Before I say anything, I should tell you what happened when I served this to hubs. As our dining room table is covered with yet-to-be-refilled ornament containers, I handed him this sandwich to take to the coffee table, while I finished getting the kids’ dishes ready. Before I could get there, he ran back in the kitchen, did a crazy little flailing happy dance, and exclaimed, “Meat candy!!!”

Yes, I must admit, it was that good. I should also admit I have been taking a lot of inspiration from the other sandwich shops near me now. Competition is really good as it has made me raise my game and this can only be a good thing for our customers.

I’m working on making my posts shorter (yeah, right), so here’s some quick steps to make your own:

• Marinate a 1 to 1.5 lb. flank steak in 1/4 cup olive oil and your choice of savory seasonings. I used some fresh thyme, rosemary and crushed garlic left over from Thanksgiving, plus kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. This freezes well and marinates beautifully while thawing. A 1 lb. steak makes about four good-sized sandwiches.
• Heat a grill pan to darn near smokin’ hot, remove chunks of marinade from the meat and place in the pan. Don’t fuss with it, but let it sear and cook about 4-5 minutes each side. The oil from the meat should be enough, but if you need to add a bit more oil it’s OK. I also added a bit of butter. It made the meat more crusty, which was OK with me.
• Use a meat thermometer to check the internal temp, which should be about 150 for medium-rare. I almost always undercook it the first go-round, but I’m getting better.
• Let it rest. This is critical. Do not touch for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile…
• Make the remoulade. My very simplified version was jarred roasted red bell pepper (1/2 cup), mayonnaise (1/2 cup), and about 1/4 tsp each of salt, pepper, paprika, and smoked chipotle powder (you can sub cayenne), and a dash of garlic powder. Also used 1 T. of Sparkling River Farms’ Hickory Chip Chipotle Sauce. Traditionally, you should also include celery, parsley, green onion, etc….I kept it simple, but go ahead. I blended it with my stick blender. It was a bit runny – I forgot to dry the peppers off – but fine for this.
• Slice the flank steak as thinly as humanly possible. Cutting on an angle helps make a tender bite. If yours comes out a bit rare in spots (like mine), I won’t tell anyone if you drop the slices back in a hot pan for a few seconds.
• Get the extras ready. Wash and dry a few leaves of green leaf lettuce, and slice your hopefully-homemade buns. I made these last night, and the recipe is wonderful!
• Assemble. I put a light smear of the remoulade on the bottom bun, then added lettuce, meat, and lots more of the sauce.

Then enjoy!

Thanks for reading. Next post, I’ll tell you about my upcoming adventures as a culinary student.