Marinated Flank Steak and a Trial Run

The flank steak and the ingredients for the marinade. The recipe follows.

BOURBON AND BROWN SUGAR FLANK STEAK

Beef or pork tenderloin will also work in this recipe. If cooking in an oven, browning the meat quickly over high heat on the stovetop will sear the outside of the meat nicely.

1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup minced green onions

1/4 cup bourbon

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 (2-pound) flank steak, trimmed

Preheat grill or oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare marinade by combining the all the ingredients, minus the meat, in a bowl. Place meat in a plastic zipper bag, and pour the marinade over the meat. Squeeze out most of the air in the bag before sealing. Place the bag in a dish and refrigerate for approximately 8 to 12 hours, turning the meat over several times.

When grill or oven is ready, place meat on oiled surface. Cook over high heat with lid closed. Once the meat releases easily from the grate, it is time to turn the meat. The tenderloin will cook to rare in approximately 30 to 45 minutes. Allow the meat to rest off the heat, covered under aluminum foil, for 10 minutes before carving.

I made the marinade this morning and put the flank steak in it. Remember to place the plastic food storage bag in another container in case of leakage. I do believe that one of Murphy's Laws' Corollaries covers this occurrence: the one time you do not put the liquid-filled bag in another container would be the one time the bag would leak.

And now we experiment. I have to take a pasta salad for our family's Easter get-together on Sunday, and I need to have a good homemade dressing to go with the salad. I settled on a balsamic vinaigrette and decided to do a test-run for tonight's dinner.

I chopped up several vegetables that I had on hand.

I added the cooked, and not-rinsed, farfalle (psst, bowtie) pasta to the mix. Then the dressing is added and we are ready to serve.

Well, I will blame my husband for this: he came home from work late, so by the time dinner was ready, the last thing on my mind was taking pictures of the food. So I give you the next, best thing: the aftermath. I had seared the meat on both sides, added the remaining marinade mixture, brought it up to a hard boil to kill nasty bugs, and then covered and simmered for several more minutes.

The verdict? My very picky husband liked this dinner very much. Of course, some of that may have been due to the fact that he once again skipped lunch (and he doesn't eat breakfast.). Hey, I'm sticking with the idea that he loves my cooking...