Marinated Flank Steak With Chimichurri and Foil Packet Grill Potatoes- Thinking back on my career, I would bet that I've cooked around a hundred thousand steaks. Everyone has their favorite cut of beef to grill, and it's hard to choose, being a steak lover at heart. I will say that the flavor of a properly cooked flank steak is very hard to beat, and as a chef, this cut is probably the most under-appreciated.
With this delightfully powerful marinade recipe your flank steak, (or any other steak benefitting from a little tenderizing and flavor infusion), will come out infused with flavor, and super tender!
Chimichurri originates from a country that really adores it's beef culture, Argentina. The steak is so highly revered in the region, that this sauce is the only condiment that is ever allowed to touch it. Strictly salt and a little pepper for these purists. This slightly tart, herbaceous paste of garlic, parsley, oregano, and olive oil is the perfect way to accentuate the umami characteristics of meat grilled and charred over a fire.
Let's not forget these incredibly easy potatoes! Just season them up, wrap them in some foil, and throw them in your grill, and you have dinner on the way without having to heat up your kitchen, perfect for the summer. If you throw some vegetables on the grates, you have the whole meal done! Minimal clean up, easy-peasy!!
Equipment
- chef knife
- boning knife (you can also use a paring knife or any sharp knife with a thin blade)
- blender
- aluminum foil
- offset spatula
- tongs
- sheet pan
- probe thermometer
Ingredients
Flank steak: this was a one and three quarter pound piece of meat, feeding three people, but this recipe can make enough for as much as two and a half easily. Get choice grade or better, and, as always, look for consistent and thorough marbling of fat to lean, and avoid lots of connective tissue.
Marinade:
- fresh garlic
- worcestershire
- oregano (we used fresh from our garden, but instructions for dried are included)
- apple cider vinegar
- yellow onion
- green onion
- serrano chilis (this actually makes a pretty mild marinade, but by all means jalapenos can be substituted here, or chilis can be omitted altogether)
Potatoes:
- yukon gold potatoes
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- thyme (once again, garden fresh or dried is fine)
- rosemary (same)
Chimichurri:
- fresh parsley (sorry, dried doesn't work here, preferably Italian flat leaf, but curly will work)
- oregano (fresh is best, but dried is ok)
- fresh garlic
- extra virgin olive oil
- red wine vinegar
- lemon zest (this is not traditional, but I find it adds a nice full foundation for the acidity at play here)
Instructions-Flank Steak With Chimichurri
Here you can see some connective tissue, you can identify this by this method shown, fat will look white like this, but it doesn't stretch like this.
Slide the tip of a thin blade right under the edge of the sinew, and gently cut it away. Don't worry too much if some of the meat comes with it, the important thing is to remove this, it will be like chewing a rubber band otherwise!
On the thin edge of the flank, you'll most likely see a fatty tip like this. This is pretty much all fat, so I suggest that you leave it on, even if you want to trim it off when it's finished cooking. The fat is where a lot of the flavor is, and this is a relatively lean cut otherwise.
Get all of the mise en place together for the marinade.
Pick the oregano from the stem if using fresh.
since this is all going in the blender, only a rough chop on the veg is necessary.
Blend it all up until its pureed.
Place the flank into the marinade, covering fully. Pro tip; place some plastic wrap directly over the marinade, this will keep it fresher and help it stay in contact with the meat. Marinate under refrigeration for at least 4 hours, or as much as 16, preferably at least overnight.
Make sure that your potatoes are laid out flat so that they cook evenly.
Chimichurri ingredients.
The blender gets a workout with this recipe!
This condiment can be stored in the fridge for a few days, but freshness is key here, so using it up as soon as possible is best. It's great on any protein, especially if it's grilled.
Variations On Flank Steak With Chimichurri
All of the components in this recipe are easily multi-purposed.
- the marinade can be used for pork, chicken, or even lamb
- the potatoes can obviously be a side to many dishes
- the uses for chimichurri are practically limitless, any protein, especially when grilled, it can be used to finish and brighten the flavor of vegetables, even as a flavor base for other sauces, aioli, cream, let your imagination go wild!
