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Please All Your Senses With Balsamic Steak

Merri Lou Dobler Correspondent

“How’d you like dinner tonight?” Those of us who cook often ask that question. Hopefully you’ll hear comments like “What a great meal, mom!” and “That was delicious!”

What you probably won’t hear is this: “My sense of smell picked up 25 different, delightful qualities.”

Actual taste has only four components: salty, sweet, sour and bitter. Your sense of smell, however, can identify up to 200 qualities, according to an article in last month’s Journal of The American Dietetic Association.

With their tongues, wine tasters can identify the sweetness and tartness in a wine. With a fine sense of smell, however, a true wine connoisseur can identify not only the type of grape, but the growing region and even which vineyard the grapes came from.

How many of you wake up in the morning deeply breathing in the smell of your first cup of coffee? You may be surprised to know you also smell through your mouth. This helps you decipher if you are eating chicken or turkey. It also helps you figure out the seasoning in a food.

If you like balsamic vinegar, your senses will be pleasantly satisfied with the following combination of steak, vinegar and onion. You’ll delight in the smells as it cooks, and be ready to sink your teeth into a meal that promises satisfaction.

Balsamic Steak

From “Dinner In Minutes, Memorable Meals for Busy Cooks” (Firefly Books Ltd).

1-1/4 pounds skirt, flank or lean sirloin steak

1 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons chopped onion

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Remove fat from meat. Place in a bowl or plastic bag with vinegar and onion. Let marinate 20 minutes.

Drain and place under a preheated broiler (or on a hot grill). Cook 7-10 minutes, turning once, until done to your liking.

Remove to a cutting board, cover with foil and let rest 5 minutes. Slice on a diagonal against the grain and serve.

Yield: 4 servings.

, DataTimes MEMO: The goal of Five and Fifteen is to find recipes where you can do the shopping in five minutes and the cooking in 15. Merri Lou Dobler, a registered dietitian and Spokane resident, welcomes ideas from readers. Write to Five and Fifteen, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210.

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The goal of Five and Fifteen is to find recipes where you can do the shopping in five minutes and the cooking in 15. Merri Lou Dobler, a registered dietitian and Spokane resident, welcomes ideas from readers. Write to Five and Fifteen, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210.

The following fields overflowed: SUPCAT = COLUMN, RECIPE - Five and Fifteen