Marinated Flank Steak

Here's my thing about Rachel Ray (besides the fact that I generally find her loud and abrasive)--I don't feel like she gives you crucial bits of information at crucial times. Like tonight, when I was making this recipe. When it comes to steak, I generally prepare it and then make Tim take it outside and grill it. But it's super cold this time of year, and if I wait for Tim to get home and grill, we may not eat until 7:30 or so. And that's pretty much too late for me. So I was really excited when the recipe noted that I could cook this steak in a cast iron skillet on the stove--except the recipe neglected to note that I would burn part of the steak, create a heckuva ton of smoke, set off the smoke detector, scare my cat, worry my husband, and generally feel like I'd failed at life. So anyway....the recipe.

Marinated Flank Steak & Bacony Potatoes

Adapted from Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals

Two cloves of garlic, minced

One tablespoon of your favorite grill seasoning

One teaspoon chilli powder

Two teaspoons tabasco sauce

One tablespoon worcestershire sauce

Two tablespoons red wine vinegar

A one-and-a-half-pound flank steak

One pound small red new potatoes

Four slices bacon

Mix the garlic, seasoning, chilli powder, tabasco, worcestershire, and vinegar in a plastic bag. Insert the steak and shake a little to evenly cover with the marinade. Let it sit until you're ready to cook it, at least 15 minutes. (I didn't have red wine vinegar, so I used apple cider vinegar. I think regular white vinegar would be fine, too.)

Cut your potatoes in half and place in a medium pot. Cover with water and liberally salt. Potatoes need salt, people! Cover with a lid and heat until the water boils. Then remove the lid and cook until tender, about 15 minutes.
Chop your bacon and cook it.

Heat a grill or cast-iron skillet over high heat. Cook the steak on the hot pan, about 6 minutes per side. Please note: this will create a lot of smoke, so turn on as many fans as you can. Also, any garlic still adhered to the steak will burn! It is 100% worth your effort to remove as much garlic as possible before adding the steak to the pan. If you set off your smoke detectors (like me), put the skillet in the oven at 350F for an additional 5 minutes or so, and then cut into it to figure out if it's as done as you need it to be. And just keep putting it back in the oven until you get it there (that's what I did).

Smash your potatoes with a bit of milk and butter, or sour cream, or chicken broth, or half & half. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the bacon! Mmmmm....

Enjoy! For all my whining about smoke and feeling like I'd failed, the steak actually turned out pretty amazingly delicious.

Feeds four.

Difficulty: 2

Takes about 45 minutes.