Flank Steak

[SizzlininIN]

Ok....I've never used this cut of meat but am told it can be tough and the trick is to cut it on the bias. The plus side is its suppose to be cheap in cost.

What recipes have you prepared using this cut of meat?

 

[kitchenelf]

This can be an appetizer but VERY easily a main course

1/4 cup olive oil
2/3 cup sherry vinegar
3/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
3 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
3 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
6 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 flank steak, 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 lb.
Salt & freshly ground pepper

You can make this in a bowl and add the meat to it but I made it in a bowl and marinated the meat in a large freezer zip lock bag. Either way, add the olive oil, vinegar, sherry, cilantro, oregano, lemon juice, garlic, and some salt in pepper into a bowl and stir it together.

Remove about 1/3 of the mixture and reserve for adding at the end.
Add the flank steak and the remaining mixture to a zip lock bag and refrigerate for several hours. About 3 hours would be great but 2 will do. Be sure to remove the steak from the refrigerator 20 -30 minutes before you start grilling. It's always better to grill meat at room temperature.

Grill the meat directly over the heat for about 6-7 minutes on each side or broil on broiler pan about 5 1/2 inches away from heat for 5 minutes per side. Or grill for about 5 minutes per side turning the meat over only once. If the meat looks like it is cooking too fast and is starting to burn, just move it over to a cooler spot on the grill. I brushed a little of the marinade on the steak before turning over.

Remove the steak from the grill/broiler pan, slice it across the grain into 1/4 inch wide pieces, plate it, and top it with the reserved Chimichurri sauce.

This is a meat that is more tender when it is rare to medium rare.

 

[kitchenelf]

Or....

1 lb lean flank steak, trimmed of all visable fat
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons honey
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
vegetable cooking spray


Score steak diagonally across the grain at 1" intervals on both sides (in a diamond pattern), and place in a heavy duty zip-top plastic bag.
Combine vinegar with next 6 ingredients, and pour evenly over meat.
Seal bag and shake until steak is well coated, and marinate in refrigerator overnight, turning bag occasionally.

In a small bowl, combine yogurt with mustard, cover and chill 30 minutes.

Remove steak from marinade, reserving 2 tbsp marinade.

Coat a broiler pan with cooking spray, and place steak on the rack.
Broil 5 1/2" from heat, with door partially open, 5 minutes on each side or to desired doneness, basting frequently with marinade.

Slice steak diagonally across the grain into 1/4" thick slices and serve with mustard sauce.

 

[lyndalou]

Yes, you cut across the grain into thin slices . Also, it should not be allowed to overcook or you'll think you're eating your sneakers or loafers or something leathery.

Elf's recipes look very good, think I'll make the second one soon.

 

[Erik]

Sizz...do you have a jaccard meat tenderizer???

http://www.hartlandproduce.com/48-blade-meat-tenderizer,i1390090.html

They are very easy to use, and tenderize flank steaks well.

My favorite marinade for a flank steak:

2c Worcestershire Sauce

2c Italian Dressing

1c Grated Parmesan

3t Crushed Roasted Garlic

1/2 c Red Wine Vinegar

1/2 c Sugar

1 T Seasoning Salt

1 T Crushed Red Pepper

 

[wasabi woman]

think I got this recipe from a Tyler Florence show. Also have to say flank steak used to be inexpensive, but wouldn't call it that anymore!

Soy-Marinated Flank Steaks

serves 4

1 flank steak
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon sugar
Freshly ground pepper

Poke the steak all over with the tines of a fork; cut in half, against the grain, to make 2 steaks (1 steak may be slightly thicker).
In a non-reactive bowl or large re-sealable plastic bag, combine the soy sauce, Worcestershire, vinegar, oil, garlic, sugar, and pepper, to taste. Add the steak, and turn to coat. Cover or reseal the bag and marinate at room temperature for 1 hour or refrigerate for up to 6 hours.
Remove the steak from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels.

Position the rack in the top position in the oven and preheat the broiler. Remove the steaks from the marinade and pat dry. Cook the steaks, for 5 to 8 minutes on each side for rare to medium-rare.
Set aside on a cutting board for 5 minutes.

Cut the steak against the grain, on an angle, into very thin slices.
Arrange the slices on a warmed platter or plates. Serve.

(I use a re-sealable plastic bag and marinate overnight)

Good Luck!

 

[SizzlininIN]

No Erik I don't have one of those........I have a hammer though not really a hammer but one of those tenderizer mallets those things are fun.

So maybe the trick is to marinate it so that it will break down and the meat won't be tough.

I go to the market this week and am planning on buying some and trying out your recipes and ideas.

Thanks everyone I knew I could count on you guys!

 

[AllenOK]

There are a few ways to make a tough cut of meat tender:

Marinate in acid
mechically tenderize by pounding or cubing
Long, slow, cooking times with moist heat to break down the connective tissues, such as braising, smoking, simmering, etc.
-or- Do not cook the meat completely done. In the case of flank steak, medium.
Cut the meat across the grain into thin slices.

On another note, I like to make fajitas with flank steak. I marinate mine, plus cut it thinly against the grain.

 

[SizzlininIN]

AllenMI........I love fajitas..........what do you marinate your meat in for this?

 

[lyndalou]

Wasabi's marinade looks great. I'm copying it as we speak (er, type)

 

[GB]

I just got my latest issue of Cuisine At Home. There is a great recipe for stuffed flank steak. It involves butterflying the steak and it is pretty involved, but it looks great. I am not going to spend the time typing it out since I haven't tried it yet, but if anyone does want it then let me know and I will happily post it.

