Gluten-free Pie Crust (vegan option)

Mini Apple Pie baked in a tortilla shell baker

When I first was diagnosed with my wheat allergy (yep, actually allergic, not celiac), I tried to do a pie crust. I figured that all I’d have to do is mix some rice flour with shortening (I still had a safe-ish one at that point) and a bit of salt and voila, it’d all work out. So that’s what I did and made a pot pie. Ummm…not so much. It was like eating a pot pie with a layer of very fine beach sand on it. Appetizing, right?

Pie crust has been a much bigger struggle than I originally anticipated. I ended up not having a safe shortening, and I can’t buy commercial lard. So I have to render the lard at home. Xanthan gum is problematic for me on a number of levels, and I don’t care for guar gum. So I put off the problem for a while. However, after hearing about aquafaba, I decided to give it another go, and used this recipe as a starting point. I switched out a flour and switched amounts around, got rid of the gum, used cold aquafaba (I refrigerated it) instead of water, and used lard instead of shortening (if you have a safe shortening to use instead of the lard, go for it; it should work).

Gluten-free Pie Crust (Vegan Option)

Name: Gluten-free Pie Crust (vegan option)
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 1 single crust
Ingredients: 1/3 cup sorghum flour; 1/3 cup Otto's Naturals cassava flour; 1/3 cup arrowroot starch; 1/4 cup millet flour; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/2 cup cold lard or cold vegetable shortening; 1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar; 5 tbsp cold aquafaba

1/3 cup of sorghum flour
1/3 cup of Otto’s Naturals cassava flour
1/3 cup of arrowroot starch
1/4 cup of millet flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of cold lard or cold shortening
1 1/2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar
5 Tablespoons of cold aquafaba.

Whisk together the sorghum flour, cassava flour, arrowroot starch, millet flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Using a pastry blender or a fork, cut in the lard or shortening until the mixture looks like crumbs.

Flour mixture after cutting in lard or shortening

Mix the water, aquafaba and apple cider vinegar together until blended thoroughly in a small bowl or glass measuring cup, and add it to the flour mixture, stirring until it comes together to form a dough.

Shape the dough into a smooth ball, and put the dough ball into the freezer to chill for 30 minutes. You can chill it for longer, it’ll help make the pie crust more flaky and crisp.

Using some of your other flours (I used sorghum) dust the surface of your rolling space. I was able to roll out my pie crust on a rolling mat and use my rolling pin to transfer the pie crust to the pie plate without too much difficulty. However, if you like your crust thin, try doing rolling your crust out on parchment paper to make it easier to transfer to the pie pan. Make sure you use plenty of dusting flour so that it doesn’t stick to the rolling surface or parchment paper.

You can also use the crust to make tarts or stuffed pastries. The dough does not have the same elasticity as normal pie dough, but you can work with it a little, You can’t bend it in half because it will break. but you can stack pieces of dough on top of each other as long as the filling isn’t too tall. Next time I might experiment with larger top pieces to accommodate more filling.

Bake your pie crust according to your pie recipe. Since I was winging it, I cooked my little pies, tarts, and pastries in the slide slow above for about 45 to 60 minutes. If you’re worried about soggy crusts, you can try blind baking your bottom crust. The Kitchn explains here much better than I can.

Have fun, and send us pictures of your creations!

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Gluten-free Pie Crust (vegan option)

A lovely crust for both dessert and savory applications. Double the recipe to make a top and bottom pie crust.

Servings	Prep Time
1 single crust	45 minutes

Passive Time

30 minutes

Servings	Prep Time
1 single crust	45 minutes

Passive Time

30 minutes

Gluten-free Pie Crust (vegan option)

A lovely crust for both dessert and savory applications. Double the recipe to make a top and bottom pie crust.

