Cherry Balsamic Flap Steak Recipe

This cherry balsamic flap steak is the perfect combination of sweet and savory. While it may be hard to improve on a good cut of steak seared on high heat, this honey-garlic cherry sauce does precisely that, providing a luscious, tangy contrast to the toothsome meat that makes the dish melt in the mouth.

This recipe from Ksenia Prints of At the Immigrant's Table begins by making the savory cherry reduction. As the cherry balsamic sauce cooks down, its natural sugars caramelize, enhancing the meat's savory notes. Touches of savory herbs and garlic run through the dish, making the flavor more nuanced. Then, like most good steaks, this dish demands fire. More specifically, a cast iron grill pan pre-heated to high heat. When the metal gets so hot it's almost smoking, we add the steak and let it cook to the desired inner temperature.

Thanks to the pan's high heat, the outside develops a flavorful crust while keeping the interior juicy and tender. The intense heat of a well-seasoned cast iron mimics an outdoor grill, allowing the Maillard reaction to develop deep, satisfying flavors. Once you spoon the sauce onto the steak, you end up with a complex, rich-tasting dish that will leave you craving more with every bite.

To make this steak with cherry balsamic sauce, you will need a few components. First, the eponymous balsamic vinegar lends its deep, aged complexity to the sauce. Fresh cherries provide vibrant sweetness and tang, and make up the body of the sauce. Honey contributes floral notes and helps thicken the reduction. Then, to round out the sauce, we add garlic, dried thyme, olive oil, salt, and black pepper. For the steak, flap meat works beautifully on the grill due to its thin, oblong shape and beefy texture. However, other grill-friendly cuts like flank, hanger, or skirt steak can substitute seamlessly, suited for quick, high-heat searing over open flames or scorching cast iron. Optionally, fresh thyme makes the perfect garnish for this gorgeous dish, lending a final bright accent to an otherwise rich dish.

In a saucepan, combine the balsamic vinegar, ½ cup cherries, honey, minced garlic, olive oil, thyme, salt, and pepper.

Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes, until the cherries are softened.

Strain the sauce, reserving the cherries and sauce separately.

In a shallow dish, combine ½ cup cherry balsamic sauce with steak and marinate 2 to 4 hours refrigerated, turning occasionally.

Remove the steak from marinade, discard the marinade.

Heat a grill pan over high heat and brush with oil.

Cook the steak 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium-rare (internal temperature of 130 to 135 F).

Let rest 5 minutes then slice against the grain.

Reheat the remaining cherry balsamic sauce and stir in the reserved cherries.

Serve steak topped with cherry balsamic sauce and fresh thyme as desired.

You can make this sauce using fresh, frozen, or even canned cherries. Fresh cherries stay firm even after cooking, providing a nice textural contrast to the steak. Though they do release their natural juices when cooked down into the balsamic reduction, they still maintain some of their original body.

If you cannot find fresh cherries, the next best thing to use is frozen cherries. Frozen cherries can work as well in the sauce, though they will soften more after cooking. That said, they still retain much of their fresh cherry flavor when frozen at peak ripeness. And of course, frozen cherries are available year-round, making them a convenient replacement outside of fleeting cherry season.

Canned cherries, on the other hand, have already been cooked and processed, making them the least preferable berry to use in this recipe. Their initial processing means they will turn out much more mushy, and have a more muted flavor profile after cooking. If using canned cherries, take care to strain them of any of their original syrup to avoid altering the sauce's intended balance of sweetness.

Absolutely, you can cook the steak for this recipe on an outdoor grill instead of using a grill pan on the stovetop. In fact, grilling over live fire is usually the best cooking method for flap steak. When working with an actual grill, you have the benefit of extremely high, radiant heat. The intense, direct heat allows you to get an incredible sear on the steak's exterior, helping it develop the deeply browned, flavorful crust that we mimic using a grill cast iron pan. If your grill runs on wood or charcoal, your dish will also benefit from a distinctive smoky flavor to the dish.

For best results on the grill, have all your tools like tongs and a meat thermometer ready. Get the grill ripping hot, scrape the grates clean, then sear the steak over direct, blazing heat to mark it initially. From there, you can move it to a cooler part of the grill to finish cooking more gradually using indirect heat if needed. Cooking times may vary based on your grill, but will generally be a bit longer than on a pan.