On the menu tonight: Soy-Glazed Flank Steak, which we discovered in the May 2009 issue of Martha Stewart Living (the recipe is also online here). This is a really wonderful recipe for flank steak, resulting in beautifully rare and very tender pieces of steak.

It’s the tenderness that gets us every time. Ward first made this recipe last month; we were all amazed at how tender the steak pieces were. My son Sean, who likes his steak rare but isn’t fond of the fattier areas that are often found on expensive cuts of beef like striploin and tenderloin, liked this recipe in particular, since flank steak isn’t particularly fatty.

Not to mention it’s a whole lot less than buying striploin or tenderloin!

Since that first time, Soy-Glazed Flank Steak has become our “go-to” recipe, for those nights when I haven’t had time to scope out some recipes and decide on the menu for the night. It’s quick and it’s easy; all it requires is a quick run to the butcher’s to pick up the flank steak.

After cooking, it’s very important to slice the flank steak across the grain. Cut it with the grain, and you’ll be very well aware that you’re eating a cheaper cut of meat. Cut across the grain, and the meat is so tender it almost melts in your mouth.

Tonight, we paired it up with a lovely seafood risotto – I’ll post the recipe for the risotto tomorrow, but here’s a sneak peak:

Very lovely, although really the risotto itself should have been an entrée on its own. But we still weren’t sure what we were having for dinner at 4:00 pm, and Ward loves making risotto.

And here’s Ward, doing the prep work:

It didn’t take him very long at all – dinner was on the table, from start to finish, in about an hour. And the steak is very flavorful, so it can take quite a robust red wine.