Saturday, September 3, 2011

Brazilian Marinated Flank Steak with Chile Lime Sauce


This recipe is adapted from Rick Browne's 1,001 Best Grilling Recipes


Rick is the host of the PBS television show Barbecue America and the author of 8 books on barbecue. 1,001 Best Grilling Recipes features tried and true techniques, helpful hints, and key tips that is sure to make a grillmaster out of even the most inexperienced BBQ-er and I am giving away a copy of this book, courtesy of the publisher, Agate Surrey.

Brazilian Marinated Flank Steak with Chile Lime Sauce

1 flank steak, scored 1/8” deep at 1” intervals (drag a knife across in a criss-cross pattern)

Marinade
½ cup onion, diced
¼ cup lime juice
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
3 Tbsp oregano, fresh chopped
1 heaping tsp roasted garlic (substitute 3 cloves minced if you don't have roasted)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf

Spicy Salsa Verde
2 jalapeno chiles, seeded and chopped
½ onion, chopped
1 heaping tsp roasted garlic
½ tsp Kosher salt

Make ahead: Place the Salsa Verde ingredients in a food processor and pulse until it becomes a smooth paste. Refrigerate until an hour before use. (Note: I honestly doubted this simple salsa but it had a great flavor.  Alexis ended up topping her black beans and rice with it too and she doesn't like a lot of spicy heat.)

Mix all marinade ingredients together and marinate the steak for 4-6 hours.

Remove the steak from the marinade and wipe off the excess. Set up your grill for direct heat and preheat to 450f.

Grill about 4-5 minutes per side until the steak reaches an internal temp of 130f. I like to rotate them 90 degrees on each side for cross hatch marks.

Rest for 10 minutes. Slice thin across the grain and serve with the spicy salsa verde. 


We served it with black beans & rice and Plain Chicken's Brazilian Cheese Bread puffs.

I recently had the opportunity to interview Rick Browne about this book and here's what he had to say.

NibbleMeThis: 1,001 Best Grilling Recipes is quite a body of work. Did the large number of recipes needed to complete the book put extra pressure on you to produce or did you see it as the freedom to explore?

Rick Browne: No pressure, after 7 years of hosting Barbecue America on PBS and having collected recipes from all over the US and from 26 countries for that series, and being a confirmed BBQ foodie loved the chance to share a whole bunch of recipes.

NibbleMeThis: One of the things I noticed about this book is how the difficulty of the recipes varies from simple to complex. How did you go about ensuring such a good balance of recipes for a wide audience ranging from beginner to enthusiast to pitmaster?

Rick Browne: I wanted to make sure the beginner (ie: kids in or just out of college, older folks who have never barbecued) as well as the BBQ pros who compete in the major BBQ contests (American Royal, Memphis in May, Blues-Brews & BBQ, and Jack Daniels) had some new ideas for barbecue meals.

NibbleMeThis: How did your six year, 30,000 mile road trip influence your approach to writing 1,001 Best Grilling Recipes? Was a lot of it written on the road?

Rick Browne: None was written on the road, only took notes and over 10,000 images - then when I went to write my various books referred to those notes and those pictures to remind me of the delicious bbq I had sampled, and watched folks cook.

NibbleMeThis: You and your wife seem to be quite the team.  How is Kathy involved in your recipe development?

Rick Browne: She is my sous chef, prepping and cleaning up after my cooking demos, my travel companion and guide, navigator, and proofs all my writings for me.

NibbleMeThis: What's next for you? Already working on recipe 1,002?

Rick Browne: A book called A Century of Restaurants due out next Summer - where I've visited 100 of America's oldest restaurants (between 100-300 yrs. old) to document the finest of American cuisine and its historic roots. Have driven and flown over 40,000 miles for this, traveling to 46 states. Fully illustrated book with all of my photography, again having shot thousands of images from coast to coast and border to border.

Giveaway
Each person can receive up to a total of 3 entries as follows:
  1. leave a comment below (NOTE: If you use the "anonymous comment" option, be sure to leave an email or your screen name in the comment so I can contact you if you are the winner. Something like "EggerinFL from the Egg Forum" or "swibirun from the BBQ Brethren forum" is enough.)
  2. Do a Twitter or Facebook post linking to this giveaway post and then leave a separate comment below.
  3. Mention this giveaway and link to it in a post on your blog. Then leave a separate comment below with the URL of your post.
The Rules
  1. Giveaway entry period begins 9pm September ,3 2011 and ends September 8, 2011 11:59pm. Winner will be announced September 9, 2011.
  2. Comments will be numbered by order received and random.org will generate a random number for the winner.
  3. Limited to residents of the continental US unless you wish to pay the extra shipping charges.
  4. I am the final judge regarding any discrepancies, interpretations, grievances, etc about this drawing.
  5. Agate Surrey is sponsoring the prize. They are not responsible for the drawing or the giveaway.
  6. Winner must respond and claim the prize within one week of the winning announcement. If a winner does not claim the prize during the specified time, a reserve winner will be drawn from the original entries.
  7. Employees, Board Members, pets, indentured servants, and family of Nibble Me This are not eligible to enter.