Taking a week off doesn't mean there isn't some cooking to be done this weekend. Prep this one tonight, and grill it tomorrow. And praise be to Bon Appétit for the recipe.

Oh, and now that we're getting some warmer weather, expect lots of grilling.

Marinated Flank Steak with Horseradish Sauce

You'll need:

1/2 cup soy sauce.
1/2 cup dry white wine (yes, white for once).
1/2 onion, chopped.
3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary.
2 tablespoons olive oil.
3 garlic cloves, chopped (leave nice, big chunks. No need to mince.)
1 2-pound flank steak, trimmed.
1/2 cup sour cream.
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish.
2 green onions, chopped.

Throw the soy sauce, white wine, the chopped regular onion, rosemary, olive oil, and garlic into a gallon-size Ziploc bag along with the flank steak. Zip it shut around a straw, and force (or suck) out all the air. Quickly remove the straw from the bag and even more quickly finish zipping it closed. (Mom taught me that technique, and it works wonders -- keeps you from having to turn the steak every few hours.)

Put the thing in the fridge and forget about it until Saturday.

In a small bowl, whisk horseradish, sour cream, and green onions together. Cover it in Saran Wrap and stick it in the fridge next to the steak. Your prep work is done a day in advance, and all in under 15 minutes -- and that long only if you're slow with the chopping.

Come Saturday, get the grill going -- red hot coals in the middle, white, ashy ones all around. Pour marinade into small saucepan and boil a minute or two -- or longer, but add more white wine if you do. Cover the steak with a bunch of fresh, cracked pepper. Grill for about five or six minutes on each side, maybe less. While you're grilling, take some of the boiled marinade and baste the steak with it. When done, let it come to almost room temperature, then slice very thin, and diagonally across the grain.

Give everyone a big messy pile of slices, and pour on the sauce.

Serve with steak fries, corn on the cob (you can do that on the grill, too), and the simplest salad you can think of. Try it with a decent red Zinfendel or an icy cold lager.

Feeds six carnivores at a picnic table.

NOTE: Last week, someone asked me if I could post pictures of these creations, to give less-experienced chefs better guidelines. I'd be happy to, only we still don't have a digital camera -- something I'm sure will change just as soon as I get Melissa good and knocked up. But then, you'll mostly be getting pickles'n'ice cream recipes. Anyway.

When it comes to presentation, Melissa is the artist, and I'm just the guy who can cook some good food. So that's what I try to do here with the Friday Recipes -- stuff that is really tasty, pretty simple, and not at all arty. (Well, mostly.) Don't worry much about how the food looks. But if you know enough to hang a picture straight or tie a proper four-in-hand tie knot, then you can probably figure out some way to arrange food on the plate that looks kinda nice.