Marinated flank steak. Take II

En Español

Although T and I usually travel to celebrate Christmas and New Year with our families, last year we decided to stay. For this reason, and because it was J's first Christmas, my parents-in-law came to spend the holidays with us. This unwittingly turned them into eyewitnesses -and in some cases victims- of my culinary-learning process.

One of the afternoons that I produced food for the troops, I "dared" to cook a vegetarian meal for my father-in-law; I gave him pasta with eggplant. When I asked him for his opinion and if the pasta was missing something, he said "... tomato sauce and meat." The concept of a vegetarian dish is not part of what he considers a full meal. For him, a vegetarian recipe reaches perfection only when an animal protein is added, preferably beef. Having learned my lesson, I decided to cook a recipe that was satisfaction guaranteed. Once again, the marinated flank steak cooked on the grill came to my mind.

I was sure this time the meat was going to be perfect, not undercooked, just perfect. I had all the knowledge and vast experience from the first time I prepared the recipe and, most importantly, I was armed with my thermometer.
What other result could I get? Besides, I followed the instructions to the letter and marinated the steak for two hours. So, good flavor was assured.

My goal was to avoid at all costs giving my guest - i.e. father-in-law - raw meat, so I planned to cook each side for at least 10 minutes. When it came to it, I heated the pan over high heat, poured the oil and when ready, put the meat.

Approximately seven minutes later, and through a lot of smoke, my meat looked suspiciously charred, which suggested that that side did not need anymore cooking. I turned the meat over to cook on the other side. After five minutes, that side was ready but I knew that the inside was raw, as raw as last time. As if this was not enough and to make matters worse, T came in and said: "You know my dad HATES undercooked meat, right? He doesn't eat it even if it's just a little bit pink "... At that moment I really felt mad at my own lack of skills; I was in front of another recipe that would not have good reviews. My solution, not so obvious to me at the time, was to turn down the fire and monitor the inside temperature - a.k.a keep stabbing the meat with the thermometer. Despite my efforts, the inside was not cooking fast enough, while the outside was already becoming inedible. The last straw before I called it a failure was when the smoke activated the fire alarm in the corridor and T went to turn it off with the attitude of someone who is used to doing something that is not expected to change any time soon.

In the end, I took drastic measures. After scraping the black crust from the surface with a serrated knife, I cut the meat to gill the pieces. I cut against the grain as the recipe says to do.

My father-in-law seemed pleased with my production, it seems a little coal is not enough to deter him from eating meat.

How hard can it be to grill a piece of meat, using an appropriate technique to reach 140-150 ˚F inside, and not burn on the surface?
To be continued, answer yet to be found...