Hiked-Up Skirt Steak

For some reason, husbands are great steak chefs.  It must be those ancient chromosomes relating back to the first discoverers of fire and the application of fire to the hunted thing du jour.  I don’t think my steaks are bad, his are just better and I’m willing to share the kitchen to get my paws on a crusty caramelized piece of meat.  But a girl can’t eat meat on its own.

I wish I had the picture to show you: Little Sister helped create this dish, and she is 19 months old.   Don’t say you can’t cook this dish.  I sliced the eggplant and Little Sister grabbed the squeeze bottle of olive oil and dripped oil on each eggplant slice, proceeded to flip them over and repeat the process.  I followed with a light showering of sea salt.  Next was the pesto.  She helped me pick out the chunks of garlic stuck in the press and put them in the blender.  She tore basil leaves and added them to the blender.  Finally I showed her the bottle of oil and she dripped the oil as I pulsed the blender.  I dipped my finger into the bright green sauce for her to taste her work, she hummed and nodded with toddler approval.

The eggplant planks, prepared by Little Sister, were browned in a moderately hot pan.  You want to get some good caramel color, this provides a sweet counterpoint to the salt in the pesto and spicy seasoning of the skirt steak.  Definitely use the white/lilac coloured eggplants (Japanese variety or Rosa Bianca heirloom variety) this will let  you avoid the sometimes bitter taste of the dark purple eggplants.  I source mine from a local farm and they are delicious.

Basil Pesto

• about 6 stalks of basil (good handful)
• 2 cloves of garlic, pressed
• pinch of salt to taste
• crank of black pepper mill
• bit of lemon juice (scant teaspoon)
• olive oil

Put everything except the oil in a blender or mini-food processor and pulse to chop the basil.  Drizzle the oil while pulsing at first, then let it whiz.  Add just enough oil to end up with a smooth cohesive mix.

If you like it hot, kick it up with some spice like cayenne pepper or chopped jalapeño.

BTW: Happy Canada Day!

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