How to Jerk Your Meat

Get your mind out of the gutter.

Step 1: Buy some flank steak or London broil -- the leaner the better. (Trader Joe's flank steak: $6.99/pound.) I didn't this time, but go grassfed if you can.

Step 2: Lay out each steak on a flat surface and encase it in plastic wrap. Freeze the steaks, making sure they stay flat.

Step 3: Before slicing 'em up, let the steaks defrost just a little. Using a sharp knife or a deli slicer, cut the steaks in 1/8-inch thick strips. Slice along (not against) the grain.

Also: Trim off the fat.

More after the jump...

Jerky

I love Prather Ranch's Cowboy Style Beef Jerky, and am lucky to work within spitting distance of the Prather Ranch store in the San Francisco Ferry Building. The jerky contains no soy, and the only sweetener listed in the ingredients is pineapple juice. But it's pricey as hell.

After reading this blog post by The Paupered Chef, I'm thinking about making my own jerky. It actually sounds kind of fun to do it the Alton Brown way, using air conditioning filters, box fans and bungee cords. Perhaps it's time to unleash my inner MacGyver. (Or more accurately, my inner MacGruber.)

Flank Steak

Sometimes, you just have to eat steak.  Flank steak is packed with protein (23 grams for every 3 ounces of meat), and easy to prepare -- you don't even need to gas up your outdoor grill.

Here's a recipe for marinated flank steak lifted directly from Alton Brown's "I'm Just Here for the Food":

1 cup chopped yellow onion
4 cloves minced garlic
1/3 cup white wine
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon fresh minced ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 flank steak

First, make the marinade: Process all the above ingredients (except the steak -- duh) in a food processor until the onions are pureed, pour the contents into a gallon plastic zip-top plastic freezer bag with the raw flank steak, and squeeze out as much of the air as possible before sealing the bag.  Refrigerate it for 12 to 24 hours.

When you're ready to eat, adjust the rack in your oven so that the meat'll be about 2 inches from the broiler element, preheat your broiler (set it on high), place the now-marinated flank steak on a broiler pan, and cook it for 3 minutes per side for rare / 4 minutes per side for medium.  Let it rest for 5 minutes, and then slice it thinly on an angle.  Done and done.