Алфавит

You can stop rubbing your eyes as you read the title of this posting, your vision is perfectly fine. You see, I'm learning Russian. I feel like it's my own secret code language of strange imaginary symbols and rearranged letters that give the reader a false confidence when recognizing certain latin letters-but HAHA! It's my secret language! My secret language which also happens to be spoken by at least 278 million people. It took me a couple of days to get the alphabet down. I felt quite impressed with myself at first until I learned about the CURSIVE cyrillic alphabet in which 1/3 of the letters are completely different and frustrating... Yes, that was not a good day for my romance with Russian nor for my hubris... But that was a week ago and now I can read both alphabets, (barely) talk about living, studying and getting acquainted; thus the love is back on.

I am a voracious student of foreign language. I am so obnoxious about it that in restaurants I yearn to pronounce the foreign food words properly: Words like "champagne," "Blini," and "bruschetta" have so much more music to them when pronounced with a narcissistic intonation, non? I think it's partly an opera singer's job hazard and partly a personality flaw. In both cases it's quite annoying to everyone else at the table which is why I am really trying to keep it to a minimum.

Prof. Hubs and I are going to Russia next Spring and I want to make sure that my ability to communicate independently is up to snuff. I also want to do a recital of Russian music. So, between now and then I will be studying copious amounts of Русский.

The recipe I am sharing today is not a Russian one. It is the desperate housediva version of the delicious Korean steak marinade, Kolbi. In NYC I love to visit the Korean BBQs on 32nd st whenever I'm feeling anemic and though my marinade is not as delicious as those I find in K-town it's certainly reminiscent and also a lot faster. I rarely have the foresight to marinate a steak a day before I'm going to eat it though this is something I aspire to...someday.

DESPERATE HOUSEDIVA'S KOLBI STEAK MARINADE

made up of stuff you definitely have in your house already :)

2 Steaks (I usually use whatever I get the best deal on that day-of late it's been NY strip or top sirloin)

1/2 cup Soy Sauce

1/2 cup white wine or rice wine

1/4 cup Green onion, chopped (if you don't have it, you can use white onions...it's still good!)

3 heaping TBSP brown sugar

2 TBSP agave nectar (you could use honey or just another TBSP brown sugar instead)

a few shakes of tabasco

1 tsp powdered ginger (fresh would be better if you have it...just use a bit more if you do)

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 TBSP sesame oil

Mix together the marinade ingredients. Toss the steaks in there to coat. Let marinate at least an hour-overnight is best. Then cook your favorite way-I like to use the beloved grill pan on the stove (med-high heat) and then finish in the oven for a few minutes (400) but use your best steak judgment.

Bon Appetit! (make sure to pronouce with a really obnoxious accent for me)