Perfect No-Grill Grilled Flank Steak
My tried and tested fail-proof method
I am the girl who will stand outside in my winter coat, shaking hands clutching my frozen tongs, all for grilled red meat. If you are not like this, follow my very well-tested method for a perfect medium rare steak with all the charry bits. Slice it to fill lettuce wraps, chop it up for tacos, top a salad with it, or eat the edges with your fingers before it even makes it into any of those.
Ingredients
A flank steak approximately 1 lb. This shouldn’t be hard to find in your grocer’s meat section, it is a pretty popular size for this cut. The most important thing is that it’s evenly shaped, like not way thicker on one end than the other. A little bit of fat is good, but avoid a huge slab of fat.
Instructions
Season all over both sides with salt (more salt than you think is enough) at least 30 minutes to 1 hour before you cook it, and let it get to room temp while you prep everything else.
When you’re ready to cook, heat a cast iron skillet to medium heat and add in a hefty drizzle of olive oil and a little butter (olive oil has a pretty high smoke point, meaning it doesn’t burn easily. Butter here adds flavor, but it has a pretty low smoke point, so it can’t do the job alone). To test the heat, drop a drop of water into your pan, it should sizzle immediately but not aggressively.
Right before cooking, pat the meat dry with paper towels (this is essential to getting that charry crust) and then season with some cracked black pepper.
— At this point, depending on the direction you wanna go for the rest of the dish, you can add another few seasonings. So for a Cuban situation you could do cumin and coriander. For a classic steakhouse feel, douse the steak in worcestershire during the salt step, then pat dry, asian inspired meals could benefit from a soy sauce, sesame oil, or gojuchang paste marinade —
Put the steak in, fat side down (if it has a fat side) and don’t touch it for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, pull up a corner with tongs and check it. You’re looking for a nice brown crust. If you see that, flip it. If not, give it one more minute. After 6 minutes if there is no crust, you probably aren’t going to get that crust on that side. Flip it and cook 3 more minutes (or 2 if you did 6 on the first side), then remove and place on a clean cutting board. Set another timer for 10 minutes to rest. Do not touch it for 10 minutes. Slice diagonally against the natural horizontal grain of the meat with a sharp knife and serve.
*complete the meal — pictured with my summer corn salsa (recipe coming soon!).
