Steak On A Stick — Marcus’s Victory Dinner

Marcus got into the magnet high school. The letter came Tuesday. He opened it at the kitchen table (where everything happens in this house — applications are submitted here, results are opened here, tacos are eaten here, the table does everything). He read it. His face didn't change — Marcus controls his face the way Curtis controls his voice: tightly, deliberately. Then he said, "I got in." I said, "I know. I saw your face." He said, "My face didn't change." I said, "Your hands were shaking." He looked at his hands. They were shaking. He grinned. The grin broke through the control like sun through clouds and my son was fourteen and shaking and grinning and he got into the school that will change his life and I was across the table watching it happen and the kitchen was the room where it happened and Mama's can was on the counter and the can doesn't know but the can was there.

I called Curtis. He said, "Good." I called Darnell. He said, "That boy is going places." I called Andre. He said, "Does the school have a comedy club?" (It does not. Andre was disappointed.) I called Derek. He said, "I'm proud of him." He said "I'm proud of him" about a child who is not his, and the pride in his voice was the pride of a man who has been watching a boy from a distance and choosing to care about his victories and that caring is a kind of fathering that doesn't require blood or papers or a shared name. It requires showing up. It requires saying "I'm proud of him" and meaning it.

Made a celebration dinner: steak (Marcus's birthday tradition, now applied to all major victories), mashed potatoes, asparagus (Marcus has, improbably, started eating asparagus; I credit the debate camp, where he apparently ate cafeteria asparagus and discovered it was not the enemy he'd been told it was). Jasmine made a congratulations card with a drawing of Marcus in a graduation cap that was both inaccurate (he's not graduating yet) and prescient (he will). The card is on the refrigerator. The steak is in the stomach. The boy is in the school. The line holds.

Steak is Marcus’s tradition — started on his birthday years ago, now pulled out whenever something big enough earns it, and getting into a magnet high school with shaking hands and a grin that broke through his best neutral face is exactly that big. I wanted something that felt like an occasion without feeling like a production, something I could make while still being in the feeling of that afternoon, and Steak On A Stick does exactly that — it’s a little festive, a little fun, and it tastes like a celebration should.

Steak On A Stick

Prep Time: 15 min (plus 2 hours marinating) | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 2 hrs 27 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs beef sirloin steak, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• Metal or soaked wooden skewers

Instructions

1. Make the marinade. Whisk together soy sauce, vegetable oil, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, garlic, onion powder, black pepper, and smoked paprika in a bowl until the sugar dissolves.
2. Marinate the steak. Add the cubed sirloin to the marinade, toss to coat, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight. The longer it sits, the more flavor it picks up.
3. Preheat the grill. Heat your grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for 30 minutes before threading to prevent burning.
4. Thread the skewers. Remove steak from the marinade, letting excess drip off. Thread 3 to 4 cubes onto each skewer, leaving a little space between pieces so they cook evenly.
5. Grill the skewers. Place skewers on the grill and cook 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium doneness, turning once, until nicely charred on the outside and still a little pink inside.
6. Rest and serve. Transfer skewers to a plate and let rest 3 to 5 minutes before serving. Serve alongside mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus for a full celebration spread.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 320 | Protein: 38g | Fat: 14g | Carbs: 6g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 780mg