Servings	Prep Time
1 single crust	45 minutes

Passive Time

30 minutes

Servings	Prep Time
1 single crust	45 minutes

Passive Time

30 minutes

Ingredients

1/3 cup sorghum flour
1/3 cup Otto’s Naturals cassava flour
1/3 cup arrowroot starch
1/4 cup millet flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold lard or cold vegetable shortening
1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
5 tbsp cold aquafaba

Servings: single crust

Instructions

In a large bowl, whisk together the sorghum flour, the cassava flour, arrowroot starch, millet flour, and salt, until they are thoroughly mixed.
Using a pastry blender or a fork, cut in the lard or vegetable shortening until the mixture looks like crumbs.
In a small bowl or glass measuring cup, mix the aquafaba and apple cider vinegar together until it is well blended. Add the liquid mixture to your flour mixture and stir until it comes together to form a dough.
Shape the dough into a smooth ball, and put the dough ball into the freezer to chill for 30 minutes before rolling it out.
Using some of your other flours (I used sorghum) dust the surface of your rolling space. I was able to roll out my pie crust on a rolling mat and use my rolling pin to transfer the pie crust to the pie plate without too much difficulty. However, if you like your crust thin, try doing rolling your crust out on parchment paper to make it easier to transfer to the pie pan. Make sure you use plenty of dusting flour so that it doesn’t stick to the rolling surface or parchment paper.
Place pie crust in pie plate, and fill pie. Bake according to pie recipe. If you’re concerned about soggy crust, you may wish to blind bake your bottom crust first.

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November 16, 2015

Seared Tuna Steak Salad

This is one of those areas where Denise and I diverge — neither of us is allergic to fish, but I love tuna, and she hates it. Conversely, she loves haddock, and I, eh, can’t get excited about it. If you’re pro-tuna, this might be your recipe.

The first time I had tuna — and liked it — was when I was in Greece in college. The whole experience was amazing, and so was the food. I had a simple salad one day, when I wasn’t feeling great and wanted something light. It was just lettuce, with canned tuna in oil and a few tomatoes. So simple, but so amazing. It was such a difference from the mayo-covered tuna salads I’d seen growing up, and it opened me up to tuna.

I first tried fresh tuna in sushi, and it’s still one of my favorites. But ordering tuna at a restaurant made me consider making it at home. Once you get more used to not cooking it all the way through (that dries it out!), it is SUPER EASY and seems pretty fancy.

This dish actually came out of leftover seared tuna. Normally, I make tuna for just me, as an occasional indulgence. But my grocery store was having a sale on some great-looking frozen tuna steaks, so I thought I’d give it a whirl as a mid-week dinner for me and my boyfriend. I cooked the fish and served it with steamed asparagus and bamboo rice — it was quick and easy, even though I got home late that night.

I overshot the amount of fish I needed, though. I’ve never had a leftover tuna steak before! Turns out, fresh tuna also makes an amazing salad. THAT is the recipe you’re getting today. But feel free to just buy too much fish for one dinner and make this salad the next day. Just scale the marinade up.

This recipe serves ONE. Scale up appropriately.

Tuna Steak Salad

1/3 lb. tuna steak, about 1 1/4 inch thick (the exact amount of tuna is up to you! But if your steak is substantially thicker or thinner, adjust your cooking time accordingly)

Marinade

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar (look for unsweetened, unseasoned, for the most flexible version)
1/4 cup faux tamari, or gluten-free soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon (generous) garlic powder (I used roasted, from Penzey’s, as it’s my new favorite)
1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger

Salad Ingredients

10 stalks or so steamed asparagus
1 cup mixed greens (I don’t like lettuce, so I used a mix of baby kale, baby Swiss chard, and baby spinach, but the crunch of lettuce would be great)
1 Tablespoon of pumpkin seeds, roasted and salted

Dressing

1 Tablespoon vegan or safe mayo (Earth Balance, or Aquafaba salad dressing)
I Tablespoon faux tamari or gluten-free soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
dash of sriracha, to taste
dash of toasted sesame oil, optional, to taste

If your fish is vacuum-packed, slit the packaging before you defrost it (put it on a plate first, of course) in the fridge. I usually take it out the night before and give it the night and day in the fridge.

