Perfectly Seared Bavette

I am drawn to food lovers as friends. Many times, my friends will call or text with a few hours notice that they’ll be in my neighborhood around dinner time and couldn’t possibly brave the wilds of Los Angeles traffic. So, impromptu dinner at mi casa it is! What I’m about to share with you is an elegant, easy, and delectable way to share a spontaneous dinner with friends.

First, ladies and gentlemen, I have a confession: It may not be en vogue but, I absolutely love a nice steak. I like it rare and I like it often. I am a big fan of less expensive cuts of meat prepared to yield a fine dining experience. Usually, this means slow cooking which translates to pre-planning. We don’t always have this luxury.

The flank steak, known by the French as bavette, is a long flat cut of beef taken from the abdominal muscles of a cow. A well exercised cut – especially when from a cow raised on pasture – and so it makes a relatively tough cut of beef. Thus, many recipes for flank steak call for marinating, braising, or other such moist cooking methods. However, as in many instances, the French have it – the best way to prepare flank steak is searing.

This tender and yet intensely meaty-tasting entree takes me roughly 15 minutes to prepare. Hardly enough time for the wine to breath. When serving, slice it up at the dinner table for a little show-stopping, mouth-watering display of your hosting talents.

Seared Bavette Ingredients

• 1.5-2 lb. bavette/flank steak - buy grassfed beef here
• corse ground black pepper (enough to coat steak)
• unrefined sea salt (enough to coat steak) - find it here
• 2 tablespoons tallow from cows raised on pasture
• 1 tablespoon butter from cows raised on pasture

Seared Bavette Method

1. Allow the your bavette to come to room temperature.
2. Pat your bavette dry with paper towels.
3. Coat both sides of the bavette liberally with unrefined sea salt (find it here) and coarse ground black pepper. Be generous. You are creating a crust.
4. Add tallow and butter to a cast iron skillet and get the skillet searing hot. The tallow will keep the butter from burning. You’ll likely need to turn on your vent hood for this.
5. Just as the oil seems it will begin to smoke, lay the bavette in the pan. Allow the bavette to sear on either side undisturbed for 3-7 minutes depending on the level of doneness you desire. Use a meat thermometer to measure the center temp:
   Rare = 120F
   Medium Rare = 125F
   Medium = 130F
   NOTE: Do not take the bavette past medium as it will continue to cook when taken off the heat source.
6. Place the bavette on a wooden board or serving platter and leave undisturbed for 10 minutes. This is the hardest part for me but, allows the juices to run back through the meat instead of escaping.
7. Slice in thin strips across the grain when serving.

Active Time: 10 minutes

Yields: A gorgeous dinner.

This post was generously contributed by Monica Ford of Real Food Devotee. Check back next Friday for more delicious recipes from Monica that will make your mouth water and your tummy purr. If you’re lucky enough to live in Los Angeles, Real Food Devotee can make your life easier by delivering nutrient dense goodies directly to your door.Image credit: Clairity

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