Flank Steak Marinade

Flank steak is an inexpensive and usually tougher cut of meat. But it has great flavor if you treat it right.

The trick to whatever marinade you use is the longer the better. At the very minimum, you should have it marinating for two hours. A full day is better.

There are lots of variations butt his is one of my favorite marinades.

Flank Steak Marinade
2 cups soy sauce
3 Tbsp honey
juice of 1 lime
salt
cracked black pepper

We like to use the large freezer bags for the marinade. It offers less mess at clean up time but it also distributes the marinade more evenly over the meat. The key to two of the above ingredients is what it does to the meat to help with the flavor: the lime works to break down the meat so that it more tender and the sugar from the honey helps to caramelize the outside of the meat so it has a nice crust.

It should take about 6-8 minutes per side to cook. The end pieces will be more well done and the middle will be more medium rare. This is just due to the shape of this cut of meat. It's great when you're feeding people who have different preferences on how they like their meat cooked. Make sure you let the meat rest for at least 5 minutes when you take it off the grill so the juices can redistribute.

See tomorrow's Tuesday tips for cooking the perfect baked potato every time. We had our flank steak with simple sauteed spinach.

Simple Sauteed Spinach
1 small bag of baby spinach (pre-washed kind saves time)
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp chopped garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large pot (to allow for the size of the spinach before it cooks down). Add in the garlic and cook until browned, without burning. Toss in the spinach. Add generous amount of salt and pepper to taste. Wilt thoroughly and serve.

Since the meat needs to rest for a few minutes when it comes off the grill, I wait until then to cook the spinach. That way, once we are ready to serve, everything stays nice and hot!