Grilled Flat-Iron Steak with Charred Tomato Butter and Grilled Succotash from Fine Cooking Magazine, October/November 2010

Some people think that just because it's in the 40s and dark at 5pm grilling season is over. Nah. It's a year round activity us. As long as the charcoal will burn, we'll grill. The recipe I made tonight was from a section called "Cooking by the Calendar." Four cuts of beef; four ways of cooking; four changes of weather.

Earlier this month I did the early fall meal, which was the Seared Rib-Eye Cutlets with Romesco Sauce and Wilted Spinach with Olives. Just because I could, I went back in time and landed in late summer so I could make the Grilled Flat-Iron Steak with Charred Tomato Butter and Grilled Succotash. Yes, this is one of those names that took a lot of imagination and makes you wonder what could possibly be in the dish (not).

I have to admit that prior to this recipe I've not sought out a flat-iron steak. I didn't know anything about the cut and the name doesn't inspire....anything. However, the folks at Fine Cooking informed me through the magazine that this cut is just about as tender as filet mignon without the price tag. When I went shopping for the beef I was able to confirm that it is indeed much less expensive than it's high-brow sibling. Ah, but what about tenderness and flavor?

The steak didn't need a long marinade (bonus). In fact, while I was prepping the vegetables (corn, scallions, tomatoes and green beans) for the succotash, it was sitting on a plate slathered in a paste of olive oil, Dijon mustard, brown sugar, salt and pepper. The vegetables got a light coating of olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper and were ready to go too.

Since I have a nice big grill I was was able to cook everything at once. I appreciated the fact that the magazine also gave me approximate cooking times for each vegetable so I was able to start with the longest cooking one (the corn) and finish with the scallions (which I charred too much anyhow). While the vegetables were charring, the steak was cooking (about 6 minutes per side) and it all finished at the same time. Life is good when it works out that way.

The meat got covered for a short rest while I finished putting together the succotash and making the tomato butter. The butter idea was a bit strange to me because it used the charred skins from the tomatoes. In fact, because the meal was so heavy on the tomato side I was sure that Hubby was going to go hungry (we have bread and peanut butter; no worries).

I was just finishing things up when Hubby and Dudette came in from her Tae Kwon Do class and so everything was whisked to the table so quickly that I totally forgot to put the lime juice and cream in the succotash, thereby serving grilled vegetables instead of grilled succotash. Oops. Now that I look at the recipe again, I also forgot the parsley. Double oops.

The good news is that if you forget the lime juice, cream and parsley the grilled vegetables are still outstanding and even someone who doesn't like tomatoes will eat them. (Was that a good enough save?) It's true though. We all liked the side dish. There's something about the scallion flavor especially that pushed it over the edge to very good.

The meat....Hubby took a bite and his response was, "Oh.....oh.....oh." I just about made Dudette leave the room. It's that good. Yes, the meat is very, very tender. Yes, it has a ton of flavor. And yes, that paste that I slathered on for a few minutes was incredible. If you put your grill away, get it out. If you can't do that, sneak into the neighbor's yard and use theirs. Trust me, it's worth it. And buy two steaks. We didn't and so there aren't any leftovers (and it was a pound and a half flat-iron).

Final word; triple thumbs-up on all parts of this meal. It's hard not to feel like you're purposefully clogging arteries by spreading the charred tomato butter on the beef, but oh, my the flavor it adds is worth it. The paste for the steak is wonderful and the succotash is as well (even if parts are forgotten).