Flat Iron Steak

With sweet cooked onions.

Flat Iron Steak is a relatively new cut of beef. It comes from the shoulder of the beef steer. It looks a lot like a brisket, and like a brisket has a good amount of marbling. I have heard that it can be a tough cut of meat. But honestly, I've never found that to be the case. I don't think I do anything particularly special to it. I'll show you...

Flat Iron Steak, enough for your family
A couple good sized onions.
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When choosing your steak, the packaging generally only allows viewing on one side. Look for nice even marbling, but no wide swaths of grizzly looking filament. That will be tough and chewy, just thin stripes of fat nothing else. I have not found that thinner or thicker steaks are not any more tender than the other. Feel free to choose the weight that would feed your family. I usually buy two. I have two hungry teenage boys. We have leftovers, but that's okay. :) It's great tossed on a salad the next day, or sliced up for steak and eggs.

Sprinkle the steak with your choice of spices. I prefer nice coarse grind black pepper, rosemary and thyme. Feel free to use what you like. McCormick also makes a very nice Western Steak seasoning that is quite tasty. It has dehydrated onion and garlic though, and that upsets my hubby's tummy. Allow to sit with spices while you prepare your onions and other dishes.

Slice onions and get them into a saucepan with about 1/2 cup water and a few pats of butter. Bring to simmer, cover, and let it cook while you work on everything else.

I'm also making some Ramen noodles with Bonito soup base flavoring. Ramen only take a moment to cook, so they are just at the ready, not in the pot.

You can grill outside on your grill or cook indoors with a convenient grill pan to get those nifty grill lines. :)

Add oil to the pan, heat the pan and lay the meat in. Cook on a high heat until the internal temperature registers 130 -140F degrees on an instant read thermometer. Stick the thermometer down the end, like you were sticking a bookmark into a book. You need to give beef a little rest before slicing. 130 internal temperature will yield more rare, 140, medium rare, after a few minutes rest. Don't overcook this steak.

If you want nice criss-cross marks on your steaks flip them over front to back, like rolling over in bed, but then flip them over head to foot, like you'd sleep with your head at the foot of the bed. :)

Remove meat to cutting board and slice diagonally. I cut about 1/2 inch thick. Pour any juices that accumulate during slicing onto the serving dish. :)

Serve with cooked onions, horseradish and A1 Sauce. Noodles and crusty bread as well. A lovely meal!

Two Flat Iron Steaks

Season with spices before grilling.

Raw onions in a saucepan to cook.

Ramen Noodles and Bonito soup base concentrate. My kids LOVE it. You'll need to find this in an Asian grocery. There are a few brands. The taste difference is slight. Boil the noodles like normal, but do NOT use the dry broth mix. Save it for another use. Just add 1 tablespoon soup base liquid per package of noodles. Adjust per taste.

Onions cooking nicely.

Steaks on the stove. The lid helps keep the splattering down. High heat and oil always make for a fun clean-up after dinner. It's a small price to pay for a scrumptious meal. :)

Cooking well. Getting those grill marks. Almost done... start the noodles and bread.

First steak slicing.

Both steaks on the serving platter. Pour juices from slicing onto platter.

The onions are perfectly sweet and tender. The Ramen noodles are a nice departure from the ordinary. Just drain them and add the soup base liquid, roughly one tablespoon per package of noodles. Enjoy!