Recipe: Flank Steak with Yogurt-Horseradish Sauce and Blue Cheese Sauce
With fall sweeping in, Corrin and Jake were ready for a cozy evening at home with friends, but they didn’t want anything fussy or formal. The best compromise? A warm, relaxed Autumn dinner with lots of homey flavor that — with the help of our sponsor, National Dairy Council — pleased all their guests, including those with lactose-intolerance, without eliminating the delicious dairy foods Corrin and Jake love. Yesterday, we showed off their party plan (and a killer DIY). Today, we’re sharing the recipe for their deliciously tender flank steak with two accompanying lactose intolerant-friendly dairy-based sauces, all cooked in their lovely kitchen.
For a low-key dinner for friends, an impressive cut of meat fit the bill nicely. Flank steak is a great choice for this time of year: It’s not turkey (hi, Thanksgiving!), and its rich, savory flavor is just right for a chilly night. It can be a tough cut, so the first step is tenderizing it in a super-simple yogurt marinade. Marinating it overnight in a zip-top bag made that step extra-easy, and made the day-of preparations much quicker.
Lean hanger, flank, or skirt steak are all cuts that reward you with incredible beefy taste. An acidic marinade is key to breaking down toughness and building flavor. Greek yogurt with fresh lemon juice is always up to the task, whether you’re cooking beef, lamb or chicken.
Corrin and Jake wanted to serve the steak with comfort food-style sides — what’s better when the weather gets colder? Being mindful of potential dietary needs like lactose intolerance, they took some advice from our sponsor, National Dairy Council, about how to prepare lactose intolerance-friendly dairy fare.
Accommodating lactose intolerance doesn’t mean going dairy-free. It’s an individualized condition, so people handle varying amounts of lactose in dairy foods. The good news is there are cow’s milk and milk product (e.g. cheese, yogurt) choices and solutions that are lactose intolerant-friendly!
Yogurt’s live and active cultures help digest lactose, making it a good choice for a marinade, sauce base and more. And natural cheeses contain minimal amounts of lactose, so blue cheese is another great pairing for steak that is suitable for lactose-sensitive guests. Armed with this dairy wisdom, the hosts finished the steak with two couldn’t-be-simpler sauces: a yogurt-horseradish sauce and a blue cheese sauce. They were able to whip those up beforehand — and we’re obsessed with the colorful, hodge-podged bowl collection they used to do it! Bottom line: This is one stress-free suppertime show-stopper.
As big fans of cheese and milk and richly creamy sauces (oh my!) we are thrilled to learn how to keep dairy in a balanced and tasty meal. And we are always grateful for a dinner party recipe that we can serve to guests to suit their dietary needs.
Stay tuned next week for the big reveal of the party, including the full menu that Corrin and Jake served.
TIP: Did you know lactose intolerance affects about 12% of the population, and that’s based on self-diagnosis – it’s not as common as you may think!
Flank Steak with Yogurt-Horseradish Sauce and Blue Cheese Sauce
Serves 8
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
For the flank steak:
- 1 1/2 cups
plain non-fat Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons
olive oil
- 2 cloves
garlic, pressed or very finely minced
- 1 tablespoon
lemon juice
- 3 pounds
extra-lean flank, hanger or skirt steak, trimmed
- 2 tablespoons
extra-virgin olive oil, for cooking
- 1/2 teaspoon
kosher salt (to taste)
Freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
Instructions
Whisk yogurt, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, and salt in a medium bowl to combine. Transfer marinade to a 1-gallon zipper bag along with the steak. Press out any excess air and seal bag. Transfer the steak to refrigerator to marinate for a minimum of three hours but preferably overnight, turning bag occasionally.
Remove the steak from refrigerator and bring to room temperature, about 1 hour, before cooking. Pat dry. Heat olive oil in a large cast iron skillet or griddle over medium high heat until smoking. Meanwhile, remove the steak from the marinade and pat dry, discarding marinade. Season the top of the steak generously with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Place the seasoned side directly into the skillet and season the remaining side with salt and pepper; do not move the steak once it hits the pan or a good sear will not develop. Once the steak has formed a crisp, dark golden crust, flip and continue cooking until an instant read thermometer reaches 128°F. Transfer the steak to a cutting board, loosely tent with foil, and allow to rest for 10 minutes; the steak will continue cooking from residual heat to a perfect medium rare (135°F).
