Saturday Summer Supper

Sometimes, a gal just needs to eat a man meal, you know? This is the closest I have come to recreating one of my family's typical summer dinners since I left. All it lacks is some marinated cucumber salad and lemon ice cream.


The steak is a flat iron with my new favorite Alton Brown marinade on it. I got this recipe from AB's I'm Just Here for the Food: Version 2.0. Here is the recipe, Rhapsody for Red (Meat):

4 Tbsp soy sauce
4 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp teriyaki sauce
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, left whole but lightly crushed
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Target cut of meat

Mix all the ingredients together minus the meat. Put meat and marinade in plastic bag, squeeze out all the air. Place in the fridge and let it sit for 2-8 hours until ready to cook.

I have used flank and flat iron steaks, but AB says he likes it on just about any form of red meat. He also says this marinade is good to use before any cooking method. I pan grilled mine - about 4 minutes on each side over medium heat. The marinade makes enough for about 2 pounds of meat, so change the recipe to your proportion. Really good steaks.

The beans are my taste of home. I feel like my mom made these baked beans about once a month during the summer and, come Sunday leftover dinner, it was a scramble to see who would get the last of the beans. They are all mine this time!

4 1 lb cans of pork and beans or near equivalent
1 bottle ketchup (14 oz)
1 bell pepper, chopped (my mom does not use this)
2 small onions, chopped
6 Tbsp brown sugar
4 Tbsp molasses
Worcestershire sauce, to taste
Bacon

Mix all together. Place in a 9x13 casserole dish or pan. Top with bacon (strips or cut into pieces and arrange over top of the dish).
Bake at 300 for 2 hours, uncovered.

Perfect Saturday in June dinner. Fill a tall glass with some iced sun tea, and you are good to go.