I always love grilling at the Franklin Farmers Market during the Summer Chef Demos. It gives me a chance to share the best of our local meat producers with the Market customers and to talk about the quality standards of each farm. Recently South Fork was grilling at the Market and we featured different cuts of meat from 4 different producers- Bear Creek Farm, Tavalin Tails Farm, The Fly Farm, and Peaceful Pastures. For this week’s recipe, I grilled a beautiful flank steak from Bear Creek Farm that was simply seasoned with salt & pepper, just to let the flavor and quality of the local beef to shine through, and it was delicious! I picked up some heirloom Purple Cherokee Tomatoes from Ray at Rosecreek Farms and some little cherry tomatoes from Lauren at Bloomsbury Farm, as well as arugula form Karen at Norton Family Farm. Everything so fresh and delicious, it is so worth buying local produce! I hope you can make it out to the Market this weekend and Happy Independence Day!
Grilled Flank Steak with Heirloom Tomatoes, Arugula & Mozzarella
Serves 6-8
2.5-3lbs flank steak(Bear Creek Farm)
4 heirloom tomatoes(Rose Creek Farms)
1 pint cherry tomatoes (Bloomsbury Farm)
8 oz whole milk mozzarella
½ pound arugula (Norton Family Farm)
Olive oil
Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Black pepper
Red wine vinegar
Season the flank steak on both sides with 2 teaspoons of salt, 1 tsp black pepper and 1 tsp olive oil. Set aside to come to room temp, about 30 minutes. Fire up the grill to medium high heat 10 minutes before you’re ready to grill.
Meanwhile, slice the tomatoes and mozzarella and arrange on a large platter. Cut some of the larger cherry tomatoes in half and arrange them with the others on the platter. Add the arugula alongside the tomatoes and drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over everything, then season generously with salt and pepper and a few drops of the wine vinegar. Once finished pop the salad platter in the fridge and grill the flank steak.
Once the flank has come to room temp place the steak on the grill and close the lid and grill for 2 minutes. Turn over and grill 2 minutes more, keeping the lid closed. Turn the flank again and season with a little salt and pepper and continue to grill for 2 more minutes. Repeat turning and seasoning the other side for another 2 minutes, for a total of 8 minutes. If you have an insta-read thermometer you can cook it to 120F for Rare or 126F for Medium Rare, just start to check after about 6 minutes on the grill. When the flank is ready to remove to a large serving platter and let rest for 10 minutes before carving, this allows the meat to relax and retain all of the juices inside. Carve the flank steak into thin slices and serve along with the tomato salad, drizzle any steak juices over the arugula, it’s delicious. Enjoy!
Michael R Martin
South Fork Catering Co.
