Sean FalconMarch 20, 2018steak, mushrooms, carrots, grill, cast iron, meat

Hanger Steak

Sean FalconMarch 20, 2018steak, mushrooms, carrots, grill, cast iron, meat

The Italians refer to this as 'Lombatello', but in America you'll usually see this cut referred to as 'Hanger steak' or possibly 'Butcher's cut'. It has been gaining in popularity recently (along with other cheaper cuts) due it's more intense beef flavor and relatively cheap price. It takes marinades very well, but in this preparation we just hit it with salt, onion powder and a great steakhouse seasoning consisting of chili, thyme, oregano, pepper, celery, garlic, onion, sugar and sea salt.

In the Bay Area, we have easy access to a great carrot called Nantes Carrots. They're recognizable by the fact that they don't taper off towards the tip like a normal carrot. They remain pretty uniform in terms of thickness from top to bottom. That uniformity can be used as an advantage, especially when glazing, which is how we’ll be preparing the carrots for this dish. Thickness and density are things that people tend to overlook when they're cutting their vegetables, which means if you're roasting or sautéing different sized cuts, then they're going to cook at different speeds. Using the Nantes' uniformity to our advantage allows us to cook these carrots more evenly and possibly use more of the carrot since we're discarding less of the tips. Every little bit helps. Of course, you can use whatever carrots you like or have available to you. The process will be exactly the same.

One of my favorite compliments to steak is a nice mushroom. In this plate, I went with some beautiful Eryngii mushrooms, a.k.a. this King Trumpet Oyster mushroom. These guys are thick and meaty and really pack some unique flavor. They get seasoned with kosher salt and are then cooked in clarified butter. Any cooking oil will do, but the clarified butter gives them a nice richness that compliments the charred flavor of the steak.