I need to get better at this working-and-writing balance; it’s been nearly a month since my last post. Here’s another one of my weekday dinner cheats! Great for cooking for friends too, since it’s so easy and the meat is naturally flavourful. You can get this and a side dish on the table in under 30 minutes.

Onglet de boeuf

Otherwise known as the “hanger” steak, this steak cut looks like it’s having an identity crisis! It’s shaped like a sausage, rather than the typical “fillet” shape of steaks. It’s the lower belly of the steer or heifer, and is super tender and flavourful. I love it!

I cook it simply by placing the whole thing  over high fire for a few minutes, then serve with a nice sauce like the chimichurri I wrote below or a more complicated-but-oh-so-worth-it white-chocolate Béarnaise and side dishes like my friend Phil’s rucola with lemon dressing salad or his chipotle-lime roasted potato salad .

If you get both sides from the butcher as one intact piece, obviously you’d need to remove the central inedible membrane.

What you need for 2 people

• the juice of 1 lemon
• 1 cup olive oil
• ½ cup red wine vinegar
• 1 small shallot, sliced
• 2 handfuls of parsley leaves, destalked
• 2-3 stalks of fresh oregano leaves, destalked
• 2 cloves garlic
• ½ teaspoon chili flakes or 1 fresh chilli pepper, thinly sliced
• 3 medium-sized zucchinis
• 1 cup tablespoons flour, any kind
• ½ tablespoon powdered vegetable stock
• 300g hanger steak, around 150g each per person
• salt and pepper to taste

Make the chimichurri “pesto”

Mine ends up more like a pesto, than the classical chimichurri sauce, because I toss everything in my blender. The classical recipe calls for everything to be finely minced and mixed into the liquids. Since I’m often pressed for time, my KitchenAid blender to the rescue!

In a bowl, I mix the olive oil, the lemon juice, the vinegar and the shallots and let sit for 10 minutes. Then I toss this liquid mix along with the leaves, garlic and chilli into the blender and pulse until smooth. Toss in the rest of the chopped parsley. Stir and chill in fridge until ready to use.

Make the zucchini fries

Preheat the oven to 180C. Slice the zucchini into fries-sized pieces: usually I cut into thirds, then cut the thirds into eighths. Dry the zucchini on paper towels and sprinkle with salt. In a mixing bowl, or Ziploc bag, mix together the flour with the powdered vegetable stock. Then toss the zucchini fries together with the flour mix.

Place evenly in on a baking tray and bake in oven for 20 minutes.

Sear the steaks

Dry the steaks with a paper towel. Season with salt and pepper. Heat a cast-iron pan until it’s smoking. Add the steaks and sear for 3 minutes on each side.

I serve it on a bed of baby spinach and drizzle over with the chimichurri pesto.

Enjoy! Have a happy end of Sunday!