Don’t Forget About Flank Steak
So I’m back, I am alive, and I still eat a steak every night after I cook about 50 to 100 for my steakhouse customers…and guess
what I wanna talk about, steak…OMG!
In particular I want to address flank steak, which although quite similar, should never be confused with skirt steak. Flank is a relatively inexpensive, thin, trapezoidal shaped, lean, very specifically grained steak. Flank does not cut into typical American portions very well due to its shape, and for this reason flank is often thinly sliced AGAINST THE GRAIN, and served a few slices per person. Have I said flank enough times yet? I’m gonna say it some more.
Flank is a steak that I have never featured on one of my menus but I have prepared it in restaurants I have worked in prior to Caminito, and I occasionally have used it as a special. The most recent time I prepared it was perhaps my favorite, and the inspiration for this post.
Browsing the local farmers market one day I found some excellent grass-fed all-natural flank steak. The steaks were, on average, a bit smaller than their domestic grain and corn fed cousins, but the color and texture were phenomenal, deep ruby red colored, with little to no fat or sinew on them at all. I was so impressed, I had to buy them!
Now came the challenge of how to prepare these steaks. I know you are all asking “how would preparing a steak of any type be a challenge to a beef loving carnivore such as yourself Joe?” The challenge lie in the fact that I am a restaurant steak guy. My steaks are pre-cut and ready to go on the grill the second they are ordered. Flank however is not this way. It is a steak that is better left whole during the cooking process and sliced immediately prior to consumption, rather than before it is cooked.
The difficulty for this is what happens when only one customer orders this steak? Or worse yet when two customers order it at different temperatures?! The answer, as with all great cuisine, is a simple one: don’t give people the option, and serve as a family style entree, for two or more people to share. As far as the temperature is concerned, the more well-done inclined eaters are welcome to have the end pieces, while the other folks can enjoy the nice medium rare interior…nuff said!
With this thought in mind I was planning a menu for a few of my favorite customers of all time, a family of five who I know love the family style dining. Flank to the rescue. I used two of my smaller than average grass-fed flanks for the five of them and with sides and salads was more than enough. However, flank steak on its own does not have a lot of fat, and therefore is not the most flavorful piece of beef, so I needed to do something to flavor it up a bit.
The perfect thing for a steak with a high ratio of surface area to interior mass is a spice rub. There is almost more outside to flank than inside, and this is the perfect combo for developing a delicious and flavorful crust. Taking a recipe from the archives I decided to use my basic black peppercorn rub.
There are a few points to take into consideration when applying this spice rub though. The first is that you want to develop a crust, which is a dry thing, not a wet soggy one, so start with dry steak before you apply the seasoning. This can simply be done by firmly patting your steak with a few layers of clean paper towels to remove excess surface moisture. Next, liberally apply the spice rub to completely coat the entire exterior of the steak; patting it firmly onto the meat. You will know you are done when the exterior of the steak is completely dry with a complete spice coating. I like to let my seasoned steak rest for 10 minutes before putting it on the grill, if during this 10 minutes any of the exterior becomes moist, just add more spice rub to make completely dry again.
For grilling and serving there are a few good (correct) ways to do it. The steak and your grill need not be lubricated with cooking oil because the dry steak should not stick to your grill. To doubly ensure that sticking does not happen, get your grill decently hot before cooking (medium-high at least). Flank is thin steak so for medium rare it will not take long, no more than 5 minutes per side. But please, please, please, let this steak rest for at least 5-10 minutes before you attempt to slice it. This is done in order to retain the precious juices inside this wonderful meat, the exterior crust will help act as a barrier as well. Now that you have waited patiently, get out your sharpest, thinnest, longest knife, and sharpen it some more. You are now prepared to begin slicing your masterpiece, do so with great care, AGAINST THE GRAIN, and about 1/8″- 1/4″ thick.
Fan out your slices artistically on a serving platter, taking special care to make sure that you display a good portion of both the seasoned crust and perfectly cooked interior. You will now be faced with the great and painful dilemma of chefs and cooks across the globe: Actually serving this beautiful display, and watching your hungry guests devour with ravenous speed this wonderful and under utilized cut of beef, while making a disastrous mess of your meticulously plated family style steak dinner.
You could, if you wanted to, follow this method for any steak, but it truly works best with flank. As I mentioned before, flank is relatively inexpensive and readily available (even at the farmers market) so why not try it. I was certainly glad I pulled this dish out of the archives..and oh yeah, my family of five LOVED IT!
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to receive future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Photo by: TheBittenWord.com
Related posts:
