Flank Steak, Potatoes, and a Very Special Occassion

What is the special occassion, you ask?  Our second anniversary?  A promotion?  Another life-altering moment?  Nope.  This dinner was particularly special because we ate it at the dining room table instead of in the living room, hunched over the coffee table with the TV on, shoveling the food in as fast as humanly possible.


Its shameful, I know.  Often times, I will spend hours preparing, cooking, and photographing our dinner and then we'll eat it in 7 minutes while watching something really meaningful like the Bachelor or Tosh.0.  And really, the reason we don't eat at the dining room table is, well, because I don't want to mess it up.  I keep it set all the time with our wedding china, pretty placemats and various centerpieces.  I do this because if it wasn't set all the time, my husband people would put their crap on my nice table and my dining room would be so full of random stuff and we wouldn't be able to eat there and would be forced to eat in the living room, hunched over the coffee table.  Logic fail, I know.


Anyway, on this particular evening my husband insisted that we eat at the table so we made a date of it.  We opened a bottle of nice wine that we typically save for special occassions.  This concept means that we have 12 or so bottles that'll sit on the wine rack for years and years and we'll constantly pass on drinking them because they are too nice for regular occassions and we don't want to "waste" the wine.  Because, uh, refusing to ever touch it isn't wasting it at all. Logic fail #2.


This meal was delicious, and the best part is that there was steak on the grill involved, which means that my husband does most of the cooking and I get to drink wine while he does so.  It was even a nice bottle, and I we drank the whole thing.  You know, so it didn't go to waste.  And these potatoes kicked butt.  I could eat a whole bowl of them....I know this because I've seen me do it!  And mushrooms are super yummy when you put garlic butter on them. 


Enjoy!

Marinated Flank Steak
Source: Adapted from All Recipes

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 1/2 pounds flank steak

In a medium bowl, mix the oil, soy sauce, vinegar, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic, and ground black pepper. Place meat in a shallow glass dish. Pour marinade over the steak, turning meat to coat thoroughly. Cover, and refrigerate for 6 hours.

Preheat grill for medium-high heat.

Oil the grill grate. Place steaks on the grill, and discard the marinade. Grill meat for 5 minutes per side, or to desired doneness.

Mustard Roasted Potatoes
Source: Adapted from Smitten Kitchen


Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1/2 cup whole grain Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick or 1/2 ounce) butter, melted (I used about half of this amount and it was fine!)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon dried oregano (I left this out)
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
3 pounds 1- to 1 1/2-inch-diameter mixed unpeeled red-skinned and white-skinned potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch-wide wedges


Position 1 rack in top third of oven and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 425°F. Spray 2 large rimmed baking sheets with nonstick spray. Whisk mustard, olive oil, butter, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, lemon peel, and salt in large bowl to blend. Add potatoes; sprinkle generously with freshly ground black pepper and toss to coat. Divide potatoes between prepared baking sheets, leaving any excess mustard mixture behind in bowl. Spread potatoes in single layer.


Roast potatoes 20 minutes. Reverse baking sheets and roast until potatoes are crusty outside and tender inside, turning occasionally, about 25 minutes longer.
Transfer potatoes to serving bowl.

Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms
Source: Adapted from Gourmet

1 pound mushrooms such as cremini or white, halved lengthwise if large
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces (I used 1 1/2 and it was fine!)
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in middle. Toss mushrooms with garlic, oil, 1/8 teaspoon salt and several grinds of pepper in a 1 1/2- to 2-qt shallow baking dish. Top with butter and roast, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender and golden and bubbly garlic sauce forms below, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and parsley. Serve immediately, with crusty bread on the side for swiping up the juices.