HEALTHY FOOD so TASTY you'll
want to eat it EVERYDAY.
RECIPE: FLANK STEAK (BAVETTE)
This cut of meat (known as 'bavette' in Europe) can be so tender and moist, but there is a trick...so pay attention! The keys to tender, succulent slices that melt in your mouth lie in both the preparation (a good marinade) and carving (thinly, across the grain). So follow the below instructions and you’ll have a party-pleaser!
PREP TIME: 10 min
MARINADE TIME: 24+ hours
COOK TIME: 10 min
SERVES: 4-6
Olive oil, soy sauce, light red wine, lime juice, garlic, chili flakes, dried oregano
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE MEAT
-
2.5 lb (1.2 kg) piece of flank steak (bavette)
-
Salt & pepper to season
-
1 sachet TASTE OF TUSCANY spice blend
-
1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil
-
SEASON & MARINATE THE MEAT
1) Season the meat with salt and pepper on both sides.
2) Sprinkle one side of meat with 1/2 the contents of the TASTE OF TUSCANY spice blend sachet, rub in with the back of a spoon to help it stick to the meat, flip and repeat on the other side.
3) Place the seasoned meat into a large ziploc bag, pour in the olive oil and seal the bag tightly, trying to remove as much air as possible. Place in the refrigerator overnight (or up to 48 hours).
Place the seasoned meat in a ziploc bag, pour in the marinade ingredients and seal tightly.
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
4) Remove the meat from the refrigerator 1-2 hours before cooking so that it has time to come to room temperature.
5) Set your oven's top broiler (grill) on high (220 C)
6) Remove the meat from the ziploc bag (reserve the marinade for a sauce) and place on a roasting rack within a roasting pan. Squeeze the lime just over the meat.
7) Pour the reserved marinade into a small pot or pan and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat low and let simmer while the meat is cooking.
8) Place meat under the broiler/grill for about 5-7 min per side, depending on thickness. Use an instant-read thermometer and remove meat with the thickest section reaches 130 degrees F (55 C) for medium rare.
9) Place meat on a carving board, tent with foil and let rest 5 minutes.
You can also grill this on the bbq...weather permitting!
CARVE
Thinly slice meat across the grain, at a diagonal angle, and move to a serving platter or wooden plank.
For an authentic South American erve with Chimichurri Sauce.
SERVE
Thinly slice meat across the grain, at a diagonal angle, and move to a serving platter or wooden plank.
For an authentic South American feast, top with a bit of Chimichurri Sauce.
Recipe and photo credit: Cathy Menees
COOK'S NOTES
PREPARATION PROCESS
You can let this sit for overnight in the MARINADE, but 2-3 days is better...if you're good at planning ahead. :-)
Be sure to REMOVE THE MEAT from the refrigerator 1-2 hours before cooking (but keep it sealed!) so that it has time to come to room temperature. This is IMPORTANT to ensure you have meat that is nicely browned on the outside and perfectly cooked on the inside. Placing cold meat in the oven or on the grill means that it will take longer for the center to reach 130 F (55C), which means the outside of the meat will likely burn.
CARVING PROCESS
It's EXTREMELY IMPORTANT to carve the steak across the grain (for tenderness) and on the diagonal (for wider pieces). The longer the meat fiber, the harder it is to chew - so by cutting across the grain (the long fibers) your serving slices will have short fibers, making it much more tender and ‘melt-in-your-mouth’ yummy. Cutting on the diagonal basically gives you wider serving slices, if your flank steak is relatively thin.
TERMINOLOGY
Europeans call the top burner in the oven a grill. Americans call it a broiler. Sigh.
COOKING PROCESS
The cooking time will vary by the thickness of your meat:
-
When I’ve cooked a thin, 1 ½ pound (700 g) it only needed 4-5 minutes per side.
-
When I cooked a 4 ½ pound cut (2 kg) for a party, it was indeed a huge, thick piece and needed about 20 minutes total in the oven.
The best test of ‘doneness’ for flank steak is take it out of the oven or off the grill when the temperature at the thickest part of the cut reaches 130 F/ 55C (for medium rare). Since a flank steak cut tends to taper off and become thinner at one end, this end will be more well done, so you'll have something for everyone's preference.
