Herb-Garlic Crusted Flank Steak with Pan-Roasted Grapes

I chose this recipe as my “Grand Opening” dinner in the new kitchen. It was a regular Wednesday night with my usual customers (Greg and the girls)…but there was still reason to celebrate. A) The kitchen is SO great. B) Did I mention the kitchen being great? Because it is. It is great.

I ripped this out of Country Living Magazine, September 2014, and the recipe was created by Marian Cooper Cairnes. My take on magazine-recipes are thus: if the magazine is more than a month old, and off the shelves at the grocery story, reprinting is fair game. It’s not a copyrighted cookbook recipe, and it was published to get as much air-time as possible. So thank you Marian Cooper-Cairnes. You’re a cooking genius, because this was amazing.

(The ingredients and instructions below pair this recipe with oven-roasted herbed fingerling potatoes)

Ingredients:

1 package of fresh thyme

1 package of fresh rosemary

2 cloves of garlic, minced (The organic pre-minced in the jar works very well here, due to the technique required.)

Salt and Pepper (The recipe came with original measurements, but I didn’t use them…never do. I cook to taste.)

Olive oil

3 cups of assorted halved and whole grapes (I used green and seedless black, and left the tiny ones whole.)

2 shallots, chopped

1 tbsp of white balsamic vinegar (the original recipe called for 1-2…I found 1 to be MORE than enough.)

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

1 flank steak (they usually run about 1.5 pounds) (Don’t forget to rinse and dry it, or it won’t brown nicely.)

About a pound or so of Fingerling potatoes (Or new potatoes…dealer’s choice…scrubbed and quartered.)

Instructions:

Combine first 5 ingredients. To mince the herbs, use the section of your chef’s knife closest to your hand, and go as fast as you can, over and over the herbs, working your way across the pile. Fluff, recreate the pile, and start over. Repeat until they are finely minced. I then put mine in a bowl, and used a pestle to work in the garlic. The original recipe calls for far, far less of the herbs, but to do potatoes and coat 2 sides of a steak, it took at least 2 Tbsps. of each herb.

I put the quartered potatoes in a bowl, and tossed with olive oil, S & P, and about 1/4th of the herbs. Roast in a shallow pan at 425 for 30 minutes. You’ll have to add more olive oil and salt, and turn them a few times as they roast.

It takes about 15 minutes to cook the steak. The original recipe states to cook it in a large skillet? Do you have a skillet that will fit a piece of meat over a foot long? I do not. I cooked mine on the flat side of my cast-iron griddle. I coated the topside with olive oil, then rubbed on half the herb mixture, then S & P. I flipped at about minute 7, and did the same to the other side. When done, take off and cover with foil.

Let the griddle cool a bit. Put more olive oil in the “skillet”, and pan-roast the grapes and the shallots. I probably tossed and turned this mixture for about 5 minutes or less. It will get a bit brown from the steak…so, so good. Place them in a bowl and toss with the vinegar and S & P.

Slice the steak against the grain into thin slices. Serve topped with grapes and blue cheese, with the potatoes on the side.

This is most definitely my new favorite recipe. It was ridiculously tasty, especially for the quick prep and short ingredient list!