Rosemary Marinated Flank Steaks with Tomatoes and Black Olive Dressing

From Peter Hoffman, chef and owner of Savoy in New York City. La Cense Beef® is a new natural, grass-fed and grass-finished beef produced from select Black Angus cattle raised on the La Cense® Ranch in Dillon, Montana.

Ingredients:

• 2 La Cense Beef® flank steaks
• 1 T. olive oil
• 2 T. fresh rosemary chopped
• 1 t. coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 t. salt
• 2 cloves garlic minced

Well in advance of cooking them, bring the flank steaks to room temperature and allow them to marinate further. Cooking steaks at room temperature is far preferable to throwing cold meat on the grill. It’s a more gentle method of cooking and will deliver juicier meat if the meat is already warm before the cooking begins.

Flank steaks tend to be uneven in their thickness, so have part of the grill over an area without coals so that the thinner side of the flank steak can be removed from direct heat while the thicker side continues to cook. Three minutes on each side for medium rare should suffice.

Let the meat rest 10 minutes before slicing. This allows the meat time to relax and the juices to circulate back into the meat. Slicing meat before it has properly rested sends the juices dribbling onto the cutting board, rather than where we really want them - in the meat itself.

Don’t rush the resting phase. Have a slug of beer and wipe your brow. Slice the meat, sprinkle with a bit of salt and arrange in a radial pattern around the plate.

Top with the tomato salad and sit at the table talking about the good things in life.

The dressing for this is summery and thirst quenching, especially as a topping for the juicy grilled beef. While the sauce is cooked in a pan, you can place the pan over the grill so that you aren’t cooking in two places at once.

• 3 T. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 6 anchovy filets
• 1/4 t. crushed red pepper
• 2 T. red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup pitted black olives roughly chopped
• 1 T. flat parsley chopped
• 2 large juicy ripe tomatoes cored and cut into big chunks

Add the vinegar and the olives and remove from the heat. Toss in the parsley. Add the chunks of tomato and toss with the olive dressing. Taste for salt, although the anchovies should supply the needed balance.