Skirt Steak

I bought some skirt steak last week because it was on sale $1.99/pound. I got a 5lb pack of it, cut it up, trimmed it and divided into meal size bags to freeze. I made up a recipe tonight and its about the best damn steak and brown sauce i've ever made. (I am pretty sure this recipe would work for any steak.)

Marinade:

one head garlic crushed into bowl
1/2 C (or more) olive oil
Sage, Rosemary, Thyme chopped (Herbes de Provence would be a fine substitute--or basil/oregano)
Salt/Pepper

Mix into a paste and rub onto steaks. then sprinkle two teaspoons of sugar over steaks and a few douses of Steen's Cane Vinegar (redwine or apple cider would be fine). Let sit at least 4 hours, cause it's skirt steak.

Meanwhile--cooked the sides. Broccoli and leeks and sweet potatoes.
Leeks were done a la vinaigre:

Poireaux au Vinaigre:
(I made this recipe up after eating leeks in Paris for a long time and after consulting old friends passionate about all-things french.)

Boil leeks in water about 10 minutes (maybe more depending on how many leeks--but only cover leeks with 1/2 inch water), until fork goes through cleanly. remove from water (save water for next step) and slice leeks. in bowl, add olive oil, a few drops of vinegar, herbes de provence and salt/pepper. Let chill. Serve cold.

Broccoli was boiled in same water as leeks. Then removed, salted, and cooked in pan with thyme butter. The liquid remaining after boiling both vegetables is great just as a broth. I am considering saving this as vegetable broth next time I make leek soup.

Sweet potatoes--famous Sweet 'er Taters recipe:
Slice em 1/4 inch. Toss in bowl with brown sugar and butter. For 1 medium size potato, about 1 and 1/2 tbls brown sugar and 2 tbls butter. Bake at 400 degrees until very soft inside--I usually turn them half way through to get both sides brown. Sometimes I add a drizzle of Steens Cane Syrup.

Steak:
heat skillet with a little oil until very very hot. scrape off most of marinade from steak and save--make sure steaks are pat-dry--then brown steak on both sides with marinade paste cooking around it--cook no more than 1 and 1/2 minutes each side. remove.
Scrape up crushed garlic and let cook until browned--the garlic should crisp up nicely, but you have to keep scraping pan so it doesnt burn. then add some butter and a little more olive oil and one chopped shallot. (The darker you brown the garlic in the already browned pan from steaks, the browner and better the sauce will come out.) After shallot is soft and brown too, add white wine glob. reduce. add 1/2 c chicken stock and salt pepper to adjust. reduce. Then if you want a perfect sauce, add one more tbls butter and let melt. Then put steaks back in to re-heat--if you cook Skirt Steak more than 6 minutes, it will toughen--so total cook time less than 6 minutes--I did mine minute and half to brown each side then extra 2 minutes to reheat and it was perfect rare to medium rare.

Serve.