I usually do not consume too much red meat, but there's just those days when you crave a juicy, medium-rare steak, and nothing else can satisfy. Recently, a close friend gave me a beautiful, quality cutting board (which I badly needed), and he specifically requested that I take a picture of it with steak on top, and that the cutting board be featured on my Instagram! It was quite a specific demand, but I thought a steak recipe would be nice on the blog, since I haven't written too many beef recipes yet. Since I felt guilty about consuming just a large chunk of meat, I thought it would be nicely accompanied by a fresh and spicy salsa. Flank steak is a cut of meat from the abdominal muscles of the cow-- since it's from a well-exercised part of the cow, flank steak is best when it's cooked to medium-rare and cut against the grain. Flank steak is also a well-known cut of meat, because it's the type of steak that Lady Gaga used to make a "meat dress" to the MTV Video Music Awards.... I'll refrain from posting a picture of that. I hope you enjoy this recipe!
currently listening to:
2NE1- Gotta be you
ingredients:
- 1 lb flank steak
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, cut in half
- 1 bunch cilantro or parsley
- 1 small bunch mint, leaves only
- 1 clove garlic
- 1-2 fresh serrano or jalapeño chiles, seeded
- 4 large scallions
- 2 tomatoes
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lime
prep time: 10 min
cook time: 15 min
serves 3-4
adapted from Jamie Oliver
1. Take the steak out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. Letting the meat come to room temperature before cooking is a key step for any steak!
2. Prepare the salsa ingredients. Finely chop the parsley or cilantro (stalks and leaves), mint, garlic, chiles, tomatoes, and scallions. You may finely chop or roughly chop the tomatoes, depending on how you like your salsa. Transfer to a bowl, and season with salt and black pepper. Add the olive oil, along with the juice from the lime. Let the salsa rest to allow the flavors to combine.
3. Get a skillet or grill pan screaming hot. Season both sides of the steak with salt and pepper, and rub the steak with a healthy lug of olive oil.
4. Add the steak to the pan. Cook the first side for 6-7 minutes without disturbing, then flip it over. Rub the cooked side with the halved garlic, and cook the second side for 6-7 more minutes, depending on your preference and the meat's thickness. Transfer to a plate, and rub the second side of the steak with the garlic. Let rest for at least 5 minutes.
5. Cut the steak against the grain [see video here] into 1/4-inch thick slices.
6. Arrange the steak on a platter, and spoon some of the salsa over the steak.
Enjoy!