4th Food - 2 of 2 - Pepper-&-Herb-Crusted Flank Steak

My second solo meal for the 4th was Pepper-&-Herb-Crusted Flank Steak also from Big Bog Gibson's BBQ Cookbook. The flank steak was marinaded in a 4 herb marinade for 2-12 hours (8 for me) and then went straight onto the grill and was direct grilled over high heat for 10 minutes. It was rested for 10 minutes and then cut across the grain on the bias (angled) into 1/4" thick slices. I gotta tell you this was one of the tastiest pieces of beef I've ever had in my mouth. The marinade had retained all of it's potency and add to that the flavor of the charred beef and mesquite chunks and you had something great.



The herbs were tarragon, thyme, rosemary & garlic





The remaining ingredients for the herb paste were table salt, red pepper flakes, brown sugar, black pepper, EVOO & soy sauce.





The herbs are all chopped and it is time to make the herb paste.







Before and after mixing pix on the herb paste.







The 1 3/4 pound flank steak has been coated with the herb paste on all sides.





The flank steak grilled for 5 minutes a side over direct high heat. I used mesquite chips in the smoker drawer.





The flanks steak gets tented with foil and rests for 10 minutes.





The steak gets cut across the grain on the bias. The temperature probe helped assure a perfect medium rare.





The steak is sliced





The meat was served with some mashed potatoes and savory beef gravy.





The flank steak just exploded with flavor from the herb paste, grilling, mesquite smoke and it’s natural beefy flavor. I was amazed how many complex flavors were present.


Jim

That looks GREAT!

Holy Schnykees! Man, that looks too good. I love those colorful pics of the herb paste on the raw meat.! Eye candy for sure...

One question....did any of the green herbs burn over the high heat? I'm always hesitant to put anything leafy on the grill when I'm using high heat. I'm afraid it will burn leaving an overly charred and bitter taste.

Thanks guys!

Dyal: The herbs did burn but they didn't seem to be any worse for the wear. You still got the herb taste and I didn't detect any burned herb flavor at all. To be honest I wasn't worried about that. The prime rib recipe that I make every year also has an herb paste that gets applied to the meat before it goes on the smoker. When it comes off the smoker you place the roast in a 500 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Just like the case with the flank steak, the roast emerges from the oven with the herbs somewhat blackened but not tasting burned. So for whatever reason this combination of 10 minutes at 500 degrees doesn't seem to bother the flavor of the herbs one bit. In fact this flank steak recipe made one of the tastiest pieces of meat I've ever had.

Jim

Very nice, Jim! I never would've thought to add soy sauce to a fresh herb paste like that but I can see it adding a nice depth of flavor.

Brad

I just finished eating and logged into this site and the first three posts I see are Jims. Im hungry and I just ate.

That looks awesome! Nice cook.

Amazing!!!-- All your cooking looks so delectable, Jim. By now you must have tried thousands of recipes. That gravy is especially irresistible to me.

Beautiful-looking flank steak, Jim. Steven wants to repost on his "post" Fourth of July blog tomorrow. Just giving you a heads-up!

Warmly,

Nancy Loseke
Personal Assistant to Steven Raichlen