RECIPES: Father's Day Flank Steak

June 13, 2008— -- Father's Day weekend is here, and many dads will be heading to the yard to fire up the grill. "GMA Now" asked our chef and food stylist Karen Pickus to share some of her favorite recipes she thought were perfect for a Father's Day feast.

Please find Pickus' recipes for flank steak, potato salad, rhubarb pie and vanilla bean ice cream below:

Grilled Marinated Flank Steak

This is a wonderful marinade for flank steak, a relatively inexpensive cut of beef, which becomes tender but toothsome under this robust marinade. When paired with my potato salad and a green salad with my balsamic dressing, you are in for a low-maintenance but high octane Father's Day celebration!

Ingredients:

1 ¾ Lbs. flank steak, well trimmed

½ cup soy sauce

1 inch square piece fresh ginger and grated, without peel

4 garlic cloves

1 jalapeno pepper seeded and roughly chopped

1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes

3 Tbs. honey

2 Tbs. toasted sesame oil

Method:

Place steak in a 9" x 13" glass dish. Then, in a food processor, combine all of the remaining ingredients. Pour marinade onto the steak and turn several times to coat the steak with the marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 7-8 hours. When ready to grill, set grill on high. Place steak on hot grill and cook for 3-5 minutes on each side for medium rare (125-130 degrees). Remove steak from grill and let stand for 10-20 minutes before slicing. Meanwhile pour the marinade into a small pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 2 minutes and strain into a sauce server. Cut the steak into thin diagonal slices and serve the sauce along with the steak.

Potato Salad With Fresh Herbs, Shallots and Capers

This Potato Salad is great for a summer gatherings. It combines the wonder of fresh herbs with the power and punch of mustard and shallots, finished with the salty accent of briny capers. A favorite of friends and family!

Ingredients:

2 ½ LB. small Yukon Gold or small white new potatoes, cut in half

¼ cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley

¼ cup finely chopped fresh dill

¼ cup finely chopped chives

¼ cup minced shallots

¼ cup capers

1 Tbs. white wine vinegar

3 Tbs. Dijon mustard

½ cup extra virgin organic olive oil

1 Tsp. salt

½ tsp. ground black pepper

Method:

Place washed potatoes in a 4-quart pot. Cover with water. Add 2 tsp. salt to the pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer potatoes for 15 to 20 minutes until fork tender. Meanwhile make the dressing. In a large bowl combine the herbs, shallots, and capers. Whisk in the vinegar and mustard. Slowly whisk in the olive oil to make an emulsion. Season with the salt and pepper. When the potatoes are cooked, drain well in a colander, add the warm potatoes to the dressing and toss with a rubber spatula gently until all the potatoes are coated with the dressing. Place in a serving bowl and serve warm or at room temperature along with the steak.

Karen's Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Strawberries and rhubarb are in season in early June, so it's the perfect time to make this delicious slice of summer on your plate. I add flavor to the ruby-red filling by incorporating a whole vanilla bean. My Dad loves this dish, so I made it in honor of him for Father's Day? And it's quite the gift when accompanied by a generous scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream!

Pie Crust:

10 oz. all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. granulated sugar

2 sticks ice-cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

6 Tbsp. ice water

Pie Filling:

1 ½ lbs. fresh strawberries, hulled & sliced

2 lbs. (about 4 stalks) fresh rhubarb, trimmed & cut into 1" cubes

1 whole vanilla bean, cut into ¼" pieces

¼ c. granulated sugar

½ c. + 2 Tbsp. sugar

5 Tbsp. corn starch

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Pie topping:

2 Tbsp. whole milk

2 Tbsp. granulated sugar

To make dough:

In a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Pulse to combine dry ingredients.

Add cold butter pieces and pulse until it resembles coarse meal. Stop food processor and add water all at once. Pulse again just until a dough forms.

Remove dough from the processor bowl and transfer to a clean, lightly-floured board. Push together dough with the heel of your hand until the dough becomes smooth. Pat dough into a 4x10-inch rectangle, and make a three-fold. Wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Meanwhile, make the filling (recipe follows).

To make filling:

In a large bowl, combine prepared strawberries and rhubarb.

In a clean coffee grinder, combine the ¼ cup of sugar and the cut up vanilla bean. Pulse until it is finely ground. Add to strawberry-rhubarb mixture, along with the remaining sugar, corn starch and lemon juice.

Toss with a rubber spatula until combined completely. Reserve.

To assemble pie:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

After the dough has rested, cut in half on a lightly floured board. Form each half into a circle. Using one round of dough, flour both sides of it, and roll out into a circle large enough to fit a 9" pie dish with a ½" overhang (trim if necessary). Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Remove dough from refrigerator, and mound all of the pie filling in the middle of pie shell.

Take remaining round of dough and roll out into a 10-12" circle about 1/8" thick on a lightly-floured board (a little dough will be left over). Press sides around pie dish to seal in filling, then trim sides with kitchen shears to ½" overhang. Continuing around the edge of the entire pie, roll edges of dough inward and press them with a flour-coated fork. Brush milk onto pie-crust's surface, and sprinkle with sugar. Snip the top of the pie with kitchen shears in a decorative pattern, as desired.

Place pie on the bottom rack of preheated oven, and bake for 1 hour. Turn pie halfway through baking.

Bake until crust is golden brown on bottom and top. Let cool completely before serving. Serve with my vanilla ice cream.

NOTE: If pie filling runs over, place a sheet pan under the pie (only if necessary).

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 whole vanilla bean

10 ounces granulated sugar

10 large egg yolks

3 cups whole milk

3 cups heavy cream

Method

Cut vanilla bean into 5 pieces. Place in a spice grinder with 2 Tbs. of the sugar. Grind until vanilla and sugar are a fine powder. Place into a 4-quart pot. Place half of the remaining sugar and all of the milk and heavy cream into the 4-quart pot. Stir together with a wire whisk. Place the remaining sugar and the egg yolks together in a large bowl. Stir with a wire whisk until thoroughly combined. Bring the sugar-milk mixture to a boil. Turn off the heat. While stirring the egg yolks constantly with a wire whisk, add 2 ladle fulls of hot milk to the egg yolk-sugar mixture. When completely combined, add the mixture back to the 4-quart pot. Turn the heat on to medium. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon and cook "custard" to 180 degrees, using an instant read thermometer. Turn off the heat and strain the "custard" immediately through a fine mesh strainer. Place plastic wrap onto the hot cream. Let cool on a wire rack for a half hour. Then place in the refrigerator and cool completely. Place into an ice cream freezer and churn according to manufacturer's instructions. Place in the freezer until ready to use.

Recipes courtesy of Karen Pickus, Chef, Good Morning America 2008