 

[marmalady]

Wow, GB, you gotta have a sharp eye and a sharp knife to butterfly a flank steak! When I stuff 'em, I just make lengthwise slits about 3/4 of the way through the steak, then kind of 'pound and pull' to even out the thicknesses all around.

 

[GB]

Yeah that is the part I am nervous about. The technique seems to make sense though. Here is what they have you do:

Using a sharp boning knife, score the meat lengthwise down the center of the steak, cutting halfway through its thickness.
Fold the steak like a book along the cut and freeze for 15 minutes to firm it up.
When chilled, CAREFULLY slice the top half of the steak horizontally to (but not through) the end keeping the knife blade parallel to the work surface.
Open up the "wing", flip the steak over, and do the same thing on the other half of the steak.
Unfolded, it should form a rectangle roughly twice its original size.

 

[marmalady]

Hint - Watch all the Jacques Pepin tapes you can to get your knife technique down! Maybe when I find flank steak on sale I'll give it a try!

BTW - have you noticed how flank used to be so cheap, then it 'caught on', and now it's right up there with sirloin and ribeye?

Oh - during my hiatus I must have missed your good news! Congratulations on your new family! Have you posted pics somewhere?

 

[GB]

Thanks Marm I actually got a flank steak today and will give it a try tomorrow. My MIL is spending the night and she is fun to cook for. Since she is helping us out so much I would like to make her something special for dinner. And if I mess it up then...well she is family so it is not like we are having a dinner party or something.

Yeah flank steak is so much more expensive now. I paid $10 for a 1.5lb steak

Our little angel, Rachel, is doing very well. We are so in love with her and so proud of her. I have tons of pictures up on my site so far and have been adding more every day

Click here for pics of my beautiful daughter

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

GB: You've got to look for a local meat processor in your area. I just bought a 1/4 cow and got rib-eye, sirloin, chuck, flank steak, brisket, something from virtually every part of the carcass, and all for 1.50/lb. And the meat quality is far beyond anything I can get at the supermarket. A good steak can't be had for anything less than 8 bucks a pound around here unless you purchase the way I did. The total cost came to $280 with wrapping, and I got the soup bones to boot (nobody knows how to use the variety meats and bones anymore, so there easy to get).

I don't think I'll ever buy meat at a supermarket again. I'll jsut save the money I would have spent out of each payday for the next bulk purchase.

To give you an example of the quality; have you ever eaten a rump roast that was as tender as a prime-grade ribeye? I did today, cooked to 135' on the Weber Kettle using the indirect heat method. I did nothing special to the meat, just seasoned with salt, cooked it, let it rest for 15 minutes, carved and served. I was impressed with the quality.

Lifter told me something his mother told him. The difference between a great cook and a mediocre one is the quality of the meat before it's cooked. After working with this meat, I have to agree. Good meat is very easy to prepare, and prepare well.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[GB]

Goodweed, I will certainly be on the lookout for a local meat processor. I could not agree more that the quality of your ingredients is of the utmost importance.

The area I live in does not have a lot of things like that though. I am lucky there is even a supermarket close by. My area is becoming much more popular though (both a curse and a blessing) so I have high hopes that I will have some options in the future.

As a follow up to my last post, I butterflied the flank steak today in preparation for tomorrow. I did a pretty decent job I think. My initial cut was a little too deep, but the meat is still intact and i think it should hold just fin as long as I am careful. I do not have a boning knife so I used a slicer. I started with long cuts, but then found that after the initial cut I was better off making small slices as I peeled the meat back. It seemed to work pretty well for me.

 

[marmalady]

What a cutie, GB - I adore newborns - they're just so still 'with the angels'.

 

[GB]

Thanks Marm

 

[ironchef]

Carnivore, and old-time member of this board used my recipe and swore by it. And he was a red meat eating machine. Make sure that you trim off all of the silver skin on the steak. That will help to make it more tender. Flank steak is also known as "hanger" or "skirt" steak, so look for that if you don't see any meat designated as flank.

SPICY LIME-CILANTRO MARINATED FLANK STEAK

Yield: Approx. 6 - 8 oz Portions

Ingredients:

3 lbs. Flank, Skirt, or Hanger Steak
1-2 Fresh Jalapeno or Serrano Chiles
6 Medium Cloves of Garlic
1 cup loosely packed fresh Cilantro, rinsed and dried
2 Tbsp. Fresh Thyme
1/2 Medium sized Red Onion OR 4 Shallots, coarsely chopped
2-3 Tbsp. Honey
Juice of 2 Limes
3/4 cup Corn Oil
Kosher Salt to taste

Method:

Combine all ingredients except for the steak and salt in a food processor or blender, and blend until ingredients are well incorporated. Use just one of the chilis, then add in another if you want it hotter. For one chili, use 2 Tbsp. Honey; use 3 Tbsp. Honey for two chiles. In a ziplock bag or shallow dish, place steak and approx. 1/2 cup of the marinade. Massage marinade into both sides of the meat, and marinate overnight in the refrigerator, turning the meat at least twice.

Prepare Grill to Medium-High. Remove meat from the refrigerator, and let it sit at room temp. for at least 30 minutes. Season both sides of the steak liberally with the Kosher salt and place on the grill. Cook to desired doneness, approx 4-5 minutes per side for Medium Rare. Using a sharp knife, slice steak on a bias to approx. 1/8"-1/4" slices. Drizzle the remaining marinade over the meat and serve