Citrus Steak and Broccoli

-


Easy weekday meal, perfect for the summer! Plus - totally cheap! I made this meal for $7, and I got two servings out of it.

I think the first time I ever had grilled lemon, it was used in a cocktail at Del Campo. The smoky, citrusy, sweet flavor of the lemon, grilled to a slight char over an open flame, was used to accentuate the Limonada Sucia to perfection. It wasn't until a subsequent trip, celebrating multiple life successes of three friends, that we tried out ALL of the grilled Latin American meats. With the giant platter of delicacies (steak upon steak upon steak) was a large portion of grilled lemon halves. Life changing.

Truth is, this recipe is simplicity unto itself. This is the perfect way to grill for a weeknight, with just enough pop to make it special. For those who don't know, adding an acid to finish any entree is the quickest shortcut to making your food go from good to great (or at least fooling people into thinking you did something more complicated than you actually did), and lemon zest and juice are one of the best ways to punch the fresh flavors of your dish.



I do the steak and the broccoli at almost the same time. The entire meal took me 20 minutes, start to finish (though I prolly could have let the steak rest longer). I went with a thin, on-sale rib eye, but really any cut of beef works here.

Ingredients:
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Head of broccoli
  • Olive oil
  • 1 Lemon
  • Thin steak, 1/4-1/2 inch thick, 1/2 lb or less.
To Prepare:
  1. Pour a glass of dry white wine. I know, steak, right?! Trust me, the white wine will go perfectly with the high levels of citrus in this dish. Besides, rules are stupid. Do whatever the hell you want! Anarchy in the kitchen!
  2. Okay, seriously though ... no anarchy. Do whatever I tell you to in the kitchen.
  3. Set your grill (or, if you live in a tiny little apartment like me, your grill pan) over your burners and set to medium high.
  4. Generously salt and pepper your steak on both sides, then let it rest at least 30 minutes to get closer to room temperature.
  5. In a bowl, break your broccoli into large pieces. Add 1 Tbs olive oil, a pinch of salt, and a ground of pepper. Toss to evenly spread the oil.
  6. Once your grill is hot-hot-hot, lay the broccoli out, spread evenly to prevent crowding.
  7. After 3-5 minutes, check your broccoli - the side that has been grilling should be well browned, nearly charred. Flip the broccoli and cook on one other side to the same level of char. This will provide a great smoky flavor to the broccoli, while still maintaining the firmness of the vegetable. Ultimately, you are looking for a bright green stalk with touches of dark brown-to-black along the tops.
  8. Remove the broccoli to the bowl you previously tossed it in. Zest half of the lemon over the broccoli, using tongs to toss the broccoli in the zest and remaining oil in the bowl. Set aside while you quickly cook the steak.

  9. Turn the grill heat up to high.
  10. Place your steak on the grill over the direct heat. At the same time, cut your lemon in half and place over another direct heat source (right on top of the burner).
  11. Depending on the thickness of your steak and the doneness you are looking for, in approximately 3-5 minutes, flip the steak over. You should see strong, dark grill lines and a uniform cook to the first side. Using one of the grilling lemon halves, rub the steak with the charred, juicy side of the lemon, generously. 
  12. Finish the steak on the other side for another 2-4 minutes (again, depending on the thickness of your steak), then move to a separate plate. Use the other lemon half to rub the other side of the steak generously. Tent with tin foil and let rest for at least 5 minutes.
  13. Using tongs, squeeze juice from the grilled lemon over the broccoli. Do so to taste - over-lemoned broccoli may quickly become to tart to be edible!
  14. Serve with the grilled lemons as a garnish - look how pretty they are! Plus you may want more lemon juice!


Final Notes:
  • As you can tell, I cheated and went for crisscrossing grill marks. It looks pretty, and is entirely unnecessary for the meal. But it totally looks pretty.
  • I also used some spare Parmesan cheese to grate over the hot grilled broccoli here, but it may have been an exercise in excess.

Bon appetit!



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Homemade Pizza with a Spicy Pepperoni Sauce

-
Image
The keys to a good pizza, in my humble opinion, all rely on minimization. A good crust, light on the sauce (but let's intensify that sauce, shall we?), easy on the toppings, washed down with a nice IPA. There are few things better in life than good pizza and a beer. And believe me when I tell you, a little bit of this pepperoni sauce goes a very long way. Resist the urge to drown your pizza in it, or to bathe in it yourself. Like all good things, it should be enjoyed with restraint and moderation. HAHAHA. Psyche! You're going to want a straw for that junk! Baking and food blogging are new to me. When you start a new hobby, there are so many things you can do to make huge improvements on the front end. In the early stages, changes and purchases are improvements of miles; later in the game, major changes and purchases are improvements of inches. In terms of moving ahead miles with this new blog project, I have recently acquired: a light source and reflector (expect impr...
Read more

Argentine-style Pork Chop with Chimichurri

-
Image
Time to shake off the dust and get things going again here, folks! So here's a recipe I concocted that's perfect for summer grilling and meat-loving. Things of note before we get into it: as my friend Cookie put it, "Argentine-style pork chop is called steak." Yes yes, I know, Cookie, I know. Thing is, I recently partook of the annual Pig Share with some friends and, with a freezer burtsing at the seams with pork products, right now I'm playing a little month-long game called "but can you put pork in it?" Spoiler: the answer is always yes. So fine, "Argentine-style" and "pork chop" may not fit with tradition. But you know what? Who cares? This pork chop tastes gooooood. After looking at a bunch of Argentinian steak marinade recipes and sauces, I mapped out this little ditty on my own. First off - citrus. I went with orange over the sour of lemor or the tart of lime, because I figured the sweetness would intensify when ca...
Read more

Andouille and Sweet Potato Hash

-
Image
The first time I ever had hash, I was in high school. I'd spent the night at my friend Rob Dentry's house, and in the morning his father made us corned beef hash. We smothered it in hot sauce, and I ate until my stomach hurt. It was one of the most delicious things I'd ever had, and I think some part of me wondered why, in a childhood where I grew up eating scrapple and Taylor Pork Roll and S.O.S. (chipped beef gravy), my family had deprived me of this delicious, salty, starchy vehicle for Crystal Hot Sauce. To be fair, everything can be turned into a viable vehicle for Crystal Hot Sauce. At any rate, years later, after the baptism of my godson, the lot of us went out to breakfast. This is where I first experienced corned beef hash in a non-cat food state. Giant chunks of tender but crisped corned beef (rustic), with a perfectly poached egg on top. This was the elevation of something I never knew could be elevated. It was only in the last year that I first came up...
Read more