Ancho Adobo Steak with Whiskey Glaze

Holy moly, this was good. I found this fun little gem in a new Cuisine Lite magazine. Max Man and I have recently come to the conclusion that we just really like flank steak. I mean, it's just good people. A juicy, lean cut that because of its grooves and texture, it can really lock in and hold incredible flavors. We've loved the other flank steaks such as the Balsamic Flank Steak and the Vaquero Flank Steak, this one adds another great option to the flank steak resume. Delicious and nutritious, coming in at 290 calories, 10g total fat, 12g carbs, 32g protein and 22 mg calcium.

Grocery List:

• 1/2 cup apricot preserves
• 1/4 cup whiskey
• 1/4 cup apple juice
• 2 tbsp. minced chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tpsp. ancho chile powder
• 1 tsp. kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 1/2 lb. flank steak

If you have a grill, you can use that, I decided to stick to the griddle tonight. Preheat your grilling device and brush with vegetable oil.

Whisk together the preserves, whiskey, apple juice and chipotle peppers in a bowl. I read once in another recipe that called for whiskey, that you could use apple juice as a sub. Now, it's been quite the weekend. I opened my cabinet and saw the Crown whiskey that I inherited from a friend when they moved and didn't want to ship alcohol, totally understandable, happy to take on this burden :-) However, they moved in September and this is the first time I've used any of the stash I received. Meh. So, back to the weekend.... opening up that whiskey and getting a whiff made me want to double over, so I decided to half the original 1/2 cup the recipe called for and do part whiskey, part apple juice. You can choose to do all apple juice, all whiskey or combine the two. I liked the way this turned out.

Combine the brown sugar, chili powder, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Rub the mixture over both sides of the meat, along with any meat tenderizer, if you have it.

Grill your steak for about 3 minutes on the first side, flip to grill the other side for another 3 minutes. Brush your glaze on the exposed side of the meat, grilling for about 2 minutes more. The reason we glaze midway through the cooking is to allow the sauce to caramelize, rather than burn. Continue to cook, flipping as needed, applying glaze each time you flip.

When you think it is done, do the meat-cooking-rule-of-thumb I taught you in the first Central Market class post. Always cut flank steak thinly against the grain for the best results and taste. Served with chipotle-cheddar polenta, green bean and squash medley.