Steak Roll

Red Wine Marinated Flank Steak filled with Prosciutto, Fontina and Basil from Grill It! (page 32). This was fun and tasted great. Following Bobby's instructions, I marinated a big piece of flank steak. Mine was a little thick, so I pounded it, but never got it quite as thin as I hoped. After marinating I took the flank steak and covered it with the prosciutto. Dorothy's family calls it "pro-shute" because they shorten everything. Ricotta cheese is "Rigot." They shorten everything except my name. When I cross the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, I become Paulie. Prosciutto, by any name, is from the bacon family and as stated here before - there is no food that is not better after adding bacon. Prosciutto is very thin, so I laid out strips to cover the entire flank steak. Next I sprinkled on the layer of cheese then fresh basil leaves. I then rolled the whole thing up and tied it off so it would stay in a cylinder shape. Here is where having thinner flank steak would have been better because I only got one roll out of it. I placed the flank steak roll on the grill and let the grill do its work. I turned it twice so that all sides could get direct heat and took the internal temperature until it was done. In the photo, I sliced off one piece from the roll so you can see the filling. The recipe also comes with a Cabernet-Shallot Reduction sauce and you can see that drizzled on the steak.


Wisdom of the Grill. This recipe called for red wine in two places: the marinade and the reduction sauce. One of Bobby's strictest rules requires that you cook on the grill with quality wine - at least good enough to drink. You can't use some bottom of the barrel "cooking wine." So when I am cooking with wine, I pour myself a glass from the same bottle and whenever more wine is needed in the recipe, I just pour some out from my glass - the rest I drink. Don't be afraid of the word "reduction." It just means that you simmer away some of the liquid and what is left behind is a thick sauce that still has all the original flavor and then some. A wine reduction is really sort of a wine syrup!


What to drink? For both drinking and cooking we had a quirky red called Mad Housewife Cabernet. It is from St. Helena, California, but we have never visited the Mad Housewife winery. It was pretty good stuff and worked well in the sauces and in the glass.


What was on? I went with Five for Fighting. This music will but you in an introspective mood, but that is good from time to time. During Freedom Never Cries, I could not help but think of the students and former students that Dorothy and I have who are in harms way today. Most never wanted to be a soldier, they just needed money for college. But they do a terrific job for us nevertheless. I just wish that when they got back it was easier for them to receive their benefits. Veterans get so much red tape thrown at them, its hard to believe that its not a preconceived plan to wear them down and ultimately keep them from everything they earned. I called a VA representative once to help a student get his tuition account credited so he could keep the classes he signed up for. I asked the guy why he didn't just write a check to the citizen-soldier turned student so he could pay his tuition directly. He said, "It doesn't work that way, we think if we just give them their money they will squander it on a truck or something." I said, let me get this straight, we trusted him to defend our country, but you don't trust him with the money you promised him in the first place? I think if I guy rips his life apart to spend time in Baghdad and/or Kabul he should be able to spend the money he earned anyway he wants - including buying a truck. The VA guy just said, "It just doesn't work that way."


Check out Five for Fighting at http://www.fiveforfighting.com/


Weather Report. I went out to the marina where the sailboats stay to check on Allegra. Usually the masts are gently swaying back and forth, with the halyards clanking - but not this time. All the masts were standing at attention - motionless - silent - frozen. No, literally frozen.

The forecast is for above freezing temperatures as highs for the rest of the week. Hopefully that will set the sailboats free.


Paulie