Be Brave
If you are like me you really enjoy a steak cooked on the BBQ. I always tend to stick to well-known cuts like sirloin, fillet or rib-eye. They are readily available and for the most part pretty straightforward to cook.
There is a group of cuts that get described as the ‘cheaper’ cuts, but get rave reviews. I’m constantly seeing fantastic social media posts of cooks but, for some reason, I have never taken the plunge. If I am honest, I have been a little put off by warnings of the doneness to cook the steak to, and then a little anxious about getting the cut right, as you need to slice the meat across the grain.
So I have made a decision to start using these ‘cheaper’ cuts and sharing my thoughts and method to hopefully help people if like me, there is a little trepidation about cooking with these cuts.
First up is Flank Steak to be the main star in these Flank Steak Tacos.
Preparation and the Cook
Marinating
The first thing I did was marinate the Flank Steak. They were placed in the marinade for 7 hours, which imparted good flavour onto the meat. However, next time I will aim for an overnight marinade.
Cooking
About 30 mins before I wanted to cook, I took the Flank Steak out of the fridge, in order to start bringing it up to room temperature. Next was the job of lighting the BBQ. For this cook, I used the Weber GBS and charcoal from the Green Olive Firewood Company. Once the charcoal was ready to pour from the Chimney Starter, I banked it all over to one side of the BBQ, creating a direct and indirect zone.
Now for the cooking of the steak. I place it on the direct area of the BBQ and cooked it for approximately 90 seconds on each side. I cook to temperature rather than time, so use a Thermapen to check the temperature.
With this cook, I was looking for the meat to be rare to medium rare. When the Flank Steak hit a temperature of 45°C, I took them off the BBQ and wrapped them in tin foil for 5 minutes. Some places of the meat probed slightly higher, but this is not something to worry about. You will not get a uniform temperature throughout the meat.
Wrapping allows the steak to rest, but it will continue to cook as it is resting.
Whilst the Flank Steak was resting I warmed through the tortillas. I could have done these on the BBQ, but just used a hot frying pan (with no oil) to dry fry them. These were just mini-tortillas from Tesco. For a more authentic cook, you could order some from retailers like Cool Chilli, who also do a selection of condiments, or even make your own!!! This was a midweek cook so the Tesco-bought tortillas worked great for us.
Constructing
Once the steak had rested I constructed the tacos. First on the taco was Pickled Red Cabbage, followed by the sliced Flank Steak. Next was Picked Cauliflower, a couple of dollops of Sour Cream and a good serving of Tomatillo. I will be cooking this again and will certainly play around with the toppings.
The Verdict
First off my anxiety was misplaced. This cook was so easy from marinating the steak through to finishing the cook. The results were amazing. The steak was so tender and really flavoursome. I could taste the marinade but would have liked it a little more prominent. That can be solved by a little longer time marinating.
The toppings I used went really well with this too. I will definitely experiment with them a little more. Alternatives could be spooning over a generous helping of chimichurri or add candied Jalapenos.
Overall, a really enjoyable cook and one that can be done as a midweek dinner!! Bring on more Flank Steak Tacos.
Flank Steak Tacos
Ingredients
- 500 g Flank Steak
- 3 tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 tbsp Tomatillo (Green Salsa)
- 1 Garlic Clove (Crushed)
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 1 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1 tsp Salt
- Juice and Rind from 2 Limes
Instructions
- Mix the ingredients together and then pour over the Flank Steak. Make sure the steak is well covered with the marinade and then place in the fridge. I would recommend doing this overnight if you have time.
- Take the meat out of the fridge 30-60 minutes prior to cooking. As it is coming up to temperature light your BBQ. You are going to want to get it really hot so you can sear the outside of the steaks in the short cook time this is going to take.
- When ready to cook, place your steak directly over the coals and cook for 90 seconds. If you have a lid on your BBQ, put this on as it will help prevent flare-ups.
- Flip your steak and cook for another 90 seconds and then check the temperature. You want to aim to cook the steak medium-rare, so when it is probing at 45°C take it off the BBQ. It will probe at different temperatures so don't worry if it is a little under or over in places.
- Wrap the steak in foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Whilst the steak is resting heat through your tortillas. You can either do this in a hot frying pan by dry frying for around 30 seconds each side, or warm them on the BBQ.
- After the steak has rested for 5 minutes, unwrap and slice across the grain.
- Now it's time to construct the taco. I added Pickled Red Cabbage as the base and then topped with the sliced Flank Steak. I then added some Picked Cauliflower, Sour Cream and Tomatillo on top of the steak and served.
Thought I’d give these a try. I have never BBQed flank steak before. They turned out excellent.