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Using a cast iron grill pan, you can create a perfectly Grilled Flank Steak from the comfort of your home kitchen. Topped with Chimichurri Sauce and served with Fried Plantain/Tostones, this recipe is sure to have your guests begging for more.
Grilled Flank Steak
Welcome to The Daily Speshyl: Summer Series! We’re kicking off June with recipes you can enjoy all summer long. Today you will experience the first of many recipes I have lined up for the blog this summer. This includes grilled foods, side dishes, picnic necessities, & cocktails. Grilled Flank Steak with Chimichurri Sauce served alongside Tostones is the first player up to bat.
I live in a NYC apartment, and anyone that lives in NYC knows that it can be hard to find access to a grill. Combine that with the current situation we’re all dealing with– with stay at home orders due to CoVid-19– and it suddenly becomes even harder to enjoy a nice grilled steak. However, I have cracked the code! I don’t know why it took so long for me to realize that using a cast iron grill was the perfect substitute, but we’re here now & that is all that matters. Now this is not to say you cannot make this recipe on an actual grill, because you absolutely can! You will enjoy it either way. Let’s jump into the recipe with a video tutorial & a few notes below.
Let’s Make The Chimichurri & Totones!
This recipe will be one of the simplest things you can make in your kitchen. Here are a few key steps that you will take:
- Make the Chimichurri: This step takes about 10-15 minutes total. I have a recipe for Chimichurri that you can find here. It is a sauce full of fresh herbs, garlic, shallots, olive oil, red wine vinegar, red pepper flakes, salt and freshly ground black pepper. You will be using half of the batch to marinate the steak, and reserve half to serve on top. This recipe makes about 1-1 ½ cups of sauce, so you may have some leftover depending on how much you want to top your steak with. You can reserve the extra sauce in an airtight container for 2-3 days. It can be used on literally anything– meat, seafood, poultry– whatever your heart desires.
- Prepare & Fry the Tostones: For this recipe you’re going to use 2 green plantains. We’re peeling and chopping the plantains into one inch pieces, and soaking them into a mixture of water, kosher salt, and whole garlic clove. This gives the plantains a chance to soak up all of those divine flavors for 30 minutes and up to an hour. You will then pat the plantain dry so that there won’t be a grease explosion when you place them into the frying pan with oil to cook. They take about 2-3 minutes per side to get them golden brown. You will use a tostone press or the bottom of a glass cup to smash the plantains until they’re ¼ inch thick, dip them into the water, salt, and garlic solution for 5-10 seconds, pat them dry, and fry them for an additional minute. To finish them off, place the plantains on a plate lined with paper towels so the excess oil will drain off. Season them with salt while they are still hot.
Let’s Make The Grilled Flank Steak!
- Grill the Steak: After the steak has been marinated for at least one hour, you’re going to remove it from the ziploc bag and wipe off as much of the chimichurri sauce as possible. If you leave it on, the sauce is sure to burn on the grill once we place the steak on it. Through marination, the flavors from the sauce will penetrate the meat. This means that there is no flavor loss once the sauce is wiped off. Sprinkle the steak with salt, fresh ground black pepper, and vegetable oil. Be sure everything is rubbed in well, and coats the entire steak. Preheat your grill pan over medium high heat and cook the steak for 7 minutes per side. This will give you a steak that is medium doneness. Cook shorter for rare/medium-rare and longer for medium well/ well done. I suggest sticking with medium doneness for this cut of meat, since it will become tougher the longer it cooks. Let the steak rest for 10 minutes so the juices redistribute in the meat instead of running out onto your cutting board. Cut against the grain into thin slices and top with your reserved chimichurri sauce.
Tips For The Best Results
- For an accurately cooked steak (or any meat, fish, poultry you make) use a food thermometer! I knew that this steak was done once I used my meat thermometer and saw a reading of 145 degrees F. If I hadn’t used a thermometer, I might have pulled the steak off too early.
- Lightly oil the cast iron pan so no sticking will occur.
- Let the steak rest before slicing into it. This is important for retaining a nice juicy steak. Give it at least 10 minutes for the juices to redistribute throughout the meat.
- Cut against the grain (the lines that run up and down the steak) for the perfect bite. No struggle chewing on this side!
Check Out This Video On How I Make Grilled Flank Steak:
Grilled Flank Steak topped with Chimichurri and served with Fried Plantain
- Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
Using a cast iron skillet, you can create a perfectly grilled steak from the comfort of your home kitchen. Topped with Chimichurri Sauce and served with fried plantain/tostones, this recipe is sure to have your guests begging for more.
Ingredients
Tostones
- 2 green plantains
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- vegetable or canola oil
Grilled Flank Steak
- 1 lb flank steak
- 1 cup chimichurri
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
Instructions
Fried Plantain
- Cut off the ends of your plantains and place 2-3 shallow cuts down the length of them. Stick your thumb into the cuts and follow along the seam, under the peel to remove the skin from the plantain.
- Chop the plantains into one inch pieces.
- In a bowl with 2 cups of water, mix in 2 tablespoons of kosher salt and 4 whole smashed cloves of garlic.
- Place your plantains into the water, give them a little stir and let them sit for 30 minutes to an hour.
- In a small frying pan, pour enough oil to fill 1/2 an inch up the sides of the pan. Place over medium-high heat.
- Dry the plantains thoroughly with paper towels and place into the hot oil. Fry for 2-3 minutes per side, until they are golden brown. Remove them from the oil and place them on a plate lined with paper towels.
- Using a tostone press or the bottom of a glass cup, smash the plantains until they are a quarter of an inch thick.
- Dip each pice into the water that was used earlier (with the salt & garlic) for 5-10 seconds. Pat off any excess moisture and return them into the hot oil to fry for an additional minute.
- Remove the plantains from the oil and sprinkle with salt immediately.
Grilled Flank Steak
- Place the flank steak into a large ziploc bag with 1/2 cup of chimichurri sauce. Make sure to squeeze all of the air out of the bag and seal it. Rub the mixture into the steak throught the bag to make sure it is evenly coated & refrigerate for at least one hour (and up to overnight) to marinate.
- Remove the steak from the refrigerator and wipe off the excess chimichurri sauce as best and as much as you can. This will prevent the chimichurri from burning on the steak once you place it on the grill pan.
- Season both sides with salt and pepper, pour on 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil, and massage everything into the meat.
- Preheat the cast iron grill pan over medium-high heat, making sure it it lightly oiled. Once it starts to smoke, place the steak on the grill pan. Cook the steak for 7 minutes per side for medium doneness. I used a food thermometer to make sure my steak was at 145F degrees before pulling it off of the grill pan.
- Let the steak rest for 10 minutes before cutting into it. This allows the juices to redistribute within the meat. Cut against the grain into thin slices. Top with some of the reserved chimichurri sauce & enjoy!
Notes
For an accurately cooked steak (or any meat/fish/poultry you make) use a food thermometer! I knew that this steak was done after using my meat thermometer and seeing a reading of 145F degrees. If I hadn’t used a thermometer, I may have pulled off the steak too early.
Make sure your cast iron pan is lightly oiled, so no sticking occurs.
Let the steak rest before slicing into it. This is important for retaining a nice juicy steak. Give it at least 10 minutes for the juices to redistribute throughout the meat.
Cut against the grain (the lines that run up and down the steak) for the perfect bite. No struggle chewing over here!
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Grilling & Frying
- Cuisine: Western & Argentinian
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