A simple, quick-marinating but tasty and hip steak recipe, Bon Appetit photo-shoot ready, serves 4.

• 1½ pounds hanger steak, center membrane removed, cut into 4 pieces
• 3 sprigs ea thyme, rosemary, chopped
• 1 Fresno or mild jalapeno, finely diced
• 6 garlic cloves, smashed
• ¼ cup dry red wine
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• Smoked salt, grill spice mix, and extra freshly ground black pepper

1-2 hours before grilling, take hanger steak from the fridge, remove center membrane, and salt with smoked (or just kosher) salt and a salt/pepper/spices grilling mix. Let sit for 15-30 minutes.

14 ounces skirt steak
2 1/2 tablespoons berbere rub (see above)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 large white onion, chopped (1 1/2 cups)
1 large tomato, cut into large dice (1 1/2 cups)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup sliced jalapeño pepper (seeded or unseeded), or to taste

Cut the meat into 1-inch strips, placing them in a bowl as you work. Sprinkle 1 1/2 tablespoons of the rub over them and toss to coat evenly. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Melt half of the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat.

3 chiles (Thai, serrano, or jalapeño), thinly sliced into rounds
¼ cup tamarind concentrate
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus 4 tsp more for cooking
1½ pound hanger steak, de-membraned and cut into 4 pieces

Whisk chiles, tamarind, brown sugar, salt, and 1 Tbsp. oil in a shallow baking dish until sugar is dissolved. Add steak and turn to coat. Cover and chill at least 4 hours, or up to a day.

This Bon Appetit recipe was a bit too umami for Audrey's taste, but a nice recipe nonetheless.

Serves 6

3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
4 pounds beef short ribs (optionally cut cross-wise (flanken style) into 2-bone pieces), about 1 1/2-inch-thick
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems chopped, caps sliced, divided
1 bunch scallions, whites chopped, greens thinly sliced, divided
1 1-inch piece peeled ginger, thinly sliced

Courtesy of Cook's Illustrated.

1.5 lbs flap meat (skirt steak or hangar steak can be used as substitutes)
3 tbsp soy sauce, divided
6 tbsp cornstarch
2 oranges
3 tbsp molasses
2 tbsp sherry
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1.5 tsp sesame oil
1 jalapeño, inner seeds and ribs removed, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
1 habañero, inner seeds and ribs removed, minced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
3 cups vegetable oil, for frying

Cut beef along grain into 3" lengths.

This recipe came from a cooking class my mom took many years ago (possibly before I was born). For several years, I've had a scanned copy of the photocopied recipe with her notes from the cooking class. We finally replicated the Mongolian Beef recipe. While we intend to play around with the sauce in future iterations, the "velveting" method of cooking the beef was a big success and will definitely be repeated.

Ingredients

Velveting:
1.5 lbs flank steak
3 egg whites
2 tsp white wine or sherry
Black pepper
1/3 cup cornstarch
Vegetable oil

Sauce:
3/4 cup soy sauce

So, not really a true recipe, but pretty good and pretty easy. Maybe next time we'll get fancy and make our own empanada dough, but for the first try this turned out pretty good.

This recipe is a hybrid of Sharon's recipe and and a very intense online recipe. My guess is that both are derived from the Betty Crocker Cookbook.

Serves 6. Bakes in a 9x9 pan.

Meat sauce:

Cook and stir together until meat is brown and onion is tender:

• 3 Italian sausages (approx 0.5 lbs, mixed between mild and spicy; can substitute ground beef for all or part)
• ½ cup chopped onions
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ cup sliced mushrooms

Planning/Purchasing

• Brisket -- Splurge. Get a high-quality point cut. In the DMV, The Organic Butcher sells them. (you will need at 60-90 minutes per pound to cook it so...)
• A whole bag of Mesquite chunks, plus ideally some other wood that will be ok for smoking

We merged a Bon Appetit recipe with a (strikingly) similar recipe from my canning book (which recommends topping the finished product with pickled red onions) and sprinkled it with input from Tom Colicchio.

Makes about 4 servings.

Ingredients

This recipe was awesome. Delicious and super easy. Made by simplifying a slightly (but not much) more complex recipe from Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cooking.

Serves 6.

Ingredients
Vegetable oil
2 medium onions, peeled and sliced into thin half-rings
1-inch cube of fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 small, whole head of garlic, with all the cloves separated and peeled
5 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp ground coriander

There is no "real" recipe to Jon's chili beyond the base set of ingredients and improvisation with spices and available ingredients. If there are fresh peppers, they go in. If there's homemade salsa, it definitely goes in. Beer (Shiner Bock I find is best) cuts the spice level nicely without removing the flavor.

I sautee the onion/garlic/jalapenos until tender, then add the meat and brown it. Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes, then add whole habaneros and the first spices (salt, pepper, first group of spices). Add 4 cups of water and some beer and bring to a boil.