Grilled marinated flatiron steak, fresh green beans, and potatoes…
This was such a low-key yet delicious meal. Flatiron, or top blade steak, has “a rich, deep, beefy flavor,” to quote the guys who wrote “The Complete Meat Cookbook” (Aidells and Kelly). Yes, there is the “signature” line of gristle down the middle of the steak, but for the economical price and BIG flavor, it is worth a little work!
I marinated four steaks (they are not big) for about 4 hours in one of my favorite marinades from the same cookbook. I lucked out and found the marinade recipe online – how easy to cut and paste! <grin> NOTE: I poke holes in both sides of the steaks with a toothpick before marinating. Every 1/2 inch or a bit more or so.
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Chipotle-Orange Marinade
From The Complete Meat Cookbook (Canada, UK), by Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly.
Ingredients:
2 tsp grated orange zest
1 cup fresh orange juice
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp minced garlic
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp chopped canned chipotle chile in adobo, Herdez brand, or 1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions:
Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl.
Yield: Makes 2 to 2-1/2 cups
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FYI – I often use chili garlic sauce in lieu of garlic and chilies, but this time I used the garlic as called for in the recipe and the teaspoon of red pepper flakes. It is all good! Actually, for this meal, I used lemon zest instead of orange. No matter. I think anything citrus is the key.
After the four hour soak, I removed the steaks from the marinade, gently patted them dry with a paper towel, and put them on a baking rack over a pan and set aside (in a safe place since one does not want to sorely tempt the dog and cat) to get closer to room temperature before grilling. NEVER more than a hour for that! The goal is to get the inside temperature close to that of the outside for more even cooking, but be safe!
Steve was, as always, the grill person – he removed the steaks from the grill once they registered about 125 or so degrees with an instant read thermometer. We then let them rest for a bit while covered in foil.
NOTE: the one thing I do NOT do in “the kitchen” is grill. So, that is all I can say about that, except that they came out just a touch more than rare but not at all medium-rare, and I could cut mine with a dinner knife. YUM. 🙂
We were blessed with green beans from the garden I am attempting to help with (long story, but it is doing pretty darn well with way less attention than it deserves!), and the recipe was quick and easy.
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Sesame Green Beans (click recipe name to go to the allrecipe page)
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
* 1 pound fresh green beans, cut into 2 inch pieces
* 1/4 cup chicken broth
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* freshly ground black pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat. Add sesame seeds. When seeds start to darken, stir in green beans. Cook, stirring, until the beans turn bright green.
2. Pour in chicken broth, salt and pepper. Cover and cook until beans are tender-crisp, about 10 minutes. Uncover and cook until liquid evaporates.
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FYI – I only had about 10 oz of beans and used 1/2 cup stock. It is a flexible recipe.
I also served potatoes. I bought some small, new, red potatoes from Farmland, my favorite grocery store here in Wakefield MA. I cut them in half and steamed them until tender while heating up the water in the bottom of my double boiler. Once fork-tender, I put them in the top of the double boiler with some butter – okay, I used Smart Balance ™ – and a dash of lemon juice. The double boiler kept them nice and hot without overcooking them until the rest of the meal was ready to serve. by the way, you can keep things hot, safe, and not overcooked for a long time in a double boiler.
And….Along with the garden I am helping with, we are doing container gardening here at Armory St. We had our first tomato this evening. yuuuuuum…. I sliced it and put it over a bed of romaine lettuce (also from that other garden, although we have plenty or green leaf lettuce growing stupendously well in some boxes on our attic balcony) sprinkled with oregano and then drizzled in olive oil. WOW. THAT was such a treat.
So, that is the latest – enjoy!