Skirting Produce Issues

I was a little leery of the produce selection at my Safeway this afternoon. Having made a trip to the Whole Foods earlier to buy some skirt steak, I had contemplated buying some plums and blueberries because they just looked so pretty. But, as I suspected, they weren't anywhere near ripe. I ended up picking out this lemon instead because it looked so strange. It appears to have a outtie belly-button.

One thing my Safeway's reliable with is having consistently ripe/near rotten produce. For me, though, it tends to work out fine since I am usually too impatient to wait for fruit to ripen. In the case of making guacamole and cobblers, I like my fruit to be ripe upon purchase. This time, though, the number of fruit flies swarming the peach, plum and nectarine section almost outnumbered the fruit. A clump of donut peaches were so over-ripe that their skin was wrinkled and shriveling. The plums, both red and black, were quite ripe too. I decided to go for it anyways.


And now I am quite concerned that this plum blueberry cobbler might be a bust. After slicing the red plums, I found most were complete mush...like apple sauce consistency. The black plums weren't ripe enough and lacked depth in flavor. Why's it always so hit or miss with you, Produce?! I made a peach blackberry cobbler Friday night with Sheri that turned out fine (though I continue to not be a fan of the blackberry (or raspberry) seeds that stick to my molars afterward). The only problem here was the fruit bubbling over the crumble topping resulting in soggy topping. The filling was tasty, though. I never thought I'd say this, but I think I am finally growing weary of all this cobbler making.

I will take a step back to earlier this evening when I grilled four skirt steaks. That's got me all jazzed up! I had never tasted one before, let alone cooked one. The steaks were about five inches wide by a half-inch thick and long enough to serve as belts. Some of them looked like strands of ammunition. I decided to give them a dry rub before submerging in some liquid marinade. I first rubbed them with some brown sugar before dusting them with ground black pepper, ground ginger, dried diced onion and dry mustard. I then plunged them in a ziplock bag with a mixture of olive oil, soy sauce, Worcestire sauce, white wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, and minced garlic. MMmm, I wanted so badly to lick my hands after making sure the mixture was all up everywhere in the steaks.

The grilling part was fantastic since they cooked so quickly in the heat of the molten hot coals. I didn't even have to put the lid on the grill. Slicing them up was a workout, but the taste made me forget how profusely I sweat during the process. The crust on the slices complemented the juicy, tender meat. The sweetness of the brown sugar mellowed out the tangy bite of the Dijon and vinegars. I wish I had taken pictures! Next time!


At last, the cobbler made it out of the oven. And, the filling didn't bubble over the crust! It tasted just fine...just not as exciting as the skirt steaks.