I love beef. I love chicken and fish too, but I always want beef. I crave steaks all the time. One of my favorite cuts of beef is a good skirt steak. I don’t know why, but it’s hard to find skirt steak in the grocery stores anymore. So, when I do see them I get so excited and happy. They are so flavorful and my mouth is watering now as I write this post. 🙂

My favorite way to cook a skirt is to marinate it and put it under the broiler. But I have such a crappy broiler so I can’t do that. Damn oven. Grilling them is good too but why bother with the charcoal, waiting for coals to get hot, blah blah, when the steak is going to be on for such a short time! Geesh.

So I get out my good ol cast iron skillet. I recently purchased Geoffrey Zakarian’s (Food TV chef) non stick cast iron pan. I love this skillet……..I use it all the time….love, love. I’m going to order the bigger one I think. Geoffrey, are you listening? I think I should get a little commission for telling everyone about your wonderful skillet! Hahahah.

Ok, back to the steak. You don’t have to use a non stick cast iron. But I highly recommend using a cast iron. Don’t try using a regular non stick pan. It just won’t be the same.

For this particular steak, I usually end up marinating for only 3 hours because I get impatient, but the longer the better. You can get some pent up aggression out too, because I take a fork and poke the hell out of this meat before I marinate it. The marinade is simple and delicious. Soy sauce is good on all kinds of meat!

Lets get started…

Easy Asian Skirt Steak

Skirt steak (I used 2 pounds)
3 Tblsp olive oil or vegetable oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
2 Tblsp fresh ginger, grated
1/2 tsp red chili pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 tsp black pepper

In a bowl, mix together the oil, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, chili flakes and black pepper.

Place the skirt steak in a dish or container large enough to lay out the skirt steak. With a fork, poke holes all over the steak. Flip it over and poke some more. Poke, poke.

Pour the marinade over the steak and poke some more….both sides. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. When you’re ready to cook it, remove it from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature.

With the cast iron skillet, for medium rare: Heat the skillet at med high heat. Add a tablespoon of oil. Place the steak into the hot skillet and allow to cook for 4 minutes. Flip it and cook the other side for 4 minutes. Remove from skillet and allow it to rest for a couple of minutes. Turn off the heat, but put 2 Tblsp of butter into the skillet and mix it with any little tidbits that are in the pan. Pour it over the skirt steak.

I highly recommend serving this with some rice. It’s so good. Such a favorite meal of mine.

Don’t forget, you can do this with the oven broiler or on the grill too. I have to say, it’s really good on the grill if you dont mind messing with all that. 🙂

What kind of cookie person are you? I would say that I am more of a chewy cookie person. But I get in these moods where all I want is a crunchy cookie. Other times I just have to have a crispy cookie. It’s not often that I want a soft fluffy cookie……I don’t know why. I stumbled across this recipe recently and since I was having a serious chocolate craving, I decided to try it.

They are good…..cakey……puffy, but they have substance to the bite. The espresso really makes the chocolate flavor intense. If you like a soft, sugar cookie and you like chocolate, you will really enjoy these. You’ll be reaching for a glass of milk and you’ll have a very happy tummy.

I made one batch of cookies and decided to use the rest of the batter to make a cookie bar. I frosted them with a smooth thin frosting and sprinkled on some pistachios. I much prefer them as cookies…..with or without this yummy frosting.

While these were good, I think I will go bake some chewy cookies now. 🙂

Soft Pillowy Chocolate Cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tblsp brown sugar
2 Tblsp strong black coffee (I just made a wee bit of coffee using instant coffee and water)
2 cups AP flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
2 eggs

Heat oven to 350.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and white sugar until well combined. Add the brown sugar, eggs and coffee. Mix thoroughly. Add the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt and mix until well combined. Mixture will be thick. Using a 2 Tblsp scooper, place scoops on baking sheet 2″ apart and sprinkle with sugar.(or you can roll the scoops in sugar).

Bake for 10-11 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes and then place cookies on a cooling rack.

Note: I know everyone loves warm cookies out of the oven, but these are really best when completely cooled.

Frosting (optional)

1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/8 cup soft butter
1 Tblsp milk

Whisk everything together and spread on cookies.