Flank steak is a flavorful boneless, lean cut of meat that comes from the underbelly of the cow. This part is very well exercised thus creating a potentially tough cut of beef. If cooked properly, toughness is not a problem.
Flank is more affordable than the higher end cuts of beef.
Names for Flank Steak:
- London Broil
- Jiffy Steak
Characteristics
Additionally, flank is a single muscle and has a distinctive grain that runs along the cut. When cutting flank steak, make sure to cut across the grain, or erpendicular to the grain. Cutting across the grain (muscles), makes it more tender than cutting along the muscle. Cutting along the muscle will basically give you beef flavored chewing gum.
How to Cook Flank:
Before we get into how to cook flank steak, let's talk about marinading it. There are several marinading options. There are store bought marinades (which I very seldom use), and there are home made marinades.
I usually use Teriyaki sauce (Kikkoman). I try to keep it very simple. I poke holes in the meat and put it in the baggie with the teriyaki sauce (make sure it covers all of the meat). Stick in the refrigerate for about a day and you're ready.
Here's a more sophisticated marinade that I came across on www.Cooks.com (I've not tried it, but it will give you ideas as to what you can put in a marinade):
MARINADE FOR FLANK STEAK
3/4 c. oil
1 1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 c. soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp. garlic salt
3 tbsp. honey
5 chopped green onions
2 tbsp. white vinegar
Combine all ingredients in a blender and use to marinade the steak.
Search around until you find a marinade that works for you. In the meanwhile, I'll continue on with methods on how to cook flank steak starting with the stir-fry method...
Stir-frying Flank: Flank steak can be used for stir-fried/fajita style dishes (personally, I prefer the fajita style,so that's what I'll discuss here).
The trick is cutting the steak thinly across the grain. Once you've properly cut the flank, the rest is easy. Here are the
ingredients I use (feel free to embellish or modify to your liking):
Onion, green pepper, red pepper, lemon and/or lime, black pepper, and, for a little kick, grab a habanero pepper...oh and of course, my favorite steak seasoning, Kikkoman Teriyaki sauce.
Place the steak strips in a baggie and cover the strips with the teriyaki sauce. For this meal, steak doesn't have to marinade long. Maybe an hour.
While the steak is marinading, clean and cut your veggies. I prefer to cut the onion and peppers in long strips so I slice them from top to bottom. Once all of the veggies are sliced, you're ready to go.
Here's what you do. In a hot skillet, place the ingredients (all except for the lemons/lime). Saute at a rather high heat. Pour a little teriyaki sauce and add some pepper to the mixture while it is cooking.
When it's just about done, squeeze the juice of half of the lemon or lime over the mixture. 
Place some of the mixture on a warm fajita bread and you're good to go. You might want to add more lemon/lime juice for taste. It also tastes good with a bit of salsa, shredded lettuce and maybe a little shredded cheese to top it off.
Feel free to add or modify the ingredients. Get creative.
Oven Cooking/Grilling Flank: 
Before we can broil or grill flank steak, we must marinade it. As I mentioned earlier, my preference is Kikkoman Teriyaki sauce, but there are plenty of marinade recipes all over the internet. Here's another one I found on cooks.com
1/2 c. soy sauce
1 clove garlic, mashed
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. fresh mustard
1/2 c. olive oil
Once you've selected the marinade of your liking, marinade the steak. I usually pierce it with a two-pronged fork to allow the marinade to really soak into the meat and refrigerate for a minimum of 5 hours, preferably over night. If you have a vacuum sealer, even better. You can seal the steak with the marinade for about an hour.
After the meat is marinaded, place it on the grill or in the oven. The meat should be cooked for approximately 6 or 7 minutes on each side (depending on the size of the cut). Remember, as I mentioned before, the meat will continue to cook for a little bit once it's removed from the heat, so keep that in mind when determining cook time.
When slicing the steak, slice it across the grain.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Felicia A. Williams is a freelance writer and webmaster of this website, Visit Hudson Valley.com and No Job for Mom.com. She is also the Insurance Feature Writer for Suite 101.com
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