FARE

The Meat of Any Relationship

This Sunday I’ll give my Dad a call to wish him a Happy Father’s Day. He’ll ask if Murph and I are having a nice day together, as Sunday also marks 7 years of marriage for us. When Dad gave me away in that wedding dress, I don’t think he anticipated occasionally having to share his Father’s Day. Sorry for the poor planning Pop, you’re still the first guy I ever loved with all my heart.

My Dad knows that I remain to this day, crazy about Murph. After almost a decade together, he also knows more importantly, that we’re great friends. See the thing about marriage or any good, long term partnership, is the friendship; friendship is the meat of it. Then there are the fixin’s; the late night kitchen dances, the same old jokes that I love and pretend to roll my eyes at, the laughing and the not-so-much laughing. All of those little things that seep into the in-between spots, the quiet times, the big moments, that over time flavour a relationship. Those fixin’s are the chimichurri to your flank steak love; the chipotle, lime, basil butter to your corn cob romance.

I don’t believe in giving marital advice because people come together for all kinds of reasons; each couple sets their own rules. That said, there isn’t enough chimichurri or fancy butter in the world to fix bad meat. So choose a nice piece of meat, one that can stand alone and the fixin’s will elevate it to more than you ever hoped it would be. Also, and this is not a metaphor, always use real butter.         

Grilled Flank Steak with Chimichurri

1 medium flank steak

sea salt

pepper, freshly ground

1 cup fresh Italian parsley

1/2 cup olive oil

4 Tbls red wine vinegar

juice of one lime

1/4 cup fresh cilantro 

1/4 cup fresh mint

2 large cloves garlic

3/4 tsp crushed red chili flakes

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

Bring the flank steak out to room temperature and turn the bbq/grill up to a high heat. Let the steak and grill warm up while you prepare the chimichurri. 

Toss all herbs and spices into a food processor, excluding the olive oil. Pulse the ingredients as you pour the olive oil into the processor. Blend as much or as little as you like (you may prefer to leave large pieces of herbs). Set chimichurri aside to marinate and develop more flavour.

Season both sides of the flank steak with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. The steak I used was about 1-1 1/2 inches thick, we grilled it over high heat for about 5-6 minutes per side and were happy with a medium-rare result. This will vary with your meat selection. Pull it off the grill and allow it to rest for 5-7 minutes before slicing against the grain on a diagonal. Serve topped with your homemade chimichurri.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups and keeps well in the fridge for a few weeks in a sealed jar.

* Great on tacos, eggs (any kind of protein really), and mixed in salads.

Sweet Corn with Chipotle Lime Basil Butter

Multiple cobs of sweet corn, husked

1 stick salted butter, room temperature

juice of 1 small lime

3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely diced

4 large basil leaves, finely chopped

Bring a large stock pot of water to boil. Toss in corn for 10 minutes. In the meantime, in a small bowl combine butter, lime juice, chipotle peppers and basil. 

Slather that butter over warm corn and dig in.

This butter will keep in the fridge for up to a few weeks. 

Recipes and photos by Maggie Murphy