Marinate the fish for about 20 minutes, 10 minutes per side. If I’m serving the fish with rice, this is about the perfect cooking time for rice. The fish takes about 5 minutes to cook, so get everything else ready before you start the cooking.

The salad is easy — steam the asparagus, heap it and the greens on a plate. Make the dressing by mixing all the ingredients together with a whisk or fork — taste and adjust the seasonings as needed. If you are using salted pumpkin seeds, you won’t need more salt. If you aren’t, you might want a dash of salt at the end.

Heat a well-seasoned cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until it is good and hot. You are going to sear the fish quickly, so make sure the pan is hot. If it’s a well-seasoned pan, you won’t need to add more oil.

Sear the first side of the fish. For cooking steaks an inch and a quarter thick, 3 minutes the first side and 2 minutes the second should be about perfect. Baste it with the marinade right before you flip it. Because tuna changes color as it cooks, you can watch the fish to get the timing correct — watch the cooking up the side and flip it when it’s cooked about 1/4 of the way through. Then take it off when it’s 1/4 of the way through the other side. The center of your fish should be warm, but pink. That is perfect tuna.

Add the tuna to the salad, sprinkle the salad with pumpkin seeds, and drizzle on the dressing.

Enjoy!

October 26, 2015

Chai-Spice Brined Pork Chops

I don’t know if we’ve ever mentioned it, but Denise and I do have a plan for the blog. We have a calendar and recipes we’re working on, and sometimes what is on the calendar finds its way on to the blog on the day we scheduled it. Often, though, we’re working on things and they just aren’t ready to go when the calendar says. We have some exciting things in the works right now, but this week, you’re getting a quick, simple, but amazing weeknight dinner.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had found, tried, and loved this stovetop-to-oven method of cooking pork chops. I have messed with it a few times, and want to share my version of the recipe as I think it’s turned out great. These pork chops are juicy and flavorful, with an unusual (to me, at least) but subtle spice flavor to them. They are, even with the brining, a meal quick enough to make on a weeknight for dinner. And the meat is so juicy that they reheat well OR make a great sandwich the next day.

The spice blend in here is inspired by what I remember of a homemade chai recipe I made a few times years ago. It’s the reason I bought star anise in the first place. I never made chai with actual peppercorns, but this is a savory dish, so it suits — I’ve done this with regular and Sichuan peppercorns, and both work well.

Chai-spice brined pork chops

For brine:

1 cup boiling water
2 Tablespoons salt (I used kosher salt here)
2 whole star anise (or pieces to make up about 2 whole)
3 whole cardamom pods, smashed to open the pod (but not crush the seeds)
1 2-inch cinnamon stick
2 pinches whole cloves (about 6-8)
1 pinch whole peppercorns (about 4-6)
2 cups cold water
2 bone-in pork chops, about 3/4″ thick (I used center cut, as that’s what looked good)

Take the pork chops out of the fridge and let them rest at room temp while you make the brine. You will need a baking dish or something comparable to brine the chops. Lay them out in a single layer in the pan.

Put all the spices (salt through peppercorns) into a heat-safe container. I use a Pyrex measuring cup. Bring your water to a boil and pour 1 cup over all the spices and salt. Stir to dissolve the salt, and let it steep for 5 minutes. Add the two cups of cold water.

Pour the spice “tea” over the chops. You are aiming for room temperature brine, and your chops should be covered completely. Add more water to make this happen, if needed. Leave all the spices floating.

Let the chops brine for 30 minutes to an hour. According to the original recipe, you can brine them for up to four hours (in the fridge), but I’ve not tried this.

