Back when Katie was a mere 4 weeks old, an old friend came to stay with us for a few days. We hadn’t seen him in years and hoped it would be a good visit – one where we’d have an enjoyable time reconnecting. We also hoped we could somehow manage to feed, water and entertain our houseguest while simultaneously caring for our kids. And we really hoped we would not send him screaming after being exposed our new insanity.
We had a wonderful visit in the end – there was some reminiscing, a lot of catching up (1 wedding, 6 kids and 2 dogs worth of catching up) and a discovery of a shared interest in cooking.
James described a flank steak dish that he made often. He claimed it was fast – no need to marinate, just stuff it, roll it and grill it. It sounded good. Really good. A few weeks later and we decided to give it a go. Only G tried it on the BGE. [What’s a BGE? Read about it here.]
After an hour on the grill, G brought in the steak. We were entirely unprepared for what we were about to see – the deep redness that developed from smoking, the mouth-watering aroma that permeated every corner of the kitchen as we let it rest and the soft supple texture as we cut into it.
It was a huge success. In fact, this steak has become a regular feature on our dinner table. It’s incredibly flavourful and provides some sophisticated tastes in the filling for the grownups and a fantastically tender and smoke-kissed steak for the kids.
There’s a passion that exists around this type of grilling. Since we’ve had the BGE, I’ve seen it growing in G. The Economist had an article a few years back describing the regional divides that have grown out of passion and dedication to certain flavours of barbecue. Our hearts, or maybe I should say our taste buds, adore the cooked slowly over a wood fire kind of barbecue. And although I am a barbecue loving Canadian, to me: Barbecue = Americana.
I created this post for the Monthly Mingle at What’s For Lunch, Honey? hosted this month by Jenn Cuisine.
Flank Steak Roulade
inspired by James
(serves 6)
- 2 medium mushrooms, coarsely chopped
- 2-3 tbsp sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
- 2-3 marinated artichokes (in oil), chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh chives, chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
- 2 lb flank steak
- a few glugs of extra virgin olive oil
- a few pinches of kosher salt
- 4-5 toothpicks
Heat the BGE to 300F.
Combine the first seven ingredients in a small bowl. Lay the steak out flat on your work surface and spread the mixture evenly across the centre 3-4 inches.
Roll up the steak and hold it together using 4 or 5 toothpicks. It doesn’t have to be perfect – just enough to hold the meat together and keep the filling contained while barbecuing. Rub the exterior with salt and olive oil.
Put a well-soaked chunk of oak into the fire. Place the steak on and grill for 45 min at 300F. Raise the temperature to 350F and leave the roulade on for 10 min to slightly crisp the exterior. Remove and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Remove the toothpicks, slice into rounds and serve.
Tips and Suggestions:
- This recipe is tested on a Big Green Egg. If you haven’t heard of or used a Big Green Egg, you need to go find out about it: try the official Big Green Egg website, as well as here, here and here. Other barbecues may need a water tray so the meat does not dry out and/or a smoker box or something equivalent to hold wood for smoking.
EmmaEats...and Katie too! 
I’m not a big fan of beef but this looks amazing! Perhaps I should reconsider..
If you do, you won’t regret it. It’s fantastic!
I love flank steak and always marinate it. This looks like a delicious alternative. I’m going to try it out. Thanks for posting!
Thank you for reading!
Until we tried it this way, we always marinated it as well. We’ve been converted! And, our friend grills it on the regular BBQ (for a much shorter period of time than we do on the BGE) so it can really be super fast. Hope it goes well for you! Would love to hear how it turns out!
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lovely set of ingredients 🙂
Thank you! They really work very well together.
This sounds intriguing. I have a smoker tray I got as a gift and never used. Now I know what I’ll do with it. The meat-loving men in my family (and me too) are going to love it, I’m sure!
I hope you all enjoy it! We received a smoker box before we got the BGE and were tempted to use it…then we got distracted by getting the BGE. Now I can’t believe we weren’t smoking earlier!