12 posts tagged “flank steak”
As I was sticking this into the oven, I decided this would be something Giada would make. Doesn't she put sundried tomatoes and basil in pretty much anything? Of course, she would probably use mascarpone instead of the goat cheese. Not that I am knocking her, at all, because these are some fantastic ingredients and usually make things taste pretty darn good. Where Giada stocks her mascarpone, I stock my goat cheese. It's one of my favorite kinds of cheese and I think it goes well with pretty much anything. In fact, just today I had some on a salad for lunch, and then stuffed into a flank steak for dinner. Mmm, tangy, creamy goodness.
I have said it before and I will say it again: stuffed meats = delicious. Even when you are low on groceries you can inevitably find something to stuff into a chicken breast, pork tenderloin, flank steak, etc. that will give it a little extra oomph and some more elegance (although if you are trying to make it look elegant, I suggest slicing it a little prettier than I did today :)
To make sure we don't overeat, I usually package and freeze our meats into 2-person portions (or sometimes 4, making enough for lunch leftovers). I mention this because the piece of steak I used for this was roughly 8-10 oz big so if you are planning on using an entire flank steak, you will have to double or triple the amount of stuffing, as flanks tend to be around 1.5 lbs. each. We both LOVE this. It's one of our favorite stuffings for flank.
Here's a tip: it turns out that, even though the pan is sitting on the stovetop when you make the pan sauce, it's still hot as hell from being in a 400 degree oven. So, try not to grip the handle at this time. Not that I have any experience with that or anything...
My pictures didn't turn out too great, due in part to the not-so-pretty slices of flank steak pinwheels and also because I couldn't keep a steady hand tonight for some reason (I'd imagine it could have something to do with the 2nd degree burn to the left palm, if I were admitting I did in fact have a burned palm).
Flank Steak Stuffed with Sundried Tomatoes, Goat Cheese and Basil
Serves 2
10 oz. (ish) flank steak
2 oz. goat cheese, brought to room temperature to soften
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, drained and chopped
3 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp. olive oil
Optional pan sauce:
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tbsp. white wine
Preheat the oven to 400.
Butterfly the flank steak, and then pound is to flatten it slightly. Sprinkle both sides of the steak with salt and pepper.
In a bowl, combine the softened goat cheese, sundried tomatoes, basil, a few grinds of pepper. Spread the mixture on top of the flank steak, and then roll it up to form a log. Secure the steak with kitchen twine or toothpicks.
Heat a large, ovenproof skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the flank steak and brown it on all sides. Place the flank steak in the oven to finish cooking to your desired level of doneness (about 12 minutes for me). Place the steak under a foil tent to rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing.
If you want to make a pan sauce, put the same pan you cooked the steak in over medium heat on your stovetop. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant. Add the wine and deglaze the pan, scraping up all the browned bits (and, whatever you do, don't touch the handle without an oven mitt). Reduce the sauce slightly and then season to taste with salt and pepper if necessary. Strain and serve over the flank steak.
Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 340 / Fat: 21g / Carbs: 4.2g / Protein: 29.3
Tom and I love flank steak but it's been ages since we've had it. What used to be a very inexpensive (but still tasty) red meat has shot up in price lately, I guess due to its popularity. But, I found flank steak quite cheaply last week at our wholesale food store, so I decided to buy a few pounds.
Last night, I made a really simple (but really good) rub for the flank steak and broiled it. This keeps the calories really low (no oil for pan frying or marinating) without sacrificing taste.
Since I used some Mexican flavors in the steak, I wanted to complement it with some Tex-Mex-y sides. I decided to make some corn cakes, layer those with a black bean saute (probably my favorite way to make black beans), the flank steak and finally some salsa.
This doesn't LOOK all that appetizing, but I promise you it's good stuff.
Sugar and Spice Rubbed Flank Steak
1 (1.5 lb.) flank steak
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
Preheat your broiler and spray the broiler pan lightly with cooking spray.
Combine the brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper and cayenne. Rub the mixture onto the flank steak, coating it completely and pressing firmly to make sure it adheres. Let the meat rest with the spices (at room temperature) for about 15-20 minutes. Broil for about 4-5 minutes per side, for medium rare. Allow to rest under an aluminum foil tent for 5 minutes or so before slicing against the grain.
Nutritional Information for just the flank steak (per 4 oz. serving): Calories: 206 / Fat: 9.2 / Carbs: 6.7g / Fiber: 1.2g / Protein: 23.6g
I had some peppers leftover from last night's hash, so I decided to make a pepper steak.
Here's the thing: I have never had pepper steak. We don't go out to eat often, which means we eat Chinese food out even less often. So, when we do, I eat one of my 2 or 3 "go to" dishes...none of which are pepper steak.
But there is a first time for everything right? This is pretty similar to my beef stir fry recipe and I thought it turned out pretty well!
