I have both a cast iron grill and press, and a skillet perfect for pan-frying, and use them often. One hint: my smoke alarms hate when my cast iron pans smoke (even with the hood going full blast), so I turn the oven up to 500 degrees, pop that skillet in there, and get the cast iron really hot. Put it on the stove, and it's ready to give those steaks a crusty outside. It's brilliant not only for flank steak, but any other meat that needs a beautiful crust to keep that flavour and juice inside!
Panfried Flank Steak
Credit: Christopher Hirsheimer
Chef and restaurateur Lydia Shire shared her father's recipe for flank steak with us. On Saturdays he'd bring out the cast-iron pan and turn the stove on high—then wait until it was smoking hot before adding the steak and letting it cook. Patience is the secret to this preparation: If the pan is sufficiently heated, a dark crust forms to seal in the juices perfectly.
2 tbsp. butter
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 1 1⁄2-lb. piece flank steak, about 3⁄4" thick
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. finely chopped curly parsley
1. Warm butter and garlic in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook until garlic is fragrant, about 5 minutes. Discard garlic. Set butter aside in a warm place.
2. Pat steak dry with paper towels, then season liberally on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over high heat. When pan begins to smoke, coat with oil, then add steak (oil will spatter). For rare (the way Shire likes it), sear until almost black. Don't move steak until ready to turn, or seal formed by crust will break. Cook about 4 minutes on each side.
3. Transfer steak to a platter; top with garlic butter. Cover loosely with foil to keep warm. Allow steak to rest for 10 minutes. Cut across the grain into 1⁄4" slices. Spoon juices over steak and top with parsley.
Ratings & Reviews (2)
agree that this is the best way to cook steak when not using the outdoor grill. One thing I do differently is rub the steak with the oil and grind black pepper liberally over each side. Then I heat the cast iron pan until it is smoking. However, instead of salting the meat, I sprinkle a good layer of salt directly on to the pan, and throw in the steak. For some reason, the steak never sticks and a beautiful crust forms. This is the way my hobo grandfather taught us to cook meat in a cast iron skillet.
Panfried Flank Steak
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