You may finally be finishing up your Christmas ham left-overs, but there’s still time to sneak in one more red and green meal before New Years- that is, if you’re a fan of ‘red’ meat …
For a speedy, rounded meal, heat up the spinach in a separate pan while the steak finishes (or even cook both back-to-back in the same pan) and serve with a slice of toast.
Blackened Flank Steak
[Prep: 5min / Cook: 15min]
Ingredients
– 1lb flank steak
– Worcestershire sauce
– garlic and onion powder
– cajun seasoning or chili powder
– black pepper
– olive oil
- Moderately tenderize your steak with a hammer or by vigorously stabbing it with a fork on each side.
- Drizzle Worcestershire sauce on both sides of the steak and spread with a fork to coat fairly evenly.
- Lightly sprinkle with garlic, onion and cajun/chili powder, then coat with a hefty dose of black pepper (both sides).
- Meanwhile, heat a skillet over high heat and add oil to the pan. When the oil is just about to smoke, throw in the steak and scorch each side for about a minute. Turn the heat down to medium and continue to cook for 5 minutes on each side (medium rare) or until the steak reaches your desired level of doneness.
- Cut in long slices against the grain and you’re ready to eat!
[Serves 2]
Notes
I have trouble finding flank steaks in the US anywhere but Super Target. This may be an anomaly, but if not, a skirt steak or a flank steak masquerading as a “London broil” will also do.- A fillet knife makes slicing this steak a breeze, but a big bread knife is actually pretty good for slicing beef too.
- I often find when blackening that a ton of my pepper and spices come off in the pan and burn up. If you dust some more pepper while it’s cooking, you’ll still have a mess, but you won’t lose too much flavor. Some other ways I’ve seen to keep better hold of your spices include:
- rubbing the spices into the meat
- lightly coating the meat in oil first
- mixing oil/butter in a bowl with the spices before coating, then using the same mixture to baste the meat throughout cooking
- coating the meat in raw egg white before seasoning
Sauteed Spinach
[Prep: 2min / Cook: 5min]
– 2-4 cups fresh, raw spinach leaves
– 2 cloves of garlic sliced / garlic powder / garlic granules
– grated parmesan cheese
– olive oil
- Rinse the spinach.
- Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add about a tablespoon of oil and season the oil with the garlic.
- Throw in the spinach and saute for no more than 5 minutes, keeping the spinach moving in the pan with a spatula. Just as all the spinach is wilting, sprinkle lightly with parmesan cheese and remove from pan.
[Serves 2]