Pepper Steak
Serves 2
1/2 lb. flank steak, cut into strips against the grain
2 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce, divided
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/3 cup beef broth
1 Tbsp canola or vegetable oil
1/2 onion, sliced
1/2 red pepper, sliced
1/2 green pepper, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes, or to taste
salt and pepper
In a bowl, marinate the flank steak strips in 1 Tbsp soy sauce and some ground pepper as you prep the veggies, rice, etc.
Make the sauce: In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the remaining 1 Tbsp. soy sauce. Add the beef broth and some salt and pepper to taste.
Over moderate heat, cook the onion in a little oil until tender.
Increase heat and add remaining oil. Add the beef and red pepper flakes. Cook beef in hot oil until no longer pink. Add pepper slices and garlic to pan and stir fry for 1-2 minutes or until peppers are crisp-tender.
Stir in sauce and cook until thickened. Season to taste if necessary.
Serve over rice.
Since I only cook for two 99% of the time, one of the ways I try to save money...or, at least, not waste money, is to make different meals with the same ingredients. So, if I buy a container of sour cream for enchiladas I will probably plan to make stroganoff the same week. This week I bought cabbage, ginger, and some other vegetables, so I planned to make a couple meals utilizing these ingredients to be sure we didn't waste them. And, since I opened a package of wonton wrappers earlier this week, you can be sure those will make a reappearance here soon :)
Tonight, we had an Asian-themed dinner. We had brown rice, steak that was marinated in Soy Vay (my favorite) teriyaki and grilled...nothing terribly new or exciting there. What I did make that has not yet entered the blog is a quick Asian veggie stir fry.
1 tsp. canola oil (or spray oil)
1/3 cup onions, sliced
1/2 cup mushrooms (shiitake makes the most sense but I didn't have those :), sliced
1/3 cup carrots, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
1/2 cup peapods
1/3 cup bean sprouts
1 cup napa cabbage, shredded
1 Tbsp soy sauce
splash of rice or white wine vinegar
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 tsp sesames
Heat a skillet over moderate heat and add oil.
Cook onions, mushrooms and carrots until tender.
Add garlic and ginger and saute until fragrant, about 30 or 40 seconds.
Add peapods, bean sprouts, cabbage, soy sauce and vinegar and saute about a minute or two until vegetables are tender-crisp. Season to taste.
Drizzle with toasted sesame oil, sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.
This pizza was inspired by many things, including the following:
1. Julie's individual goat cheese pizzas
2. My love for goat cheese
3. A balsamic steak and caramalized onion pizza Tiffany made a week or two ago
4. My favorite salad which is baby spinach, steak, roasted red peppers, goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette
5. My love for goat cheese
There are people in this world who do not like pizza, and I just cannot understand this. There are 1809430 ways to make a pizza and, really, pizza is just amazing. I have come to the conclusion that maybe these people have only eaten pizza at Domino's or their school cafeteria. This is the only reasoning I have. They have not made their *perfect* pizza.
This pizza started out with half a package of Trader Joe's refrigerated whole wheat pizza dough. I made two flatbread-esque individual pieces from that. I prebaked the dough for about 5 minutes this time because the last couple times I have used this dough it has taken longer to crisp up than I had hoped/wanted. This worked out well.
Each pizza was topped with the following:
- 1 oz of goat cheese
- 2 Tbsp mozzarella
- some fresh herbs and ground pepper
- about half of a roasted red pepper
- 1/4 cup sliced mushrooms
- a handful of baby spinach
- 3 oz. of cooked flank steak, marinated in balsamic vinegar, a splash of soy sauce, a little olive oil, a sprig of rosemary and a couple smashed garlic cloves
We just ate this with some grape tomatoes and fresh basil drizzled with balsamic vinegar (hey, I had to get those antioxidants somewhere, since this pizza remained sauceless :)
Apparently the lighting in my kitchen has somehow gotten worse so I apologize for the dark pics as of late.
Per serving (the ingredients above plus 2 servings of the TJ's dough): Calories: 500 Fat: 19g / Carbs: 35g / Dietary Fiber: 9g / Protein: 34g
Surprisingly, I have never made a beef stir fry. I have made chicken stir fry and I have made flank steak teriyaki, but never a beef stir fry. I had the fixins for a stir fry so I decided to make one. I must say, it was SO delicious.
Unfortunately I didn't realize until about 4pm that I didn't have any fresh ginger, and I really didn't feel like picking up any after work. To sort of compensate, I used a little five spice powder. If you have fresh ginger, you should add it the same time you add the vegetables and garlic to the wok.
