bowl with ice water and add enough salt to make it taste lightly salted. Add the beans to the boiling water and cook until just tender, about 3 minutes. Drain, then refresh in the ice water bath to keep the bright green color, and drain well again. Cut the beans in half crosswise on the diagonal.Put the onion half, cashews and mint on a cutting board and coarsely chop them all up. Combine the rice and green beans in a big bowl and add the chopped onion mixture. Add the chopped mango, olive oil and lemon juice and toss gently. Taste for seasoning.
1 cup basmati rice
1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and smashed with the flat side of a large knife
Kosher salt
½ lb. tender green beans, trimmed
½ small red onion
¼ cup cashews
¼ cup fresh mint leaves
1 fresh mango, peeled, pitted and chopped
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of ½ lemon
Freshly ground black pepperPut the rice in a saucepan with the ginger, 2 cups of water, and 1 ½ tsp. salt and bring to a boil over medium heat. Give the rice a stir, take the rice off the stove, cover, and let sit for 15-20 minutes without lifting the lid. Spread the cooked rice out on a baking sheet and let it cool to room temperature. Discard the ginger.Bring a large pot of highly salted water to a boil for the beans. Fill a large bowl with ice water and add enough salt to make it taste lightly salted. Add the beans to the boiling water and cook until just tender, about 3 minutes. Drain, then refresh in the ice water bath to keep the bright green color, and drain well again. Cut the beans in half crosswise on the diagonal.Put the onion half, cashews and mint on a cutting board and coarsely chop them all up. Combine the rice and green beans in a big bowl and add the chopped onion mixture. Add the chopped mango, olive oil and lemon juice and toss gently. Taste for seasoning.
Recipe for Asian Spiced Flank Steak
1/4 cup soy sauce
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
5 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger, divided
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 1/2-pound flank steak
½ cup Scallions, white and green parts, chopped into ¼ inch pieces.
Prepare barbecue (medium heat) or use a stovetop Grill Pan. Mix soy sauce, oil, 3 teaspoons ginger, and garlic in resealable plastic bag. Add flank steak and seal bag; turn to coat. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes, turning occasionally.
Grill steak until cooked to desired doneness, about 6 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer to work surface. Let rest 10 minutes. Slice steak thinly against grain. Sprinkle 1/4 cup green onions.