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More recipes for Mother's Day feast

By JEAN PRESCOTT
jtprescott@sunherald.com

If you want to prepare a tasty meal for Mom on her day - that would be Sunday - today's Your Life section includes some recipes to simplify the process, even for Dad and kiddies with limited cooking skills. Chicken and sausages centerpiece the batch of printed recipes, while, here, we focus on steak and a luscious chocolate cake.

If you must have a starchy side, try the one suggested with this steak - new potatoes, boiled, peeled, tossed with a bit of butter and sprinkled with the feathery tops of fresh dill.

Make a shopping list, bow your head in a silent thank-you to cookbook author Nigella Lawson, and get cracking.

VODKA-MARINATED STEAK

Writes Lawson: "I have always loved Scandinavian food, which I suppose comes from childhood summers spent in Norway, and this recipe is adapted from one by a Norwegian writer, Andreas Viestad, from his book "Kitchen of Light." I know there doesn't seem to be much meat (to serve 6), but I cook the steak, then when it's rested, carve it thinly in diagonal slices, so it goes farther than if you were handing around great chunks. But, by all means, provide more meat if you feel safer. There's nothing wrong with having cold beef in the fridge.

A slab of beef cut from the top of the rump, about 1 inch thick, weighing approximately 1-1/2 pounds

For the marinade:

1 tablespoon sea salt, 1/2 teaspoon table salt

2 tablespoons black peppercorns, crushed

3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

2 tablespoons finely chopped thyme

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1/3 cup vodka

1/4 cup olive oil

To cook:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil for frying

Approximately 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon beef stock

1 tablespoon butter

Combine all of the marinade ingredients and put into a freezer bag with the rump slice. Smear the contents around to get the beef evenly coated in the salt, pepper and herbs. Leave for two or three days in the fridge. This makes a big difference, but if you can't find the time, then leave the steak to marinate for a good 3 hours at room temperature.

Bring the beef in this marinade to room temperature. Take the steak out of the marinade, but reserve the marinade itself. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet, and sear the beef on both sides over a high flame until it colors. Turn the heat down to low and cover the pan with aluminum foil as a lid. Cook for approximately 3-1/2 minutes on each side (or longer if you don't like your beef rare) and then wrap in a layer of foil to rest while you make the sauce. I like to meat to rest, wrapped, for a good 15 minutes.