Serves 2
1/2 lb. flank steak, cut into strips against the grain
2 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce, divided
1.25 tsp. sugar, divided
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. sherry
1/2 tsp. Chinese 5-spice powder
1/3 cup beef broth
1 Tbsp canola or vegetable oil
2 cups fresh veggies you prefer (I used red and green bell pepper, snow peas, mushrooms, carrots, baby corn, bean sprouts, broccoli)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes, or to taste
salt and pepper
In a bowl, marinate the flank steak strips in 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1/4 tsp. sugar and some freshly ground pepper. Let sit for 20-30 minutes.
In the meantime, make the sauce. In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the remaining 1 Tbsp. soy sauce. Stir in the five spice powder, beef broth, remaining 1 tsp. sugar, and sherry.
Heat wok or skillet over high heat. Add oil and heat until it begins to smoke.
Cook beef in hot oil until no longer pink, just a minute or two. Add vegetables, garlic and red pepper flakes (and more oil, if necessary) to wok and stir fry for 1-2 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender.
Stir in sauce cook an additional 1-2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serve over rice.
I haven't quite figured out where the best place to take a picture is yet in our new place. Of course natural light is the best but I rarely have that come dinnertime...let alone on a gloomy day like today. So, this is a little dark, but I tried to compensate by sticking it on top of a hot pink dishtowel. LOL
Well, we are almost settled into our new place but we still have plenty of unpacked boxes and my computer is currently sitting on 2 of them since we haven't bought a desk yet :)
Unfortunately, the kitchen is not nearly as nice as the one in our old place. (Well, in general it is a slightly smaller/older apartment but hopefully one that will let us buy a house sooner since it's much cheaper than our old place). The worst part is the oven/stove. It is really old and practically impossible to cook anything over a low flame without the flame going out completely. I cannot tell you how many times (already) I have left something simmering and come back a few minutes later to find it...well, definitely not simmering. Oh and it sits crooked, which we need to fix before I start having food that is half raw and half overcooked!
I'm still working on making my kitchen functional. I can't seem to find the right place for the trash can, or the garlic, or the prep site. It is definitely going to take some getting used to.
I just went on a wild goose chase so I could find my USB plug in thingamajig to my camera, so I could update the blog. Not a particularly exciting update, but an update nonetheless.
With the weather finally getting nicer, I have been craving salads. So tonight I decided to make a salad topped with sliced flank steak. Not exactly a recipe, but I marinated the steak in an olive oil/balsamic/garlic/Italian seasoning/s&p mixture and ended up broiling it (about 4-5 minutes per side for medium rare).
The salad had baby spinach, toasted pine nuts (which I almost burned, thank you crappy stovetop!), asparagus (cut it into 2" pieces and blanched, boiling for about 2 minutes before putting into an ice water bath), herbed goat cheese, grape tomatoes and roasted red peppers.
I had a little Italian focaccia with it...not homemade. The breadmaker is in one of the aforementioned unpacked boxes :)
I actually went by a recipe (err, as closely as I "go by" recipes) two days in a row. Whoa!
This started out as a Cooking Light recipe but I think it's probably better my way. Heh. Personally, I think CL should just hire me to create/test recipes. What do you think? :)
I made this wish mashed potatoes. I was supposed to roast asparagus, too, but I totally forgot until I was whipping the potatoes. Oops. OK maybe I should not be hired, afterall.
Steak:
teaspoon salt
teaspoon black pepper
(1-pound) flank steak, trimmed
Olive oil
Sauce:
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
garlic cloves, minced
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
sprig of fresh thyme, or pinch of dry
cup beef broth
cup sherry
tablespoon balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
(original recipe calls for green onions to be added in at the last minute but I don't like green onions)
Preheat broiler.
To prepare steak, rub with olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper evenly over both sides of steak. Place steak on a broiler pan; broil 5 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove the steak from oven; loosely cover with foil.
To prepare sauce, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Melt butter in skillet. Add onion and a little salt; sauté 2 minutes.
Add mushrooms, garlic and thyme; sauté for 4 minutes. Add a little more salt to draw out juices.
Add broth, sherry, and vinegar. Bring to a boil and cook until reduced to 3/4 cup (about 8 minutes). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Slice steak diagonally across the grain into 1/4-inch slices. Serve steak with mushroom sauce.
Yield: 4 servings
Tonight we had steak fajitas and southwest corn salad. YUM.
Tequila-lime steak fajitas
Note: I used a piece of flank steak that was about 8 or 9 oz. so if you use a whole piece, you should probably double or triple the marinade.
8-10oz. flank steak
1 tablespoon olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 tablespoon tequila
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. oregano
2 cloves garlic, smashed
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
salt and pepper
Combine all ingredients and marinate for an hour or longer. Grill along with your favorite veggies. I used yellow and red peppers, and onions (the onions were for the hubby, since I don't particulary like them).
Roll into a tortilla with your favorite toppings.
The corn salad was basically a (completely unmeasured) mixture of corn, black beans, green peppers, green onions, tomatoes, onions, garlic, cilantro, a squeeze of lime juice, a pinch of cumin, and a splash each of vinegar and oil.
