Blocked (featuring Flat Iron Steak Crostini with Lemongrass Cream)

My writer’s brain has turned into a bowl of half-eaten Frosted Flakes left in the sink all day.  It’s slushy, impotent, and tasteless.

For many years, I’ve been able to twist my words, like a party clown with a long balloon, into something resembling something, but I just can’t get my blocked brain to find a story worth telling.

Luckily, my passion for cooking hasn’t suffered.

Please enjoy this flat iron steak appetizer recipe and stay tuned for more stories from my life in the kitchen soon… fingers crossed.  

Flat Iron Steak Crostini with Lemongrass Cream

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup fresh lemongrass (3-4 stalks smashed flat with a mallet, which will soften the lemongrass and make it release more flavor)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 shallot
• 2-3 serrano chiles
• 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons sour cream
• 1 flat iron steak (1 1/4-1 1/2 pound), silverskin removed
• Toasted baguette rounds

Make the marinade:

1. Cut the smashed lemongrass into inch-long pieces and put them into a blender with garlic, shallot, chiles, brown sugar, lime juice, fish sauce, sesame oil, and salt.  Puree until smooth. 
2. Measure 3 tablespoons of the marinade into another bowl and mix with 3 tablespoons of sour cream.  Set aside in the fridge.
3. Massage the remaining marinade onto the flat iron steak and let sit for 1-3 hours.  
4. Preheat the broiler for at least 30 minutes.
5. Place the flat iron steak on a foil-lined sheet pan and set it under the broiler for 7 minutes.  Flip and broil for another 7 minutes until the meat is between 110- 115 degrees. 
6. Let meat rest for 10 minutes.  
7. Slice thinly against the grain of the meat, place on toasted baguette rounds, and then spoon the lemongrass cream on top.  Sprinkle with sliced scallions or chives or lemongrass for garnish.