It's Time...

I saw Food, Inc. about three years ago,and immediately stopped eating chicken, beef and pork (well except for that occasional torrid fling I have with prosciutto (come on, it's prosciutto!)  It wasn't too difficult for me to give up beef because I just never really cared one way or the other about it.  It was a little bit harder to say "goodbye" to sausage, bacon and chicken.  The knowledge of how most commercially "grown" chickens,cows and pigs are treated and, even more so, slaughtered was really disturbing to me, so I changed the way I ate. After about six months of no animal protein except for organic eggs and dairy, I felt really tired and decided that my body needed more animal protein.  I added organic chicken back into my diet and found my energy again.  I believe that all of us are designed to eat a certain way; for me, it was eating mostly vegetarian meals, with some chicken and seafood.  Interestingly enough, I read about a theory that I refer to as "genetic eating," that basically maintains we are programed to eat a certain way based on our ancestry.  It was fascinating to me to realize that on my dad's side of the family, they were Irish fishermen.  On my mom's side, they were farmers in France who also raised chickens.  So it made perfect sense to me that those were the foods that my body was telling me to eat.

Recently, however, I've had cravings for a burger.  What the???  I believe that if you're really in tune with your body, you will know what it's telling you it needs.  I find myself craving an orange every once in a while....my body needs vitamin C.  I crave a huge glass of ice water; my body's dehydrated.  So I had to listen to this beef craving, and realized that I was probably iron deficient.  Most women are.  So I sought the advice of my culinary guru, Tom, and decided on a skirt steak recipe I saw in Real Simple.  I was looking for a little guidance on how to cook red meat again, and he gave me the confidence to give it a try. I'm a bit of a recipe nerd and like to cook a recipe the first time just as it was written.  But then I bust it out and do it "Suzanne Style."  So last night I cooked the recipe from the mag (big hit, even with Fancy-Pants-Tom), but today, with my leftover piece of steak, I mixed it up a bit, simplified it, and boosted the flavor.... so here's my Mushroom-Shallot Skirt Steak:

Start out with about a pound of skirt steak, trimmed nicely from your butcher, and grass-fed if you can swing it.  Simply season it with salt and pepper and throw it into a wicked hot pan (preferably cast iron over high heat) coated with olive oil.  If it's really wicked hot (give it a little flick of water and if it sizzles, you're good), you can cook it in about 3-4 minute per side. Pull it off the heat and degalze the pan with a couple tablespoons of red wine.  Pour that sauce over the steak, tent it with foil, and keep warm.
Wipe out the skillet and add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil over high heat,  Add 2 rosemary sprigs, 1/2 pound crimini mushrooms, and 1/4 pound shiitakes.  Let it sit - everyone looooves to stir, but stirring too much won't allow the mushrooms to brown.  After about 3-4 minutes, pour off any liquid and continue to cook for a few minutes until mushrooms are browned, but not quite done.  Then add 4 shallots, thinly sliced, and saute for a couple minutes until softened.  Add 2 cloves garlic,also thinly sliced, a couple cups of baby spinach, a cup of arugula ,a healthy pinch of salt and pepper, and cook 1-2 minutes more, stirring frequently, until greens are wilted.  Remove skillet from heat and add 1 tablespoon unsalted butter and 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar.  Stir until butter is melted.

Place mushroom mixture on plate and top with skirt steak (maybe a little bit on top, too). 

Sooooo pretty,  And wicked, wicked delicious!!  I have to say that moments after eating this - with a fab twice-baked potato that was so yummy I ate it all before I got a chance to photograph it (oops!) - I felt better.  And here is my testament....