Keto

A butcher here on the coast told me recently that skirt steak was only of interest in the summer when folks used their BBQs, so they didn’t stock it right now. I mean really…we don’t live in the middle of Montana where temperatures are in the negative double digits in the winter! Can you imagine anything more ridiculous? Unless it’s pouring rain outside, BBQ weather on the California coast is 12 months of the year.

Consequently, the skirt steak didn’t come from our local market here on the coast. I purchased a couple from my favorite butcher in Oakland and froze them on my return to Fort Bragg.

Now tomatoes are a different matter. Nothing compares with summer sun-ripened tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes have to stand in during the cooler months and they could use some doctoring. I would serve this tomato salad with any grilled or roasted meat. In the summer it would be fun to use cherry tomatoes of different colors.

Balsamic Skirt Steak with Chili Cherry Tomatoes

Skirt steak cooks very quickly, it took longer to heat the BBQ grill. It also has different thicknesses, so everyone can have their favorite degree of doneness. Make the cherry tomato salad ahead, it will only improve from sitting at room temperature for a few hours. You can add the arugula (or basil if you are lucky enough to have it) at the last minute.

Balsamic Skirt Steak with Chili Cherry Tomatoes

Ingredients:

For the marinade –
- 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup of olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic, grated
- 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs, such as a combination of rosemary, basil, and sage – finely chopped
For the steak –
- 3 pounds of a skirt or hanger steak
- 1 basket of cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 red chili pepper, thinly sliced (I used 1/2 since one person is sensitive to heat)
- 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
- 1 garlic clove grated
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 bunch of basil or arugula

Method:

Whisk the marinade ingredients in a 1-gallon plastic bag or a bowl.
Cut the steak into manageable pieces.
Season the steak with salt and pepper and pour the marinade over it. Marinate overnight.
Make the tomato salad by tossing the tomatoes with the salt and the chili pepper. Stir in the vinegar, garlic, and olive oil. Set aside until the steak is grilled.
Grill the steak over high heat for a few minutes on each side, and let it rest for 10 minutes.
Toss the tomatoes with the basil or arugula.
Cut the steak into manageable pieces, and scatter the tomato salad on top.

Marinated and Grilled Skirt Steak with Spicy Cherry Tomato Salad

Balsamic Skirt Steak with Chili Cherry Tomatoes

This recipe came from Malibu Farm Cookbook, Recipes from the California Coast by Helene Henderson.

Malibu Farm Cookbook

Cauliflower ‘risotto’

I seem to be hooked on a theme this last week. This time is a carb-friendly, keto-friendly version of risotto. Again you can’t really call it risotto, maybe it’s more like cauliflower cheese. Anyway you call it, it’s creamy, cheesy, and delicious.

Cauli-Rice Risotto

I added a couple of handfuls of chopped baby spinach to up the nutrition and add some color.

I don’t really have a recipe as such for this, but here goes the general idea. I used a one pound package of fresh pre-riced cauliflower. I like the pre-riced ones because they have a high percentage of stem. That means that the ‘kernels’ both hold their shape and are firmer, more like an actual grain of rice.

Ingredients:

16 oz package of pre-riced cauliflower.
2 tablespoons of olive oil
5.2 oz package of boursin with garlic and fine herbs (or 5 oz of cream cheese with garlic and herbs)
2 tablespoons of heavy cream
2 large handfuls of baby spinach, roughly chopped
salt and pepper as needed

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet (one that allows you to spread out the cauliflower) over medium high heat.
Add the cauliflower and spread it out in a single layer if possible. Let it sit for a couple of minutes until the bottom starts to brown, then stir. You want it to start to crisp a bit.
Add the cream cheese and stir until it melts, adding the heavy cream to thin things out if necessary.
Stir in the spinach, letting it just wilt a bit before you take it off the stove
Taste for salt and add freshly ground pepper.
Immediately transfer to a warm serving dish.

Really, that’s it.

Cauliflower ‘risotto’

I haven’t tried this with frozen riced cauliflower. I imagine it would be softer to begin with and you may need to increase the heat in step 2 to get browning.

Last Dr’s appointment my blood pressure was a little too high so I have been cutting back on salt. To my surprise I have found that food doesn’t need to be salted as much as my usual habit. So, taste for salt first. The cheese, especially if you use boursin, is already salted.

I served this with a big selection of roasted vegetables. After roasting to a charred brown, the vegetables were drizzled with toasted pumpkin seed oil and sprinkled with roasted pumpkin seeds. We didn’t miss the meat.