My New Favorite Cut

Fork's favorite cut of beef is a tie between flank steak and skirt steak. He says they're the most flavorful cuts and "just taste the best." They're also very forgiving, he says. Dedicated readers of this blog will notice I don't cook a lot of beef, but it's not because I don't like it. I just don't really know what I'm doing. But flank steak and skirt steak are forgiving! And flavorful! And I am here to tell you Fork was absolutely right. (Duh!)

I picked up just under a pound of Skirt Steak and marinated it for an hour in a Ziploc bag filled with a delicious puree made from olive oil, soy sauce, scallions, red onions, garlic, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, cumin and brown sugar. After an hour, I took the meat out, blotted it semi-dry with a paper towel, and fired up my griddle on the highest flame for a full five minutes. And then, I laid the meat onto the sizzling hot pan, and sizzle it did. The sizzle was very dramatic and meaty, I have to say. It made me feel like a serious chef. Or it did for just a few minutes, anyway, because the steak didn't take very long to cook. About two minutes per side (I'd cut the meat into three pieces), and then I took it off the pan to rest.

The steak had taken on a black char in parts, I'm guessing from the sugar in the marinade hitting the super-hot pan. But inside, it was perfectly medium rare. The marinade gave the steak a little bit of heat, but also a subtle sweetness. It was pretty fantastic, actually. I think I may have a new favorite cut of beef now, too.--S

Skirt Steak

1/2 c olive oil
1/3 c soy sauce
4 scallions, washed and cut in 1/2
2 large cloves garlic
1/4 c lime juice [I used lemon juice, only because I didn't have any limes]
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1/2 t ground cumin
3 T dark brown sugar or Mexican brown sugar
2 pounds inside skirt steak, cut into 3 equal pieces

1. In a blender, put in oil, soy sauce, scallions, garlic, lime juice, red pepper, cumin, and sugar and puree. In a large heavy duty, zip top bag, put pieces of skirt steak and pour in marinade. Seal bag, removing as much air as possible. Allow steak to marinate for 1 hour in refrigerator.

2. Remove steak from bag and pat dry with paper towels.

3. Heat griddle at highest flame and let it heat up for five minutes. Put steak on griddle and cook about two minutes per side. Let rest 10 minutes.

Marinade from Alton Brown