My husband is very hard to buy a gift for.  He pretty much has what he wants, doesn’t like it when I buy his clothes and likes so many different things it is hard to narrow down a gift idea.  I mostly buy gifts that revolve around exercising, eating or drinking beer.  Now I know that may make him sound sort of like Al Bundy…well except for the exercising part.  But my husband is what I would call a minor Foodie so a gift of food would make him happy any day.

 One year for Father’s Day I filled the refrigerator in our garage full of his favorite beers.  Matt’s has very distinct likes and dislikes when it comes to beer. He loves, LOVES IPA’s.  Arrogant Bastard, 90 Minute, 2 Hearted and most defiantly Osiris from a local brewery Sun King.  Matt instantly fell in love with Sun King.  He loves their beer, their logo, their proximity to our house and most of all that you can fill your growler with Osiris on Fridays for $5.00.

So when I realized that Valentine’s Day was coming up I thought there would be no better gift for the man I love and have been married to for almost 15 years than a special meal at home.  I wanted to make something that would be simple, good and involve beer.  I have already made beer bread, beer/cheddar fondue and beer can chicken.  I wanted to think big, bold and new. 

I remembered a few years ago we went to a Colombian restaurant and had the most amazing dipping sauce with our carved beef called Aji.  I remembered (because I came home and wrote it in my food journal) what I knew was in it and after a few trial runs I came up with this final recipe.  It is good over any meat, red or white.  It is also a good garnish for fish taco’s or white rice.  What I found is that it is fabulous drizzled over the meat I prepared tonight!

Flank steak with Osiris Marinade
 2 1 1/3 lb flank steaks
1 1/2 TB dried oregano
1 TB cumin
coarse salt/fresh pepper
1/4 C olive oil
2 TB brown sugar
6 green onions sliced thin
8 oz. Osiris Pale Ale or 12 oz Porter
1/2 C Worcestershire sauce

Combine all of the dry ingredients in a small bowl.
Score the meat in a diamond pattern to allow the marinade and rub to sink in.  Rub the meat with the dry mix.  Lay in a shallow 9x 13 pan.  drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle in the green onions, add the beer and finally the Worcestershire sauce.

Cover and allow to marinade from 3 hours to overnight.  We grilled this outside since it was warm but you could also use an indoor grill or grill pan.  Let rest for 10 minutes then slice thinly and serve with the Aji sauce.

Aji
Add to the bowl of a food processor or blender the following:
1 tsp sugar
 1/2 C chopped jalapeno pepper
 1/2 C chopped green onions
1/3 C chopped sweet onion like Walla Walla or Vidalia
1/4 C cilantro
1TB lime juice
1 TB red wine vinegar
3/4 tsp salt
 a few cracks of fresh black pepper.

Pulse until combined .  Leave it chunky and not completely pureed and refrigerate it.

 This can be made a day ahead.  You would think that this is very hot but really it’s not too bad.  It tasted so good and is so easy it will quickly become your go-to grilled meat accompaniment.