When your chops are brined, turn the oven up to 400ºF, with a cast iron skillet on the middle rack. When the oven is up to temperature, carefully remove the skillet and put it over medium-high heat on the stovetop.

Remove the chops from the brine and pat them dry. Season with salt and pepper — but remember the brine was salty, so don’t go overboard with the salt.

Carefully add the chops. Brown 3-5 minutes on one side, getting good browning, but not burning the chops. This may cause smoke, so be ready, but it’s worth the hassle.

Flip the chops and immediately put them in the pre-heated oven. Bake for 6-8 minutes, aiming for an internal temperature of about 142ºF. Remove them to rest for 5 minutes. You want your final temperature to be 145ºF, but remember that they keep cooking while resting, so don’t overshoot.

I served mine with simple boiled broccoli and sweet potatoes I’d thrown in the oven earlier to roast. If you want to do a side dish in the oven, consider turning it on and starting the side(s) while the pork chops brown. This is an excellent use of the brining time.

Enjoy the subtle spice flavors in your perfectly cooked pork chops.

October 12, 2015

Autumn Spiced Pork Loin

As I said a couple of weeks ago, I’m drowning in apples. In addition to all the apple canning projects I’ve been doing, I’m trying to cook with them too. So I came up with doing a pork loin with a rub using apple pie/mulled cider spices on a bed of onions and apples.

Autumn Spiced Pork Loin

4 pound whole pork loin
2 large or 3 medium onions, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch pieces
2 large or 3 medium apples, peeled, cored and diced into 1/2 inch pieces.
Small amount of safe for you oil to grease a 9 inch by 13 inch roasting pan with.

Rub for pork loin:

3 Tablespoons of brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of ground allspice

Preheat oven to 375°F. Use your safe oil to grease a roasting pan. Place ingredients for the rub (brown sugar, sea salt, black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice) in a small bowl and mix thoroughly with a fork.

Place diced onions and apples in the bottom of the roasting pan.

Place pork loin on top of diced onions and apples.

Pork loin in roasting pan on apples and onions

Cover top of pork loin with spice rub. It’s okay if you get a bit on the apples and onions.

Place the roasting pan in oven and cook until the internal temperature is at least 161°F. In order to get the correct internal temperature in my oven with a four pound pork loin, it took 1 hour and 45 minutes. If you have a much smaller pork loin, like the one to two pound pork loins you generally find at the grocery store, I’d start with 45 minutes and check the temperature at that time.

Once you’ve reached the correct internal temperature, remove the pork loin from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes.

Slice the pork loin and serve with some of the roasted apples and onions.

Enjoy!

September 21, 2015

Caramelized Onion & Balsamic Dressing over White Beans, Mushrooms, and Spinach Salad

I am not a big eater of salads. Mostly, that’s because “salad” to me equals lettuce, and I don’t eat lettuce. I don’t like it that much and my body hates digesting it. But the thing is, salad doesn’t need to be lettuce at all. I love chopped salads, and I’ve been experimenting lately with meal salads that are spinach (which I do like) with something warm and cooked over top. Putting something hot on spinach slightly wilts the spinach, which I love, and somehow makes the salad seem more like a hearty meal. This salad is one of those.

Actually, this salad is several of those. The point of this salad is the dressing, which I originally whipped up to go over a grilled steak salad. But as I was getting ready to make it again for better photos, I really didn’t feel like steak. So I made a white bean, dill, and mushroom saute, instead, and it was really good. Again, the point is the dressing. Make that, and then put it over whatever you think will taste good with caramelized onions on it (so, basically, anything up to dessert). The salad is the vehicle for the dressing. It keeps in the fridge overnight, but I’ve never had it around longer than that.

Overall, this recipe makes 2-4 servings, depending on how hungry you are. It’s about 2 servings for me.

