I love steak and now that it’s summer, grilling them is the preferred way: the house doesn’t get hot from a running stove/oven, my gas grill heats up quickly and a steak is on my plate in 20 minutes.

I recently was in a local Costco and they had a bin full of hanger steaks on sale. Two vacuum packed pieces of meat for about $25, which easily feeds four. This steak is also known as “butcher’s steak” as it was usually kept for himself, being that it was inexpensive, soft as filet mignon and as juicy as a ribeye.

This steak gets its name as it is attached to the last rib, hanging near the kidneys of the cow. You may have seen it referred to as “onglet”, as the French call it.

The down side is that you still have to trim the meat and separate the two muscles. Not difficult and worth the fuss to be able to enjoy such a tasty cut of beef.

You’re going to get a piece of hanger steak looking something like this. The first thing you’re going to do is trim any silver skin on the exterior of the meat.

Next, there’s a white (visible to the eye) connective tissue that separates the two muscles. With short strokes, cut and separate along this line and trim/remove from the meat.

After about 5 minutes of trimming, this is how your hanger steak will look. It’s ready for cooking.

At this point you can season and grill or cut both pieces into two, giving you 4 portions. Hanger steak can be simply seasoned as you would to your favourite steak or marinated similar to a flank steak. I chose the latter.

Steak seasoning, garlic, onion, grated ginger, black pepper, wine, dried Greek oregano, vegetable oil and a splash of soy.

A nice flavour boost is charring some scallions, allowing them to cool then chopping and garnishing your steaks. I served my easy and fool-proof recipe for Fries, whip up a summer salad and set up your backyard dining table, enjoy “al fresco”.

Hanger steak ideally should be cooked to no more than medium-rare. If you’re the type that like’s their steak cooked more, skip hanger steak. One of my trusty kitchen tools is my instant-read thermometer.

Grilled Hanger Steak With Charred Scallions

(serves 4)

1 hanger steak, trimmed and separated into two

all-purpose seasoning salt

fresh ground pepper

Marinade

1/4 cup grated onion

3 cloves of garlic, smashed

1 inch piece of fresh ginger

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. white wine

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 tsp. dried Greek oregano

Garnish

12 scallions (toss in some olive oil, grill/char on boat sides)

1. Season all sides of your steaks with seasoning salt and pepper and place in a large zip lock bag.
2. Into a food processor or blender, add the marinade ingredients and process until smooth. Empty into the ziplock bag with the steak and squeeze the bag to help distribute the marinade all over the meat. Seal, place in a plan or bowl and place in the fridge for up to 4 hours.
3. Remove steak from the fridge, take out of the bag gently wipe away excess marinade (you want some still on the meat). Discard bag and marinade.
4. Pre-heat your gas/charcoal grill to high heat (600F). Brush your grill surface free of any grilling residue.
5. Once grill is hot, apply grill surface with a wipe of vegetable oil-treated paper towel, place steaks on hot grill, seat for 4-5 minutes a side or until an internal temp of 120F is achieved. Take off grill, allow to rest 5 minutes before slicing.
6. Much like flank steak, cut steaks “against the grain” or the visible lines of meat that run in the direction of the length of meat.
7. Arrange on your plate, top with any reserved steak juices, chop the scallions and top along with a sprinkle of sea salt and serve.

Variations:

• Skip the marinade, season your steak in your favourite way, grill it and serve with a Chimichurri sauce.
• Pre-heat a cast-iron skillet (turn on your stove fan, open a window) to white-hot, add a splash of veg oil and sear until internal temp of 120F achieved