Marinated Flank Steak With Chimichurri and Foil Packet Grill Potatoes
Equipment
- 1 Grill
- 1 Chef Knife
- 1 Boning or paring knife Any knife with a thin, sharp blade
- 1 Blender
- 1 probe thermometer preferably digital
- 6 feet Aluminum foil
- 1 Offset spatula
- 1 tongs
- 1 Sheet pan to transfer packet to grill, or to roast potatoes in oven if preferred
- 1 Microplane zester a standard zester can be used.
- 1 Plastic wrap a length large enough to rest on top of the flank steak
Ingredients
- 1¾ lb. choice flank steak well marbled
Marinade
- 1 oz. garlic cloves, peeled by weight, about 4 large cloves
- 4 oz. yellow onion, peeled and rough chopped one inch chunks, about half of a large onion
- 1 oz. green onion, stems removed, rough chopped approximately 4 each
- 1 oz. serrano chilis, stemmed and rough chopped
- ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce make sure to shake the bottle
- 2 tbsp. fresh oregano, picked if using dried, 3 tspn.
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
Packet Potatoes
- 1¾ lb. yukon gold potatoes any kind will be ok, a yellow and waxy kind will have a sweeter flavor, and buttery texture
- 4 tbsp. olive oil extra virgin is best for flavor
- 2 tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. black pepper
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme if using dry, 2 tsp.
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary if using dry, 1 tsp.
Chimichurri
- 2 oz. fresh parsley, only the thickest stems removed preferably flat leaf, curly is also ok
- ¼ oz. fresh oregano, picked, (about 1 tbsp.) 2 tsp. if using dry
- 3 lg. cloves fresh garlic, peeled
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp. lemon zest roughly the zest from one small lemon
- 4 tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 1½ tsp. salt
Instructions
Flank steak preparation
- Inspect meat for connective tissue and trim away,
Marinade
- Peel and roughly chop all vegetables.
- Place all ingredients in blender, process until pureed.
- Pour about ⅓ of the batch into a storage container large enough to contain the steak and marinade.
- Place the flank into the container, cover with remaining marinade.
- Cover the surface of the marinade with plastic.
- Allow to marinate under refrigeration for at least 4 hours, overnight optimal, but can go for as long as 16 hours.
Potatoes
- Begin heating grill on medium heat, to maintain heat at approximately 350 degrees, (if you would like to do these in the oven, you can heat it to 350 at this time).
- Chop potatoes into 1 inch size chunks.
- Toss with olive oil, whole garlic cloves, and salt and pepper to coat evenly. (if using dry herbs, toss them through with everything at this time)
- Lay approximately 3 feet of aluminum foil out flat.
- Lay potatoes in middle of foil in a single flat layer, with fresh herbs in the middle.
- Fold foil over from the edges and crimp to seal.
- Use the rest of the foil to seal the packet up tightly.
- Using a sheet pan and offset spatula to transfer, carefully place on upper rack of grill, or alternately, a cool spot on the grill,(you can forego the grill process altogether and lay flat on a pan in a 350 degree oven).
- Cook for thirty minutes before removing from grill.
Chimichurri
- Gather and process all ingredients.
- When processing the parsley, you needn't pick each leaf, just get rid of the thickest stems.
- Place all ingredients in blender and blend until pureed.
Grilling Flank Steak
- Remove from refrigerator, allow to warm up at room temp for at least 30 minutes.
- Remove excess marinade, apply salt and pepper to entire surface.
- Place on hot grill.
- Grill on each side, rotating to create even charring and grill marks, about 8 to 10 minutes per side.
- Remove from grill when the temp is reading 120 degrees in the thickest part of the meat for medium rare. (suggested)
- Allow to rest for 15 minutes, slice ½ inch slices against the grain.
Plating
- Place a portion of potatoes in middle of plate.
- Fan slices of steak around, facing front.
- Sauce with chimichurri generously, to taste.
- Lean vegetable garnish of choosing against the potatoes.
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