Caramelized Onion Balsamic Dressing

3 Tablespoons olive oil (cooking quality, not finish quality — you’re heating this)
1 cup of onions, halved, then quarter each half and slice thinly. This is about one baseball-sized onion
1/2 – 3/4 teaspoon salt (how salty do you like your dressing? I like the high end of this range, but to just get good flavor, 1/2 teaspoon is enough)
1 1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic (about one largish clove)
1-2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar (again, adjust for your preferred tanginess)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon faux tamari, or 1/2 Tablespoon tamari and 1 teaspoon maple syrup or other liquid sweetener

Place a large skillet (I always use my cast iron) over medium heat. When hot, add olive oil and let it heat until shimmering.

Add onions, and stir well. Cook until translucent, stirring frequently.

Add salt. Stir well, and turn heat to medium low. Cook until caramelization begins (golden browning), stirring infrequently, knowing that this will take up to 45 minutes. It’s worth it.

When the browning has begun across the pan of onions, add the garlic, Dijon, balsamic, and tamari, stirring well after each addition. Stir this over the heat until everything has really incorporated (2-4 minutes), and then remove from heat.

Bonus Salad Recipe: Mushrooms, White Beans, and Dill over Spinach

2 -3 teaspoons of oil
1 package (8 oz) mushrooms, washed and chopped roughly
1 can (15 oz) small white beans, drained and rinsed
1 packed Tablespoon of fresh dill, chopped
5 oz of spinach, washed and torn (if big)

Heat a large skillet over medium heat — since you’re combining everything, feel free to use the skillet you made the dressing in without washing it. When hot, add the mushrooms and oil. I always add these two together since I “measure” the oil by adding just a little to the pan, adding the mushrooms, and stirring well. I keep adding little bits of oil while stirring until the mushrooms are all lightly coated. This is probably less than you’d imagine, or less than you would start out with, so it keeps the mushrooms from sticking but also keeps them from being greasy.

Cook over medium heat as the mushrooms release their liquid. Stir frequently. When they’ve shrunk and look cooked, add the beans. Stir well, and add the dill. Cook another 2-3 minutes, until all the beans are hot.

Place the spinach in a large bowl. Pour beans and mushrooms over spinach, then dressing. Let sit for about 5 minutes to wilt the spinach, then toss. Let it sit again, if you like, for further wilting, and then serve.

July 20, 2015

Grilled Caribbean Chicken

Caribbean Chicken on Denise's fancy grill — Caribbean Chicken on Denise’s fancy grill

I’m hoping this is the last post on my slow-as-tortoises laptop; new one should ship this week!

I’m not sure why this chicken is “Caribbean,” exactly. The lime juice, maybe? What I can tell you is that this is an “old” family recipe (and by “old,” I mean my mother learned it sometime in the early-mid 1980s) and it’s a family classic. And that’s what it is called. This chicken tastes like summer to me, as we always had it in the summer. It should really be grilled for the best flavor, but be aware that a marinade with olive oil in it means FLAMES, so you’ll need to be on top of putting those out (or know that you’ll have some burned chicken skin). You could also broil it, I assume, but I have never tried this. Frankly, I think the flames are part of the fun, but I’ve been told I’m a little weird.

DON’T skip the soaking step. It seems like you could, with little change, as it’s not very long, but don’t. Somehow, this keeps the chicken incredibly moist and tasty.

Grilled Caribbean Chicken

1 to 1 1/4 lbs. chicken, BONE-IN, SKIN-ON. My favorite is chicken breasts, but drumsticks are also really good. Use what you like.
1/4 cup lime juice
cold water to cover
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar (cider vinegar will also work in a pinch)
4 cloves garlic, pressed or chopped
2-4 teaspoons salt (depends on how salty you like it — I’ve gone down to the low end and add a bit more at eating if I want it)
2 teaspoons dry oregano, crushed
1/2 teaspoon pepper, preferably freshly ground

Place the chicken in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Add the lime juice and agitate the chicken a little to make sure the water’s getting in between all of the pieces. Let sit 15-30 minutes.

