Peppercorn and Coffee Rubbed Flank Steak

Peppercorn and Coffee Rubbed Flank Steak - This quick cooking grilled flank steak gets all of it's bold flavor from a rub of coffee, peppercorns and salt.

Yum

Do you ever try something, love it and then find yourself just making it over and over again?  I definitely go through spurts like this every now and then.  A few weeks ago, it happened with the kimchi.  I bought so many different brands to decide which one I liked best that I just started putting it on everything I could think of (like my super delish Kimchi Hot Dogs). 

Most recently though, it's happening with flank steak.  Remember the other day, I told you about my new love of flank steak, when I posted my Carne Asada Salad?  Well, up until fairly recently, the only thing I had ever used flank steak for was for braciole (slow braised).  I've always been such a steak snob, snubbing my nose at any grilled steak that wasn't a porterhouse or rib eye.  What a dope I've been. 

I know that flank steak tenderizes well with marinades but by the time I decided I wanted to grill a steak, it was way past the time I could marinate something.  So, since I couldn't tenderize the meat by way of marinating, I did give my steak a few whacks with a mallet.  If you don't have a mallet, take a heavy skillet and whack it with that, or you could even use a rolling pin.

While you've got that mallet (or heavy skillet) out, you'll want to whack the peppercorns.  But make sure you put them in a bag or something first, or else you'll have peppercorns all around your kitchen (doh!).  I just gave a few good hits and kept them fairly coarse, but you can make them finer if that's your preference.

Listen, if you are a K-Cup kind of household, don't worry.  You don't have to run out and buy a bag of ground coffee for this.  I simply ran a paring knife along the top edges of a K-Cup and used the coffee in there.  Easy peasy.

Once you combine the coffee, peppercorn and salt, you'll drizzle a bit of oil over the steak and rub your mixture on it.  Then, just let your steak hang out there on the counter for about 15 minutes or so.  I actually use this time to heat up my grill.  If the weather where you are isn't cooperating for outdoor grilling just do this all on a grill pan (this one is the one I use, have been using for about 10 years and I swear by it).

The MOST IMPORTANT thing you need to know about flank steak is that when you slice it, you HAVE to slice it against the grain, preferably at an angle.  If you are unsure what this means, here's a video I found to explain it better than I can.  One of these days, I'll just make my own video (add that to the long list of things I want to do but never have time to).

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Peppercorn and Coffee Rubbed Flank Steak

Christine

4 from 1 vote

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Ingredients

  

• 1-2 lb flank steak
• 1 T whole peppercorns
• 2 T ground coffee
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoon olive oil

Instructions

 

• Place peppercorns in a plastic re-sealable bag and crush with a mallet.
• Combine crushed peppercorns with coffee and salt in a small bowl.
• Drizzle each side of steak with 1 teaspoon of oil and rub the coffee mixture on both sides of steak. Allow to rest on counter at room temperature about 15-20 minutes.
• While meat is coming to temperature, preheat your grill to high heat.
• Place steak on grill and cook about 4-6 minutes per side, or until internal temperature is 135 (or to your preference). Set on a plate to rest 5-10 minutes.
• Slice steak against the grain on the bias.

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