Come On Baby, Let Me Show You My Tattoo

Posted in Healthy, Red Meat on September 18, 2008

I grew up in a house with a lot of music, very loud music. My mother takes a deep amount of pride in the fact that I knew all the words to Sgt. Pepper before my third birthday. I used to ride Dobin, my rocking horse, to Van Halen’s 1984. I was forced, forced I tell you, to dance like a maniac every Christmas to Feliz Navidad; some people go to church, we worshiped at the alter of Jose Feliciano.  The vibrations of the music rocked picture frames off the walls on the regular. Once, a vase sitting on top of the stereo shattered from the shear force of the amplifier pushing out Stevie Ray Vaughn at 11. This is why my iPod is always on full blast; I was raised this way. It is in my blood. Also, there may be some lingering hearing damage.

My parent’s did their best to school us in Classic Rock. I took much more a shine to it than my brother, singing along to Roger Waters and Deep Purple with my parents. As a result, when they scored some pretty sweet seats to the Allman Brothers when I was 15, I went with them. I sat with them for 3 hours, bopping along to the music, breathing deep as a contact high slowly set in. It was fun, albeit a bit untraditional…kind of like my whole childhood.

Now, the one thing that has always irked me about this is how my parents will scream up and down they they hate country music, but they adore the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Little Feat. Some may argue–they certainly have–that it is Southern Rock. That is just another word for country. These bands are comprised of Jim Beam drinking, Marlboro smoking, Mama lovin’ rednecks. For the love of God, the Allman Brothers named an album after peaches and Gregg Allman’s son is named Elijah; if that ain’t country, I don’t know what is.

What’s so wrong with loving peaches and bourbon and all the fun that comes with it?  Nothing, I say. This spice rubbed flank steak with peach bourbon sauce was pretty damn delicious, proving the inherent excellence of the ingredients.  Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the spices on the steak are perfectly balanced, sweet with somplexity from the coriander, dry mustard, and cumin. The sauce is the star, though; tangy and spicy, it dresses the steak perfectly.  Also, it is steak! And healthy!

And, maybe, a little bit country…

Spice Rubbed Steak with Bourbon Peach Sauce

From Cooking Light

* Sauce:
* 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
* 3/4 cup chopped Vidalia or other sweet onion
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 1 1/2 cups peach nectar
* 3 tablespoons brown sugar
* 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
* 3 tablespoons bourbon
* 2 tablespoons ketchup
* 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
* 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
* 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
*

Steak:
* 1 tablespoon brown sugar
* 1 1/4 teaspoons garlic powder
* 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon ground coriander
* 1 teaspoon paprika
* 3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
* 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 2 (1-pound) flank steaks, trimmed
* Cooking spray

Preparation

To prepare sauce, heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; saute 5 minutes or until tender. Add nectar, 3 tablespoons sugar, and vinegar. Bring to a boil; cook until reduced to 1 cup (about 15 minutes). Add bourbon, ketchup, Worcestershire, and red pepper; cook over medium heat 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, and stir in the lime juice. Cool slightly. Pour the sauce into a blender, and process until smooth.

Prepare grill.

To prepare steak, combine 1 tablespoon sugar and next 7 ingredients (1 tablespoon sugar through black pepper); rub over both sides of steak. Place steak on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 7 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Cut steak diagonally across grain into thin slices. Serve with sauce.