Make the marinade by combining everything else — olive oil through pepper — and stirring or whisking well. Drain the chicken well and then brush or pour on about half the marinade.

Start the grill. You want medium to medium high heat, if you have a gas grill with temperature settings. For charcoal, you want a “hot” side with a three-second hand (if you can hold your hand just above the cooking grate for three seconds, you are around 300-325ºF, about right for poultry) so when your coals are ready, push them slightly to one side.

When your grill is ready, place the chicken on the grill, skin side down (or just on, if it’s drumsticks). Be ready to put out flames (a water gun is fun) or move the chicken around a bit as the oil drips down. Cook about 5 minutes, skin down, and then base your back side and flip. After another 5 minutes, move the chicken to the indirect heat side of the grill for another 5 (drumsticks) to 15 (breasts) minutes to reach an internal temperature of 165ºF. Baste again at this time (though that should be enough). Check every 5 minutes. I’d love to give you an exact grill time, but I can’t — grills vary too much.

Once your meat is done, let it rest a few minutes before cutting. It should be plenty juicy, and if you haven’t burned the skin, it should be wonderfully crispy and tasty. Actually, if you have burned the skin a bit (see the chicken breasts in the grill photo), it still tastes pretty good.

Serve with grilled veggies or just a salad.

July 6, 2015

Carrot Chickpea Curry

So I went away for a week and came back to New Hampshire summer. To be honest, as much as we complained about the cold, I wasn’t ready for full-on summer temperatures. If it stays this way, I’ll need to dig out the AC sooner, not later, just to get some sleep. It’s hot! It doesn’t help that my apartment holds the heat like an oven.

Why, if it’s hot, would I give you hot food — hot in temperature as well as full of spices? Well, first off, it’s not hot everywhere — I hear that if you live in either of the Dakotas or Wyoming, you got snow this weekend. Secondly, hot food is a great way to make it feel cooler. It’s all about contrasts. Actually, this curry tastes great hot or cold, so make it for dinner and eat the leftovers for lunches. Oh! And whether this is “spicy” or “full of spices” is entirely up to you — if you like spicy foods, buy a spicy curry powder. Otherwise, buy a regular or “sweet” curry powder and you get all the flavor without the heat. I always buy sweet curry powder because I can add some cayenne if I want things spicy. There IS coconut in here — Denise and I have both made curry with cashew milk, but never successfully without a nut milk. Let us know if you have a nut-free way to make an Indian-style curry.

This curry passes all my tests for a weeknight dinner — it takes less than 10 minutes to prep, and while cooking takes about 45 minutes total, only a few of those are active. You will need a skillet with a lid or a cover of foil. I have one skillet with a lid (finally), but I’ve found that because my cast iron skillet holds the heat better and is a slightly different shape, it works better than my lidded skillet. A sheet of heavy duty foil stands in for a lid here and lets the carrots steam to perfection.

Carrot Chickpea Curry

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 sweet onion (about 1/2 cup), chopped
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon chopped garlic (about 2 cloves)
5 carrots, peeled and sliced in rounds
1 can (15 oz.) chickpeas/garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 Tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 teaspoons cilantro
3 Tablespoons coconut milk
1 teaspoon ginger
rice to serve curry over, if desired

Heat your pan over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the onions. Stir well to coat with oil, then sprinkle with salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions start to lightly brown.

Add the garlic and stir until fragrant. Then add the carrots and beans, and the curry and cinnamon. Stir everything well until the spices are fully spread over everything.

Now cover and cook for 15 minutes. There are two ways to do this — if you like browned bits, just let it go for the full 15 minutes. And I do mean browned, not burned. If you prefer no browned carrots or onions, stir it once or twice during the cooking time.

Then add the cilantro, coconut milk, and ginger. Stir well, and cook another 5-10 minutes, stirring every few minutes.

Serve over rice, or if you’re feeling less like rice, over greens for a salad.

