After such a chaotic month, this rolled flank steak was the incredible ending I needed.
A couple of months ago, there was a sale on flank steak, and that impulse buy has been sitting in our freezer ever since. George has been itching to figure out the best way to cook it, so when we started discussing what this month's food post should be, the answer was obvious.
With our previous semi-failures making bread, chocolate cake, arepas, and Cubanos, I was a little nervous about cooking rolled flank steak. Although our recipe seemed relatively simple, I was scared of all the little things that could go wrong. I could burn it, oversalt it, dry it out, or under season it. Dealing with so many dark emotions this month has made me perpetually nervous about making mistakes, and our tumultuous past experiences weren't very reassuring.
Luckily, George spent most of the pandemic learning to make the perfect steak.
I butterflied the steak while George mixed the seasoning. George usually does the meat prep, so the cut wasn't without error, but he talked me through it.
Since we didn't have a meat mallet, I used our rolling pin to make the steak thinner. That's always fun.
George only loosely followed the recipe for the seasoning, so I'm not sure exactly what's in it. Once he was satisfied with the seasoning, I spread it across the steak as evenly as possible.
The recipe called for prosciutto, which we were super excited about since we've never had it before, and everyone on YouTube makes it sound amazing. We tasted it, and to our surprise, we didn't like it. I know it was supposed to be raw pork, but it tasted like it needed to be cooked, and the texture was weird. Filled with the hope that it'll taste better once cooked, we layered the slices of prosciutto on top of the layer of seasoning.
Next, we layered slices of provolone cheese, which should have been thinner but was pre-packaged, so nothing could be done about that.
I tightly rolled the steak, and luckily nothing fell out. We used butcher's twine to tie the roll at every one and a half inches. At this point, we learned that we don't know how to eyeball measurements because we could've had six similar-sized pieces but ended up with four different-sized pieces.
After thirty minutes in the oven, the steak was ready. We paired it with boiled potatoes and a lemon mayonnaise sauce George's mother makes.
We ate dinner while watching the season four premiere of the fantastic Star Wars series, The Mandalorian. Our first attempt at rolled flank steak was one of the best dishes we've ever made. It was delicious and heavy. Although the plate looked empty, it was incredibly filling and left no room for dessert.
Unlike some of our previous cooking endeavors, this went quickly and was relatively simple, but it was the most rewarding. After the internal turmoil I've endured this month, I needed this win. Finally, getting something right was the confidence boost I so desperately needed. Sometimes the most straightforward recipes make the most delicious meals.