Recipes - Sunday Flank Steak with Yorkshire Pudding and Garlic Roast Potatoes | Distant Shores Sailing Newsletters

Recipes - Sunday Flank Steak with Yorkshire Pudding and Garlic Roast Potatoes



Today I'm going to share my secrets for a quick and easy Sunday Roast dinner which is a British tradition both our families share. Paul's parents are from England and my grandparents from Ireland and Scotland so enjoying of a big roast dinner, usually a mid-day meal, on a Sunday with the family and close friends around the table is dear to both of us.


FlankSteakLO_2 (copy)
Sunday Flank Steak with Yorkshire Pudding and Garlic Roast Potatoes


Paul and I like to keep up this tradition while cruising, even when at sea on a passage if conditions allow, since it's a nice way to mark the end of the week and make the day special. Sometimes the days can all start to blend together when you're traveling.

Dressing up a bit, setting a lovely table in the cockpit in a beautiful location, then taking all afternoon to savour and slowly enjoy a delicious meal with cruising friends you're catching up with puts you in a great frame of mind for the week to come. After this special weekly meal, I always finish up so relaxed and with a joyful sense of gratitude for the many blessings the life of a cruising sailor offers.

When at home ashore, I’ll prepare a large roast beef and have the oven going for over an hour, but in the tropics having the oven going for a long time is really unappealing since it heats up the boat so much. Also, depending where you are, it’s often hard to find a good cut of beef for a roast.

So one day I came up with the idea of broiling a flank steak instead of doing a roast since recently I’ve found this cut of beef readily available in the Caribbean and Bahamas. Broiling a flank steaks takes 10-12 minutes - very little oven time. I slice it up and serve it like roast beef with gravy, horseradish, Yorkshire Pudding, roast potatoes and vegetables. It is quick and absolutely delicious! Every time I serve it people rave about how tender and flavourful it is.


Sunday Flank Steak with Yorkshire Pudding and Garlic Roast Potatoes
serves 4

FlankSteakLO_1 (copy)
Yorkshire Pudding Popovers


Yorkshire Pudding
from the Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer & Marion Rombauer Becker

Preheat oven to 400ºF

Ingredients
Note: The ingredients must be at room temperature when mixed or they will not puff.
7/8 cup of all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup milk
2 eggs
½ cup water

Method
Sift flour and salt into a mixing bowl.

Make a well in the center and pour in the milk.

In a separate bowl beat the 2 eggs until fluffy. Then add to the batter.

Add the ½ cup water and beat the batter well until large bubbles rise to the surface. You can let this stand covered and refrigerated for 1 hour and then beat again.

Have ready a hot oven-proof dish about 9 X 12, or hot muffin tin (to make 12 muffins/popovers) containing about ¼ inch hot beef drippings, melted butter or vegetable oil (I use vegetable oil). Heat pan or muffin tin in the hot oven until oil is sizzling.

Pour the batter into the sizzling oil in the hot pan or muffin tin. The batter should be about 5/8 inch high. Bake the pudding/popovers for about 20 minutes at 400ºF.

Reduce the heat to 350ºF and bake 10 to 15 minutes longer until puffed and golden brown. (Some cooks recommend a 350ºF oven for a half hour or longer.)

Serve hot. Good with gravy! (See below.)

Note: Yorkshire Pudding or Popovers are best served right away but I sometimes make 12 popovers earlier in the day or even the day before and then warm them gently in the microwave or a hot oven before serving. This way I have less going on in the galley close to mealtime. Also I don't have the oven on heating up the boat for the whole afternoon which is good if I'm cooking this meal on a hot day or in a tropical climate.

I have also halved this recipe but I find the puddings don't puff up as much however they are still delicious.


Garlic Roast Potatoes
Serves 4

Ingredients
1-2 medium sized potatoes per person. (Judge your guests' appetites. We find 2 medium or 1 large potato is plenty for the 2 of us.)
8-12 cloves of garlic (depending on how much your guests like roast garlic), skins on but bottoms trimmed off.

Method
Wash potatoes. I leave the skins on but if you prefer to peel them go ahead.

Cut into quarters.

Place the potatoes and garlic cloves in a saucepan with just enough water to cover and boil until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Alternatively you can pressure cook them for 8-10 minutes which saves fuel and reduces heat in the galley.

Drain potatoes. Save water to make gravy with.

Place a little olive oil or vegetable oil in a frying pan and when the oil is hot add the potatoes and garlic cloves (now softened but still with skins on) and crisp them in the frying pan, turning often, until they have a golden “roasted” potato crust, about 10 minutes.

Place in a serving bowl and season with sea salt or seasoned salt. Adding crushed rosemary or other herb of your choice is also nice.

Note: I sometimes boil the potatoes and garlic ahead of time and then crisp them up as I'm slicing up the beef.


Sunday Flank Steak

Serves 4

Ingredients
2 to 3 lb flank steak
Steak Sauce (I find A1 or HP steak sauce gives a nice “roast” flavour. BBQ sauce is too tomatoey. In a pinch, worchestershire sauce works well too.)

Method
Score the meat in a diamond pattern with a sharp knife to break up the connective tissue and to open the meat to the flavour of the steak sauce marinade.

Place meat in a non-metallic pan, casserole or bowl and slather with steak sauce to marinade. Cover the bowl or put marinading meat into a self-seal plastic bag (takes up less room in the fridge) and refrigerate for at least half an hour or overnight.

Preheat broiler. You can also BBQ the meat but you lose the drippings for gravy if you do. Broil within 2 inches of source of heat for about 5-6 minutes on each side. It will blacken. Be sure to cook it rare or medium rare for melt-in-your-mouth tenderness. If cooked well done it can be tough.

Carve by slicing the meat against or across the grain to make it even more tender and serve it like sliced roast beef with gravy made from the drippings (recipe follows).


Quick Gravy
1 package classic brown gravy mix. (Yes, this is a cheat. I promised quick and easy)
Use water the potatoes were boiled in.
Pan drippings

Follow package directions using the water you’ve cooked the potatoes in (and/or other vegetables in) and mix it with a classic brown gravy mix for flavour and nutrition. I also add the drippings collected in the pan beneath my broiling rack which makes the gravy taste homemade.


Sunday Flank Steak served up with gravy, horse radish, Yorkshire pudding, bowls of vegetables and potatoes and a bottle of nice red wine makes this meal feel like a special Sunday Roast dinner you'd have at your grandmother's surrounded by family and friends.

Your Comments
If you try any of these recipes please let me know how they work out for you! You can post your comments below, on the Distant Shores TV Facebook Page or send me an email.


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