So, you know how my sister-in-law Cora is going to start writing for the blog now? Apparently she and her husband (a.k.a. my brother) are on a quest to take over my blog because now HE has written up a recipe to share on the blog. Fine by me…less work for me, more good food for you! Also, the recipe he is sharing is in a competition and we need your votes. It’s easy and you don’t have to sign up for anything, so if you’re bored…GO VOTE! YAY! He’s in the East bracket at the very bottom. Without further ado, here’s Christian! 

This is Jane’s overly bearded brother, Christian. Husband of Cora, whom you might remember from such blog posts as Charcuterie for 500, please, Alex.

We bought a house about 2 years ago, moved in and discovered the kitchen oven didn’t work. Like, at all. (Actually, turns out the gas lines didn’t work either as evidenced by the 3 or 4 fire trucks that greeted us within the first week of living in the house, much to the joy of the then 4- and 6-year-olds in the family.)

In the interest of roasting two birds with one heat source, we went ahead and bought a smoker. With no working oven in the house. My wife obviously has a good sense of humor”¦ and an insatiable desire for smoked flank steak. She saw the irony, but also the perfectly smoked bark and juicy inside of our first brisket. It is an oven after all. It just doesn’t make your house hot in the summer.

Today I’m here to share a spectacular grilling recipe of mine with you, born from that smoker, in hopes of warming up the weather to bring on spring. And if it looks good enough to you to lick the screen, I’d love your vote in the “East” division of this lil’ March Madness-style BBQ competition I’m in, bottom right. It’s a tight race and should only take 1 minute. UPDATE: You can’t vote for Christian because he won the competition! SO AWESOME! Go, Christian!

This recipe has emerged from many a trial-and-error cooks. And it’s my favorite. If I made and sold my own barbecue sauce, this would be sketched in the background of the label. It uses the smoker first and then the grill to finish it off. If you don’t have a smoker, you can skip step 3 and go straight to the grill. It will still be delicious.

But let me tell you. It only takes one smoke to never stop.

If you have even the faintest of a smoke itch, check out a pellet smoker. It makes monitoring the heat source as easy as turning a dial and then you can focus on mastering the craft of BBQ, complete with wood-fueled flavor. And if you’re really feeling the urge to take on Spring with a vengeance, pick up Franklin’s BBQ book. In hardcover; it’s way more fun that way. If you can cook it in an oven, you can cook it in a smoker. Smoking opens up all sorts of culinary opportunity.

With that, enjoy the recipe! And support competitive smoking (I’m the bottom right matchup). It’ll only take a second and then the steak will be spread to more beloved hearts.

Smoke ’n Grill Flank Steak

 

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Get the smokey goodness of the smoker and the searing punch of the grill all in one glorious, marinaded slab of heaven. The smell of the marinade will make you want to pop open a beer at 11:00am, the aroma of the smoker will get the neighbors peaking over the fence, and the fire of the grill that afternoon will ensure your status as BBQ god amongst friends.

Author: Christian Wallin

Ingredients

• 2 lb flank steak
• ¼ cup red wine
• ¼ cup vegetable oil (I don’t use olive so it doesn’t solidify in the fridge)
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ⅛ cup soy sauce
• A little less than ⅛ cup Worcestershire sauce
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 limes, fresh squeezed

Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients for the marinade in a bowl. Give it a stir and take a good whiff - it should make you want to lick it. Need some more citrus? A lil' more garlic? Add it. I like a strong garlic presence, solid lime scent, a wave of soy and enough Worcestershire sauce to make it unique (a little less than ⅛ cup).
2. Put it in a plastic bag with the meat. Push out as much air as you can without shooting the marinade across the counter. Toss it in the fridge for 8 hours. I use vegetable oil instead of olive so the marinade doesn't solidify in the fridge.
3. Load up your smoker with your wood of choice. I often use mesquite or hickory, maybe some apple mixed in. Keep it at about 180-200 degrees for 3 hours. If your steak is smaller, shoot more for 2½ hours.
4. In the last 30 min of smoking, fire up your grill. I use charcoal because I can get it HOT. You want it as high as you can get it. Visiting my parents once I set their gas grill aflame getting it to where I wanted it. Not the safest grill moment I've had but had a hell of a good sear.
5. Once your coals and grill are hot (HOT), transfer the steak from the smoker. Grill it about 3 minutes per side. You want to sear the dickens out of it, getting some nice char and grill markage. It will go about a minute faster than usual because the temperature of the meat is higher from smoking.
6. Knowing when to pull a steak off is a bit of an art, but just takes practice. This steak is a little different because it will seem stiffer from smoking, but follow you gut. If you're unfamiliar with steak doneness, Google "using palm to test steak." It's remarkably accurate.
7. Pull the steak off the grill, wrap in foil and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.
8. Carve that sucker, against the grain. Pencil-width slices. Adorn with Chimichurri sauce and sides of your liking. Crack a beer or other favorite beverage and bask in the smoky grace of BBQ.

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Chimichurri

 

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Author: Christian Wallin

Ingredients

• 1 bunch cilantro, washed WELL and chopped
• 6 large cloves garlic, minced
• ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 1 lime, fresh squeezed
• 1 tablespoon diced red onion
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Put all ingredient in a food processor or blender and ZOOT! ZOOT!
2. You're done. Easy. Be a hero and offer it to your guests for their steak.

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This past March, Julie from the food blog The Little Kitchen shared a recipe for flank steak with chimichurri butter. As soon as I saw her post I knew I had to make it. In fact, if I remember correctly, I made it for dinner that very night! (PS: Julie is super sweet and cute and I want to take her home in my pocket. And also make her cook dinner for me. Do you mind, Julie?)

So, Julie’s recipe is wonderful. The marinade was perfect and the chimichurri butter was delish! Be warned – the herbed butter packs a lot of flavor, a little bit goes a long way! Please visit Julie’s site to get the recipe for the marinade and for the chimichurri butter. You will not be disappointed.

I used Julie’s recipe for the chimchurri butter to top the steak. I didn’t have the Land O’ Lakes butter/olive oil mixture she made it with, so I used half butter and half olive oil and it came out great!

Today I wanted to highlight the technique Julie used for cooking the flank steak because the steak came out perfectly and the texture was amazing. I know summer has started and we’re all itching to use the grill, but you don’t need the grill for this recipe, which means you can make it any time of year! You do need a grill pan, however. If you don’t have a non-stick grill pan, I recommend it. I love mine and use it all the time to grill chicken!

So, the flank steak. This technique is pretty much foolproof! I just wish I had taken photos of the steak after I cut it so you could see the beautiful color inside, but you’ll just have to take my word for it. It was gorgeous!

Cooking Flank Steak

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

20 mins

 

I learned this technique from Julie at The Little Kitchen.

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• Marinated Beef Flank Steak
• Olive or vegetable oil
• Grill pan

Instructions

1. Marinate the flank steak at room temperature for about half an hour before cooking. If necessary, cut the steak in half so that the pieces fit in your grill pan. Use your favorite marinade! I loved the marinade that Julie used and shared on The Little Kitchen. Scrumptious!
2. Heat the grill pan on medium high for about 5 minutes.
3. Drizzle the pan with a swig or two of olive or vegetable oil and rotate pan to spread the oil around.
4. Add steak to the pan, sort of moving the steak around for a few seconds at the beginning to spread the oil evenly beneath the surface of the steak.
5. Cook on each side for about 3 minutes. Then, cook on each side for 1 more minute per side.
6. Remove from pan and let rest for 5 minutes before cutting. Cut steak into slices, against the grain, and serve!

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OTHER RECIPES YOU MAY LIKE:

• Chicken Fried Steak
• Cooking a New York Strip Steak
• Cooking the Perfect Steak

EQUIPMENT I USED TO MAKE THIS RECIPE:

• Calphalon Unison Non-Stick 12-Inch Round Griddle Pan
• Wusthof Classic Chef’s Knife
• Epicurean Kitchen Series Cutting Board