A random hint: I was always throwing away tortillas because they tend to come in packs of 10 or 12 and we never use them. Now what I do is wrap them in twos using saran wrap, then put those in a ziploc bag and freeze. This way you can thaw as many as you want at a time. If you freeze a whole pack, you will probably have to thaw the whole thing to get them to pull apart from one another, so this works great.
I haven't updated the blog in a while for a few reasons. We are really low on groceries and I have been really low on creativity, so I have been making a lot of the meals already posted and/or really basic things with what's on hand. Plus, Tom was out of town for a few days and sadly, I am just not one for cooking for myself (at least not for three days/nights). We are still really low on groceries, but I did manage to pick up some spinach and fresh herbs today to throw into today's dinner.
Tonight we had flank steak stuffed with spinach, herbed goat cheese mashed potatoes, and a salad of fresh herbs (herbes fraiches!) with grape tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette. I think my hiatus from blogging has caused my picture-taking quality to lessen :P
Stuffed Flank Steak (for 2)
About 1/2 lb flank steak (this is usually about 1/3 of a flank steak)
olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped onion or shallot
3 or 4 handfuls of spinach (I used baby spinach, but you could use any fresh or frozen spinach)
2 tablespoons Italian style bread crumbs or crushed croutons
1 or 2 slices prosciutto
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 350*
Butterfly the flank steak, and pound it, to thin slightly. Salt and pepper both sides.
Heat a little olive oil in a small saucepan. Add garlic and onions and cook until tender. Add spinach just to wilt down. Off the heat, add breadcrumbs and salt and pepper to taste.
Place prosciutto slice(s) on half of flank steak. Spoon spinach mixture over proscuitto and fold over to seal. Normally, I would roll this instead of just closing it like a book, but since I was only using 1/3 of a flank steak, it's a lot more difficult to get the surface area/shape that is conducive to rolling like a pinwheel.
Heat an oven proof pan over medium-high heat. Add olive oil to just coat pan. Add stuffed flank steak to pan to brown, about 2 minutes per side. Move pan to hot oven to continue cooking to the level of doneness you like (for medium rare, this will take only about 10 minutes).
Allow to rest for about 5-10 minutes under a foil tent before slicing.
Herbed Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes (also for 2)
About 10-12 oz of potatoes (usually 1 large russet potato, or 3-5 small yukons or red potatoes)
2 whole cloves garlic
1/3 cup milk, or more as desired
1 tablespoon butter, or more as desired
2 ounces creamy herbed goat cheese
Peel and cut potatoes into large chunks. Add to a pot with garlic cloves and enough cold water to cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil, add salt, and cook until fork tender.
Heat butter and milk until butter is melted and milk has warmed. Stir in goat cheese and heat until mixture is smooth and there are no chunks.
Mash potatoes with goat cheese sauce the way you normally would, be it with a ricer, a masher, a hand mixer...
Whether you keep the garlic cloves is up to you. I tend to just use them to flavor the water, and then toss them. This also works because I don't like chunks of garlic in my mashed potatoes, but if you have a potato ricer you can rice them with the potatoes and they will become fine and part of the puree.
At some point this weekend I decided to use up my fresh green beans and make Greek-style green beans (Fasolakia) which I make all the time and cannot believe I have never posted. Oh wait, I just realized why...I do not have any sort of recipe for them.
Hmmph. Well, this will be a close estimation. I hope.
Greek Green Beans
1 lb. fresh green beans, cleaned and halved
1 onion, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1.5 cups crushed tomatoes
2 cups water
2 tablespoons dried parsley, or about 1/3 cup fresh
salt and pepper
Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add green beans, water, crushed tomatoes, parsley, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower heat a little to cook and thicken. It will take about 40-50 minutes. Add water or tomatoes as necessary.
Sometimes I will cut up a potato and add that in (about 20 minutes into the cooking of the green beans)
Also at some point last week I made white chicken chili. This was my first time making it, and if I made it again, I would add a jalapeno and definitely a red pepper (both for color and taste). Unfortunately I had neither on hand and, like I said, I was working from the pantry.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups chicken broth
1 lb. cooked chicken
2 cans white beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans diced tomatoes with green chilis
2 teaspoons oregano
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
Dash of red pepper flakes
1/2 cup frozen (or fresh) corn, thawed
Heat olive oil in soup pot and add onion. Cook until translucent. Add minced garlic and cook about a minute.
Add broth and all remaining ingredients, except corn. Simmer for about 20-30 minutes before adding corn. Simmer an additional 5-10 minutes.
Top with whatever you like...sour cream, cheese, cilantro, tortilla strips, etc.
(the tortilla strips here are made from whole wheat tortillas, which I baked with some cooking spray in an oven)
