Zack Barnett

I was cleaning out the freezer and came across a flat-iron steak. I think my in-laws gave us the rectangle cut of meat, which was 8-12 inches long and an inch thick. For the last couple weeks I’d been trying to think up a cool way to cook it. I swear I saw something like this on a cooking show, but attempts at googling “green chile cheesesteak” failed miserably, which means I’ll have a corner on the search engine market with those keywords. I think the cook on TV used a pricey tenderloin or something. I went simple and cheaper, with the  flat iron from my freezer.

1)    Flat iron steak
2)    Whole, roasted Hatch green chiles, peeled, and seeded
3)    Provolone or jack cheese thinly sliced
4)    Onions and peppers sliced and stir-fried
5)    Hoagie rolls and mayo

Marinade:

Hot New Mexico chile powder
Cayenne Pepper
Paprika
Garlic Powder
Onion flakes
Lime juice
Garlic grilling oil/olive oil
A little liquid smoke (optional for smoky goodness)
Chipotle powder (optional, but a great combo with liquid smoke. If I ever had a band, we’d call ourselves Liquid Smoke.)

Flat iron steaks are pretty tender beasts to begin with, but I marinated mine over night in the mixture above. Before slathering on the marinade, I sliced into the side of the steak, leaving enough uncut meat on one side so I could fold it back on itself. So, slice into the steak so you can open like a book. Smear marinade on the inside, too.

Once it’s marinated, open the steak up like a book and stuff it with chiles and cheese. Close it back up. Use string if you need to tie it shut. Then grill it up. I used a non-stick perforated grill pan to keep the cheese from oozing into the depths of my grill. Cook it like any steak, sear it on both sides, then finish it with the temp turned down so it cooks through.

Slice across the meat and put the resulting sections into hoagies with mayonnaise and peppers and onions.