The mid-west polar vortex was a bit more than this missed-place southerner could handle. There is something not right about wind chills below zero and snow that stays around for weeks rather than leaving after a few days. During the bleak mid-winter of 2014 all I wanted to see was sunlit uplands made glorious summer by the smoke from my grill.
Finally. Spring. Summer. Grills ablaze.
A harsh winter provides nothing except thankfulness when it is over; gratitude is best shown with meals prepared out-of-doors. There is something hopeful and comforting about food cooked over a flame. Over the winter I read through cookbooks and subscribed to the Splendid Table podcast – just so I’d be ready when the gray of winter gave way to the blue of spring.
This being Memorial Day Weekend we splurged a little – bought some steaks and prepared a marinade. I found the marinade recipe in a cookbook by Bobby Flay rightly titled, Grilling for Life: 75 Healthier Ideas for Big Flavor from the Fire. It is marvelous and frankly easy. One huge plus is that it calls for red wine – which adds to the joy of cooking since we shouldn’t cook with a wine we wouldn’t drink!
To my way of thinking there are few better ways to overcome the doldrums of a bad winter than planning and cooking a great meal for the folks you love. So grab a few cookbooks at the library – or check out some great sites on-line and get to grilling something amazing. It’s a great way to share love and to show gratitude that the sun is shining and all that snow is gone!
Here is the recipe from Bobby Flay’s Grilling for Life: 75 Healthier Ideas for Big Flavor from the Fire:
- 1.5 cups dry red wine
- 1 small onion, coarsely chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
- 1 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
- he calls for 1 flank steak, 2 lbs, trimmed of fat and cut crosswise into 2 pieces – but use what you want! Combine all these ingredients – stir them up – pour over your steak of choice and let it sit for 4 hours to 24.
- Now fire up that grill and eat up!
Here are a few sites to check out:
Mark A Hutton 