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Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Thai Orange Beef Skewers

One thing you should know about farmers: they always know what the weather is and will be.

I didn't think of it much until I got married.  It was very routine in my house growing up.  You always watched the news and it was pretty much only for the weather.  

One would often hear, "Quick we don't want to miss the weather" in my house.  We would all run, turn on the TV and watch the weather section.  Then the tv went off and everyone went to bed.  

Everything centered around this important bit of information.  Why?

Because whatever you needed to do depended on the weather.  Because my family are hay farmers it mattered even more.  Everything changed depending on what that weatherman said (and sophisticated weather data hanging around the house).

So naturally when I got married, I did the same thing.  I couldn't go to sleep until I had watched the weather and I even had a thermometer that sat outside and would relay inside all sorts of weather information.  My husband loves to tease me about it.  He even knows to put a weather chart on my google homepage so I can always see what the weather is.

I am better now.  I can actually go to sleep without watching the news but still I love to know the temperature outside.  Especially on days like today.

We went from having sun to sprinkles to wind to pouring rain to thunder to hail and then back to rain in a matter of minutes.  Idaho weather is so fickle, but hey we at least have moisture.  Another very important thing farmers always know, but hey that's a different post!

On to these skewers.  We love to put pretty much everything on skewers especially as summer comes around.  This one was very delicious.  It was mild enough that my kids loved it but very tasty.  If you have great weather enjoy your barbecuing, I'm afraid we have to wait awhile for that here!

Thai Orange Beef Skewers


1 orange
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 T. honey
1T. sesame oil
1 t. ground ginger
1 t. coriander
4 cloves garlic
2-4 t. Sriracha chili sauce (in the Asian aisle--has a rooster on the bottle)

1 1/2 lb flank steak

1.  Zest your orange and add all of the zest to a medium bowl.  Cut the orange in half and add all of the juice to the bowl, at least a 1/4 c.--if you have more that is fine. To the orange mixture, add the soy sauce, vinegar, honey, sesame oil, ginger, coriander, and garlic.  Then add Sriracha to your liking, I used 2 t. so it would be child friendly.  Whisk the marinade until combined. 

2. Cut the flank steak across the grain into about 1/4" slices, this will soften the steak and make it tender.
Preheat your grill.  Take your skewers, pre-soaked if you're using wood/bamboo ones, and thread on the strips of meat, just like you're stitching. Place them on the grill.  Cook for 2 minutes and flip.  They cook very quickly so watch carefully.  Overcooked flank steak is very chewy.  Serve immediately.  Enjoy!

Source:  Best Bites