Hanger tender

I stopped by a good meat market after work yesterday for something to grill for supper, and saw a pair of trimmed hanger tender steaks. Having remembered some mention of the flavor of that cut on the FLDG, I bought them both (about 8-9 oz. each), along with two large boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I cooked the chicken last night, marinated with EVOO, balsamic vinegar, powdered lemon grass, and Ms. Dash, then grilled.

Now for the hanger tenders: I was thinking of a similar marinade, but with wine vinegar ISO balsamic, and maybe some garlic. Now, how to grill it - low & slow, or on high for a quick sear? They aren't big enough to take long to cook to medium, I suspect.

[Jenise]

Robert, I wouldn't use any acid here--it will tend to precook the meat, and on a quick cooking piece like hanger steak that's not beneficial. Go for the quick sear, this is a steak. Since you've got fresh garlic and EVOO, you're already close to having all you need to make a great tasting steak. Add some fresh ground black pepper for a pepper steak, dry mustard, or substitute soy sauce for your balsamic vinegar to add a background complexity (you won't be able to identify it when the steak is done). Also, to improve the sear, sprinkle a little sugar on each side of the meat--it attracts flame and caramelizes on the exterior, giving you better color and grilled flavor.

I hadn't thought of the sugar angle.

[Jenise]

I hadn't thought of the sugar angle.

Try it, you'll like it!--it gives better color/flavor (remember, color IS flavor) to quick-cooking meats. I use sugar on things like grilled wafer-thin pork chops, too.

I've used the sugar trick, too. It also works when you want to saute a steak with a nice sear on the outside.

Perfect marinade for hanger steaks is the following:

1/4 cup EVOO
1/4 cup Korean Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice
Granulated Garlic
Sriracha Chili Sauce to Taste

Place all the ingredient in a large ZipLoc bag and marinate the hangers for about an hour and a half. Any more and the lime will cook the meat. When ready to grill, remove them from the marinade and dry off as much as possible with paper towels. Get your grill running at full blast. Lighty apply some EVOO or Pam to the steaks and hit the grill. Most store hangers will take about 4 to 5 minutes per side to yield medium rare...depending of course on how hot your rig will run. Better under cook and then go back than to ruin them.

On a completely unrelated note. I bought a couple of naturally raised (grass fed) chuck eyes the other day. What a perfect steak this is. At half the price of the rib eye which it abuts. Went back and got the last two in the store today.

(Edited to add the "ly" to "natural".)

[Jenise]

On a completely unrelated note. I bought a couple of naturally raised (grass fed) chuck eyes the other day. What a perfect steak this is. At half the price of the rib eye which it abuts. Went back and got the last two in the store today.

(Edited to add the "ly" to "natural".)

Validation!

Delicious!! Jenise, I took some pictures this time before the evidence was eaten. Hanger is definitely chewy, but I'll cook it again, the flavor is great!

[Jenise]

Perfect marinade for hanger steaks is the following:

1/4 cup EVOO
1/4 cup Korean Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice
Granulated Garlic
Sriracha Chili Sauce to Taste

Place all the ingredient in a large ZipLoc bag and marinate the hangers for about an hour and a half. Any more and the lime will cook the meat. When ready to grill, remove them from the marinade and dry off as much as possible with paper towels. Get your grill running at full blast. Lighty apply some EVOO or Pam to the steaks and hit the grill. Most store hangers will take about 4 to 5 minutes per side to yield medium rare...depending of course on how hot your rig will run. Better under cook and then go back than to ruin them.

Bill, I'm not sure I've ever had Korean soy sauce. Japanese and Chinese and Filipino and Hawaiian--yes, and even Indonesian which is thick and sweet. Where does Korean fit within the pantheon of soy sauces so that we can understand your preference for it in this recipe?

It is a bit sweeter and has a less bitter bite than either Japanese or Chinese. I don't get that wheat/yeast component either.

Perfect marinade for hanger steaks is the following:

1/4 cup EVOO
1/4 cup Korean Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice
Granulated Garlic
Sriracha Chili Sauce to Taste

Place all the ingredient in a large ZipLoc bag and marinate the hangers for about an hour and a half. Any more and the lime will cook the meat. When ready to grill, remove them from the marinade and dry off as much as possible with paper towels. Get your grill running at full blast. Lighty apply some EVOO or Pam to the steaks and hit the grill. Most store hangers will take about 4 to 5 minutes per side to yield medium rare...depending of course on how hot your rig will run. Better under cook and then go back than to ruin them.

Thank you Bill. I tried this last night with a flank steak I bought from my friend Jim Fiedler, one of the local meat suppliers at our farmers' market, and it was superb! So simple, but what a difference it makes. In fact the whole meal was that way - simple and wonderful. Flank steak (I didn't feel like fooling with the grill so I just broiled it in the oven), boiled small (about 1" diameter) locally grown potatoes - a mix of red, white, and blue, even though the 4th has passed - which I dressed with oil, butter, and herbs from our porch pots, a salad with tomatoes and avocado, an apple/rhubarb pie topped with blackberries, blueberries, and a lattice crust, a bottle of Cotes du Rhone, almost all the food locally sourced. A whole new definition of wealth!

Bob, glad you enjoyed it! As luck would have it, I had a Flannery hanger last night with this marinade. Served it with sauteed haricot vert and roasted Yukon Gold taters. Paired it with a 2005 Columbia Crest Reserve Cab.