Marinade for Flank Steak and Portabello Mushrooms

Sunshine. Spring. Month of May close at hand = COOKOUTS!

Flank steak is my favorite steak (after filet mignon bien sure). It's that one piece of meat that just makes it impossible for me to become a vegetarian. And I owe it all to my mom.

Since I can remember, my mom has been fixing this steak, usually on Sundays (so a fitting day to blog about it). I can still remember how my dad would cut this steak up into bite-size pieces for a very little moi (about 4-5 years old). Now I find myself cutting the meat for my children exactly like my dad did for three decades ago (!!yikes!).

Flank steak isn't an expensive cut. This makes it ideal for feeding a family of five during the lean years of the late 70's and early 80's. Those were the years when filet mignon really was for the just the French!

But marinate this less sophisticated steak in the right marinade, and it transforms from tough and chewy to cut with butter knife fantastique! This is so true that I've never really been able to order steak out in American steak houses because no other steak measures up to my Mom's.

Cooking it on the grill is the best way to eat this but before we had a gas grill my mother would broil it in the oven in cooler months. Since living in France, I can say that I, too, use this method from late Oct-March. Broiling is fine but firing up the grill is definitely the best way to heat up this recipe. And since the sun’s shining, spring is in full bloom and chilly winter afternoons are a thing of the past, then today’s the day to start thinking about firing up the barbie and trying new recipes for the Great Outdoors.

For the perfect American Sunday meal mom would add corn, on the cob when in season, hot dinner rolls, fresh green beans cooked à la West Virginian (for a long time in boiling water and with bacon slices) and a crsip Iceburg mixed salad. American dressings au choix. That is a meal we can all enjoy.

The exciting thing about the following marinade is that you can also use it for chicken. My mother has been saying for over 30-some years (each time we sit down to this meal) that you can marinate chicken with it but we have yet to try it.

And I just found out that this marinade works wonders with portabello mushrooms! Yes, I got my vegetarian kick going and thought I’d try the “vegetarian meat substitute”. If there are any vegetarians still reading this article at this point you can get that special "flank steak" flavor without the beef (this goes for any other mushroom fans out there reading this entry) just marinate one hour and grill. Then melt from the pleasure of succulent mushrooms that could replace beef anywhere (well, almost). Tomorrow, I'll get a great leftovers recipe for this steak, providing you can scrap up enough pieces.

Any way you cut it, this steak and its marinade is for you.

Read the recipe by clicking on the link below.

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