4.27.2008

MEENA LOVES CABBAGE!



I'm only titling this post with that little note because I think it's the funniest thing ever. See, Meena hated cabbage for a long time. I'm pretty sure the only thing she ever enjoyed cabbage in was kimchi. That's it. The rest of the dishes where this lovely vegetable turned up ... she just turned up her nose.

But not anymore. I wouldn't call her a fan across the board, but more and more, I'm turning her. She's feelin' it. And I love it. I'm a big cabbage fan, so I couldn't be happier.

Anyway, this little dinner had some cabbage. I'm almost embarrassed to admit it because I find her so annoying, but we were watching Rachel Ray this morning right when we woke up and she was making this big surf and turf thing. But the turf side had a warm cabbage salad and some flat iron steaks. And well, we thought it looked good!

I couldn't find flat iron steaks at the market so we went with the lovely hanger steak instead. I love hanger steak. And so does Meena. So no harm there.

I started this sucker off when we got home in a marinade. Sorta nothing special ... just some Indonesian ginger thing that Meena had picked up at some point. I think it's made by the Barefoot Contessa. Weird. But whatever.

When it came time to fire them up, I just seared both sides and finished them in the oven for a few minutes. They came out just medium and completely delicious. I loved it.

I served them with a variation on that thing Rachel Ray made. Mine went like this:
- cabbage
- olive oil
- canadian bacon
- red onion
- rice vinegar
- sambal oelek
- lime juice

The smoky bacon gave the final dish a nice flavor. I wouldn't have used it but it had been in the fridge a minute and I needed to get it moving or it was going to go bad. The cabbage still had a little crunch and the onion and lime really made the final product sing. With the Asian beef, the whole meal was a terrific combo.

So thanks Rachel Ray. I didn't follow your every instruction, but you inspired us and we ended up eating very well as a result.

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