Best Dinner Ever

My mom and dad came into town for the weekend and I wanted to impress them with my cooking skills. I know "they" say you're not supposed to try out new recipes on guests, but I just can't help myself! I always think that's part of the fun in entertaining, so I went on an Internet search for a great new recipe to experiment on my parents. Of course, using some of my new-to-me ingredients would be a plus and it just so happens I found the perfect recipe.

This really was one of the best dinners I've ever made. And I admittedly can not take credit for any of the good results...other than I followed the recipe correctly. I found the recipe on the food network website, and I happened across it as I was looking for a recipe for flank steak. I rounded the dish out with a heaping helping of quinoa and a glass of homemade sangria. Delicious!

I think what really made the steak so good was that it was marinated overnight - and I've never done that before, but you can be sure that I will do that every time I marinate meat from now on. Before I keep going, here is the recipe.

The really great thing about this recipe is that there aren't any totally weird ingredients in it, and it comes together quick and easy. When it comes to the marinade, I would recommend using fresh produce. I used powdered ginger, and I wish I had ginger root. (Special Note: When buying ginger from the produce department at your grocery store, you can break off whatever size piece you want to use - as long as you are paying by the pound. If not, by all means take a large piece. To store your unused ginger for up to 8 weeks you can place the unpeeled root in a zip-top bag and store it in the crisper of your fridge, or you can submerge peeled ginger root in a container of vodka. I might go with the zip top bag...unless you  want ginger infused vodka, of course.) And in case you've never bought chili-garlic paste, it will be in the ethnic aisle of your grocery store with the soy, hoisin, oyster, and fish sauces. This is the same place you can find ponzu sauce, which will add the great mild citrus flavor without cooking your meat like an acid such as lemon juice would. And don't leave anything out. The moment the meats hit the grill pan, you'll know this dish is going to be AMAZING! It's the perfect balance of sweet, salty, spicy, and delicious.

As for the mango sauce, I accidentally forgot to reserve some of the pureed mango as an extra drizzling sauce, which I think ended up being fine, but it made a lot of barbecue sauce. So now I have a boat load of tzatziki sauce and ginger-mango barbecue sauce. Maybe try using one mango instead of two?

The fennel was truly a surprise. Among the four of us, none of us had eaten fennel before, but we found it really great on top of the salad. By the time I was shaving the fennel to make the slaw I decided I would rather just put it on top of the field greens as it was instead of making it into a slaw first. Fennel does smell strongly of licorice, but has a mild flavor when eaten with the salad. My parents are fennel converts and they said they would buy it to put on salads at home. It's a must try - don't be afraid to try something new! I bought Wish Bone brand Asian salad dressing for the salad and it went with the meal perfectly.
Now onto dessert. This was truly an experiment, and it turned out OK. I used store bought angel food cake and topped it with a cannoli filling creme and blueberry sauce. I just put a pint of blueberries in a saucepan with a couple spoonfuls of sugar and 1/2 cup of water, brought it to a boil, and then let it simmer for a while until it was the right consistency. Adding more water will give you more of a sauce, less water will be kind of like a compote. Don't be afraid to fiddle around with this as you make it. The creme was equal parts mascarpone cheese and ricotta cheese. The mascarpone came in an 8 ounce tub, so I just used it all, and matched it with 8 ounces ricotta. I added about a 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, but you can use as much or as little as you like. A splash of vanilla or almond or even lemon extract would give this a great boost in flavor, and a hand mixer will give you a smooth consistency.

I really loved this flank steak recipe and will be making it again. I hope you try this and let me know how you like it. Even if you just made the meat in the marinade, you could change up the sides and still have a fantastic meal. But like I said...follow the marinade recipe exactly as it is, fresh ingredients and all, and you will be super pleased with the results.