Steak Frites

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Hanger steak is a tasty cut of meat mainly because of the marbling, the flavorable fat. The French might beg to differ and say it's because of the traditional and only way to serve steak—with a good size pat of butter on top. The other French suggestion, serve with homemade fries aka pommes frites, the perfect companion for any kind of steak.

If hanger steak is not available, by all means you can adapt recipe to any London broil cut. Enjoy!

George Hirsch's Grilled Hanger Steak Recipe

(aka skirt steak or Romanian steak) | Makes two-four servings

chefgeorgehirsch.com | George Hirsch Lifestyle

1 pound skirt steaks (flank or T.R. London broil), trimmed

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup bourbon (optional) substitute red wine or O.J.

1/2 cup homemade or prepared barbeque sauce

4 cloves garlic, chopped fine

2 Tablespoons each: parsley and basil

1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

2 teaspoons hot sauce

Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Day one, time to think ahead: marinate for 24 hours 

To keep steaks from curing up, make diagonal cuts 1/8 inch deep about every one inch through the skirt steak on both sides. 

Mix together the olive oil, bourbon, garlic, parsley, basil, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, hot sauce, and black pepper in a large bowl or large plastic zip bag. Remove 1/2 cup of marinade and reserve in refrigerator to baste steaks while grilling on Day two.

Add the skirt steaks and mix to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator for 23 and a 1/2 hours. You’ll need the extra half hour to get the grill ready. 

Day two, and not before.

Remove the steaks from the marinade, drain and discard marinade.

Preheat grill to high temperature.

Grill the steak for 4-5 minutes each side or to desired doneness. Brush steaks on both sides lightly with the reserved 1/2 cup marinade mix. Flip the steaks over only once. 

Remove steaks from the grill. To serve sliced steak, wait five minutes allowing juices in steak to rest before slicing thin pieces, cutting against the grain.


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Pommes Frites 

Recipe by George Hirsch | Makes four servings 

8 large Russet potatoes, well scrubbed 

approximately 3-4 cups canola or vegetable oil, enough to fill a deep sided sauce pan 1/2 way. 

USE CAUTION: Fill pan with oil No More Than 3/4 full, or oil could boil over. 

Sea salt to taste

Cut potatoes evenly with skin on, into 1/4 inch thick strips. For this step it's helpful if you have a mandolin. For uniform cooking while frying the potatoes, cut in uniform size pieces. After cutting, submerge potatoes in cold water for at least twenty minutes, changing the water at least two times, until the water is clear. Dry the potatoes well with paper towels. A good tip; use salad spinner to dry.

Cooking will require frying potatoes in two stages, blanching in first stage then crisp and brown in stage two.

First stage of cooking: For first frying, heat oil to 320 degrees F.

Without overloading fryer, cook the potatoes 1 cup at a time, for about 5 minutes or until cooked through, (but not browned during this first stage of cooking). Remove and drain potatoes with a skimmer or basket, then place on a plate lined with paper towels. 

Second stage of cooking: Second Frying, heat oil to 375 degrees F.

Fry potatoes again in stages without overloading fryer until golden brown and crispy, for about 1-2 minutes. Remove with a skimmer or basket, pour on to a shallow pan and sprinkle with sea salt. 

Serve immediately with favorite condiments.

Pesto Mayo

Blue Cheese

BBQ Sauce

Caramelized Garlic Mayo

Peanut Sauce

& any type of flavored Ketchup

Moules Marinières

Summer is in full swing. That and coastal living makes me say “hello seafood.” My rule with cooking seafood is the simpler, the better; as well as believing in keeping it as local as possible. So when traveling to locations known for seafood, I take advantage of every opportunity to enjoy eating fresh and local. Recently, I had Bantry’s mussels & oysters in Ireland - yes, they live up to their reputation. You may be able to find Bantry mussels in your grocer’s freezer along with New Zealand; but to me it's not my preference compared to eating local. Some other leading mussel cultivars are Spain, and of course North America's Prince Edward Island in Canada. 

The classical way I learned to cook mussels years ago is called Moules Marinières, or mussels in the style of the sea, synonymous with summers in France. I have prepared versions of this style on air with my TV shows. This happens to be a crowd favorite every time with my TV crew. They are amazed at how simple it is to prepare. See for yourself, TV segment here. The only way to improve this recipe is add some crisp Pommes Frites. I would also approval of a creamy Belgium beer to wash it all down with. 

Here’s a good tip: The jewel in eating mussels is to get the right balance of the mussel meat with the fantastic broth juices that come from cooking the mussels with wine, garlic and herbs. No utensils needed, use the mussel's shell as your spoon. Pick up the freshly steamed mussel in the opened hinged ‘valve’ (the shell). Break the valve in-half, discard one half of the shell. With the second half valve (shell) that now has the mussel meat, dip the half-shell and mussel meat into the warm broth scooping up just the right amount of juice to meat. Now, politely slurp the mussel along with the broth in the same mouthful. Mouth watering. Heaven! Sometimes I see others do a dip using a fork, but they are missing the gold, the broth!

Try this next time you prepare mussels, instead of using a fork and dipping into the broth that will just slide off your mussel meat. What to do with empty shells? I have observed other connoisseurs of mussel eating that includes arranging the eaten empty half valves into unique patterns on plates. 

Simple and ready in minutes. But do yourself a favor, have plenty of good bread on hand to dip and soak up any leftover broth. Summer - here we come!

Video Recipe.

George Hirsch Cooking & Lifestyle TV Segment: Mussels Recipe