Grilled Marinated Flank Steak

This recipe is from the 2008 Summer Grilling & Entertaining edition of Cooks Illustrated. I love this publication. I always use a lot of the recipes and they explain how and why they came up with it.

In this article I learned that using a bottle of Italian dressing as a marinade for steak is bad because the acid in the vinegar ruins the texture of the meat. This marinade is just as flavorful, if not more, and the steak was very, very tender. And I'm new to grilling.

I couldn't believe how flavorful this steak was. It really didn't need any steak sauce or other embellishment. You could make up your own rub recipe using a different fresh herb very easily.

I used the food processor to make the rub starting with the garlic, shallots, herbs, then olive oil.

Grilled Marinated Flank Steak

1 whole flank steak, about 2 lbs.
2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Garlic-Shallot-Rosemary Wet Paste Marinade
6 TBLS olive oil
6 medium garlic cloves, minced (2 TBLS)
1 medium shallot, minced (about 3 TBLS)
2 TBLS minced fresh rosemary leaves

Puree all ingredients in blender until smooth, scraping down blender jar as needed.

1. Prick steak using dinner fork about 20 times on each side. Rub both sides of steak evenly with salt and then with paste. Cover with plastic wrap an refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
2. Heat grill to high heat.
   
3. using paper towels, wipe paste off steak; season both sides with pepper. Grill steak directly over heat until well browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Using tongs, flip steak; grill until second side is well browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Using paring knife make a small cut into thickest part of meat; if meat is slightly less done than desired, transfer steak to cutting board (Meat will continue to cook as it rests). If steak is significantly underdone, position so that thinner side is over cooler side of the grill and thicker side is over hot side; continue to cook until thickest part is slightly less done than desired, then transfer steak to cutting board.
   
4. Loosely tent steak with foil; let rest 5 to 10 minutes. Using sharp chef's knife or carving knife, slice steak about 1/4 inch thick against grain and on bias. Serve immediately.