FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!

Yup, it's true. I had my first kitchen fire last week. It happened so quick that I didn't even have time to process what happened.

Per the directions, I placed my brolier pan on the closest rack to the flame to cook. You'll read below that you are suppose to cook full tomatoes and scallions in the pan with the steak after coating them with oil, so that's exactly what I did. Once both sides of the meat cooked per directed, I checked the steak then popped it back in to cook a little longer.The vegetables didn't need anymore time so I removed them. When the steak was ready to be removed, I carefully pulled the pan out of the oven and POOF! half of the pan was in flames!

I screamed and wafted the pan. Luckily, the fire immediately burned out. I'm assuming the grease from the veggies splashed up at the flame and ignited. Weird, right? What's crazy about the whole thing is that not only was the flame huge, but it was contained to only one small portion of the pan and the meat was safe!!!! (Seriously! Isn't that great?) Unfortunately, my pan did not make it out alive. The heat immediately warped the pan and even after cooling, it never settled flat again. Oh well...lesson learned: Even when directions say to place pans closest to the flame, DON'T! If I had placed the pan lower, I would have had to cook it longer, but would have avoided the loss of my pan.

All crazieness aside, the steak was delish! I chose to use the relish to top my garlic toast, and I must say - it was soooo good. And to complete my meal, I grilled up some shrimp for a little surf and turf! Mmmm mmm mm!

Recipe:
Steak:
1 flank steak (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Extra-virgin olive oil, for rubbing steak pluse 1 tablespoon
1 tablespoon herbes de Provence (I subbed in all-purpose seasoning instead...much better) ;)
Kosher Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Relish:
3 ripe medium tomatoes
1 bunch scallions, trimmed
8 whole garlic cloves, unpeeled
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic or red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Toasted crusty bread, for serving.

Directions:
Position a broiler pan on the rack closest to the broiler and preheat to high. Rub the steak lightly with some olive oil and sprinkle with the herbes de Provence and salt and pepper, to taste. Put the whole tomatoes, scallions, and garlic cloves in a large bowl, drizzle with about 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Turn the vegetables until they are lightly coated.

Carefully lay the steak in the center of the hot pan, arrange the vegetables around it, and broil until the steak is brown but still tender to the touch and the vegetables are charred, 5 to 6 minutes. Turn the steak and the vegetables and broil another 5 to 6 minutes, until the steak is medium rare (an instant-read thermometer inserted crosswise into the side of the steak registers 130 degrees F) and vegetables are charred. Transfer the steak and vegetables to a cutting board.

For the relish: Core the tomatoes, squeeze the garlic cloves from their skins, and chop them both with the scallions to make a chunky relish. Transfer the vegetables and all their juices to a bowl and stir in the remaining 1/4 cup or so of the olive oil, the vinegar, and the Worcestershire sauce. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Slice the meat against the grain and on an angle, transfer to a plate or platter, and serve with the relish and toasted bread.
(This is not going to look very appealing but trust me, it tastes delicious! Because of this relish, I ended up eating 5 pieces of garlic toast!)


Recipe courtesy of Foodnetwork.com