Spicy Beef with Peanuts and Chilis

July 26th Finally, back in the kitchen. I had a pretty busy weekend, so I was looking forward to a Monday of slaving over the stove. This is my day to make lunches for the week, take care of any errands I need to run and do some laundry. Frankly, it fits into my nature of staying at home and just doing stuff around the house. I started off the day by giving some of my hard earned money to Von Fraser so I can drive my car. I wish they didn't require this little tax on your birthday, it seems to sort of penalize the event. At least the process is much faster than it used to be. I remember sitting in the DMV waiting for hours at a time just for the less-than-friendly cashier to take my cash then scream "NEXT!" You could read The Stand before you got out of there, and feel as if you were catching the plague at the same time. So after dishing out $57 for a little yellow sticker, I wandered over to Publix (where they seem to know me by name) and picked up a few things for cooking. I planned on only buying a couple of items, so after an hour of shopping aand buying numerous items I didn't need because they were BOGO, I went home to start cooking. I put together a slow-cooked chuck roast that is quite easy to make. I bought 3.5 lbs of chuck roast (we will be eating this in November), 6 potatoes and 6 carrots. I diced up the potatoes and carrots (both peeled) and layed the meat over the top. Over that I put a can of cream of celery soup (recipe called for mushroom, I say nay to mushrooms) and a packet of dried french onion soup mix and poured it on top - it looked like a meat sundae. As with most slow-cooked meals, you tend to look at what you just piled into the cooker and wonder if you did something wrong. I've learned not to over think it and just start the damn thing. Whatever mojo is going on in your appliance seems to work, and after 8 hours I had a pot roast with a tasty gravy. I took one of those mashed potato packets that take seconds to make and made that my base, putting the roast on top. Good stuff. I also made Cole Slaw (I only capitalize it because I love it so much, it's that important). I took a half a head of cabbage and shredded it, then put it into a colander. I tossed it with a tbs of salt and let it sit for about an hour in the colander, in a bowl, to let it wilt. Meanwhile I took a 1/4 cup of buttermilk, 2 tbs of sour cream and mayonnaise, one chopped shallot and some lime juice (about a half lime squeezed) and mixed it up in a bowl. I also added some chopped parsley to taste. When the cabbage was wilted to my desired wiltiness, I washed it, dried it, then added the dairy science experiment to it. Mix it all up, and you have Cole Slaw. Is it better than some you might get at a BBQ restaurant? No, but it is cheaper, and pretty tasty. By the way, you can substitute cilantro for the parsley and you can also add carrots and green onions. Now for the headliner, a delicious flank steak recipe I made once before. I love flank steak. It is cheaper than most steaks, and cooks so easily on the grill, the stove top, or in the broiler. It is a difficult meat to screw up, but if you do, you can take solace in the fact that you didn't burn a NY strip. First, I cut the meat into thin strips against the grain and put it into a bowl. I added one tbs of soy sauce, 1 tsp of fish sauce and a couple pinches of salt. Fish sauce? What the hell is fish sauce? I pictured people grabbing a fish and squeezing it until you got some sort of sauce . . . or pee. I looked it up out of curiosity and it's basically the "juice" that comes out of a fish when it is fermented or salted for a prolonged period of time. Its brown in color and smells. . . well, like fish. I'm going to have to trust the expiration label on this one, since my nose will not know when this stuff goes bad. Once the flank was happily marinated (I now pronounce you sauce and meat), I made a little extra with the same ingredients, plus a tbs of brown sugar and set it aside. What makes this meal is the combination of two shallots, 1/4 cup of salted peanuts and two Serrano chilies thrown in the food processor and diced fine. Depending upon your taste for the fiery, take out the stems and seeds from the chilis for mild, keep them in for "WATER, I NEED WATER!" Now I heat the skillet with about 1.5 tbs of peanut oil until shimmering, then add the meat. The trick is to make sure you don't overcook the steak, so when it turns a little brown on the outside, take it out (don't worry, it goes back in the heat soon). With that same skillet, I take another 1.5 tbs of peanut oil and add that peanut/chili combination. I let that cook until the shallots are soft, then toss in the awaiting meat with the extra fish sauce mix I made earlier. During this last portion of cooking, I add some chopped cilantro and basil to taste, with a little set aside for aesthetics. Cook until the meat is to your liking, then serve. You can put it over rice, or not. It's up to you. It's very tasty, and pretty easy to make once all of the ingredients are ready to go. Coming soon I am making Chicken Breasts with Red Thai Curry Peanut Sauce, and a big favorite of mine - Shrimp and Cheesy Grits. By the way, congrats to the Gainesville Roller Rebels for their win over Birmingham this past Saturday. You gals are kicking some ass.