What's for Dinner?! Ginger Lime Flank Steak

This has to be one of my favorite things to make...particularly in the summer when pretty much everything is itching to be thrown on the grill. It's easy, can for the most part be done ahead, and the clean-up is a cinch!  I'm sure there are other great marinades out there, and I have a couple of variations that I do as well, but this one is in my opinion, the most flavorful and a twist different than your basic steaky sort of marinade.

I made the flank steak a couple of days ago to take to another friend who just had a baby.  And in my haste to get out the door, I forgot to take a picture of the finished product.  So oh well.  And you'll never believe that not only did I have to jump start my car in the morning, I had to do it again on my way to take the meal.  And this time I at least knew all of the steps to do it correctly since I'd just typed it up that afternoon for all of you!

So anyhow...the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1- flank steak (I like to get as close to 2 lbs as I can.  They shrink up a good amount and there are a ton of things you can do with the leftover steak....think quiche, fajitas, sandwiches.) 
• 4 tsp Gourmet Garden Ginger (it is fresh ginger already ground up in a tube...much more flavorful than the dried stuff and easier than the fresh root.) 
• 1 lime
• 1/3 c Soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp Lawrys seasoned salt
• 1/2 tsp thyme 
• 1 tsp parsley 
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

Put your steak in some sort of dish that you can marinate it in for several hours.  I always do this part first thing in the morning (sometimes even while my kids are eating breakfast.)  It's the best if it marinates at least 8 hours, and it's unbelievable if you even do it overnight.

With a fork, pierce the meat several times on one side.

Put 1 Tbsp garlic on top, and then 2 tsp of the ginger paste.  Then smear that all around to cover the meat...you can use a fork or your hand.  Just cover it semi-evenly.




Evenly sprinkle about 1/4 tsp of Lawrys, 1/4 tsp thyme, 1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper, 1/2 tsp parsley all over the meat.

Once the meat has the seasonings all over it, squeeze 1/2 of the lime over top of it, and pour about 3 Tbsp of Soy sauce evenly around the top of the steak.  It will look about like this picture below.  Then flip the whole steak over and do the same entire process from piercing to soy sauce to the other side.  Cover with plastic wrap and keep in fridge 8+ hours til it's time to grill it.

To grill it, I get my grill preheated to somewhere round about 375-400 degrees.  The key to a good sear on the outside is not to stand there messing with it.  Put the steak on the grill, close the top and set a timer for about 8 minutes.  And then leave it alone til the timer goes off.  Flip the steak, set the timer for another 8-9 minutes and then go out and check it for doneness using the hand method I showed you yesterday.  For those of you who like your steak medium rare to medium, it's probably done to your liking after this time period.  For those of you who want it a little less pink in the center, you may want to keep it on a bit longer.  Be aware though that because of the cut of a flank steak, the center will have more pinkness, while the edges of the entire steak will be cooked more.  When serving a crowd, keep this in mind depending on the way everyone likes their steak.  You'll end up with varying levels of doneness on this cut of meat.

When you take the steak off of the grill, let it "rest" without cutting it for about 5-8 minutes.  This will allow it to seal in the juices a bit more.  When you cut this steak, you're going to cut it on a 45 degree angle so that your pieces will look much wider than if you cut straight down.

I of course forgot to take a picture, but I found another one to show you from a lady named Kath Dedon (thank you google images.)




I think that for this simple steak, it's nice to have a starch to accompany it.  My family loves onion roasted potatoes, and the following recipe is great!  In case you forget the ingredients, look on the back of the Lipton Onion Soup box because that's where I got it!


It's about 2 lbs of potatoes (i like red skinned for these), 1/3 c oil (I prefer olive b/c it's healthier), and 1 packet of Lipton Recipe Secrets Onion soup mix.  Cut your potatoes into bite sized chunks, put them in a ziplock bag, add the oil and soup mix and shake.  Bake at 425 for about 35 minutes or until golden brown.

This is a super easy meal and guests always love it too.  I recommend serving it with a green salad or green beans...something green anyways.

Hope you all enjoy this one!  Would love to hear your feedback when you try it, and believe me...it's one worth trying!

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