Flank Steak??

[hungryhousewife Profile]

I quite often see Flank Steak - which seems to be good value - about the same price as stewing steak.
I understand it is a popular cut in the US, and wondered if anyone uses it and what they like to do with it?

I tried a Martha Steward recipe last night - marinating the strips of steak in ginger, garlic and onion for 24 hours - then barbequeing - actually I cooked it on the griddle - it was very tasty!

I'd love to have any tips/tricks etc.

Thanks

HH

[Sakkarin Profile]

One day I intend to contact all the supermarkets and ask them once and for all which parts of the animal all their joints come from, as I am forever looking for cuts a recipe suggests, and not finding anything in the supermarket marked similarly.

Maybe there's a website somewhere with all the UK/French/US/Supermarket names for the cuts (i.e. one of those butcher's animal outlines with the cuts indicated with dotted lines, which when you hover over a particular joint gives you all the variants of name for that cut in a list, or maybe when you hover over a country name the whole piccy changes).

Sorry if that sound confusing, I know what I meant!

[Lusciouslush Profile]

There is.... there is Sakks.....well - pages of a book I have - not a website as such - but just can't remember which one right now will try & remember & sift thro' ( books all in boxes in garage waiting for kitchen to be painted) - it had illustrated cuts of various animals & the differences in English/French & American style butchery - very usefull!

[crempog Profile]

Er, why don't you visit a real butcher? They will guide you to the best cut for what you want to cook. Supermarket meat will never be the best meat, or IMO the cheapest.

No meat ever matures satisfactorily cut up and wrapped in plastic; but that is the usual practice for supermarkets. Even if they say matured for X days, they just mean it was in the cold store for X days, before it went to the supermarket meat cabinets.

I'm a bit biased as we have just had the most delicious rolled sirloin of beef for lunch. From our local butcher.

[denada Profile]

Here you are Sakkarin.These give you all the American and Australian cuts of meat.
http://virtualweberbullet.com/meatcharts.html

This gives British and American cuts.
http://www.123rf.com/photo_9037296_cuts ... agram.html

I found them very useful when I arrived here last year.

[Oldends Profile]

Googled 'flank steak' and found this if it helps...

"Having been a butcher for 30+years I think I am qualified to answer your question! There are TWO flanks, thin flank and thick flank. The thin flank has to be well trimmed and the resulting saleable meat is sold as skirt Because of the shape of thin flank, the trimming of the waste results in there being several pieces of skirt which all vary somewhat in appearance. Skirt has an excellent flavour and fries well and it is also very popular for making cornish pasties. Thick flank, otherwise known as top rump, is a cut adjoining the topside.This can be used as a roasting joint or sliced as frying steak as it has more of a regular 'steak like' appearance."

[hungryhousewife Profile]

Hi Sakkarin - I totally agree - it would be very helpful - but it is also interesting that things that others consider to be delicacy, we in this country often think of as not very good/appetising - for example - in France Onglet is called 'poor mans fillet', whereas here it is put into pasties and pies as a secondry item to skirt steak.

In answer to your question

Er, why don't you visit a real butcher?

Crempog - I do go to my excellent butcher very often, but on this occasion I happened to be in another establishment of excellent repute - but which tends to have more of the American labels/cuts - when I have indeed asked my excellent and renowned butcher about flank steak, or onglet, or other things which we call something else over here, it is probably rather like asking for Rascasse in a British fish shop - it is not a variety commonly found here.
But thank you very much for the otherwise excellent suggestion.

I was really wondering if any of you - perhaps Denada, or Mark - as they are in the US, have any experience of this particular bit of meat, and how to cook it, as I understand that it is the Americans who have found ways of using this tasty but potentially difficult bit of meat.

Many thanks for your replies.

HH

[hungryhousewife Profile]

Thank you Oldends, for trying to clarify where the meat comes from, and indeed I had ascertained this from my butcher here in Berks. Do you use it much, other than in pasties?

It seems that in the States this cut is loved and used on BBQs etc - whereas we here tend to rather disregard it.
This was the reason for my post, as I was interested to know how others used it. It is inexpensive in comparison to other cuts, yet is not necessarily a 'slow cook' piece of meat - unlike other cheaper cuts.

Perhaps, like the previously not much used Lamb Shanks - which are now almost as expensive per person as rack of lamb, we have overlooked this tasty cut of meat
HH

[denada Profile]

HH I've cooked it once to try. I marinated it in a bourbon marinade overnight then bbqed it to medium-rare. Sliced quite thinly across the grain it was OK, but I'm a fillet person and found it a bit chewy, good flavour though ( could have been the bourbon!) If I bought it again, I think I'd make it into a tagliata with rocket type of dish. As you say, it is a popular cut over here and often refered to as London Broil.

[hungryhousewife Profile]

Thanks Denada - I agree with you about fillet - but it's rather expensive here these days!!
I was thinking about something for a casual family supper!

Will keep looking.
HH

[Frillz Profile]

Very hard to buy flank steak in the UK, beg to differ that it goes for pies - it's the butcher's treat, never making the counter at all

(My other half was raised in a meat trade family and trained at Smithfield College in the 70s and we've been in the trade ever since then)

Just a note about aging as well, when meat's aged it has to be hung to age properly - it doesn't 'age' when it's been portion cut (excluding something like rib of beef, I'm talking cuts which are portion controlled)
To be aged, supermarket meat needs to have been hung before vacuum packing, it doesn't age when cut and packed.

[hungryhousewife Profile]

Hi Frillz. I'm glad you've cleared up the thing about ageing meat. That was what I thought was the case.

So what do you do with flank when you get it?
HH

[Frillz Profile]

HH just cooked quickly as a steak with thin chips, roasted tomatoes for me, mushrooms for my other half, rocket or watercress and some bernaise sauce.

I've made myself really hungry now

[Alison Wright Profile]

I'm pleased my butcher is happy to sell his hanger steak (onglet) Have to order it in advance as there's only one piece in a beast.

We like it flashed-fried, hot & fast on a mad hot griddle & usually served with chips, crispy mushrooms, onion rings, mini corn-cobs & bearnaise sauce & a dressed tomato & onion salad. It has an amazing flavour, but must be cooked briefly.

The only other way I've cooked it - is slivered in proper Cornish pasties.



http://peninsulaeatz.wordpress.com/2008 ... icionados/