Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes, plus marinating time
Cooking time: Approximately 50 minutes
Ingredients
4 x 175g/6oz lean flat iron steaks
Salt and freshly milled black pepper
For the Date Infused Barbecue Sauce:
60ml/4tbsp olive or rapeseed oil
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
60ml/4tbsp tomato ketchup
150ml/¼pint good, hot vegetable stock
15ml/1tbsp runny honey
5ml/1tsp cayenne pepper
4 stoned dates, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
Method
1. Heat the oil in a small saucepan and gently cook the onion and garlic for 10 minutes.
2. Add the ketchup, stock, honey and cayenne pepper. Simmer for 5-8 minutes until thickened.
3. Add the dates and simmer for a further 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice and seasoning, stir gently and set aside. Divide the sauce into two bowls.
4. Place the flat iron steaks on a chopping board, season and brush on both sides with the contents of one bowl of sauce. Cook on a prepared barbecue or under a preheated moderate grill for 3-4 minutes on each side (medium rare) or 5-7 minutes on each side (for medium). Cover with foil and leave to rest for 5-10 minutes.
5. Serves the steaks with the fresh sauce and accompaniments.
Tip
For extra speed make the sauce the day before.
Flat iron steak is best when cooked either medium rare or medium. Resting time is crucial
If preferred replace the flat iron steaks with sirloin, rump or rib-eye steaks and cook according to you preference using the timings below:
(Based on a 2cm/¾-in thick steak):
Rare: 2½ minutes on each side
Medium: 4 minutes on each side
Well done: 6 minutes on each side
