Bistecca alla Vivica

Flank steak is *totally* easy- I'd eat it every day, but I use lots of garlic and it's kind of mean if you eat it before running off to rehearsal...

So:  the trick is, you make parallel slices about 1/4 to 1/2 way through the meat, going *across* the grain of the meat.  You can cook it like that, but I usually slice again perpendicularly to the first slices, making "X" shaped slices all along the piece of meat.  The flank steak can be kind of tough because of the grain of the meat, but making the slices before you cook it make it easier to eat later. 

So then you put as much garlic as you want in the slice-marks (I usually just bash two cloves of garlic and then break them up into little chunks that fit into the slice-marks)  If the garlic is nice and deep into the slices then it won't burn, if it's just on top of the meat it gets all charred. 

Then you put the steak into the broiler, and depending on how cooked you want it, in about 7-10 minutes it's done.  I add salt or herbs afterwards. 

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Polenta & Milk

Put this one under "bland foods I love". Massimo said polenta with milk used to be a typical morning food in "Olde Italye". No one eats it anymore, but at least it's not an affront to italian cuisine!!! 

One part polenta
Three parts water

Stir constantly while boiling. The trick is to put the polenta in *cold* water, not wait until it boils.... if you put it in hot water it just makes big lumps.

Put it in a bowl and pour milk over it.

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Arancie alla Massimo

Peel 2 oranges, removing all the white part as well, and slice (perpendicular to the sections) into about 1/2 inch-3/4 inch thick slices.  

Place slices on a serving plate, sprinkle with salt and pepper, pour on about 1&1/2 T of extra-virgin olive oil, and 1T of either balsamic or white-wine vinegar, making sure that each slice of orange gets a little of each. 

Serve! 

This is really refreshing side-dish and goes well with roasted meats. I was going to say it would go well with roast hamstah, and it would, but it would probably put some people off....