Let's marinade it

I've been trying for awhile to figure out what sort of marinades I like most. I've never been a huge fan of anything REALLY spicy. Curry and asian spices are also not always my favorite. However, I do love tangy marinades as long as they aren't overdone. I had done red wine marinades in the past, but this has been HANDS DOWN my favorite. The original recipe didn't call for as much olive oil on the steak, and it didn't call for ANY garlic salt with the meat...but it needed it. The caprese salad that goes along with this can go either on top of the steak or on the side. I also heated up some garlic bread, and that went really well with this.


Red Wine Marinated Flank Steak with Caprese Salad

Ingredients:
Steak
1 1/2 cups dry red wine
1 (2 pound) flank steak, about 1 inch thick
1/2 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 small shallot, diced

Caprese Salad
2 fresh mozzarella balls, chopped into pieces (about 1/2 cup) 
10 basil leaves, freshly chopped
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered

Instructions:
Whisk olive oil, red wine, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl until combine. Add flank steak to a ziplock bag or baking dish and pour marinade ingredients over top. Marinate (in the fridge!) for at least six hours, flipping steak a few times to coat with marinade. When you're ready to make the steak, heat the broiler in your oven on the highest setting and place an oven rack directly underneath. Broil steak for 6 minutes, flip and broil for 5 minutes more. If your steak is 1-1 1/2 inches thick, this should result in steak that is done medium-well. Let it rest for 10 minutes, then slice thin strips on an angle. 

While the steak is cooking or resting, combine quartered tomatoes, shallot, mozzarella (I always lightly dry my fresh mozzarella with a paper towel before I add it in so everything isn't so watery), basil, garlic salt, and pepper in a bowl. Toss to combine. In a small bowl, stir together olive oil and balsamic, then pour over top and toss to coat. 

Mambo Italiano

So tonight..... I'm:

-Making homemade pizza - one of my favorite things to make EVER

-Having Libby and Whit over for homemade pizza night

-Using copious amounts of fresh tomatoes (not from Joan's garden, unfortunately) and fresh mozzarella 

-having many refills of malbec on the patio 

When I first decided to do pizza night earlier this week (while reminiscing over OTHER wonderful pizza nights with Whitney), I had decided to make our regular favorite; Crab Avocado. However, I decided I definitely needed to incorporate something new to my marinara sauce. The pizza's I make are almost always thick-crusted and the sauce is very sweet (which I love).

I felt that tonight called for a change, and added honey and extra red pepper to my regular sauce. I also made two of our regular favorite pizzas (the avocado crab) and a pepperoni and tomato (I really wanted to throw corn or zucchini on this - but no one seemed psyched about this). These pictures were taken before I put the avocado on, but I always put that on right before I set it on the table. Delicious!

Did I mention it was in the 90's today? It was in the 90's today. As much as I don't handle heat well, I couldn't help but soak up the sun this evening in a flowy skirt and no shoes. It was perfect. The food was really good - but the company was better. :)

Amazing Pizza Sauce

1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

1 tablespoon ground oregano

1 1/2 teaspoons dried minced garlic

1 teaspoon ground paprika

1 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 tablespoon honey

Salt and pepper to taste

Nie Nie's Whole Wheat Pizza Dough (I stole this off of one of my favorite blogs ever years ago http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/)

2-¾ whole-wheat flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

1-teaspoon salt

1 packet of yeast

Dissolve packet of yeast into 1-cup warm water with ¼ teaspoon sugar, let sit for 7 minutes (or until risen)

Mix flour, olive oil and yeast mixture with dough hook. For about 5 minutes. 

Place in oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap in warm spot for about 1 hour (or desired risen state) 

Roll out and add toppings. Cook for 17-18 minutes on 475 (those are my oven settings anyway)

I usually make 2 rectangle (cookie sheet) pizzas.