It is simply too beautiful a day to cook. High 50s and the bluest sky ever in mid-March? Makes a body want to dance. It's an "assemble the meal" day here in the Northeast Kingdom if there ever was one..
So, steak salad is on the menu. Simple and satisfying. Get yourself a London broil. Marinate if that's what you're all about, but because you'll be slicing very thinly, it's not all that necessary. Broil to your personal taste of rareness (I'm a 'pink-red' in the middle sort myself), and set aside while you make the sauce.
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And that's easy, too. One part soy sauce, one part good balsamic vinegar, seasoned with a little minced garlic and freshly ground black pepper, plus a splash of hot Chinese chili sauce to add some heat if you like. Needs nothing else, though feel free to doctor with some Worcestershire for a bit more of a traditional taste.
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But let's revisit that 'good' balsamic vinegar. What makes for 'good'? There's lots of rotgut stuff out there. "Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena" and "Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Reggio Emilia" are reductions that have been aged for at least a dozen years. Expensive to produce, they are frequently imitated by pucker-producing pretenders that contain colors and thickeners.
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So what's to be done? Shop around and compare. You are more likely to find affordable, good quality balsamic vinegars at your local co-op than grocery store. Find a 'daily use' balsamic for mixing into dressings and sauces. Use the best quality sparingly where it will really count.
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However. My mother had a trick that I will share with you. It won't fool the purists, but it will provide a rich and lovely ingredient to add to dressings and the simple sauce we're pouring on our steak salad today.
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Mom would take a bottle of inexpensive balsamic vinegar, pour it into a saucepan, add a few tablespoons of brown sugar, and let the whole thing reduce until somewhat thickened. The aroma at first will be off-putting, but persevere. Watch carefully and taste-test often, because as you reach the desired thickness, you run the risk of over simmering and burning the reduction. Allow to cool and pour it into a pretty bottle. See what a few spoonfuls do for your regular salad dressing.
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Back to today's steak salad: slice the meat quite thinly against the grain. Assemble the slices over a salad of baby greens, sliced red pepper, mushrooms, onion -- whatever you like best. Toss together the dressing and spoon over the salad. Serve immediately with a hunk of bread and a glass of something luscious and red.
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And that, my friends, is dinner.
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Pictured above: Charlotte-Aglaé d'Orléans, 18th Century duchess of Modena, from whence the loveliest balsamic vinegar comes. Most likely the cup she's raising held something other below the rim, but when you're a beautiful duchess, I suspect life splashes its share of the bitter and the sweet.
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