May 11, 2015

Beef Satay – Gluten-free with Soy-free option

I used to order chicken satay all the time, before the chicken and corn allergies reared their ugly heads. Since I can’t have chicken, and I’ve been craving satay, I decided to try the beef version to see if that would get rid of the craving, which it did. It was so yummy. If you can have chicken, try it with chicken too and let me know how it was, so I can live through you vicariously. If you have a soy allergy (I don’t), try this with Mary Kate’s Soy-Free, gluten-free “Tamari Sauce” and let us know how it worked out for you.

Beef Satay – Gluten-free with Soy-free option

1 to 2 pound flank steak

Beef Satay Marinade:

4 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 small onion, peeled and diced roughly (it’s going in the blender or food processor, so don’t stress over it)
1 Tablespoon of Sriracha (use a safe version for you, I ferment my own at home, since I don’t have a safe version)
3 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce (I do well with San-J Tamari Gluten Free Soy Sauce, the alcohol is from cane sugar not corn, but if you can’t use soy, try Mary Kate’s recipe for a Soy-Free, gluten-free “Tamari Sauce” )
4 Tablespoons of a safe oil for you (I used grape seed and olive oil because I ran out of grape seed in the middle)
3 Tablespoons of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of dried lemongrass (if you’ve got fresh, use it, but it’s often hard to get here)
1 1/2 Tablespoons of ground coriander
2 Tablespoons of ground turmeric

Equipment:

food processor or blender
a baking rack
a sheet pan safe for the broiler
bamboo skewers (optional)
food safe and safe for you food prep gloves – you’ll need them to put the beef on skewers or you’ll have really yellow fingers as turmeric stains, which is a vast understatement.

Place all the marinade ingredients in a food processor or blender, and puree them into oblivion. They should be the consistency of a smoothie when you’re finished.

Beef Satay marinade pureed into oblivion

Cut your flank steak across the grain into long strips about an inch and a half wide, as these will end up going onto skewers. Place the flank steak and the marinade into a zip top bag, making sure that the marinade covers all pieces of the flank, and squeezing out any air.

Marinate overnight, or at least 4-5 hours. When I made them, I marinated them in the morning for that evening’s dinner. I’d say that they marinated for about 10 to 11 hours and that worked fine.

If you’re using the bamboo skewers, it’d be a really good idea to soak them in water for an hour or two before cooking them. I soaked them for about 15 minutes and it was clearly not enough time, as some of the sticks charred and burned a bit (okay, a lot).

Once your flank steak is finished marinating, turn on your oven’s broiler and let it heat up. I put the oven rack in the top-most position, but you may need to move it down one depending on the height of your baking rack and baking sheet. Place the baking rack on the baking sheet, and put on your food safe prep gloves. Over a surface that won’t stain, or you don’t care if it stains (I used a cutting board), slide the strips of beef on to the skewers and put them on the rack.

When you have skewered all the beef strips, place the baking sheet in the oven and broil for 5 minutes, or until you see some crispy bits and then flip the skewers over, and broil on the other side for 5 minutes. It make take more or less time depending on how hot your oven is, or how thick your flank steak is, but you’re looking for an internal temperature of 135°F for medium rare if you’ve got a thermometer.

It make take more or less time depending on how hot your oven is, or how thick your flank steak is, but you’re looking for an internal temperature of 135°F for medium rare if you’ve got a thermometer.

Enjoy!

May 4, 2015

Category: Main Dishes/Entrées

Gluten-free Pie Crust (Vegan Option)

Tuna Steak Salad

Chai-spice brined pork chops

Autumn Spiced Pork Loin

Caramelized Onion Balsamic Dressing

Bonus Salad Recipe: Mushrooms, White Beans, and Dill over Spinach

Grilled Caribbean Chicken

Carrot Chickpea Curry

Beef Satay – Gluten-free with Soy-free option

Beef Satay Marinade: