Red Sauce

My Mom is known for a couple things in the kitchen: cheese and crackers, gin and diet tonics, shrimp creole, and red sauce, which was always qualified with the word 'nice.' And 'nice' it was - the simple combination of olive oil, garlic, onion, ground beef, plum tomatoes and a glug of red wine was a very welcome accompaniment to a plate stacked high with spaghetti.

Mostly though, if Dad was late and Mom was cooking dinner, we were going out. And likely, to Pasta Piatta, which for any carb-loving kid like myself was Mecca. Point Mom.

Growing up, Dad was the chef and we were his diners. But if you do a little kitchen archeology, you will see that this might not always have been the case. The recipe box is filled with little cards embroidered by my Mom's distinct penmanship. There are memories about meals she made for her French family when she lived in Angers. And family legend is that there was once a cooking competition between my Dad's coworkers; while the edible products of the other docs were failures, my Dad's fish with a coat of tan took home the blue ribbon. My theory is that this pivotal cook-off was a turning point in my parents' kitchen - the apron was officially designated for Dad.

I used to wonder why my Mom didn't cook - how could she relinquish the role of house chef so willingly? She is the first born of Croatia's version of Julia Childs after all, she loves ear marking recipes in the New York Times Dining Section, and she is Blackberry's most vocal restaurant critic. Why didn't her passion for food translate to her personal preparation of it?

The 'aha' came last week. After a particularly long day - one that included a fire drill that wasn't so much a drill but a real fire, Eisenhower traffic, three pumping sessions, one-on-one conversations with some of the office big wigs, Mary feeding, changing, entertaining, drop-off, pick-up, bathing, feeding, and more of the same, I found myself heating up frozen french fries while Peter grilled brats for the second time in ten days. Exhausted, I claimed my place in a territory that was once totally unfamiliar to me - a place called 'I have no interest in cooking tonight.' 

Looking out at the man and his grill, a dynamic duo who has saved dinner on quite a few occasions recently, I saw what my Mom saw when my Dad was lightly pan frying filets of Tur-BO. When help comes in the form of a husband that can cook, you pass the apron and accept the much needed assistance. 

Along with that, I have a couple tips for working moms who have suddenly found themselves in more high stress kitchens:

• Give yourself a break once a week. Ordering in, eating out, or heating up a can of soup are now welcome options in our household.
• Have a cache of easy, go-to classics. For us, they are a couple pasta dishes, tacos, BLTs, pad thai, roasts, brats, brats, and more brats, and grilled (fill in the blank.) 
• Sauce is the boss - my husband's motto. All that the grilled (filled in the blank) needs is a little salt, pepper and olive oil, so focus your energy on the accompanying sauce, salsa or side that can easily turn something standard into something amazing. 
• Back to the grill - it and its grill master have been this working mom's best friend. If your husband doesn't grill, get him a tutorial pronto.
• Dinner is a team sport. In my house, one person is the Mary getter, the other is the grocery getter; one person makes the sides, the other prepares the entree; one person washes the dishes, the other washes Mary. When everyone pitches in, everyone eats well.
• Celebrate, linger over, blow out the weekend meal - this is now my time to shine in the kitchen.
• Remember that the time, attention, and care that you used to give to your spatulas and spoons is now being dedicated to your little one. And I'll eat french fries and brats every day of the week if it means I have an extra hour to play with my baby girl.

On the menu tonight - my own version of a nice red sauce. But below is a recipe we've been using a lot recently: grilled flank steak with an herb salsa verde. True to my rules, Peter grills, I make the sauce, and we take turns holding Mary on our laps as we alternate who gets to take a bite of food.  Bon appetit from babyland.

Lo.

Steak with Green Sauce 
Serves 6

Ingredients:

Steak

2 pound flank steak

Olive oil

Lime

Salt, pepper

Salsa Verde

1 cup loosely packed Italian parsley

1 cup loosely packed mint

½ cup loosely packed basil

4 scallions, trimmed and roughly chopped

2 cloves of garlic

½ cup olive oil

Juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon capers

1 anchovy (optional)

Salt, pepper

Directions:

Tenderize the steak using a meat mallet or ask the butcher to do this for you. Season with salt and pepper and rub down with olive oil and juice of a lime. Let it marinate in a non-reactive pan for at least an hour.

Preheat the grill. You will grill the steak about 7 minutes per side, depending on how you like your steak done. Slice horizontally, against the grain. Serve with salsa verde.

To make the salsa, place all ingredients in a blender and pulse until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.