Flank Steak with Leeks and Blue Cheese
It tasted a lot better than this picture makes it look
I flirt with vegetarianism about once a year, mainly because I love animals. I buy meat directly from a farmer as much as possible and stick to organic, free-range meat when I can, but I feel enormous guilt over it. Lately, I’ve tried convincing myself that beef — like episodes of Doctor Who that I watch on the British schedule* or foie gras — is made through magic.
So why can’t I just stick to my morals and give it up? Because I love steak way too much. I bought some flank steak at Gene’s Sausage Shop a couple weeks back, thinking I’d use it for a recipe I pulled out of Wichcraft, Tom Colicchio’s excellent sammy cookbook that grew out of his restaurant of the same name. But tonight, I realized what I really wanted was a well-made, simple steak with some veggies on the side. And that’s what this was. I pretty much use the same approach for any kind of steak, although if I’m making something with significant marbling (like ribeye) I use my heavy saucepan rather than my grill pan.I also eat my steak rare, because if I’m going to eat a steak, I’m going to eat a steak.
I served this with a slice of homemade bread and steamed sugar-snap peas. I find that a light, green vegetable always complements a heavy steak really nicely, particularly something that’s got a little bit of a sweet crunch to it, like in-season peas or asparagus.
*I never thought I could recover from losing David Tennant, but Matt Smith’s pretty good, isn’t he?
Flank Steak with Leeks and Blue Cheese
Serves 2
8 oz flank steak, rinsed and dried
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste (BTW, my pepper grinder is broken so I HAND-CRUSHED THE PEPPER because I am badass)
1 tablespoon butter, divided
3 leeks, chopped
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon red wine
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese (I used Stilton)
Using a pastry brush, brush the top of the steak with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Repeat on the other side and place steak on heated grill pan. Set remainder of oil aside. Cook each side of the steak about 4-5 minutes, until char marks appear and outside appears deep brown. For rare steak, turn once per side. Set steak aside to rest for a few minutes, put in oven to warm.
Melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter in a heavy saucepan on high, then add chopped leeks. Cook until leeks begin to carmelize and brown, about five to seven minutes. Add rest of butter, olive oil, lemon juice, and wine and stir until combined. Remove from heat.
Pull steaks out of oven and cover with crumbled blue cheese. Next, using a spatula, spoon leek mixture over blue cheese. Serve while warm.