For the most tender bites, rotate the steak on the cutting board so that you will be slicing perpendicular to/against the grain running through the meat. Position your knife at a 45-degree angle from the board and slice the steak on the diagonal into razor thin pieces. Transfer the slices to a serving platter and drizzle with any residual juices. Season with additional salt and pepper if necessary. Serve with yogurt horseradish sauce and/or blue cheese sauce.
Recipe Notes
Before cooking, bring the steak to room temperature — a minimum of 30 minutes up to a couple of hours — which allows the inside to cook evenly with the outside. Once removed from the marinade pat it very, very dry. Excess liquid on the surface can cause the steak to steam instead of sear.
Season with salt right before cooking, any earlier will cause the salt to draw (much-needed) moisture out of the meat.
Get your cast iron skillet (or griddle) smoking hot. The oil should be shimmering and sliding around like water; high heat and cast iron are absolutely necessary to get a perfectly crisp, mahogany sear.
Once the steak is in the pan, don’t move it around, wiggle it, or attempt to peek. (Only once you start to see a bit of golden color coming up the sides is it even safe to take a look.) Most people flip it as soon as they see the tiniest bit of brown color. Leave it until is the crust is firm and deep, dark caramel.
If you have any leftover sauces, they both serve double duty as addictive dips. Just add raw veggies or pita chips!
Yogurt-Horseradish Sauce
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
- 2 cups
plain non-fat Greek yogurt
- 4
garlic cloves, pressed or very finely minced
- 2 tablespoons
prepared horseradish, plus more to taste
- 2 heaping tablespoons
minced chives
- 1 teaspoon
freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon
freshly ground black pepper
Kosher salt, to taste
Instructions
Whisk all of the ingredients in a medium bowl to combine. Chill for a minimum of 1 hour to allow flavors to marry. Taste and adjust flavors before serving.
Blue Cheese Sauce
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
- 4 ounces
(about 1 cup) blue cheese, crumbled
- 1/3 cup
plain non-fat Greek yogurt
- 1/2 teaspoon
Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon
freshly ground black pepper
Kosher salt, to taste
Instructions
Combine ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Taste and adjust flavors before serving.
For a less chunky sauce, combine the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer or food processor and mix until desired texture is reached. For a creamy sauce, combine the ingredients in a small saucepan and warm over low heat until melted and creamy.
Nutritional Facts
For the steak
Yield: 3 pounds (48 ounces)
Serves: 8 servings
Serving Size: 6-ounce steak
Lactose: 1 g
Calories: 390
Total Fat: 18 g
Saturated Fat: 6 g
Cholesterol: 130 mg
Sodium: 115 mg
Carbohydrates: 2 g
Dietary Fiber: 0 g
Protein: 52 g
Calcium: 8% DV
Vitamin A: 0% DV
Vitamin C: 2% DV
Iron: 15% DV
For the Yogurt-Horseradish Sauce
Yield: 2 1/2 cups
Serves: 8
Serving Size: 5 tablespoons
Lactose: 1.3 g
Calories: 40
Total Fat: 0 g
Saturated Fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 5 mg
Sodium: 20 mg
Carbohydrates: 3 g
Dietary Fiber: 0 g
Protein: 6 g
Calcium: 8% DV
Vitamin A: 0% DV
Vitamin C: 8% DV
For the Blue Cheese Sauce
Yield: 1 cup
Serves: 8
Serving Size: 2 tablespoons
Lactose: <1 g
Calories: 80
Total Fat: 5 g
Saturated Fat: 3.5 g
Cholesterol: 15 mg
Sodium: 220 mg
Carbohydrates: 1 g
Dietary Fiber: 0 g
Protein: 5 g
Calcium: 10% DV
Vitamin A: 4% DV
Vitamin C: 10% DV
Iron: 0%
Visit EatConfidentlyWithLI.org and follow @NtlDairyCouncil on Twitter to learn more about enjoying dairy.
Photography: Pablo Enriquez
Styling: Sara Weissler
Food Styling: Martha Tinkler
Gathering Sponsor: National Dairy Council
Hosts: Jake Messing and Corrin Acome
Guests: Ujjainy Lahiry, Tux Loerzel, Sara Miller, Peter Townsend.